EIGHT
i want you by my side

❪ tw: strong language, mentions of injury, and mentions of ptsd ❫

COBRA KAI
original chapter

THE HOSPITAL WAS QUIET AND SCARLETT'S ROOM was now dark as she laid asleep in the hospital bed, the beeps coming from the heart rate monitor was the only thing that made a sound. other than scarlett's soft snores. scarlett hasn't had a nightmare since she was 8 and tonight was going to be hard.

scarlett was back in the school building and she suddenly heard gasps. then se heard a loud thud. she looked down and there was miguel, laid out on the steps. his face covered in blood and bruises. she screamed so loud her throat on her physical body burned. she ran down the stairs but, as soon as she touched him he disappeared. he was gone.

scarlett shot up from her position in the bed, heavily breathing. the beeping intensified though, it was drastic and her hand held onto her chest. "it's just a dream." scarlett muttered. she tried to be quiet since her mother was sleeping across the room. her sister was currently attending west valley college and she has classes in the morning. even though she wanted to stay, her mother made her go.

when scarlett used to have nightmares when she was young, her father would come in and sleep in the bed with her even though he was too tall to fit in it. even after he died her sister took his place. but scarlett reached for her phone and headphones which were sitting next to her and started to scroll through her contacts.

she put her headphones in and clicked on hawk's contact. she laid back into the pillow, tapping the facetime icon. it was currently 1am so she didn't really expect him to answer but he did. "hey." hawk yawned. "i'm sorry if i woke you up." scarlett wasn't too worried about her mother waking up since she's literally the heaviest sleeper she's ever met.

"no, it's okay." hawk leaned over to turn on the lamp next to him. scarlett took in the image of him. his hair was down and messy and his face was a little less red from the bruises than it was before. "are you okay? you haven't given me an update yet."

"i have a concussion, a bruised bone and my ankle is sprained." scarlett explained. "shit. i'm so sorry." hawk exhaled. "for what?" scarlett asked. "i saw the whole fight and i should've protected you." hawk apologized. "hawk, you literally bullied the paramedics into letting you ride in the ambulance with me. you did more than protect me." scarlett laughed, reminiscing on the moment. hawk loved her laugh, it always made him smile.

"why are calling so late?" hawk turned to his side. "i can't sleep. i tried but i had a nightmare." scarlett pulled a piece of her tangled curls behind her ear. "do you wanna talk about it?" hawk asked with concern. "not right now. can you just...stay on the phone till i fall asleep?"

"of course." hawk nodded. scarlett set her phone down and closed her eyes.

SCARLETT WAS NOW OUT OF THE HOSPITAL. the morning she left was a little hectic. the school had called her mother to tell her that scarlett was suspended for two weeks and mar was going to be suspended for the same amount of time. she was pissed. scarlett apologized to her mother over and over but her mother knew that it wasn't her fault. the doctors ran more tests and gave her, her crutches.

she was in her room, sitting on her bed with the book it ends with us in her hands. her leg laid on top of a black pillow since the doctor told her it would be good to keep it elevated. scarlett absolutely hated the cast. it itched every few hours and since it only covered her ankle and half of her foot she got cold often.

the door to her bedroom opened. she assumed it was her mom or her sister, who usually came home from the library at this time. but she looked up seeing hawk standing in the doorway. "hi." scarlett spoke softly and a small smile grew on hawk's lips.

"hey." he walked in and closed the door behind him. "what are doing here?" scarlett folded the corner of the page she was on and closed the book. "i wanted to check on you, and hang out."

scarlett tapped the spot next to her on the bed and he walked over shortly. "so, you didn't feel like putting buckets of gel in your hair today?" scarlett questioned, referring to his hair still being down.

"i haven't gone to the dojo today so i don't see a point." hawk replied, sitting down. the smell of scarlett's signature violet scent took over his nose. "what do mean? i'm pretty sure johnny shut down for a little bit, he hasn't even answered my calls." scarlett raised her eyebrows at him.

"shit, i didn't tell you." scarlett just looked at him confused. "don't hate me after i say this. kreese is running it." hawk confessed. "then i'm definitely not going back." scarlett chuckled.

"hawk, he's not going to be good for you." scarlett crossed her arms. "this is like the worst time to give up on karate. i'm not gonna change or anything, okay." hawk reassured. "promise?" "promise." scarlett held out her pinky, earning a sigh from hawk. "really?" he tilted his head. scarlett waved her hand around and hawk gave in and wrapped his pinky around hers.

"so, how are you feeling?" hawk asked. "my ankle feels fine. i still have a headache but the pain killers help. but, i just feel like that i can't get that image out of my head." hawk just looked at her and listened.

"um...in my dream he was falling in the same way and when he fell i ran to him. but, the second i touched him he disappeared into thin air and i'm just like constantly thinking about what could happen to him." scarlett's eyes started to water and hawk wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his side.

"it's like every time i close my eyes i see it and it honestly makes me feel like i have fucking ptsd." scarlett reseted her head against his. "i can't stop thinking about it either. i try to focus on literally anything else but then my mind goes to that. but, we have to stay strong for him. if he could talk to us right now he wouldn't want us to be upset. and we're gonna make sure miyagi-do pays for this." hawk rubbed her shoulder.

"i don't even give a shit about them anymore." scarlett stared at the wall in front of them. hawk never really saw scarlett like this. she always wanted to be there for everyone else and make everyone else feel better. no one ever took care of her, sometimes she didn't even want to take care of herself.

she wasn't just upset about miguel. she always had this sadness inside of her that she always pushed down and now it started to show. she would feel like absolute shit some days but she out on a smile and tried to be happy with her friends. but now, she felt like she was losing things. miguel, her motivation, her strength. "you know what will make us both feel better?" hawk lifted his head up. "what?" scarlett looked over at him. "mcdonald's and the walking dead." smiles grew on both of their faces. "hand me my phone." scarlett held her hand out.

in the back of her mind scarlett knew that kreese would try to corrupt hawk. she didn't want to believe it. she wanted didn't want hawk to experience what johnny did. she didn't want him to have a miserable life. she didn't want him to disappoint her. she didn't want to loose him too. because, hawk wasn't like anyone else she ever met. she was glad he let her see a side of him that he was insecure about. she loved the real him, not the one everyone else saw.

a/n: tysm for 10k reads! also next chapter a new character is going to be introduced, you can look back at the act two chapter to see who's playing her. also, i know most of y'all don't like sam but her and scarlett are going to end up being friends it just makes sense mostly because of the end of season three where they team up