THE DRUG IN ME IS YOU

Twenty-seven.

AN: This chapter features talk of drug use, battling with addiction , overdosing and death. Please proceed with caution.

Even though Sensei Adams was talking to them, Hawk could not focus. His eyes kept darting to his left, where Wren's empty spot stood and to the right of him, where Tory kept giving him the same glance as she also eyed Wren's empty spot.  They had all been heading out to their cars at the end of the day when Wren got a phone call from her mother, and she had taken off without another word, her car gone from the parking lot before anybody could have caught up with her.

They had called her, texted her, even asked their new sensei where Johnny and Wren were, but they did not receive any clear answer.

"What if something happened to sensei?" Miguel whispered and Hawk glanced over at his friend. Sensei Adams finally instructed the class to break up into small groups of four and work on sparring, and Hawk, Aisha, Tory and Miguel immediately molded into one group, whispering amongst themselves.

——

Robby stood in the parking lot of the hospital, his hands tucked in his pockets as he stared up at the large white building in front of him. He shouldn't have been this nervous, should've been able to walk right through the doors and just go be with his best friend like she needed him to be. Robby knew, up there on the sixteenth floor, sat his father, waiting in the same waiting room as Wren and her mother, and even though Wren had called him, begging him through tears to come to the hospital, he couldn't get his feet to move.

"Robby?"

The brunette boy turned his head to see Samantha LaRusso standing there, his eyes wide. "Sam, what are you doing here?" he questioned. "My cousin just had her baby, so she invited me to come see him... what are you doing here?" she questioned back.

"Wrens dad overdosed...he's in the hospital and Wren asked me to come... but I know my dad's up there and I just..." his voice trailed off.

"Do you...want me to go with you?" Sam immediately questioned, her eyes wide with concern. "It's not the place you need to be, you're going for a much happier occasion," he insisted.

"Come on, Wren needs you, I won't take no for an answer," Sam grabbed Robbys hand, pulling him toward the double doors. He followed, reluctantly, his fingers wrapping around Sam's in the familiar way he was used to. They hadn't spoken since their break up almost a month ago, and she was just going to be with him through his issues, no questions asked.

God, he was so in love with her.

Sam ushered him through the main lobby, and they got in the elevator and he muttered what floor , so she pushed the two floors they needed. As the elevator doors closed, they stood in silence, still holding hands.

"Robby... I... this is such an awful time to say this, but I miss you," she whispered quietly, as if the air would shatter if she spoke any louder.

Sixth floor, seventh floor, eighth floor. The elevator rose it's levels in silence.

"I haven't stopped missing you," he replied back, voice just as quiet. Sam let go of a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"After all this, promise me we'll talk about it," Sam replied, looking at him. "Wren needs you now, and I won't take that away from her."

Robby looked at the brunette girl, but as he opened his mouth to speak, the elevator dinged and the doors opened and Robby could see Wren down the hall. The minute they locked eyes, she started running down the hall to the elevators.

"I'm holding you to that," he replied, giving Samantha's hand a squeeze before letting go and stepping out to embrace his crying best friend.

Sam watched Robby comfort Wren as the elevator doors closed, and she knew that even if their conversation didn't happen for a while, there was nobody with a bigger heart than Robby Keene, and she just hoped he would still have room in it for her.

—-

Johnny Lawrence needed a drink. The coffee in his hand did not have any liquor in it, and he could not stop bouncing his leg up and down. He hated hospitals. From missing the birth of his own son, to his own mother dying, Tommy's chemotherapy sessions and his cancer to Miguel's coma, nothing ever good came from this place.

"Is it wrong to say I hate him," Ali whispered very quietly from where she sat next to Johnny, resting a hand on his bouncing knee, he ceased his movements.

This woman, right here, next to him, had been the only one to ever bring him happiness at a hospital, when Wren was born and asked him to be the god father of what would be her only child. He looked over at the blonde, brows furrowing. "What do you mean?" he questioned.

"Look at her... look at my daughter," Ali looked over Johnny's shoulder, her voice cracking with her words, her eyes filled with tears.

Johnny turned around in his seat to look at Wren, his face falling as he watched Wren sob into Robby's shoulders and guilt overtook Johnny. Wren had been living with him since August, and he had more of a relationship with her than he did his own kid. The one thing he could give Robby's mom was that she had raised their son right, and he was damn proud to see him there to comfort his best friend. Wren had pleaded with him multiple times to reach out to Robby to try and mend their very broken relationship. He had been relieved when Robbys mother had finally checked herself into rehab to get help, but Robby and Wren still both shared the burden of an addict parent.

The doctors came out from behind the double doors and Johnny and Ali both stood up, the doctor talking in hushed whispers. "I'm very sorry, but there wasn't anything else we could do. If you would like to come in to say your goodbyes before we have to move him, we will provide you with everything you need for paperwork when you're ready."

—-

Hawk slammed his fists into the punching bag, still frustrated that he had not heard from Wren the whole afternoon. He spun around, kicking the bag and watching it wobble on its weight but not fall over. He was about to strike the bag again when he heard the door chime in the front of the dojo.

"I told you Miguel, I'm not in the mood to go for dinner!" Hawk called out.

"Eli?"

He almost didn't hear her voice, it was so quiet and Hawk almost stumbled over himself as he ran out into the main half of the dojo to find Wren standing in front of him. He took her in, her eyes red and face swollen, her braids messy. She wore one of his hoodies, the sleeves pulled up over most of her hands, she looked so small.

"Babe, what happened to you?" he questioned, moving toward her slowly, his hands coming up to hold her at her elbows.

"My dad.... he overdosed... he's dead," she cried, burying her face in her boyfriends chest. Hawk sank down to the floor of the dojo with Wren, pulling her close to him while she cried.