It's not often that Mike gets a full week off of TV. No matches, no MizTV, no nothing. He gets a couple extra days with AJ and Sara, planning on doing little more than relaxing in between phone interviews and live tweeting Miz and Mrs. He'll need to get ahold of Maryse to discuss filming future episodes, but ultimately, the time is his to do as he wishes.
That is, until he wakes up Saturday morning and stares in confusion at the notification on his phone. After getting dressed quietly and making sure Sara is still sleeping peacefully, he gets into the car and drives towards the beach, traffic not so terrible at this hour and allowing him to get there in decent enough time, parking outside of John's apartment and staring up at it for long, tense moments, before getting out of his car and heading in.
He could make this trip in his sleep, he thinks, trailing his fingers absently over the smooth walls as he walks up the stairs to John's floor. He hesitates outside of the door before knocking, not that surprised when Taya answers. She smiles weakly at him and he takes a deep breath before giving her a quick hug, walking inside when she invites him in. The apartment looks barren, most things packed into boxes and pushed aside, John on his hands and knees as he stuffs the last few things into a bag. "John," Mike says quietly, his best friend's head shooting up as he blinks at Mike.
"Oh, Mike! Hey," he says, getting up quickly and walking over to him. "I thought I heard someone knocking, but you know. I was busy." Mike eyes him and John chuckles awkwardly. "I guess this means you saw my tweet then."
"Yeah, I guess it does," Mike intones and John bites his lower lip. "So you've decided to ... what, leave the country and get some risky stem cell experimental stuff done? Without letting me know?"
"You..." he swallows. "You were busy. You've got AJ and Sara, and the new baby on the way, and..."
"Holy shit," Mike laughs, shaking his head. "I know I've been busy and we don't see each other as much as we used to, but dammit, John. You'relike... no, no, you are my brother, and I want to know when something like this is going on. Any time something's going on with me, you're the first person I call or go to, and you... you don't feel comfortable doing the same?" He looks sad suddenly and John steps closer, gripping his shirt and pulling him in for a tight hug. "I just don't get it, man. Am I that shitty of a best friend?"
"Absolutely not," John mumbles. "But you've also got all of this stuff with Shane going on, and now Ziggler, and I just... didn't want to pile on, I guess." He runs his fingers through Mike's hair, feeling him relax just a little. "I promise you, Taya and I both have researched this place, we've talked to doctors, we've talked to other patients, they all agree this is a promising avenue for me. I have... a lot of health shit that's piled up during my career, you know as well as anyone, and... I think this will help my longevity and my health later in life too. I just think it'll be beneficial to at least try."
"Ok," Mike sighs, blinking when John eases away and guides him over to sit on the couch. "I guess." He looks down as John hands him a sheaf of papers, swallowing as he skims the facts there, the statistics of what John's planning. "All of this, huh?" he asks, looking up and nodding in thanks when Taya hands him a glass of water. "It... it looks promising, I guess." John smiles at him and Mike exhales hard. "Will you... do you think you'll be back in time for...?"
John looks up at Taya for a moment before facing Mike. "Yeah, man, I'll do my best to be back in time to meet Sara's little brother or sister. This treatment is pretty involved, it's gonna take time and they wanna keep an eye on me for a bit afterwards, but I promise you, if you need me, I'll be here."
Mike nods. Breathes a little easier even as he's forced to face how much he's going to miss John. "Well, hey, if anyone knows how to place international calls, it'd be us, huh?" he offers with a cheap little laugh.
"Hell yeah," John says with a grin. "We'll definitely keep in touch." He stands and Mike reluctantly joins him, still clinging to the papers. "You can keep those, read through them. Yell at me later if you feel the need to. Alright?"
Mike nods, emotions welling up suddenly. "Yeah, I'll definitely do that," he says, relieved when John hugs him again so he can bury his face in his shoulder and hide how red and wet his eyes are for a few minutes.
Hugging Taya next, he exhales and takes a few moments to ignore the reality, the risk of what John's going to try to do. "I'll... talk to you guys soon," he says. "Safe travels."
"Thanks." John and Taya smile as they see him to the door, leaning on each other as Mike reluctantly heads down the hall, his shoulders slumping when he hears their door click shut as they continue preparing to leave.
His time off suddenly looking a lot less enjoyable now that he's overwhelmed with worry and uncertainty, Mike heads home to pour over the papers still held tightly in his fist.