══════ஓ๑❀*̥๑ஓ══════

𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 parked her impala in front of the San Bernardino Hospice Center. Grabbing her bag, she walked inside, where she was greeted by nurse Annie, who had a look of melancholy on her face.

"Good morning Stella." Annie said as she embraced the beautiful brunette.

"Morning Annie. How's my favorite patient?" Stella said as she signed in

"He'll be glad to see you. He took a turn for the worse last night." Annie said

Feeling her eyes sting with warm tears, she quickly composed herself. "I'll make my visit quick. I know his friends will be here to visit soon." Stella said

"Sweetheart, something I've learned in my forty five years of nursing, and this is just coming from an old nurse, as hard as it may be, this time is important. Not only for you, but for him as well." Annie said

Nodding, Stella wiped her tears, and gave Annie's hand a gentle squeeze and walked towards Room 112, where Tommy sat up watching football.

"You know, my dad was enternally grateful that someone explained football to me." Stella smiled as she stood at the door.

Tommy looked towards the door and his features brightened. "There's my favorite nurse. Get in here." he smiled.

Stella smiled as she walked into Tommy's room, then set her nursing bag on the table. Sitting in the chair beside the bed, she held his hand, and he held it back, and she spoke. "How are you feeling?"

"The better question is, how do I look?" Tommy asked

Stella smiled, as her tears formed. "Very handsome."

"That's all I care about." Tommy smiled.

Stella took his vital signs, as he continued watching football. After she was done, she wrote them down in his chart, then placed her stethoscope in her bag.

"Well, your vital signs look okay." Stella said. Looking around, she saw a few photos on the wall, that she hadn't noticed before, but she certainly noticed now. "Are those your friends?"

"Yeah." Tommy said. "Johnny, Bobby, Jimmy, and Dutch. We all took Cobra Kai together, until December of 84, when our sensei tried to kill us."

"Yeah, I've met Johnny. He lives in the same apartment complex in Reseda as my grandmother and my father." Stella said. "He's actually been a great friend to me Tommy, but I feel something—"

"Something more?" Tommy said

Stella nodded, and she felt Tommy take her hand in his. "You've still got one thing that's very important Stella." the beautiful brunette looked at him, and he spoke again. "Time. You have time Stella."

"Tommy, I have enjoyed coming up here to see you every week. You're the best patient I've ever had." Stella smiled

"You've made the process a lot easier. I've enjoyed your company. I know your mom would be proud of the nurse you are. You follow that dream you have and become a pediatrics nurse. You have what it takes. Don't let anyone stop you. Out of all the nurses I've had, you're my favorite." Tommy said. "I would have loved to have met your mom. She sounds wonderful."

Nodding and smiling, while trying to hold back her tears, Stella reached over and gently embraced him, as he returned it. They pulled away when they heard a knock at the door. Stella turned her head and it was a man in his 50's, a little shorter than Johnny.

"Ah, I see they've got me a priest." Tommy teased. "Stella, this is my best friend, Bobby Brown. Bobby, this is Stella Walker. She's the nurse who's been taking care of me."

"So you're the famous Stella?" Bobby smiled as he brought the brunette in for a gentle and kind embrace. "It's nice to officially meet you. I've heard good things. Thanks for all you've done for him."

Stella smiled warmly as she gently pulled away from Bobby's embrace and held Tommy's hand. "Oh, of course. I've enjoyed visiting with him. Would you believe that my football knowledge has improved because of him?" she asked

Turning to his best friend, Bobby said, "No kidding?"

"Hey, what can I say? I'm an expert at football. Especially since I dated that college cheerleader for a while. Oh Mindy Swartz—" Tommy started but was cut off by Bobby

"Alright Tommy, I don't think Stella wants to hear that wild story of yours. Besides, if I remember correctly, it was a one week stand." Bobby said

Tommy rolled his eyes, then retorted, "Well, she was taking a break from her boyfriend."

Stella laughed, then turned to her friend. "I'll let you two visit. I have to give this report to Nurse Annie."

Leaning down, Stella embraced Tommy, and he returned the embrace, it was tighter than usual, but she didn't mind. "I'll see you later kiddo."

"Bye Tommy." Stella said as she stood up and grabbed her nursing bag. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Bobby."

"You as well, Stella." Bobby said

After walking to the nurse's station, and giving her report to nurse Annie, she walked to the elevator, and pushed the button for the first floor. When the elevator door opened, she was met by the beautiful blue eyes of Johnny.

"Hey princess. What are you doing here?" Johnny asked

"Oh, I was doing my clinicals here today, and visiting my favorite patient." Stella smiled. "What about you?"

"My friend Tommy has cancer. My buddy Bobby called earlier and said he wasn't doing so well."

Stella couldn't tell Johnny that Tommy was her patient, due to patient—medical professional confidentiality. "I'm so sorry Johnny. Listen, I promised grandma I would take her to a late breakfast, but I'll have my phone on me. Call me if you need anything. Okay?"

Johnny smiled as he embraced the beautiful brunette, then the two shared a kiss, as she walked out the door, and to her impala and he got on the elevator.

"Hey, I'm looking for a friend." Johnny said

"Johnny." Bobby said as he turned around, then slapped a supportive five with the blonde and the two shared an embrace. "You look good man. Few more wrinkles, but you know, not too bad." he said

"Yeah, what about you? You'd think with all that preaching and praying, you'd get your hair back." Johnny said

"Yeah. Unfortunately, God doesn't work that way." Bobby said. "But, uh..I've definitely been doing a lot of praying since, you know..." he said as he looked back towards the hospital room

"Yeah..how's he doing?" Johnny asked

"He'll be happy to see you, Johnny." Bobby said. "Room 112."

Johnny walked towards room 112, and stopped at the door to see Tommy watching soccer. "You're watching soccer? It's worse that I thought." Johnny said to

"Johnny." Tommy said with a smile, then turned the tv off. "You didn't have to come all the way out here."

"Yeah, you gonna come and see me?" Johnny asked as he walked to Tommy's bedside

"Yeah, right." Tommy chuckled

"Does it hurt?" Johnny asked

"Nah. Meds do their job." Tommy said, then saw Bobby leaning against the door frame. "Oh, did you see, they already got me a priest."

Bobby just shook his head and chuckled. "I'm a pastor Tommy. But if you wanna confess about that 50 bucks you still owe me, the big guy's listening."

Tommy laughed then ended up coughing. "You're gonna fight this." Johnny said

"Nah. That part's done (points to his head) It's in here now. Besides, you were always a better fighter." Tommy said to Johnny

"Bullshit. Remember that tournament back in '83? You beat vidal to get to the semis." Johnny said

"Yeah. Who beat me in the finals?" Tommy asked

"All right, yeah. But you didn't make it easy on me." Johnny said

"Yes, hon. I know, All right. I love you too. All right gotta go bye." Jimmy said as he walked in. "Sorry I'm late.

"Hey Jimmy." Bobby said as he embraced Jimmy. "Hey." Jimmy said, then walked over to Johnny and embraced him as well 

"Hey buddy." Johnny said as he embraced Jimmy. "Hey." Jimmy said as he returned the embrace.

Jimmy walked over to the bed and held Tommy's hand. "Jenny and the kids send their love." he said

"Aw, tell Jen and the boys I said hi." Tommy said

Just then, a nurse came in. "Oh, you again." Tommy said. He wished it was either Annie or Stella. Mainly Stella, as she was the most compassionate. "Guys, just give me a minute."

The nurse closed the curtain, and the three men stood by the door. "I spoke with the doc. He can sign out for 24 hours, but I don't know. Is he gonna even be able to make it to the car?" Jimmy asked.

"What are you talking about?" Johnny asked

"You didn't tell him?" Jimmy asked giving a surprised look to Bobby

"Look, we can't let Tommy rot in this place. He deserves better." Bobby said.

"What do you have in mind?" Johnny asked.

"Road trip. Give the guy a wild night to remember." Bobby said

They saw the nurse leaving, they quit talking. Once she was gone, they resumed conversing. "I don't know man, in his condition—" Johnny started

Suddenly, they heard a beeping noise and then a flatline. The group rushed into the room to see if Tommy was ok, only to find him removing his IV and patches.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Tommy laughed

The group walked outside as Bobby held the door open for them. They walked down the steps and Johnny and Tommy began teasing Jimmy about his car.

"Look at this thing, what did your wife take your balls too?" Johnny asked and Tommy and Bobby laughed

"Hey, this is the safest car in it's class." Jimmy said

"You said you had a pussy wagon not a wagon for pussies." Tommy teased

"Alright, back me up, isn't it a sin to make fun of another man's ride?" Jimmy asked Bobby

"Jimmy, even God doesn't like this car." Bobby said making Tommy laugh

"You guys got something better in mind?" Jimmy asked

Johnny had a look on his face, then he looked at the group and said, "I've got an idea."

──────

"Hi sweetheart." Janette said as she opened the passenger door to the impala and sat down, then reached over to embrace her granddaughter.

"Hi grandma, you ready to go?" Stella smiled as she returned her grandmother's embrace

As Stella started the impala, Alice Cooper's Poison blared through the speakers. She had forgotten to turn down the radio before she turned off the ignition. Looking at her grandmother, she turned the radio all the way down, and said, "I'll put in another tape. Pretty sure I have a George and Tammy tape in here somewhere."

Janette raised her eyebrow and turned up the radio. "Who said I wanted you to put in another tape?" she said as she put on her seatbelt

"I mean, I—I just—I thought—" Stella stammered as she drove towards the diner

"You thought your grandma was too old to enjoy some Alice Cooper? You forget dear, your mother used to have me watch MTV with her, and would educate me on all of the great rock bands and singers." Janette said

Stella laughed then spoke. "I remember she would get so annoyed when daddy didn't want to listen to her mix tapes." she said

"I remember." Janette chuckled as she pulled into the diner's parking lot. "Even though I love rock, I still love my George Jones."

"So that's why daddy loves George Jones so much?" Stella smiled as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"You better believe it hon." Janette smiled as she unbuckled her seatbelt, and the two women got out of the car.

──────

After trading in their cars for motorcycles, the group of four friends sat in a bar waiting for Johnny to bring back a pitcher of beer.

"Then there was that time that Tommy got that horrible fake ID bartender served us all dishwater." Bobby laughed

"And I drank the whole thing because I didn't know what beer was supposed to taste like." Tommy laughed

"I remember that." Johnny said as he sat down with the beer

"We made up for it the next weekend." Jimmy said. "Dutch got so hammered he stole the dartboard."

"Oh, no, he didn't steal it. He smashed it. That's the first time he went to juvie." Bobby said

"Man, I got so wasted that night, I missed Ali's birthday." Johnny said

"Oh that's right. Boy, she reamed you out." Bobby said

"She did more than that, man. She dumped my ass." Johnny said as he took a drink of his beer, and an awkward silence fell over the table.

"Well, that's her loss, huh?" Tommy said. "So, uh, Dutch is still at Lompoc, huh?"

"Yeah, last I heard." Jimmy said

"To Dutch when the judge said, five to ten.." Johnny said holding up his beer

"She really meant ten to twenty." Bobby finished, then they all brought their glasses up and clinked.

"What about you Johnny? Last I heard you were laying bricks?" Jimmy asked

"I wasn't laying bricks, maybe some light stucco." Johnny chuckled. "Actually, I, uh, opened a karate dojo."

"What? For real?" Bobby asked

"Yeah. It's over in Reseda. It's doing pretty well. Lots of good kids." Johnny said

"What's it called?" Tommy asked

"Johnny thought for a second, not in confusion just wondering if he should tell them. "It's called Cobra Kai." the blonde said

"You brought back Cobra Kai?" Bobby asked

"Yeah, it's not all that's back." Johnny said as he took a sip of his beer. He didn't have to say anything. They knew what else was back, or rather whom was back. John Kreese.

"This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Jimmy said

"It's not stupid." Johnny defended

"John Kreese is bad news, all that crap we dealt with after high school? Taking that no mercy bullshit out into the world?" Bobby said

"You got it the worst, man. Don't you remember?" Jimmy asked

"Of course, I remember but people can change." Johnny said, and Bobby shook his head in disagreement. "Just like Cobra Kai can change."

Bobby scoffed, and Jimmy shook his head in disapproval. "Yeah right." Jimmy said

"I'm trying to change Cobra Kai, and Kreese is on board." Johnny said

"Do you trust him, Johnny?" Tommy asked

"You know Kreese, he always has something up his sleeve." Bobby said

"Nah, he's a different man. Besides, doesn't it say something in your book about forgiveness? 'Cause all I know is everyone deserves a second chance." Johnny said as he took a drink of his beer

"You know what I think? I wanna play some pool. You guys wanna play some pool with me?" Tommy asked

"I'll play some pool with you, Tommy. Come on. Let's go get a table." Johnny said as both he and Tommy got up

──────

"How was your visit with your patient?" Janette said as she poured syrup on her pancakes

"It was alright. He's not doing to well though. He's actually a friend of Johnny's. Turns out his cancer is bad, and Johnny and his friends took him out for a night." Stella said as she stirred creamer into her coffee.

"In his condition, do you think he can handle that?" Janette asked as she bit into her pancakes

"I mean, nothing is impossible, but it beats the alternative." Stella said as she poured ketchup on her hash brows. "So is there some thing in particular you'd like to do after this?"

"Well, your grandfather was always a huge Joni Mitchell fan, yes he loved country, and we danced to many of George Jones' hits, but, he always loved Joni. In fact, he always said that if he had the chance to visit California, he'd want to see her old home.

"Well, why try to find it?" Stella said as she pulled out her phone and searched for Joni Mitchell's old home. "Is that it?"

Janette smiled as she saw Joni's old home. "That's it. That's the house."

"Well, after we finish eating, what do you say we go find it?" Stella smiled

"I'd love that, Stella Blue." Janette smiled. "Did your daddy ever tell you that's the reason your middle name is Blue?"

"No, but I makes perfect sense, as you and gramps always played her albums, even mom loved Joni." Stella smiled

──────

After lunch, Stella drove towards Laurel Canyon and pulled into Joni Mitchell's old home, which was vacated. Taking off her seatbelt, Janette smiled as she got out of the car.

"I can't believe I'm here." Janette smiled, then turned to embrace her granddaughter. "Thank you sweetheart."

"Of course, grandma." Stella smiled

"You know, Joni Mitchell lived in this house with Graham Nash." Janette said as she opened the gate. "It's open. C'mon."

"The two walked though the gate, and when Janette stood in the driveway of her husband's idol's home, she almost felt like crying. "Did you know that Graham Nash wrote the song Our House about this house?" Janette asked

"No, I sure didn't." Stella smiled

"One morning, Joni and Graham went down to the Valley to have breakfast at Art's Deli, and after breakfast, they were walking down Ventura Boulevard, and Joni spotted this vase in a store window that she really liked, so they bought it, and they brought it back home, and Graham suggested that Joni pick some flowers for the vase while he built a fire." Janette explained.

"Gramps loved Our House." Stella smiled

Janette smiled fondly then closed her eyes, and opened them again. "Hmm. An otherwise simple morning might have been forgotten if it weren't for that song, Blue. Stella, thank you again for this." she smiled as she embraced her granddaughter."

"Of course grandma." Stella smiled. "You know I'll do anything for you."

──────

"Today was fun Johnny." Tommy said as he and Johnny sat around the campfire drinking a beer.

"You still got some moves, man. You should stop by the dojo sometime." Johnny said

"Yeah right. Just like the good old days." Tommy smiled. "Where'd all that time go?"

"I don't know." Johnny said

"You know, there was something I never told you. Didn't think you needed to know...but screw it. I was in love with Ali." Tommy confessed

"What?" Johnny laughed

"Freshman year. We were in the same home room. We used to talk all the time. I was building up the courage to ask her out, when...someone else struck first. That's why I joined Cobra Kai. I wanted to have the balls that you had. Without the smell."

"I didn't think I would ever get over her. I dated plenty of babes after. I never let my guard down with any of them, you know? Not like with Ali." Johnny said, then he smiled fondly, thoughts of his beautiful Stella coming to mind. "That is until..."

"Until what?" Tommy asked

"Stella Walker. She's a nursing student, she's amazing and special. She's beautiful in every way. Her brother's my top student. She brings out the best in me, and I wanna be a better man for her, because I know she deserves it. She's been through so much, and through it all, she's truly helped me."

"Stella's my nurse. You're right about one thing, she's special, she was the only nurse who I didn't scare away." Tommy said and Johnny chuckled. "But, you still got one thing that's more important than anything, Johnny."

"What's that?" Johnny asked

"Time. You still have time." Tommy stated. "Stella told me how she feels about you. You both like each other, don't let a wonderful girl like her slip away."

"Right now, all I wanna do is make sure my students don't make the same mistakes that we did. I don't want them to look back at their life full of regret." Johnny said. Johnny, you're a liar. You know you want Stella.

"You'll do it, Johnny. You're the champ." Tommy said, then Johnny put his hand on Tommy's shoulder and Tommy patted Johnny's leg.

──────

The next morning, Stella stood in the kitchen, making her morning coffee, when she heard her phone vibrate on the counter. Looking at the caller id, which read San Bernardino Hospice Center, she answered the call.

"Hello?" Stella answered

"Stella? It's Annie." Annie said on the other line

"Oh, good morning Annie. Is everything alright?" Stella said

"I'm so sorry honey. Tommy passed away last night." Annie said

Stella felt her knees weaken and her chest tighten. He was her favorite clinicals patient, and one of her dearest friends. She always enjoyed their talks, and now he's forever gone.

"Stella, are you still there sweetheart?" Annie said

"Y—Yeah." Stella said as she sat down at the table to collect herself.

"I just think you should know, just in the short time he knew you. He was very fond of you." Annie said

"I was very fond of him too." Stella cried quietly.

"His friends are here, and one with the blonde hair, Johnny I guess is his name, has been asking for you." Annie said

"Of course." Stella said. "Let him know I'm on my way and I'll be there as soon as I can."

After ending the call, Stella grabbed her purse and keys, and left the apartment. Upon arriving at the hospice center, she walked to the waiting area, where Johnny sat, the nature of melancholy surrounding him, and Bobby and Jimmy were speaking with the doctor.

Upon seeing his beautiful Stella, Johnny stood up and embraced her, never letting her go, almost as if, she was his anchor, and it's most likely true, that's alright. She will be the strong one now.

"I'm so sorry, Johnny." Stella said, as she felt the tears well in her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm so glad you're here." Johnny said into her hair.

"You know I'm always going to be here for you." Stella said. "I've always got you."

"Hey Stella." Bobby said

Pulling away from Johnny's embrace, she turned around and sweetly embraced Bobby, then said, "I'm so sorry Bobby. I know y'all had been friends since y'all were in middle school."

"Tommy told us how kind you were to him, and even on the days you didn't have clinicals, you would still come visit him. He really appreciated that, and he didn't feel as lonely. I'm Jimmy by the way." Jimmy said as he sweetly embraced Stella

"Oh, it's a pleasure meeting you Jimmy, and I enjoyed our visits. I'll miss him laying on that call light though, because he wanted to see how fast it took nurse Annie to get there." Stella said with a soft chuckle

"That sounds like something he would do." Bobby said

"Well, I know you guys probably want to talk, and I have to talk to nurse Annie, so I'll see y'all later." Stella smiled

"Bye Stella."

──────

"How are you holding up?" Stella said, as Johnny sat on the couch of her apartment in the living room, and she handed him a beer.

"I'm alright." Johnny said as he took a swig of the beer

"It's crazy, how it all happens so fast." Stella said.

"With my mom, I had a chance to say goodbye, but I guess I never really found peace." Johnny said as he looked down at his beer. "I remember after she died, I used to have these nightmares. Sometimes I still have them."

Stella herself understands what it feels like to have nightmares that haunt her. "Tell me about them." she said.

Johnny looked up to find Stella's warm, blue eyes gazing back at him. "How long did you have them for?"

"Off and on after she died. I can't really remember all the details. One thing I do remember, that asshole Sid blamed me for her death." Johnny said as he set his beer on the table. Looking at Stella, she nodded her head go on. "I just remember after having them, I felt helpless, I had no one to talk to about it. It's stupid, I know."

Taking his hand in her own, Stella spoke. "No, Johnny. In no way, shape or form, is that even close to stupid. I understand. I truly do. I had the worst dreams after my mama died. They always involved excruciating headaches, mainly in the back of my head." she said

"The accident?" Johnny said, as they stroked each other's hands

"Yeah. It seems so obvious to me now, but it didn't to me at the time, not until I talked to grandma. I learned to tell myself that they were just dreams, and it gave me control. And now, the dreams about my mom are good. They're happy, sometimes, I still have bad dreams, but for the most part, they're happy. They make me feel like I'm creating new memories of her. You can do that too. Just talk to someone, even if it's me. It's better than torturing yourself, trust me." Stella said

Johnny held the brunette close to him. "You truly are amazing Stella. I don't know what I've done to deserve you." he said as he kissed her head

"I'm not going anywhere hon. You know I'm always going to be here for you. No matter what." Stella smiled