Before I Forget

Stupid Hope

Nicholas: Sky is awake and she asked to see you. Can you come by tomorrow?

Hawk stared at the message on the screen of his phone, the sleep quickly leaving his system. The text had been sent late last night, but he had been so exhausted after hours and hours of brutal training under Sensei Kreese's command, that he had fallen asleep as soon as his head had hit the pillow - and now it was almost noon. He ran his fingers through his hair and sat up, reading the message for what felt like the tenth time.

Sky is awake—?

She wants to see me?

That thought knocked the air out of his lungs, his heart slammed against his sternum. She wants to see me. Hawk drew in a sharp breath and burst into action, the sleepiness now replaced by a fierce rush of adrenaline. He jumped off his bed and typed the reply as fast as his thumbs would move, while simultaneously searching for something to wear.

sorry just woke up

On my way!

It took him less than 30 minutes to reach the hospital - he skipped breakfast, didn't even take the time to put up his hair but instead just hid it under a backwards baseball cap - remembering that Sky had said she liked that style - before hopping into his car. On his way, he only stopped at the florist's to buy a fresh bouquet of blood red roses - roses with long stems and large blooms, the most beautiful ones in the whole store. Only roses for her, always. Let others bring her sunflowers or carnations or daisies, he would always be bringing her roses.

Even if she probably still hated his guts. The last thing she had told him was, after all, to leave her alone.

But she asked to see me. Maybe it means–

He didn't even dare to finish that thought. Hope was such a fragile thing, so easily crushed.

Hell, she probably just wanted to tell him to get lost again, or even worse - she could be blaming him for what had happened. It was his fault, after all. He was the one who had left her side.

By the time he got to the hospital and walked down the long hallway towards her room, Hawk was a bundle of nerves. He gripped the roses in his hands, the thorns biting into the flesh of his palm. The image of Sky on the floor, blood pouring from the wound on her temple, from her nose and mouth, had been haunting him through these past days and nights. It was always there lurking at the back of his mind, ready to bring him down to his knees when he least expected it. It was how he had last seen her, and now - five days later - he had no idea what to expect. But whatever it was, he would take it - the only thing that mattered was that She was alive. She was awake. And she wanted to see him—

The door to her room was open, and Hawk stopped in the doorway, his heart in his throat.

Sky was on the bed, sitting up but leaning on the pillows. There was a large, thick bandage around her head, her left arm had a cast on it - it reached from her shoulder to her fingers - and her nose was covered by heavy bandages. What he could see of her face was still bruised even if the small cuts had closed and healed by now.

But she wasn't alone.

Hawk's jaw clenched as he recognized the brunette girl sitting on a chair next to Sky's bed, smiling and laughing as they talked.

Fucking Samantha LaRusso.

Anger twisted Hawk's chest. He swallowed, hard.

The nerve that Damn LaRusso bitch had! It was her fault Sky had gotten hurt. Sure, it had been Tory who had kicked Sky, but the whole fucking fight was Sam's fault to begin with. Hawk had never understood why Sky wanted to be friends with her - and now less than ever.