Can we get some fics of medically complex Ponyboy?
outsiders week - ponyboy
@outsidersweek
once again using my asks to give me ideas for outsiders week lol but either way i loooove medically complex pony and im ready to write about him alwaysss
some context: i imagine pony having a lot of breathing issues post-canon (which makes a lot of sense and doesn't need a ton of explaining) but i think pony also had some type of head injury (from the fountain) and then dally hitting him and the rumble aggravated it so he probably gets like chronic migraines/eye pain/maybe vertigo, too
it took a lot for darry to say that a day had been long, his job made sure that all of his days were long, anyways, but by the time he was signing the last of the forms at the hospital so he and pony could go home, he couldn't remember ever wanting to leave a place more.
pony was slumped in a chair as darry took care of all of his end-of-visit paperwork with the secratary, exhausted after four appointments and a long day at the hospital, checking everything from his brain to his back to his lungs.
"you ready, kiddo?" darry asked, walking over to his brother, holding his hand out. pony took it wordlessly and let darry help him to his feet, his every move lethargic and slow, full of exhaustion and sleep.
they made it to the elevator before pony was leaned against him heavily, his body ready to give out. without so much as a second thought, darry pulled him onto his back, pony burrying his face in the back of darry's shoulder.
"you're getting a little big for this," darry chuckled, squeezing one of pony's knees.
"no 'm not..." pony mumbled.
darry didn't argue, just carried his little brother as he walked out of the hospital. the parking lot was all but empty, the sun long since disappeared behind the tulsa skyscrapers and the air cold and biting. darry walked as quickly as he could to the truck, setting pony in the passenger seat. pony's eyes were closed, his eyebrows furrowed.
"you still with me?" darry asked, brushing some of his hair back and reaching for his seatbelt.
"yeah.." pony sighed, taking the seatbelt from darry's hand.
darry pressed his lips together into a thin smile, he ruffled pony's hair affectionately and said, "okay, let's go home, huh, bud?"
pony nodded sleepily, and darry closed the door, letting himself walk slowly around the front of the truck, the cold wind soothing to a head that had spent the whole day trying to understand everything the doctors had said. he was wiped out, he could only imagine how pony must have been feeling.
by the time darry opened up the driver side door, pony was laying across the bench seat. darry didn't have it in him to tell him to sit up for the drive, he just helped pony sit up the smallest bit so that he could slide himself behind the wheel, before letting pony's head rest against his leg.
when they finally made it home, pony was fast asleep, his body limp across the front seat, one of his hands curled into the fabric of darry's jeans. soda was outside the house, a sweatshirt thrown over his dx uniform. he walked up to the truck and darry rolled down his window.
"he fell asleep the minute we got into the truck," darry ran a hand through pony's hair softly, leaning his own head against the door of the truck.
"you look like you've been up for days, dar," soda whispered.
"i thought we'd never get out of that damn hospital," darry muttered, closing his eyes for a moment. "can you grab pony's stuff? it's all in a folder in the back. i'll get him inside and start getting some food ready."
"don't worry about dinner, i'll take care of it," soda held up a hand to stop darry from moving ponyboy. "you go inside and take a few minutes, i'll grab us something from the dingo."
darry smiled, "thanks, little man, but you sure you can swing that?"
"sure," soda nodded, pulling out his wallet. "there's this couple that tips us like crazy for working on their mercedes."
"okay, let me get pony inside," darry shifted again.
"don't!" soda whisper-shouted. "i'll take him with me, the cold will wake him up anyways."
darry smiled, "it'll still wake him up if you take him, soda, he has to get into the house eventually."
soda frowned, "yeah, but... i just wanna let him sleep..."
as carefully as he could, darry opened up the door and slid out, letting soda slide into place. pony stirred for a moment, but seemed to settle back in easily.
"go shower, superman. or sleep," soda joked as darry walked back towards the house. "you look like you're about to pass out."
soda waited until darry had disappeared into the house before putting the truck in gear and pulling out towards the dingo. pony stirred when they bumped up into the parking lot, his sleepy eyes blinking open.
"...soda?"
soda reacted quickly, "yeah, kiddo, it's just me. we're just picking up dinner, go back to sleep, you're okay."
pony sighed, and closed his eyes again. soda pressed a kiss to pony's temple before slipping out of the truck to pick up their food.
