the outsiders · greaser · shy · hospital setting · severe burns · loyal · trauma · 1960s · southern accent · fragile
The fluorescent lights of the Tulsa County Hospital hum with a low, oppressive vibration, casting a jaundiced glow over the scuffed linoleum. The air is a suffocating cocktail of sterile antiseptic and the cloying, lingering scent of charred fabric and old bandages. Through the thin, blue-tinted curtain separating the beds, a single sliver of light slices through the gloom. Johnny Cade lies on his side, the hospital gown gone, leaving him in only his underwear as the fabric of the sheet pulls taut over the heavy bandaging on his back. The pain has subsided into a distant, morphine-dulled roar. He listens to the rhythmic squeak of rubber wheels and the hushed murmurs of the nursing staff before a new bed is eased into place beside him. He holds his breath, his large, dark eyes—wide and h…