TWENTY TWO.
( are we still friends? )

Minutes after Miguel was wheeled away to the hospital, parents of students started to show up. 

Mrs. Moskowitz drove her son and the girl who was like daughter to her to the hospital, where they could check to make sure their injuries weren't anything serious. The whole car ride there, Emmy couldn't stop crying. All she could think about was how her telling Tory led to Miguel on the brink of death. If Miguel died, it was her fault.

"I'm gonna go check on Eli. Are you gonna be ok by yourself?" Emmy numbly nodded as the nurse checked her face bruises. Mrs. Moskowitz left to check on her son, and Emmy sat there not sure what to feel. 

"Alright. Your jaw seems to be in a bit of a weird place, but it's gonna have to heal on it's own. There is severe bruising on your back, so I recommended that you take it easy, and avoid heavy duty tasks. I've already clean and bandaged the cuts on your arm, so when ⎯ "

"What cuts?" Emmy turned to the nurse with a frown. She didn't remember getting cut in the fight. 

The nurse raised her arm, showing a large bandage on her left arm. "These ones."

The younger girl observed it, racking through her brain to try and figure out where it came from. Then, she remembered when she went to check on Tory when she went over the railing, Tory wasn't holding the spike bracelet anymore. She must have accidentally cut herself when she bent down to help her.

"Oh," was all she could say. 

The nurse put her arm down. "But other than that, you are free to go. You can stop by the pharmacy to pick up your pain medication."

Emmy nodded. "Okay. Thank you." She got a nod return. 

Stepping out of the room, Emmy felt a little odd. She had never been at a hospital for her own injuries before and normally just sat in the waiting room while texting Eli and Demetri. 

There were so many people running and walking around, holding clipboards, pushing people in wheelchairs, talking with families, etc. 

She walked with a slight limp as Sam had kicked her roughly in the knee and walked past a series of doors. Trying to find Hawk's room, she looked through the window of every door. When she got to a particular one, she felt herself start to tear up. 

Sam was sitting on a hospital bed and their parents were standing around her, comforting her. 

Emmy forgot that she had fought ruthlessly with Sam for reasons like this and she pushed the door open, making everyone turn. 

Daniel immediately stood up from the bed, staring at his youngest daughter wide eyed. Amanda brought a hand to her face, eyes tearing up as she looked at the state of her youngest daughter. 

Her mind then started replaying her entire life before her eyes, but she swallowed it up, and walked further into the room. She was stood by the foot of Sam's hospital bed, not being able to bring herself to look at her. 

Amanda and Daniel couldn't believe their ears when Sam had told them Emmy's involvement. They wanted to be angry, but they couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness as they thought of their middle child. Emmy had been suffering in silence her entire life and they were too focused on their other kids to see it. 

Daniel's eyes drifted over her state. Her eye had some bruising around it, there was a large bruise on her cheek and jaw, there was dried blood where her lip had split, and on her arm, was a giant bandage and various red marks and bruises. When he looked back into her eyes, he could see the pain swirling in them. 

Emmy's lip quivered as she opened her mouth. "I'm sorry." Her voice was in a whisper, but they all could feel the motions that came with it. 

Amanda sobbed and immediately pulled her youngest daughter into the tightest embrace she had ever done, afraid that if she let go just a little bit, she would be gone again. 

✸

Emmy never went back to the LaRusso residence that day like the LaRusso's had hoped. After hugging her mom she had ran out of the room and found an unoccupied bathroom to cry in. Emmy had never felt so much guilt and pain in her life. The shame of knowing she was the cause of the school fight consumed her and she couldn't see a way out. She loved Tory. Tory was one of her best friends and she would easily die for her. But then she thought of Miguel and she would start crying again. 

She remembered when Miguel was just a new student at West Valley and he was given the sit right next to hers. He sat with her friends at lunch, they went to the dance together, they kicked ass at the All Valley Tournament, they always hung out, and they supported each other no matter what. 

Another guilt ridden wave overcame her when she realized that another big reason why she told Tory about Sam and Miguel, was because of her past feelings for the boy. Seeing the boy she had fallen for so easily fall for her sister, made her feel unloveable back then. Seeing it happen to her friend stirred up previous emotions. 

She felt selfish. Selfish for letting her emotions blind her and cost Miguel's life. 

Wiping her tears, Emmy unlocked the bathroom door and quietly exited. She walked down the hall to go to the front of the hospital where Hawk and his mom were waiting for her, where she spotted a familiar head of blonde hair. 

"Sensei?"

Johnny jumped and whipped around, eyes softening when he saw Emmy. "Hey, Pinky."

She glanced at the room he was looking into. "Is that..."

He gulped before nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, it's him."

Emmy bit down on her lip. She couldn't bring herself to look through that window. She just couldn't. "I have to go."

Johnny watched as the girl sped walked away, not sparing a glance over her shoulder before turning the corner. He sadly sighed as he thought about Miguel and Emmy. He remembered watching the two laugh together and play jokes on one another during their stretching time. There was even a period of time where he thought they would get together and start dating. 

More tears formed in his eyes. Those two were like two peas in a pod. They were always mentioning the other in conversations, they were always with each other, he was who she went to when she left home, she was the one he went to for relationship advice. They were just the perfect pair of best friends. 

And now, they were both left broken.

✸

Emmy knew that she wasn't ready to face Sam everyday or come back to live with her family, but she was a teenage girl. And sometimes, all she needed was her mother's love. 

She slowly walked up to the house, feeling utterly exhausted as her eyes were the puffiest they have ever been. 

The last thing she expected to see was Robby practically sprinting away from the house in the dead of the night. 

"Robby?" she called out, immediately walking back to the middle of the road where she could clearly see him. 

Robby froze, backpack on his back as he turned around. He looked extremely panicked, and looked as if he was gonna bolt. 

"Please don't run!" Emmy quickly exclaimed, jogging closer to him. She hugged her navy blue hoodie closer to her, suddenly starting to wish that she changed into sweatpants instead of staying with her sleep shorts on. 

"What do you want?" he looked away from her. 

She sighed. "I don't know."

He pursed his lips, looking down at the ground. 

"Are you running away?" Emmy knew that it was stupid question, but she just wanted to keep him in her sight for a little longer. 

"Well, I can't exactly stay," he scoffed. "I kicked a dude over a railing."

"Right. Sorry. Stupid question."

Robby furrowed his eyebrows. "Why aren't you screaming at me? I figured you'd be mad and rip the skin off my bones."

"I ⎯ " she stomped her foot on the ground, getting frustrated at how she was starting to get choked up again. "I can't be mad at you for something I did."

Robby became even more confused. "Something you did? Last time I checked, you didn't practically kill a guy."

"No, but I'm the reason why Tory started the fight in the first place," Emmy tearfully confessed. "I told her that Miguel and Sam kissed and now no one knows if he's gonna wake up."

"You what? You told Tory? But I thought you and Miguel were best friends," Robby took a step closer to her. 

"We are. Or were. I don't know. But, I told her. And I know it was because I was hurt too. Because I never stopped liking him. And I just feel so shitty because it should be because I promised Tory I would tell her everything, not because seeing them hurt me."

Robby thickly swallowed. "Does anyone else know? Besides Tory?"

Emmy shook her hand, using her sleeve to wipe her nose. "No. And I know she won't tell anyone."

"Looks like you're off the hook then, huh?" Robby couldn't help but scoff. 

Emmy realized he was right. No one knew of her involvement in why Tory started the fight, but everyone saw Robby kick Miguel over the railing. He was so right. There situations weren't comparable. 

She started to feel even more like shit and guilty for making herself look like victim when Robby was running away from the law. 

"You're right," she quietly said. "I'm sorry."

He solemnly nodded, staring at her for a moment. "Are you gonna tell anyone you saw me?"

"No," she immediately said, and firm shake of her head.

"Why? You don't owe me anything."

Emmy sniffled, and walked up closer to him, standing only about 5 inches away from him. "You're right. I don't. But you said you wanted me to understand and to forgive you. And this is me doing that."

"But why?"

She gave a shaky breath, taking a large step forward and suddenly wrapped her arms around him. 

Robby was immediately taken aback, arms frozen at his sides. It only made Emmy embrace him tighter, her chin on his shoulder. "Because you listened."

His eyes widened, arms slowly closing in, and gently wrapped around her head. Emmy smiled to herself, closing her eyes. Just from the way he melted into her arms, she could tell that he was in need of a hug. 

"You're a good person, Robby," she whispered. "You were just born in the worst circumstances."

Robby could feel his eyes start to burn at her words. He had never heard those come out of anyone's mouth. Not for him or anyone. He didn't realize how much he needed to hear that. And it didn't come from Sam. But from Emmy LaRusso.

Emmy was a girl. No, the only girl. No, the only person Robby had ever felt this vulnerable with. She always saw the best in him. I mean, here she was, hugging the boy she hated with a passion just a few months ago. 

"Thank you," he whispered back. 

Emmy smiled even wider, rubbing his back before pulling away. "You stay safe, okay?"

"Yeah," he lightly chuckled. "Thank you, Emmy. Really."

She giggled, wiping away her tears and shooed him away. "It was no problem. Now, go! Get outta here."

He laughed, starting to jog away. 

"And get a haircut!" she yelled after him. She laughed when he threw a thumbs up. And for a moment, she felt an intense guilt creep up as she realized that she might have let Miguel's killer run away free, but then, the angel on her right shoulder told her that she did the right thing. 

✸

Back at the hospital, Amanda was stressed beyond belief.

"Hey, where is she? I got her her favorite sandwich from il Tramezzino," Daniel walked in the room with a bag in hand. 

"Still waiting for her to get back from her X-rays," Amanda answered. "Now the doctor thinks she might have a cracked rib."

Daniel's shoulder deflated. "Oh, God..."

"This has to stop, Daniel."

"I know, you're right. I know, I swear. I... I'm not gonna let Cobra Kai get away with this ⎯ I'm not ⎯ "

"Enough with Cobra Kai!" Amanda snapped and rose from her seat. "Don't you see what this stupid rivalry has done? Our daughter is in the the hospital and our other daughter is farther away than she was before."

"Emmy ⎯ "

"No!" Amanda snapped again. "Because of karate, Emmy is out there with another family. This obsession you have has drove our relationship with our daughter through the mud. Because of karate, today could be the last day I ever hold my little girl again."

AUTHOR'S NOTE !

this whole chapter was a damn roller coaster