CHAPTER 10

So I didn't think I would have to say this as I thought it would be blatantly obvious to any reader with half a brain cell, but Lionsgate Hospital is a MADE UP place. It does not exist in real life. I know that there is another hospital called Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, BC - my grandma frickin worked there as an ER Nurse! The only similarity between my made up hospital and this one in Vancouver is the name!

After Kreese left the apartment, Carmen walked back into the living room and she picked up the leaflet once again and read through it front to back. She then went online and read every single review of the hospital on the internet. They were all absolutely glowing with praises for the hospital. The only slightly negative ones were ones by people who never recovered from their injuries (which was always a chance), and even those praised the hospital's atmosphere and facilities, but they just didn't end up recovering.

Carmen was so engrossed in reading that she didn't notice her mother walking into the room.

"I don't trust that man." Rosa stated in Spanish. Carmen leapt in the air in shock.

"Ay, Dios Mio! You scared me!" Carmen exclaimed, before realising what her mom had said. "Wait… how much of that conversation did you hear?"

"Enough." Rosa replied. "You know he doesn't really care about Miguel."

"Doesn't care? Mami, he is offering to pay for a recovery plan that costs more than 50 thousand dollars. Would you do that for everyone?"

Rosa tutted and shook her head.

"How do you not see this? He is using that recovery treatment to make Miguel feel in debt to him so Miguel never leaves his dojo."

Carmen chuckled.

"Yeah, because people care that much about karate, don't they?" Carmen remarked, sarcastically. Rosa glared at her.

"Well, in case you didn't notice, he clearly does." Rosa snapped. "He was talking about Cobra Kai being like a family. That was a lie. To him, it is clearly more than that. To him, it's like his own Army, and you letting Miguel accept his offer for the therapy is basically selling Miguel's soul to the devil and this man's side, no matter what horrible things they do."

"I think you're overreacting, mami." Carmen said, unconvinced of her mother's opinion. Rosa sighed.

"Of course you don't see it. This Karate man is no different to that comemierda you married." Rosa replied. Carmen glared at her.

"Watch it, mami." Carmen warned her, but Rosa didn't stop.

"Your husband hid behind money and fake kind words but deep down he was a very bad man and you know it! This karate man is the same!"

"Mami, this is extremely different!" Carmen exclaimed. Rosa raised an eyebrow.

"Is it? Miguel's father manipulated many innocent teenagers into joining the cartel! That was his main job, using emotional manipulation to entrap kids into his side! Answer me… how is this any different?"

"Look, mami, what do you want me to do? What do you, in your infinite wisdom, suggest?" Carmen snapped, sarcastically. "You and I both know that no free therapist I get from the hospital is going to make Miguel walk again, and then his life will truly be over!"

The two lapsed into silence for several moments, before Rosa spoke again.

"Johnny." She replied shortly. Carmen looked at her mother in a combination of shock and disbelief.

"Excuse me?"

"Johnny." Rosa repeated. "I'm sure if you let him, he will be back to training Miguel in a heartbeat. He has worked wonders with Miguel before, getting him from being the skinny, bullied kid to being able to stand up for himself. He can work with Miguel and help him regain movement."

Carmen shook her head.

"Okay, first of all, I don't want that man anywhere near my son. He sat here and swore to me that Miggy would not be permanently injured, and then he failed to teach my son how to defend himself, and then his own son injured Miguel. He is a curse on this family and Miguel. And secondly, Johnny isn't a magician. He can't play God and work miracles like healing Miguel's back. What Miggy needs is PROFESSIONAL help."

"No, what he needs is being pulled out of Cobra Kai's clutches right now, or he is just going to be manipulated more and more."

"How old do you think he is? And how gullible?" Carmen asked. "Miguel is not a little kid to be manipulated so easily! Right now, he is not thinking about the future. His top priority is to get well, and his best chance of doing that is by going to this hospital. If you can't see that, you're blind. Anyways, at the end of the day, it's up to him whether he wants to go or not."

With that, Carmen walked out of the room, leaving her frustrated mother behind in the living room…

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Less than 24 hours later, Miguel was packing his suitcase for his upcoming adventure. He was actually leaving the next morning, as Kreese had gotten him a spot in the hospital starting that day. Despite his mom really wanting him to stay home for a while as he had just woken up from the coma 5 days ago, they both knew that time was of the essence and he needed to begin the recovery process as soon as possible. Miguel and his mom had had a long conversation the night before, and they had both agreed that they weren't going to look at whether Miguel was going to join Cobra Kai after he got back from therapy. It was way too far in the future to be thinking like that. They were just thinking about the immediate future: therapy, and they both understood that the only chance he had of recovering, even partly, would be through this program.

Miguel's stomach was in turmoil as he tossed a bunch of clothes into his bag. The uncertainty surrounding everything to do with his life overpowered every other emotion. He didn't even feel scared about moving to the hospital for an indefinite amount of time. He had moved soooo much as a kid. He was only 6 months old when his mom and grandma fled with him to the States from Ecuador so he didn't remember that at all, but he had moved 8 more times after that, living in all sorts of tiny apartments for a duration from 1 year to 4 years. Moving so much as Carmen had attempted to find her feet in the country and played a large part in Miguel's introverted personality. In many cases, his only friend was himself as he didn't have enough time to get to know others, so he eventually just stopped trying. This hospital place would be the same. He would just keep his head down, not worry about making friends, and just focus on getting better.

As Miguel thought about all of the places he had lived in during his relatively short life so far, his mind was pulled out of the flashbacks when he heard the ringing of the doorbell. Miguel groaned. He was the only one home as his mom and yaya were at the store buying anything they thought he might need while he was away, so he needed to get the door himself. That task, that would normally take a matter of seconds, took Miguel much longer as he needed to carefully maneuver his wheelchair out of the extremely narrow doorway, and weave his way through the tiny apartment to make it to the door. Eventually, he got there and opened the door, only to see one of the people he wished to see least in the world. Johnny Lawrence stood nervously on the front porch, his hands fumbling with his pockets in anxiousness as he looked at his scowling former student.

"What do you want?" Miguel snapped.

"Look, I know I'm like the last person you want to see. I understand that, but please just give me 10 minutes. We need to talk." Johnny said.

"You got 5 minutes." Miguel replied, reluctantly.

"10 minutes, please." Johnny begged.

"4 minutes 57 seconds." Miguel shot back, staring daggers at Johnny. Johnny sighed. He could tell how angry Miguel still was, and the fact that Miguel was even granting him the 5 minutes was a blessing. Johnny took a deep breath.

"Miguel, I know you're pissed. You have the right to be. I screwed up. What happened to you… I couldn't even look myself in the eye let alone face you. But I realise now how badly I screwed up and I want to make it up to you. Why don't we start a new Karate dojo together? Just you and me to start with, just like old times. I guarantee you that if you trust me again, I can and will fix your legs. Let me be your sensei again, and we can start a dojo better than both Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai. I failed to teach you when exactly to show mercy in a fight as showing mercy too early can be even more dangerous than not showing mercy at all, as you found out during the school fight. That was my biggest mistake when coaching you, and I swear to you I won't make that mistake again. Please forgive me, Miguel. I am the only person in the Valley who has your best interests at heart, and has your back no matter what. Kreese and Cobra Kai don't. Miyagi-Do doesn't."

As Miguel looked at Johnny, Johnny noticed Miguel's fuming expression begin to fade, leaving an unreadable expression on his face.

"Johnny, can I ask you something?" Miguel asked.

"Yeah, sure. What's up?" Johnny asked, starting to feel a little bit hopeful. After all, Miguel hadn't slammed the door in his face yet.

"If you were in my situation, which of the following options would you choose? Would you choose to side with a man who is the reason you can't walk, betraying all of your friends in the process? Side with the man whose son put you in the wheelchair to begin with? Who was supposed to be the person that had your back at all times but ending up fucking you over and causing you to lose everything. A man who clearly has his own issues, a serious alcohol addiction among others. Or… would you join the person who warned you months before you got injured that the path you were going on would not have a happy ending to it? The person who has been a sensei a LOT longer than the other guy. The person who actually has real-life experience in fighting in the military, so has the best chance at teaching you how to defend yourself. The person who has volunteered to pay to send you to the best hospital in the country to help you recover."

Johnny was rendered speechless for a while, his mouth gaping open and shut like a fish

"I… uh… I…"

"Thought so." Miguel murmured. "Bye, Johnny."

Miguel started to close the door, but Johnny finally managed to regain movement, and he quickly blocked Miguel from being able to shut the door fully.

"Woah, woah, woah, what did you mean about Kreese offering to pay for you to be sent to the best hospital in the country?" Johnny asked. Miguel sighed and took out the leaflet for Lionsgate Hospital that he had in his sweatshirt pocket.

"I leave tomorrow morning." Miguel explained, as Johnny's eyes darted around the page of the leaflet. "Bye, Johnny."

Miguel then managed to shut the door, leaving Johnny outside, reading the leaflet. As Johnny finished reading it, he could feel his heart begin to pound faster and faster. He realised exactly what Kreese was doing, and how effectively he had managed to sink his fangs into Miguel's neck. And he realised that there was no way he himself would be able to pull Miguel out of the wicked monster's clutches. At least, not without help…

Half an hour later, Johnny pulled up to an eerily familiar house up in Encino Hills. He walked up the perfectly kept driveway and front lawn, to the front door and he rapped on the door loudly. As Johnny stood there, he shuffled on the spot nervously. This man was truly the last hope he had in trying to restore peace in the Valley and stopping Kreese. Johnny DEFINITELY wouldn't be here if he had any other options, that's for sure. Moments later, a disgruntled looking Daniel Larusso opened the door and scowled at him.

"What do you want?" Daniel snapped at him. Daniel hadn't seen Johnny since the school fight. No one had seen Johnny actually, so Daniel had had to be the one to search for Robby when he ran away, and he had to be the one to convince Robby to turn himself in to the police. Johnny was nowhere to be found during any of that, so Daniel, if possible, resented the blonde man even more.

Johnny took a deep breath, his fingers crossed in his jacket pockets.

"Listen, Larusso, I know that we don't see eye to eye, especially now. And trust me, I wouldn't be coming here if I had any other choice. But I need your help. It's Kreese…"

Sorry. So I know Miguel leaving to somewhere like this hospital is a bit far-fetched and unrealistic, but I needed some way to get Miguel off the map for a bit. And I know that I haven't really covered any other perspectives in the past little while. Don't worry, now that I have sent Miguel to this hospital, although the story is mainly from Miguel's perspective, there is a lot more opportunity to cover Johnny and Robby in particular, but also Daniel, Sam, Tory, Hawk, Kreese and others' perspectives.