Chapter Text
“Darry.”
Darry sucked in a sharp breath, finally raising his head. He blinked a few times, wiping his tears away. “M–Ms. Mathew’s?”
She gave him a shaky smile, placing a hand on his shoulder as she kneeled in front of him. “Hey, honey.”
He shook his head, looking at her with furrowed brows. “When did you—how long have I been in here?”
She sighed. “Johnny seemed pretty worried, said it’d been a while and wondered if he should come check on ya, but I volunteered instead.”
Darry opened his mouth, wondering for a moment if he’d entered the correct bathroom, but a glance over at the wall across from him told him that he did. He was fairly certain women’s rooms didn’t have urinals. But Ms. Mathews had never cared about things like that. If someone needed her, she was going to be there for them, no matter what. He noticed that she’d turned the sink off as well.
“Thanks.” He finally choked out.
She nodded, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “What’s goin’ through your mind, Darry?”
He let out a shaky breath, more tears rolling down his cheeks, but he hurriedly wiped them away. Ms. Mathews merely comforted him, waiting patiently. “W-what if they…what if they die? It—it’ll be my fault.”
“Darrel Curtis. None of this is your fault.” She said firmly, placing a hand on her hip, even as she sat across from him on the bathroom floor of the men’s room.
He shook his head. “It–it’s my job to protect my brothers, and I failed.”
“You look at me, kid.”
Another shaky breath escaped his lips as he slowly raised his head to look her in the eyes. She gently wiped away a few stray tears.
“Darrel Curtis, you’re a lot of things, son. Smart, brave, hard-working. You’re determined, caring and stubborn as a mule.” She smirked lightly at him. “But you are not and have never once been a failure. And I’ve known ya most of your life, kiddo.”
“B–but my brothers are…they’re dying, and it’s my job to take care of them. How is it not my fault?”
She let out a breath, heart breaking at the sincerity in his eyes. Darry truly believed he was to blame for what had happened to his brothers. “Darry. This was all caused by a tornado. Nothin’ else. It was a storm, a horrible, deadly tornado that came for us all tonight. Lots of people were hurt, and even lost their homes. But nobody is responsible. Things like this just happen. It’s not in our control, even if we wish it were. As a parent, it can be mighty hard to let go sometimes. All ya wanna do is protect those babies all the time. The thought of anythin’ happenin’ to 'em feels like more than you can bare — sometimes ya just wanna wrap' em in bubble wrap and lock ‘em inside forever, don’t ya?”
Darry nodded, eyes wide. He’d had those exact thoughts before…but had never said them aloud.
“But we can’t. No matter how much we might want to. We gotta let those kids go, gotta let them live and become the people they’re meant to be. And sometimes, they’re gonna get hurt. Physically, emotionally, there’s a hundred things that can go wrong in this world. But sometimes, life just happens and can’t nobody do a blasted thing about it. But ain’t nobody at fault either. All you can do is love those kids with every bone inside your body and do your best to teach ‘em. Do you love your brothers, Darry?”
Darry nodded fervently. “I–I think I might even love ‘em more than I used to.”
She nodded, placing her hand over his. “That makes sense. And I know none of this easy on ya, but I also know how much you love them boys. And that you’re tryin’ your hardest every single day. And when you love someone that’s all that you can do.” She squeezed his hand. “So maybe don’t throw in the towel just yet.”
Darry took a deep breath, squeezing her hand back, as his heart rate finally settled, tears finally slowing.
“Don’t you count your brothers out yet, Darrel Curtis. You three boys are some of the strongest, toughest I ever met. Always have been. You’re fighters til the end, all three of ya. And I don’t expect this to be any different.” She took his hand in hers. “Hold out hope for your brothers, and for yourself. That’s the only way we’ll make it through this. Ya hear me, darlin’?”
Darry nodded, squeezing her hand. “Thank you.” He whispered, turning to look into her eyes, some of the shame and embarrassment finally melting away. “Thanks, Ms. M.”
She gave him a small smile, placing a hand on his head. “You’re welcome, dear.”
It was silent for a couple of minutes, as Darry tried to compose himself. He wiped his tears, taking deep breaths and trying to calm his pounding heart. She was right, like always. Pony and Soda were both strong, they’d been through a lot already. Who said they couldn’t make it through this? He felt a lot better after talking with her, and truthfully even after finally letting himself break down. He hadn’t known how much he really needed that. But he felt exceptionally lighter. He was still scared, of course. But he had hope now. And his mamma always said that was the most important thing to have in this life, how it could make you rich. And in that moment, Darry finally understood what she meant.
“Well, kiddo. Ya ready to get up off the floor? And head back out there?”
Darry took a long, deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m ready.”
She gave his shoulder a pat, before standing herself, and helping Darry up after her.
“Two-Bit.” Darry suddenly remembered.
“What was that, dear?” She asked, picking up her purse off the floor.
Darry shook his head. “Two-Bit! I’m so sorry, you must think I’m terrible, I–I never even asked how he was—how you were. I’m so sorry, Ms. M. I–”
“Hey, now.” She put a gentle hand on Darry’s arm. “Don’t you worry about me. You got a lot on your plate, hon. I came in here to help you out.”
“Well, I wanna know, now. How is he?”
She let out a shaky breath, and Darry watched as tears appeared in her eyes. “Keith is in surgery right now. The doctors told me that he had some glass in his back, right near his spinal cord. They had to do emergency surgery to get it out before it paralyzed him.”
“Is he gonna be okay?”
She shook her head, placing one hand on the back of it. “He didn’t really say. Just that they were gonna do everything they can.”
Darry nodded. “That’s about exactly what he told me. Did–did they tell ya he saved Soda’s life?”
She nodded. “Johnny did. I couldn’t be prouder of that boy. To tell ya the truth, I didn’t even know he knew how to do CPR.”
Darry shook his head. “Neither did I.”
They left the bathroom together, making their way back to the waiting room where Darry had previously been.
Johnny sat in the same place he’d been before, and he jumped up the moment he saw Darry and Ms. Mathews walking his way. “You okay, Dar?”
He nodded. “Thanks, Johnny. I needed that.”
He gave him a timid smile.
“Is Dally back yet?”
Darry furrowed his brow. “Back? Where’d he–” He stopped when he saw Dally walking towards them, a backpack in his hand.
Dally reached inside as he approached, taking out a shirt and tossing it at Darry. He caught it on instinct. “Put on a shirt, man.”
It was at that moment that Darry looked down, only now remembering the shirt he’d been wearing that he’d taken off in the bathroom. “Wait, I gotta go get my other one—”
Ms. Mathews stopped him. “I threw that one out, hon. You don’t need to be wearin’ or lookin’ at it anymore.”
Darry nodded, slightly shocked. He hated to throw away a perfectly good shirt, but he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to get the memory of his brother's blood out of it, even if he managed to get the stain out. So this was probably better for everyone.
“Thanks.” He said, throwing the new shirt on.
“Thank Ms. Mathews. She asked me to go pick up a few things from the house. You and Johnny both needed a new shirt.”
Darry turned, only now noticing the wound on Johnny’s arm. And tied above it was…Soda’s DX uniform. He pushed back the fear and pain he felt at seeing that, trying to focus on Johnny, taking a seat next to him. “What happened, Johnnycake?” Darry leaned closer, trying to get a better look.
He shook his head. “It’s nothin’. A beer bottle just fell and cut me up while we were all hidin’ in the freezer. I’ll be okay.”
Darry noticed the DX shirt was just about fully crimson by now. It had definitely helped slow the bloodflow, but it had been bleeding for a good couple hours now at least. He shook his head. “I think you need to get this checked out, Johnny. It’s pretty deep.”
“Dal asked a while ago, but they said they had to see the critical patients first. But it’s okay, really. I mean, I’m not nearly as bad off as…” He stopped, looking into Darry’s eyes before sighing and moving his gaze towards the ground. “Ya know…”
Dally shook his head. “I just talked to ‘em again when I came back, someone’s s’posed to come see ya in a minute.”
“Johnny Cade?”
“He’s right here.” Dally said, walking over to Johnny and helping him up.
“Ya want me to come back there with ya?” Darry offered.
Johnny shook his head. “No, that’s okay. Dal said he would, and they said it would be quick.”
Darry nodded as he watched Dally and Johnny walk to a curtained off room down the hall.
“How’s Katie?” Darry asked as Dorothy sat next to him.\
She nodded. “She’s alright. She was at a friend’s house during the storm, so I decided to let her stay there tonight and I’ll bring her here tomorrow when we know more about what’s happening.
Darry nodded. “What about your house? Did—did it survive?"
“A few shingles missing, a couple broken windows. But it fared pretty well. Is your house still standing?”
Darry sighed, running a hand down his face. “It’s still standing. But…most of the roof is gone, most of the windows are broken. The living room was a wreck. A lot of stuff got broken.”
“Oh, honey.” She placed a hand on his back. “I’m so, so, sorry.”
He shook his head. “It’s honestly the last thing on my mind at this point. It’s kinda funny, right after it happened I was so worried about what I was gonna do, how I was gonna take care of my brothers in a house without a roof. But now…now I’m just praying I leave here with two brothers to take care of.”
She rubbed his back. “I know, baby. I know.”
“Family of Sodapop Curtis?”