Darry's POV:

"Ponyboy, please calm down," I say, desperately. 

"C'mon. You need to get up and off the track. The ambulance will be here soon." He doesn't budge, just keeps softly crying into his hands. I look at Soda. I may be the oldest, but Soda's always been better at talking to him, and making him feel better.

I remember the day Mom and Dad brought Pony home from the hospital. As our parents rested in their rooms, baby Ponyboy slept soundly in Soda's old crib.

"Dawey," Soda practically screamed.

"Shh. The baby's trying to sleep," I whisper.

He looks sad for a minute then says a little quieter, "But Dawey. He's so wittle!" I nod and smile.

"Yeah, little buddy. It's because he's only a few days old," I explain.

"Do you think he'll like me?" Soda asks.

"I know he will. You're his big brother," I say.

"I'm a big brother!" He declares proudly.

"Do you know what it means to be a big brother?" I ask him. He shakes his head.

"It means you have to protect him from stuff, like I do with you," I explain. I was 6 years old at the time, and I thought I knew everything.

Suddenly, baby Pony was crying in his crib.

"Dawey! Whats wrong wif him?" Soda asks. I shrug. Even I didn't know the answer to that one. "Is he otay?" Soda asked me. I shrugged, and he ran into our moms room, worried. He dragged her out, where mom looked tiredly into the crib. Carefully, gently, she picked the baby up.

"Shh, it's ok Ponyboy," She whispered to him, but he still cried.

"Your diaper isn't full, and you just ate. What's wrong, baby?" She asked the few day old child, like she expected an answer.

"Mommy," Soda said, tugging on her sleeve.

"What, Pepsi?" She asked, yawning.

"I wanna hold him!" He exclaims.

"Maybe later, when he isn't crying and he's more awake, sweetie," She says. Soda looks sad.

"But... But Dawey told me I was apost to pwotect him. I know I can make him better," He says, on the verge of tears. Mom sighs.

"Ok, fine, honey. Sit down on the couch. Sit up straight and put your arm on the side. Yep, just like that. Now be careful, PepsiCola," She says, delicately setting the small child in my little brothers arms. Ponyboy immediately stops crying, and rests his hand over Sodapop's pointer finger.

"Mommy!" Soda exclaims.

"He likes me, mommy! He likes me," He says. We all smile at him. That was the first time I knew my two little brothers would be close one day.

"Guys, the ambulance'll be here soon!" A sweaty, out of breath Two-Bit says, jogging back to us, and breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Come on, Pony. Please stop crying. We gotta get you off the field so they can get you," Soda says, soothingly. Immediately Ponyboy listens, and tries to stand. He almost falls back down, but I catch him in time.

"It hurts, Dar," He sobs.

"I know it does..." I say. I really do feel bad. I put an arm around him and Soda puts one around his other side, and we help him off the field. Cheers chorus from both sets of bleachers as we leave, knowing that he was at least okish.

Finally, the ambulance pulls up in the parking lot. They put Pony in a stretcher and I talk in hushed voice to a paramedic.

"Probably a broken foot. Do you want to ride in the ambulance or meet him there?" He asks.

"We can meet him there. We won't have a way to get back, otherwise," I tell him. Ponyboy makes a noise from inside the car.

"Darry, you have to come with me!" He exclaims.

"I don't want to be alone," he says and the men in the ambulance try their best to get him to calm down. It doesn't work.

"I'll go with him," Soda speaks up, "Just meet us there," he says and I nod. They drive away and I walk with Two-Bit to the car. Elizabeth runs after me, dragging her brother by the arm.

"Darry!" She shouts.

"Hey, Elizabeth," I respond.

"Is Ponyboy ok?" She asks.

"Broken foot," I tell her.

"We'll meet you at the hospital," She says, and goes to her car. I would never ask her to do that myself, but she offered. I probably would have told her it was ok, but she ran off too fast.

Maybe it would be nice to have her there. But right now, I'm too worried to think about it too much.

Elizabeth's POV:

Poor Ponyboy is the only thing running through my mind, until he gets up. There's an ambulance coming for him, thank god. I want to go to the hospital, to make sure he's ok, but first I have to get my brother. I jog over to his team, to find him sitting on the ground drinking from a water bottle, sweat dripping down his face.

"Come on, Jack. We're leaving," I say. He sighs.

"But Elizabeth! There's still more events!" He exclaims.

"Oh, you think I care? You almost killed my boyfriends brother. Now come on!" I yell, dragging him away. I don't mean to yell at him, but I'm upset.  How could my little brother do something like that on purpose? He's always been so... innocent. He's always been the baby brother that everyone loves, that never does anything wrong.
Why was it that the first time that he did, it was the worst thing I could imagine?

Why couldn't he have done something that didn't physically hurt someone? It just wasn't fair.

"Did your coach say anything to you?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"Just good job on the win."  He smiles sinfully. I nodded.

"Well, you're not playing for the rest of the season," I tell him, trying hard to keep my voice even. He just sighs, not even fights. We both run to Darry's car, catching him before he drives away. I just tell him that we'll meet him at the hospital and we're off.

"What do you have to say for yourself, mister?" I ask him. I may not be his parent, but mom wasn't here to see anything, so it's my job to do this. He shrugs.

"Jack," I say.

"I don't know!" He yells.

"Why did you do it?" I ask. He looks me dead in the eye as I stop at a red light.

"Because I know he's better than me," He says and I'm stunned. Jack's always been so confident.

"Oh..." I don't say anything else until we get to the hospital.

"Hey," I say, clinging to Darry's side as soon as we get out of the car. Jack follows behind us, walking in sync with Two-Bit Mathews, Darry's friend.

"We're here for Ponyboy Curtis," Darry tells the receptionist, who responds with his room number. We get up there quickly, to see a pale Ponyboy laying in the bed, his foot wrapped in a cast.

"How are you feeling, Pony?" Darry asks. I stay back with my brother, but Darry and Two-Bit walk up to the bed.

"It hurts," Pony says, as a doctor walks in.

"Ah, Mr. Curtis, you're here," he says. Darry shakes his hand and asks for a diagnosis.

"His foot is broken. It won't require any surgery, but he'll need the cast for a month. Keep him out of school for a day or two, and give him Tylenol as directed if it hurts. He's going to have to use crutches, but keep his foot elevated if he's not walking on it," the doctor says. Darry nods and thanks him. The doctor walks out, to get the crutches, which the hospital is providing.

"Jack," I whisper.

"Go apologize to him," I say. He raises an eyebrow at me.

"Seriously? Do I really have to?" He asks.

"Yes!" I hiss at him. He walks up to the bed.

"Hey, Ponyboy," Jack says quietly.

"Hi," Pony responds.

"I... I'm really sorry for tripping you. I um, I hope your foot's ok." I smile at him.

"Well, it's not. Not everything you hope for happens, Jack. My foot is broken and I am in a lot of pain right now!" Ponyboy exclaims angrily

"I said I was sorry. I shouldn't have done it..." Jack says sadly, like he's disappointed in himself. Darry grabs my hand.

"I'm so sorry, Ponyboy, Darry. I... We can pay the medical bills if you need us to, since it was our fault," I offer. Suddenly, Darry drops my hand, and gives me a pained look. Oh no, what did I just do? I think to myself.

A/N: Woah. That chapter took an unexpected turn towards the end. Hope you liked it! Leave reviews, and I'll update soon!