Chapter 4: You'll Reach the Final Bell

Johnny's father was deadbeat loser who cared about no one but himself.

Laura married him out of love and he stepped out to buy cigarettes one day and never returned.

The second time she married, she married out of obligation and necessity. She didn't love Sid but he could provide for them. He had the money to give them a good life with the best opportunities and that was all she wanted for Johnny. She raised him the best she could with what she had but it never felt adequate enough. She never felt adequate enough. But with Sid's money perhaps Johnny would be able to make a better future for himself, something better than she could ever have given him on her own.

Everything she did was for her son and she could hope that he would turn out to be a better man than his father ever was.

The last thing she ever expected was to come so close to losing him. That would have been a loss she never would have recovered from. But that was what she felt when Bobby and Jimmy showed up on her front step looking pale and terrified. Laura knew something terrible had happened before they even got a chance to open their mouths to explain.

But she didn't lose her son, he was still there within touching distance and real; her beautiful baby boy who'd all of a sudden turned into a man. A man she was proud of who was smart and kind and showed her the love she was denied by the other men in her life. He was a better man than his father ever was and that Sid would ever be, but he would never be anything other than her baby.

She reached over to stroke the hair back from his forehead and let her hand linger, her fingers running through the soft tresses like she used to do when he was young. He'd grow too old to want his mother to coddle him but always liked when she played with his hair.

The doctors had him on so much painkillers that he hadn't stirred even once the entire time she was there. Even his sensei had hung around for a while before leaving to deal with personal matters.

Laura had never been overly fond of the man – he reminded her too much of Johnny's dad for her to ever completely let her guard down around him. But she kept her feelings to herself because she knew Johnny looked up to and respected the man the way he'd never had a male role model to look up to and respect. She had only hoped that her son wouldn't be let down and disappointed by another male figure in his life and considering her own sad track record, it was a fear she always expected to come true.

But John Kreese had stayed with her from the moment she walked into the waiting room. He hung around close to her, not offering any words of comfort or even saying anything, but just supporting her and Johnny with his imposing presence alone. He walked with her when the doctor finally allowed them to go see him and he actually reached over to place a hand on her shoulder when she let out a shuddering breath the first moment she stepped into Johnny's room and saw her son laying there looking so vulnerable.

He stayed with her for hours, still in his fighting gi and with no shoes on. He barely said a word to her the entire time they were there but it wasn't his words that Laura needed, only his support and that was exactly what he provided.

It was just her and Johnny in the room at that point. The lights were dim and the ticking clock on the wall outside Johnny's room showed that it was approaching dusk.

The silence of the room made the usually imperceptible groan sound like it was transmitted through a loud speaker. Laura immediately straightened up, leaning over to place her hand on her son's forehead, the other reaching over to grasp onto his hand that had started moving around restlessly, calling his name softly into his ear.

Johnny still had on the strict neck brace and was slowly becoming aware of it as he surfaced from the depths of unconsciousness. His brows furrowed and he gritted his teeth; his limbs moved like he was trying to get reacquainted to the feeling of having them attached to his body.

Slowly his eyes opened.

"Johnny?" Laura called, leaning over further so that she was in her son's immediate line of sight since he wouldn't be able to turn his head to look at her. His bed was slightly elevated so that he was more in a sitting up position and would at least be able to look around at his surroundings instead of having to stare at the ceiling the entire time. "Honey?"

It took a while before his eyes finally focused, still groggy from all the painkillers being pumped into him and longer still before he even noticed his mom being there by his side.

His voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper when he said, "Mom?" once his brain finally joined him in consciousness.

"Hi, honey," Laura said tearfully, "I missed you. You really worried me for a moment there."

"Sorry…" Johnny said. His grip tightened around Laura's hand holding onto his, his eyes slowly starting to glisten with the tears that were pooling in the corner. "I'm sorry, mom. I'm sorry…" he repeated. Laura could tell that the apology wasn't just for worrying her or for even for what had happened. She knew her son; she knew when whatever was bothering him went far beyond what was in the immediate present. She knew when it was about things that he'd kept pent up for so long out of fear of worrying her and causing her sadness. Johnny had always been a sensitive child. The older he got the more he tried to hide it from people, especially from her, but she could always see straight through his façade.

But the mask was crumbling right before her very eyes.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart. Nothing at all," she said, gently stroking his hair.

Johnny didn't seem to hear her or was unwilling to do so. "I'm sorry…" he continued saying like a mantra. "I'm sorry for dad. I'm sorry for Sid. I'm sorry for being such a disappointment."

"What?" Laura could only furrow her brows in disbelief, feeling her whole insides clench hearing her son's words. "How could you even think that? I have very few things to be proud of in my life, perhaps even just one thing and that's you. You're my pride and joy, Johnny, the single most precious and most important person I have. And whatever happened with your dad and with Sid, that's in absolutely no way your fault. You hear me? That's on me. I don't want you to carry any of the blame for that on your shoulder. I'm the one who should be sorry for Sid, for letting him treat you that way. I only wanted to give you a better life, a life I wouldn't have been able to provide for you on my own." Laura stood up and perched herself on the side of the bed, holding Johnny's hand with both of her own, looking him straight in the eyes. "I love you, Johnny," she said through tears, "I have never, ever been anything other than proud of you and the man you've become and I would sacrifice absolutely anything and everything just for you."

Johnny couldn't keep his own tears at bay either; they pooled in the corner of his eyes before spilling out, trickling down the side of his cheeks and dripping down his jaw onto the neck brace. "I love you too, mom," he said. "I don't need Sid's money. I only need you."

Laura couldn't hold back her sob when Johnny finished, leaning down to bury her face in his shoulder. Johnny could only circle his arms around her and hug her back.

They stayed like that for the rest of the night. Laura curled into his side, legs tucked under her and his arms around her shoulder latching on tight; the way she used to hold him after a nightmare when he was a child. But he wasn't a child anymore, he was a grown man; he towered over her when they walked but he still looked at her like she was bigger than life.

It was morning by the time Laura woke up from sleep, still curled into Johnny's side with his arm around her shoulder. Carefully she pushed herself up without disturbing him; his brows would periodically furrow indicating that despite how serene his sleep seemed, whatever he was dreaming about was the complete opposite of it. Once she was on her feet, she reached over and readjusted his blanket, pulling it higher up his chest and tucking it around him the way she used to do when he was young.

She couldn't remember when she stopped doing it or why – when her son finally became a teenager or the first time Sid called him a baby for still having his mom tuck him into bed.

Laura couldn't remember when she decided that giving her son a good life was more important than not allowing a terrible, emotionally abusive man to keep putting him down and hacking away at his self-esteem. As wary as she was about his sensei, she couldn't deny that finding John Kreese and Cobra Kai was one of the best things to have happened to Johnny.

She leaned over to plant a soft kiss on his forehead before retaking her seat by his bedside, reaching over to hold his hand, stroking the knuckles with her thumb as a comforting gesture for both him and her and she just waited.

Tbc.