thirty nine

***Soda's POV***

"Babe, I'm cold, could you grab me my sweat-shirt?" Kayla yells from the living room. Since it's reached winter here in Tulsa, it's been getting really cold. We don't have heat in the house, so we all have to layer our clothes.

"Babygirl, do you want one too?" Johnny yells from the kitchen, where the boys are starting to make dinner.

"Yes please!" Victoria yells back.

"Lauren, do you want one, honey?" Darry yells.

"Yes!!" She replies.

"Baby, get me one too?" Alex yells.

"Geez, I'll just get them all one!" I say and throw my hands up into the air in defeat, earning a laugh from Johnny.

I walk upstairs around the house in the hunt for sweatshirts. I find Victoria's "Cade" sweat-shirt laying on the floor of Ponyboy's room, one of Two-Bit's Mickey Mouse crewnecks laying by the door, Alex's "Winston" sweat-shirt on the dining room table, a "Curtis" football sweat-shirt lying in Darry's room, and one of Ellie's maternity sweatshirts and my DX sweat-shirt in the guest room.

On the way back downstairs, I find Steve grabbing a coat and his car keys.

"Where you headed, man?" I ask him.

"The mall, I need a ring for Ellie. And I'm taking Bryce with me because he needs a gift for Victoria," he explains and pulls a hat on.

"Okay, be safe, it's supposed to start snowing at any time," I say and he nods before heading downstairs. I follow him and find the girls to give them all of their sweatshirts. I kiss Kayla as I hand her mine and all of the other girls "awwwwwww!". I laugh before returning to help with dinner.

***Johnny's POV***

"Well, only 3 hours until Christmas!" Ponyboy shouts. I look at the clock and realize he's right: it's exactly 9 pm.

"Where's Bryce and Steve?" Victoria asks.

"They had to go pick up some last minute stuff," Soda says.

"Man, it sure is coming down out there, I hope everyone's doing okay," Darry says.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it is," Lauren says. Darry smiles at her and Lauren kisses his cheek.

We sit around and talk for a few minutes. The tree is overflowing with gifts, but it's making everyone very excited.

After lounging and talking for a few minutes, the phone rings. Darry gets up to answer it.

"Hello?" he says. We all return to talking. After about a minute, though, Darry returns with an expression as if he's seen a ghost.

"What's up, Dar?" Soda asks. He just shakes his head in disbelief.

"Steve and Bryce...They were in an accident....Bryce is connected to life support.... Steve is dead....." he says slowly.

I feel Victoria - who is pressed against me - tense up real bad. I look around the room, and Lauren looks like she's about to lose it. Everyone is sort of taken off guard.

"Oh my god..." I hear Ponyboy say.

Ellie begins to start crying loudly. She's now a single mother of twins.

As Alex comforts her twin sister, Victoria begins to shake beneath me. I pull her up so she's sitting in my lap facing me. Her breathing is super fast and she has tears streaming down her face. I think she's having a panic attack.

"No baby, it's okay," I say calmly to her.  It breaks my heart when she's like this.

I pull her close to me as the gang begins to stand up and pull their coats on. I grab Victoria bridal style and give her my winter jacket before bringing her out to Darry's car. Lauren, Ponyboy, Soda, and Darry follow me. I see Alex, Two-Bit, Ellie, Bailey, and Kayla hop into Kayla's car, and together we drive to the hospital.

***Victoria's POV***

We reach the hospital within 10 minutes. I can't calm myself down because one thought is locked in my mind: Bryce could die at any second.

We walk over to the front desk and request to see Bryce.

"He's currently not in a stable condition," the lady says. "I apologize for Steve Randle, but we did uncover some belongings from the crash."

The whole gang leans over the desk as she grabs what looks like a garbage bag and reaches inside. "A penguin stuffed animal, some candy canes, a ring..."

Every one of the boys goes dead silent.

"A ring? As in an engagement ring?" Alex says.

The lady pulls it out and pops the box open.

Ellie gasps and begins to cry again. Two-Bit and Alex walk her outside so she doesn't disturb the rest of the hospital. The rest of the gang sits in the waiting room. Soda hasn't said a single word.

--------

After a couple hours, the doctors return and say it's okay to have family visit Bryce since he isn't getting better. I grab onto Lauren as we follow the doctor back to his room.

She gestures towards a room and leaves us by ourselves. Lauren pushes the door open and we find Bryce hooked into just about every machine in the room. A bandage covers his entire face and most of his body. You could barely identify him as Bryce.

"Hey buddy," Lauren says in a low voice. We walk to opposite sides of his bed. I hold his bandaged hand and Lauren places her arm beneath his neck.

"Merry Christmas," I say. Lauren rubs the top of his head.

"We want you to know that we love you, no matter what happens," Lauren says. I squeeze his hand.

"If you don't make it, I just wanted to tell you that you're the best baby brother I could have ever asked for," I tell him.

"He's gonna be okay, Victoria," Lauren tells me. I shake my head as tears fall.

"We don't know that," I say, and my inner pessimist begins to show.

Lauren starts talking to him again, but I just look at his bruised little body. He turned 6 just a month ago, and 6 years isn't enough. He doesn't deserve that little time.

I'm not sure exactly when it happened because I was so captured by my little brother's torn up body, but Lauren stood up in shock which caused me to let go of his hand. His body seemed to blend in with the sheets beneath him. Was he that pale before?

That's when my ears begin to hear the screeching sound of a flat heart monitor.

I look over at Lauren in horror as doctors rush around us. I run over to her and hug her tight, my tears staining her shirt and her tears matting the top of my head.

The doctors knew there was nothing else they could have done, we all did. They apologize and excuse us from the room. I'm still clinging to Lauren.

My baby brother, my Bryce, my best friend, my lifeboat, is gone. Lauren is the only family I have left. We slowly walk back into the waiting room together, where we find the gang. I feel myself beginning to have a panic attack, and my breaths become sharp and unsteady. Johnny runs over to me and gently takes me from Lauren's arms. Darry follows quickly behind to take care of Lauren.

By the reactions Lauren and I were giving, I think everyone pieced together than no one in that car made it out alive.