Miguel was sitting up in his hospital bed, leaning against the pillows that were propped behind his back. He was wearing a white hospital gown with blue patterns, and he looked pretty good - considering what had happened. There were flowers on his nightstand, 'get well soon' - cards and small gifts too, and suddenly it all reminded Hawk about Sky's hospital room, about the horrible, gut-wrenching horror he'd carried within him all the time Sky had been in a coma, but that memory was fleeting, it was easy to push away now.

After all - things were better than good. Sky was alive and getting better, and now Miguel was awake too. Just two weeks ago Hawk had thought he was going to lose both his best friend and the girl he loved - and now, he wasn't gonna lose either one of them.

He couldn't hold back his grin as he walked into Miguel's room, together with Sky.

"El Serpiente–!" he exclaimed with a grin and a laugh, shaking Miguel's hand. "Hey bro, what's up?"

Miguel replied to the greeting, but his smile didn't meet his eyes. But who could blame him? Not to be able to walk, or do Karate–

Hawk swallowed. He might have been happy that his friend was awake, but Miguel clearly needed to get back to his feet before he could be happy too.

"Hey, Miggy!" Exclaimed Sky happily, clearly oblivious to Hawk's worries, and reached to give Miguel a hug. "Aaahhh, I'm so glad you're awake! I missed you!"

"Mom told me you got hurt too–" Miguel replied when Sky let go of him and took a seat on a chair next to Miguel's bed. "Are you... are you okay?"

Sky waved his worries off with a swift movement of her hand. "I'll be fine, it was not that serious. Don't you worry about me."

But Miguel's eyes took in the cast on her arm, the splint on her nose, and the scars on her temple where the hair had only just started to grow. They would be hidden one day, but for now, they were clearly visible, thick, red lines on her scalp, only more noticeable because they'd had to shave her hair from the area around the wounds to be able to treat them.

But that wasn't the worst. Hawk felt sick to his stomach when he thought about the brain damage she had suffered and the uncertain prognosis that came with it. It might heal, or it might not. So far it was too early to tell.

"Tory kicked her down the stairs," Hawk stated, a bit bitterly. "Sky got hurt pretty bad. She was in a coma too."

Miguel let out a sigh and shook his head in disbelief. "I'm really sorry about that. I... I never thought she'd attack Sam or you–"

"No worries, Miggy." Sky smiled. "It's all good. I mean it. I don't blame anyone."

Hawk glanced at Sky, his throat tightening. He struggled to understand this new side of Sky. She sounded like the fucking Gandhi sometimes, as if she really didn't want revenge, as if she really was okay with everything that had happened. It left him baffled, annoyed. Even if she didn't want revenge, he sure as Hell did. He would never forgive those who were to blame: Sam LaRusso, for dragging Sky into that fight, and Tory, for being the one who kicked Sky in the face.

There would be a payback time for both of them, just as there would be one for Demetri—

But suddenly Miguel's eyes widened. He glanced from Sky to Hawk and back, a smile tugging the corner of his mouth. "Wait - the two of you are in the same room. What's going on?"

Sky's cheeks turned rosy. That sight took Hawk's breath away, it made the thoughts of violence and revenge diminish and disappear.

"We're—" he started, but Sky cut in.

"I'm giving him a second chance." she admitted with a soft smile.

Miguel's smile widened, even if he still looked incredulous. "Wow. That's... that's great. Congratulations. Still, I'm a bit surprised," he added, glancing at Sky. "Last time we spoke you hated his guts."

"Yeah. But it turns out I was miserable without him, so." She shrugged. "Besides, he's pretty good at apologizing."

"Right," Miguel said with a small laugh. "Well, I'm happy for you guys."

Sky smiled, her cheeks still the color of freshly bloomed roses, and took Miguel's hand in hers. "So, what's the deal with you and Sam? We ran into her in the hallway."

Sam. Hawk resisted the urge to roll his eyes when he noticed a card on Miguel's nightstand - a card with a cute picture of an octopus and a text saying "You octopi my thoughts" which was no doubt from her. That LaRusso princess just couldn't leave Miguel alone, even after everything that had happened. It made Hawk angry again, the taste of rage was suddenly sharp on his lips. Who did she think she was, playing with Miguel's heart and life like that, making Sky fight her battles for her? Hawk had barely been able to contain that anger when they had briefly met the girl in the Hallway outside of Miguel's room. Had Sky not been by his side, chatting amicably and exchanging girly hugs with the other girl, Hawk would have told that bitch exactly what he thought about her.

For the life of him, he couldn't understand why Miguel had let her in, in the first place.

"I don't know," Miguel was saying. "We didn't really talk. She just stopped to bring me a card... Besides, I still haven't heard from Tory."

"I'm sorry," Sky said empathetically, squeezing Miguel's hand. "I'm sure Tory just needs some time to think things through."

Miguel shrugged, his face was somber and Hawk hated seeing him like that. Miguel, who was always happy and optimistic - it wasn't fair that he was the one paying the price for Sam's slutty acts. That he was the one who was trapped in this bed, not only his body broken but his heart too.

"So, any news on when you'll get to go home?" He asked to move on from the topic of Sam and Tory - his least favorite people at the moment.

"I have surgery on Friday," Miguel replied and added something about some miracle worker surgeon who was flying in from another state.

"That's cool, Bro–" Hawk replied. "You'll be walking again before you know it."

"I don't know about that. There's no guarantee it'll work, but it costs a ton of money and my Mom will be in debt, so."

"I'm sure it'll work," Sky said with bright eyes and a wide smile. "I just know it. Miracles do happen."

"I hope so."

"I'm the living proof of it, right? And don't worry about the money - we'll figure something out. I promise."

"But—"

"I mean it, Miguel," Sky said sternly. "You were there for me when I was going through Hell. Now I wanna be there for you. We'll get the money. The surgery will work. I will help you to get back to your feet, just like you helped me. I promise you that."

There was a new determination in Sky's voice, and maybe Miguel sensed it too because he didn't argue but just gave a hesitant nod.

They left soon after that, as a nurse entered the room with Miguel's Mom, and told that they needed to do Miguel's bloodwork. Sky gave Miguel a warm embrace (with her one good arm) and promised to be back the next day, first thing in the morning as she still wasn't going to school. Miguel seemed happy to hear this, as did Carmen whom Hawk knew to have a soft spot for Sky - ever since she'd been one of the nurses to take care of her after her suicide attempt—

—when it had been Sky lying in a hospital bed just like this one, fighting for her life.

As always, even the briefest memory of that felt like swallowing razor blades. Clenching his jaw, Hawk again forced those images away, shoved them into the deepest, darkest corner of his mind, slammed the imaginary door, and locked it.

Sky was fine. She was alive and happy and his. And she always would be. He would never let anything bad happen to her, not ever again. He would fucking kill anyone who tried to hurt her.

They were already at the door when Miguel called Hawk's name.

"Yeah?" He stopped and turned to look.

"Just... don't mess that up this time."

It was a genuine request, not an accusation - still, it hurt. But Miguel was the only person in this whole fucking world Hawk would let say something like this. Miguel - his best friend, his brother, his better half. He swallowed and tilted up his chin, flashing Miguel a grin that looked more confident than it felt. "Don't worry, Man. I won't."

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

❤️