The Other Story

Noel

I wake up in a good amount of pain. There's no where in particular where the pain was deciding to have a party because it was all over my body.

"Pop?" I ask as I look around but I don't even bother to sit up.

"Looks like someone's awake. I'm Lucy and I'll be your nurse until you get better." The cheerful nurse tells me and I nod.

"Noel." I say.

"Can you tell us your last name? The young man who brought you here didn't know what it was." She asks and I still try to adjust to my surroundings.

"Jackson." I tell her and she fills out the information on a clipboard.

"And your middle name?" She asks.

"Cassidy." I answer as I hear yelling in the hallway but one voice in particular stands out to me, Blair.

"Lucy let the little girl named Blair in her please. She's my sister." I beg and she nods.

"Of course." She walks out of the room and everyone goes silent.

"Blair Jackson?" She asks and Blair steps forward and she opens the door wider for her to step in.

"Noel." She runs over to me and hugs me softly, not knowing the severity to my condition. Lucy goes out of the room to talk to everyone and gives me and Blair a private moment.

"Blair listen to me. Everything's gonna be okay. You listen to Darry and stay in school with Pony. Do you understand?" I ask.

"Yes but-"

"No. Listen. Stay away from Mom and Dad, okay? When Dawns baby is born you have to be there for it like I was with you. Don't start smoking, it's a bad habit." I try to tell her all of this information quickly but I can see she's not understanding.

"Noel you'll be okay. You survived being shot didn't you?" She asks and I nod.

"I did but this time is different baby.." I move a piece of hair out of her face and weakly smile.

"I love you." She starts to cry and I feel helpless.

"Hey I'll be okay. Don't cry.. Listen if the nurses tell you to go home, do it. Don't worry about me.. Do you get that?" I ask her and she nods.

"Good girl." I kiss her forehead and hug her again.

"Noel would you like to see the people out here?" I hear Lucy ask and I nod.

"Yes." Blair sits down in a chair across the room as all the guys rush into the room along with Ashton but no Dawn. Again, Lucy leaves quickly.

"Are you okay?" Two-Bit asks and I laugh.

"I'm fine." I shake my head at their worrying.

"You could have gotten yourself killed." Dally says sternly and I roll my eyes.

"It's not like you haven't had something like this happen before." I say and his eyes turn colder than usual.

"No I haven't because I'm smart. If you were smart like me you wouldn't have this problem, okay? Think El." He snaps and I sigh.

"You're a broad.. you can't take pain like I can." He adds, trying to make the situation better.

"If I was just a broad I would be dead by now." I tell him as he crosses the room, exasperated. I turn to Darry and take a deep breath.

"How's baby momma doing?" I joke but he sighs.

"She's okay.. I guess." He tells me as he rubs the back of his neck.

"Why what's wrong?" I ask.

"She doesn't want the baby." I'm take aback by the statement. She seemed so happy before.

"I'll talk to her." I promise and he smiles.

"Thank you." He softly hugs me and then makes room for the other guys to talk to me. When Soda gets to me I'm surprised he hasn't killed a Soc yet. He kisses me before I can even get two words out.

"I'm so sorry." He whispers and I nod.

"It's okay."

"No. It's really not. You could've been shot and-"

"I would be dead. It's simple as that. I'm not gonna deny the thought of being dead.. You have more to lose than I do." I explain to him and he hugs me. I flinch as I feel my throat start to close up. I start coughing and everyone steps away from me.

"I'm fine." I put an angry emphasis on the word 'fine'. I sigh as I look over to the door.

"I want to talk to Dawn.. Privately." They all walk out and I see the last person who couldn't care less if I was dead or not.