Chapter Thirty Seven
Primadonna

AFTER ANOTHER LONG day of being stuck in the hospital, Miguel was growing tired of the hospital food.  Sydney was too,  which is why she drove to In-N- Out and arrived back with a bag full of burgers and fries and two cokes.  Miguel couldn't be happier.  "Do you have any idea how much I love you?"

"I have an idea but I love hearing you say it." She smirked and sat the back down. She dragged the food tray out and took out the food for him. "Where's your mum?"

"She uh, she went home already," he replied and frowned slightly.

Sydney furrowed her brows. She decided to shrug it off and sat in the chair beside the hospital bed. They ate in a comfortable silence while watching a baseball game on the tv.

Hearing footsteps shuffling,  Sydney turned around in the chair to see Johnny in the doorway.  His face was bruised purple.  "Hey."  He said simply.

Miguel was in shock to see him.  "Hey."

"I,  uh. . . I keep having to sneak in here,"  the blonde man said and walked into the room.  He looked down at Sydney.  "How'd you get in here?"

"Oh,  we're cousins now."  She replied and pointed between her and Miguel.

Miguel squeezed his eyes shut and sighed.  "Please stop saying that."

Johnny chuckled at them.  He missed seeing them together.

"What happened to your face?"  Miguel asked softly,  examining the bruises.

"I got into a fight with a paper towel dispenser,"  Johnny explained,  making the teenagers eyes widened.  "And a couple goons at a chop shop."

"Surprised I didn't have to bail you out this time."  The Brit said with a teasing smile.

He grinned.  "Don't worry,  I have you on speed dial," he looked at Miguel and sighed.  "You got rid of that neck brace thing.  That's good.  I always thought headgear was for nerds."

she's could see that Miguel wanted to talk to Johnny.  She wiped her hands with a napkin and stood up.  "I'll,  uh,  give you two some space."  She kissed Miguel on the cheek and walked out of the room.

She walked down the hallway and sat on in one of the chairs.  She glanced at all the doctors and nurses rushing around. She felt her phone vibrate on her lap. When she turned it around, she saw Tory's name pop up on her screen as a new message. Her stomach dropped.

tory with a y
I know this is probably weird
and you hate me right now and
honestly I don't blame you
at all. I wasn't going to do this
but you've been too much of a
good friend to me for me not
to say anything. i'm really sorry
about what happened and for
miguel getting hurt. I promise
when I tell you that I had no
intention on him getting hurt.
I really hope that someday you
can forgive me because i've
never had someone like you in my
life before. i'm so sorry sydney.

Sydney stared at the text for what seemed like forever. She read it over and over again. She imaged Tory saying it to her in person. It made her angry. She had no right to text her. She had no right to do what she did. Or maybe she did. Sydney didn't know. She liked Tory. She knew things about her life that others didn't and wouldn't understand. But all she knew was that she was the cause of the fight and now Miguel was in the hospital.

No, she couldn't forgive her right now. She couldn't forgive any of them.

Sydney heard a shout coming from Miguel's room and she quickly ran down the hall, almost colliding with Johnny. He looked at her with sad eyes and walked off. She stared at his back in confusion before focusing on Miguel and she rushed to his side. "Miguel, what happened?"

Miguel was sobbing. "Why did this happen to me?"

"Miguel, you're scaring me. What happened?" She asked him calmly and sat beside him on the bed.

"The doctor said I might not walk again," he said through his cries.

Sydney's body stiffened and she felt her blood go cold. "What?"

"I did everything he told me to do. I showed mercy and I still got hurt," Miguel cried heavily. The look he gave her broke her heart into a million pieces. "Why is this happening, Sydney?"

Her own eyes began to water. "I-I don't know, love. But I promise I'm here through it all, okay? I promise."

She moved closer to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, him laying his head on her chest and crying into her shirt. She placed her hand on the top of his head and kissed his hair.  Her heart broke but she concealed her hurt to make sure Miguel was okay.

"The CGI of this film is horrible,"  Sydney commented.

She and Miguel and sitting on the hospital bed watching The Lost Boys on her computer.

"Well,  it was made in '87 babe,"  Miguel reminded her.

"Yeah,  but A Nightmare On Elm Street was made in the 80's and it's effects are way better."  she added.

"You watch nightmare on elm street?  I'm not a fan,"  he shook his head.

She shrugged.  "I'm more of a Halloween girl."

Miguel grinned.  "That's more like it.  That dude will never die."

They continued to watch the movie when Sydney saw Sam enter the room.  Miguel felt her go stiff and he looked over to see Sam standing in the doorway. 

"Hey."  Sam said,  looking at them awkwardly.

Sydney refused to meet her eye.

"Hey."  Miguel said back.

"I hope it's okay,  me just showing up like this,"  Sam said in a small voice. "How are you?"

Miguel went to say something but Sam quickly interrupted.  "I mean. . . sorry,  I. . . it's a stupid question."

Miguel shook his head.  "It's okay,"

Sydney paused the movie.  "I'm gonna go wait outside."

She got up from the bed and walked around it,  ignoring the girl and walking out in the hall.

Sam sighed heavily.  "She hates me."

Miguel frowned.  "She doesn't hate you."

"She made it pretty clear,"  Sam denied.  "I can't blame her.  It's my fault."

"It's not your fault,  Sam,"  Miguel replied.  "Just give Sydney some time,  okay?  She's just worried about me."

Sam cracked a smile.  "She loves you."

Miguel smiled and looked down at the blanket.  "I know."

From outside,  Sydney was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed.

"Sydney."

She opened them to see Hawk.  She was still angry at him for what happened with Miyagi-Do but she was slowly getting over it.  She still thought he was an asshole.  "Hey Hawk."

"Why are you out here?  Did something happen with miguel?"  He asked in concern.

"No,  uh,"  she trailed and pointed to the room with her thumb.  "Sam's in there."

His eyes darkened and he moved past her to go into the room.  "El serpiente!,"  he announced himself and stopped when he saw Sam. 

Sam looked at him tensely before saying bye to Miguel and turned to walk out.  Hawk glared at her.  "You've got some nerve coming in here after what your boyfriend did to him."

"I don't care what you think.  I just wanna help."  Sam shot.

"Pretty sure you've done enough,  princess.  Maybe you should start by getting on Syd's good side."  Hawk sneered and walked past her.

Sam stared at him for a few seconds before walking out of the room,  seeing Sydney still leaning against the wall.  Another awkward silence.  "Sydney,  please talk to me."  Sam begged.

"What do you want me to say,  Sam?"  she's questioned. "That I'm not mad?  That I forgive you?  Cause I am and I don't.  I'm so mad at you and Charlie right now that I want to scream whenever I think of you two.  And Tory. . . it's just a lot to deal with right now.  Now Miguel may not be able to walk. . . "  her eyes watered.  "I can't forgive any of you just yet,  okay?  I'm sorry."

Sam stared at her in sadness.  "I don't expect you to forgive me.  You have every right to be mad.  I just want you to know that I'm really sorry.  We've been best friends our whole lives.  I just hope we can overcome this."

Sam left and walked down the hall.  Sydney wiped her eyes and walked back into Miguel's room.  "Hawk,  we're watching a movie.  Wanna join?"

"Sure thing,"  Hawk nodded.  He narrowed his eyes at her.  "How long have you been here?"

"All day and all night,"  she answered and smiled wickedly at her boyfriend.  "I'm practically in the family,  huh?"

Hawk looked at them confused.  Miguel rolled his eyes.  "We told the doctors that Sydney's my cousin so she could stay longer."

Hawk snorted.  "How's that going?"

"Pretty good,"  Sydney nodded.  Then she cringed.  "Well,  one of the nurses did walk in on us holding hands but I just told her we're very close cousins."

Miguel grimaced again.

Sydney walked down the isles of the Mini Mart looking for snacks for Miguel. She told Hawk today take care of him, to which Miguel groaned and said he didn't need a babysitter, which led to Sydney glaring at him and telling him to get over it. Then she kissed him and told him she would be back.

She picked out dozens of slim jim's and cheetos,  along with packs of cookies and candy bars.  She was so busy browsing that she didn't notice a head staring at her from the isle over.  "Syd."

Sydney looked up to see Charlie and she internally groaned.  Could she not catch a break?  She sighed heavily.  "What do you want Charlie?"

"Five minutes of your time."

She didn't say anything and just stood there, staring at him.

After paying for the snacks, Sydney sat outside on the bench with Charlie. She sat a good two feet away from him and avoid eye contact. Charlie sighed. "I'm really sorry about what happened."

"I'm not the one who deserves an apology." She said flatly.

He nodded.  "I'm getting to that.  I just. . . haven't been to see him yet."

"It's not like he's going anywhere." She grumbled and crossed her arms.

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

She finally looked at him with angry eyes. "So why did it? What happened that night?"

Charlie stared at her for a minute before sighing and looking ahead of him. "Sam was drunk, I was drunk, one thing led to another and we kissed. I regret it, I do. If I could take it back I would. But I promise you, okay, I didn't know that Tory was going to start that fight."

Sydney shook her head and sighed.  "Charlie,  even if Tory didn't start that fight,  I would still be pissed at you.  Tory was my friend and you betrayed her with my best friend.  You're a fucking asshole."

"I know I am,  okay?"  He said with a slightly raised tone.  He rubbed his face with his hands.  "I'm sorry.  I don't know how to fix this.  I tried calling Tory and she won't answer my calls and Sam isn't talking to me either.  Now you hate me and I feel like shit."

It went silent between them and Sydney watched his lip start to quiver. She looked away. She wanted to hate him. She wanted to stay mad forever. But part of dating someone like Miguel Diaz meant that Sydney learned to see the good in people and she could see that Charlie was sorry. She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "I don't hate you, Charlie."

Charlie looked at her with red eyes.

"I'm still pissed off but I don't hate you," she continued. "I think what guys did was horrible and the old me would have tried to make your lives miserable. But fortunately, I have boyfriend with a heart of gold who's influenced me so. . ."  she looked at him again. "I'm not ready to forgive you yet, but I can try to be nicer."

Charlie chuckled to himself. "So I have the Sydney Benoist stamp of approval?"

"Don't push it."

"Sorry."

When Sam answered the front door after hearing the doorbell ring, she was surprised to see Sydney standing on the other side. "Sydney."

"Hey." The Brit said awkwardly. "Can I, uh. . . Can I come in?"

Sam moved aside so she could walk in. When she did, Sam closed the door and they stood there in silence.

Sydney sighed. "I'm sorry that I've been a bitch."

"You don't have to apologize—"  Sam started.

"No,  just. . ."  Sydney interrupted and stepped closer to her.  "You of all people know that I've felt alone my whole life because my parents were always gone.  You know that I put on this tough girl act so people can't see how emotional I am. You and I have had our fair share of fights. We're like sisters. But this time it doesn't just involve us, it's about Miguel," she paused and swallowed a lump in her throat. "I love him so much and the thought of losing him scared the shit out of me. I don't know what I would have done if I lost him."

Sam frowned deeply and walked closer to her. "Sydney, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that we started this."

"I talked to Charlie today. I saw him at the Mini Mart. He told me that you were both drunk at the party," Sydney continued. "What you guys did was wrong but I can't keep holding it against you. I'm just not ready to completely forgive you yet. Miguel might not be able to walk again.  I just don't need to lose anyone else right now."

Sam wrapped her arms around her shoulders and brought her into a hug. "You could never lose me. We're sisters for life."

I actually really love the dynamic between Sydney and Tory. They relate to each other a lot and I think Tory really needs Sydney in her life