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There he was, Johnny Cade, all burnt up and in bandages on a cot in the run-down hospital. Ponyboy Curtis, of course, got out of the fire just fine. Dallas Winston had to stay in the hospital for a day, but he got to visit Johnny in the burn unit.
He looked terrible. Johnny went on and on about not being able to walk. He didn't want to die, not like this. It just got Dally upset and he walked to the doorway solemnly.
"I can't feel anything from the backside down." Johnny stated.
Ponyboy was trying his best not to cry. He hesitated, but then he softly pinched Johnny's pointer finger. "Can you feel this?"
Johnny smiled a little, "Yeah."
Ponyboy slowly and gently laced his fingers with Johnny's hand, trying not to touch any of the scabs. "This?"
Ponyboy could feel that Johnny was trying to squeeze his hand, but there was barely any strength left.
Johnny winced in pain. "Mm-hm."
Ponyboy didn't know what else to do. He was so tired of running away from crime. When him and Johnny hid out in that old church before one of their cigarettes burnt it down, they still had a fear of being found. But Ponyboy had slowly realized that he had fallen in love with Johnny.
That love for each other was never gone, but Johnny would soon be gone.
In a few days Johnny was lying on his back. Dally was yapping about getting out of there, but Johnny wasn't moving much. He reached out for Ponyboy, who instantly grabbed his hand.
"Stay gold, Ponyboy..."
And he just died, right there.
Dally was in denial, Ponyboy couldn't think.
"No, please, Johnny. You can't just die on us, man. You can't!" Dally cried. He couldn't handle the death of his friend, he stormed off.
That left Ponyboy in the room again. This time, alone, with the dead body of his crush. He was so in shock that he couldn't cry. He was so tired, so incredibly tired.
He leaned down to peck Johnny's upper lip. "Can you feel this?"
No response.
The one time he could kiss his friend was when he was dead, because he was too scared to when he was alive.