Backstage Pass to Mortal Kombat

Chapter 20 - Payback

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Johnny escaped that fight with little damage to his organs but he still had a hole in the middle of his chest. The healer had done a pretty good job on him, but could only get the poison out, not close the wound. With bandages on his chest, Johnny was pretty slow and in pain, always grunting and groaning when he sat up, laid down, or anything that involved moving. The worst part of it all; I had to take care of him. I didn’t mind so much the taking care of him part, but being around him was a constant reminder of what Hanzo had done to him. I would never forgive him for what he did; either to me or Johnny.

Ever since yesterday I’ve been at his side, making sure he had everything he needed. Even though I wasn’t officially a ‘servant’ anymore, I suppose I was his servant still. For the most part, he’s been sleeping it off. This morning, though, he’s been quite awake. “Zak, you don’t have to bring me water; I can get it myself.” He said when he saw my eyes flick to his empty water glass. I had been keeping it full, and by the time he spoke I was already standing and walking over to the jug of water on his dresser. I returned to fill his glass then set it back down, looking around the room to see if there was anything else I could do. “Just sit down,” Johnny said, causing me to look up at him. “I don’t need anything right now – I’m fine.” He gave me a genuinely happy smile before I reluctantly resumed sitting beside his cot.

I looked over him as he sat upright, his shirt was off, and the bloody bandage was quite obvious to me. The sight made everything so real again; the circling, the rope…whatever that was, it was…ungodly; something from Hell itself, it seemed. It was poisoned, and Raiden knew…how did he know? I’d been meaning to ask him ever since the fight happened, but either he’s busy or I’m busy; I haven’t even passed by him once. “You’re not fine.” I croaked, pealing my eyes away from his bandages, allowing them to fall down to my hands in my lap. “And it’s my fault.”

“Don’t say that.” His voice demanded harshly. I jumped at the sound of his voice; I hadn’t been expecting him to hear my inaudible whisper, but he had. My blue eyes traveled back up to him, and no matter how hard I tried to stop it, the tears swarmed to my bottom lid. Dangling on the black lashes, I watched Johnny’s face soften and hold out his arms. I accepted the offer and crawled onto his cot, hugging him as gently as I could. “Oh come on, I’m not that hurt; give me a real hug!” He playfully snapped. I rolled my eyes with a sniff as I tightened my grip around him. “Much better,” He sighed.

“I did get you into that situation, though. Hanzo was yelling at me, not you–”

“And how do you think that makes me feel?” He cut me off, looking down at me. His blue eyes were lighter than mine, but not as light as Keanu’s. They still held the playfulness I’ve always known about him, but now they held something different…wisdom. “You’re like my little sister, Zak; why would it ever be okay for him to yell at you? I should have killed him, but no, I’m respectable like that… I only whooped his ass.” He turned up his nose in mock victory, causing me to give a watery giggle. I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand before returning it to Johnny and snuggling a little closer to him.

“Thank you, Johnny.” I whispered into his chest.

“You’re welcome.” He pecked the top of my head before laying his head back against the wall and closing his eyes.

The two of us might have lied there for thirty minutes before I sighed and sat up, looking down at my watch. It was noon; almost time for the ship to arrive. It would be going to Outworld, and hopefully it would never come back. My eyes darkened as I thought of Hanzo…I wished I could just forget him; pretend none of this happened and just get on with my life. There was one thing I had to do first, though. “Johnny, I’ll be back in a bit. There’s something I need to do.” I said, standing up.