Taking a small break for Casablanca AU to write this.
Was It Only a Dream?
https://archiveofourown.org/works/88748896
Also below!
Darry wakes up with a jolt, the nightmare escaping his memory before he could begin to describe it. He looks around the darkness of his room. He hoped for a moment that maybe this dream had been different than the ones he had recently, but he had the sickening feeling that it wasn’t.
Every night since around Halloween, he’s been having these dreams about a crash. His parents are in the car sometimes. Sometimes it’s him instead. The ending is always the same though, a call to the house and a body or two in a casket.
He wondered if that’s just a side effect of this job he got to help around the house. He knows he shouldn’t be working so late, especially since he has to get up for his classes and football practice every morning. He checks the clock. 3:23AM. Maybe he could go back to sleep until his alarm.
That’s what he thought until he heard the telephone. The almost desperate ring ring of the line. He groans and gets up. Who would be calling this late? Maybe it’s his parents. They had gone out to get some frosting but hadn’t returned yet. They were calling to say that they were at his grandparents because of the snow or a friend stopped them up or something. They’d be home soon. He picks up the receiver. “Curtis residence, Darry speaking.”
An unrecognizable voice speaks through the receiver, “Mr. Curtis? I’m officer Gary Kline of the Tulsa Police Department, and I have some unfortunate news.”
Darry swallows the little anxiety he has. “Yes Officer? What is it?” He didn’t like where this was going. His mind starts to call back to all those nightmares. There was always an Officer Kline in them too.
The line was silent for a moment, likely the officer trying to figure out how to tell him something big. “I hate to tell, but your folks were in an accident. We only figured out to call here when we looked at the hospital records of Mrs. Curtis. Neither are dead yet, but it ain’t looking great. You should probably come see them and hear what all is going on before you make your call on what to do.”
Your call. Like this was Darry’s decision now. Like he was the adult and… Oh glory he is. He is the adult and he has not a damn clue what to do. Well, except to get to the hospital.
Since he had been silent for so long, the officer must’ve hung up. Darry does the same and quickly puts on his shoes. He nearly bolts out the door before remembering that his mom would kill him if he didn’t wear a coat. He puts one on and remembers he should also leave a note for Sodapop and Ponyboy to find.
He grabs an envelope and a pen and starts writing. The ink and words never seem to be right, so he scribbles them out over and over. How does one even tell his siblings about something like this? He wasn’t happy with the result, but he figured that’d be as good as he could do.
Boys,
Mom and dad got into an accident. Don’t know much right now except that they’re in the hospital. I’m going ALONE to see them, so don’t you dare follow when you wake up. We love you very much. Will call when I can.
Darry
If he was putting any actual thought into what he was doing beyond speed, maybe he would’ve written it better. On the way to the hospital, Darry was hoping over and over that they were wrong. That it wasn’t his parents in that accident. That it was anyone but his parents. He wasn’t even 21 yet. They can’t just leave him like this. They’re supposed to be there for all these big milestones like college and a career and a wife. They gotta be wrong, or this has to be a dream.
He slams the brakes into the parking lot of the hospital, barely remembering to shut off the truck before he sprinted into the ER. Dozens of same faced nurses and doctors looked at him like he was an escaped convict, but he finally found his composure to ask where his parents were. That’s when the sheriff met with him.
Sheriff Joseph Hoover was many things: a stickler for the law, a fisherman on the weekends. However, above all, he was a family man, and he could see the pure despair in Darry’s eyes. He wondered for a minute if he should just let Darry through, but no. The kid’s gotta know this first. “Darrel Curtis? I believe you spoke with one of my officers over the phone.”
Darry stiffened, not used to being called Darrel or Mr. Curtis. Those are were what people called his dad, not him. “Just Darry, but… Yeah, I did.”
Sheriff Hoover nods. “Well son we need to talk. What you’re gonna find in there ain’t gonna be what you wanted to happen. I wished we got a hold of you sooner, but…” His voice trails off.
Darry, hearing the sudden quietness in the sheriff’s voice, completely froze for before his knees gave out. Sheriff Hoover barely had time to catch Darry, and the two men fall to their knees on the tiles of the ER waiting room.
Darry couldn’t hear anything over his pounding heart and the sobs that were forcing their way out. He was feeling all sorts of emotions. Fear for him and his brothers. Misplaced anger in Ponyboy forgetting the frosting. Abandonment by his parents. He didn’t know what he wanted to do other than curl up and die with them.
He doesn’t remember how he got home or trudging up the steps or even skipping going to his room to instead go to Pony and Soda’s. He just remembers collapsing into bed and holding them both tight. He couldn’t let them go. Not now that they were each other’s whole world. He tried to make a gameplan, but sleep took him too quickly to truly have an idea what to do.
But, for once? Darry didn’t just have a nightmare in his subconscious, he was living it.