The night was a blur as the cops charged into the scene, and paramedics loaded Estelle into an ambulance. Dally didn't know what to do, his first instinct was to run as far away as he could. But there was no running now, this was a pivotal moment. He vaguely saw someone, Darry? Becoming for him to go, to get into the ambulance and go with Estelle. He blindly jumped in, and the driver tore away to the hospital.
She looked horrible. She looked like a corpse, really. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought she was dead, along with their child. Really, he didn't know better. They could still both be dead, as the paramedics struggled to stop the bleeding and to properly document her condition.
The instant they arrived at the hospital, she was whisked away on a gurney. No one payed him much attention, all of the attention was on her as she was whisked into emergency surgery.
"Go sit in the waiting room, son," a doctor came and told him as he stood in a hallway, frozen. "There's a bathroom around the corner, if you want to get yourself cleaned up."
He looked down at himself. His chest was bare, his pants were stained with blood. His chest and hands were stained with blood as well. He hadn't even noticed. He wished he didn't.
He walked into the bathroom numbly, and turned on the sink. He watched the red water swirl down the drain as the blood lifted away from his skin. Her blood.
He turned off the water. He didn't want to lose that bit of her too, as grim as it was. He got it now. Now that it was threatened that he would really lose her, he finally got it. He couldn't live without her. He hadn't even realized how much of an integral part of his life she had become until she was ripped away from him. Without her there, someone might as well had ripped his arm off. How would he ever be able to live? He'd already lost everyone he "loved." Hell, he didn't even really know what love was! But he knew, deep down. He just hadn't let himself realize it.
He vaguely noticed as the rest of the gang filed in, including Darry and Ponyboy and gently guided him back to the waiting room. He vaguely heard as they murmured consoling words to him, empty words that could do nothing to help him. As the tried to tell him she was going to be okay, knowing themselves that it was a lie.
_____
The night turned to morning as the Curtis gang sat in the waiting room of the hospital, silent and still. Dally wanted to scream, he wanted to tear apart the hospital brick by brick. He wanted to do something, anything. But he couldn't. Nothing he did could save her faster. He'd learned that lesson the hard way.
Memories floated through his head. Him and Johnny. Him and Estelle. Him and Estelle and Johnny. Them at the church that fateful day. At the hospital, where their fates were sealed. Running away with Estelle, life being so gleamingly perfect, but life leading them back to Tulsa. Learning that they would be... a family. Estelle's birthday, where he'd given her flowers and a pair of new boots. Moving into their house, where it was already becoming a home. That was his life. Doors had been closed, more opened, so much pain and suffering, but that gave way to days spend making memories he was proud to keep. The pain of their gruesome past and beginning, had led them to where they were now. A life where Dally was glad to be able to live to spend another day making memories with her.
"Sir, if you'll come on with me," a voice said, snapping him out of his thoughts. A doctor stood, beckoning for him to follow. He recognized that doctor. He was there the day Johnny...
Dallas glanced back at the gang, who seemed to be wondering what he was waiting for.
"You're lucky," he heard the doctors say. "A few more minutes, and she would have been gone for. Her and the baby both."
A wave of new energy washed over him. She was alive. Their child was alive. Not all was lost.
"She is still in critical condition, you won't be able to see her for a while yet," he said, seeing the look on Dally's face. He scowled.
The doctor smiled warmly. "But congratulations, Mr. Winston. Your son was born at 5:38 this morning via an emergency Caesarian section. A bit early of course, so we will be monitoring his condition closely. Our patient also suffered some blunt trauma injuries, we need to make sure your son didn't suffer any damage from that as well, but you're welcome to meet him."