Eye opener ~ Josh Klinghoffer and John Frusciante fanfiction

10. You know I'm around you

Josh's POV

When I opened the door to John's room, 2 older people were standing next to his bed talking to his doctor. They hadn't seen me yet, so I quickly left the room and waited outside until the doctor left.
They must have been John's parents. I expected them to come, even though John told me they didn't get on too well. I had no idea if he ever told them about me.
After minutes of hesitance, I finally decided to go inside once again.
"Good morning." I said as I walked up to John's bed.
They looked at me, then at the huge guitar case I was carrying and John's mom said:
"You must be Josh."
I could immediately tell John had her eyes.
"Yes, my name is Josh Klinghoffer. It's a shame we met in such circumstances."
My words met with Gale's sad sobs.
"So you're John's best friend?" John's dad asked, shaking my hand.
"Um, yeah, I'm his best friend and boyfriend. So John never told you..."
"He did mention he was in a happy relationship with someone who treated him well. That's the only thing we needed to hear." John Senior told me.
I smiled faintly and moved closer to John. I squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek.
"Hey, babe. It's me. Your parents are here too. We all want you to wake up. Flea's been calling me every single day to ask how you're doing. You need to wake up, please. I've got a surprise waiting for you at home... I love you, John." I said and kissed him once again.
Tears started running down his cheeks again.
"Do you see that? He's crying, John! He can hear you, Josh!" Gale exclaimed.
"I know, ma'am. But nobody believes me. That's why I've been coming here and talking to him all the time. I'm sure he's not brain dead!" I replied, squeezing John's hand even harder. Then we all saw his fingers move and wrap around my hand.
"I know you're there, baby. You need to fight. We'll work it out, I promise." I told John.
His mom couldn't stop crying.
"We need a break. Josh, would you like to get coffee with us?" John Senior asked.
I nodded my head and followed John's parents out the door.
"Since we know he can hear us, I thought it's best to talk outside." John's dad said.
"I agree, sir." I told him as we sat in a hospital's restaurant.
"We wanna know what happened. When did our son start doing drugs again? Did you know about it?" Mr. Frusciante asked me.
"It's all my fault... I told John that I wanted to end our relationship 'cause he never told anyone about us. I was done telling everyone I was just a friend for 9 years. But leaving his house that morning was the worst decision in my life... A couple of days later he came to me to apologize and acted weirdly. Then he lost consciousness and I drove him to the hospital. You know the rest of the story." I said and started to cry.
"It was not your fault, Josh! Don't blame yourself. People argue all the time. It's our son who decided to use drugs again." Gale comforted me.
"I know it was his choice but if I didn't tell him it was over, he wouldn't be here."
"Josh, none of this is your fault. I'm so disappointed with John. He should have known better. We already went through hell because of his addiction and after 10 years it's all happening again..." John Senior said and teared up. "If my son ever wakes up, I'll make sure he gets proper psychiatric care."
"I'll take care of him. I've already talked to a friend who convinced him to go to rehab the previous time." I said.
"Can we change the topic? I just wanna forget about what's happened to my son for a moment. It's too much for my weak heart." John's mom said.
"Of course, sweetheart." John Senior assured her and at the same moment a waiter brought our coffees.
"So, how old are you, Josh?" Gale asked.
"I'm 30."
"30? I'd bet you're not older than 25. You're a very handsome man, Josh." John's mom told me and stroke my cheek the same way John did.
I felt my face turning bright red.
"Thanks, I guess?" I answered and laughed nervously.
"It's such a shame you've been a couple for 9 years and John never introduced you to us. You're a lovely man. I'm gonna have a talk with him once he wakes up. You better get married or I'm gonna be mad." She said and giggled, which made John's dad furrow his brows.
"Gale, don't you think it's unwise talking about getting married in such circumstances? I'm sure Josh is not in the mood for such conversations."
I nodded my head and we continued to drink our coffees in silence.

I stayed with John and played a couple of old songs while his parents were having dinner. They insisted I should go as well but I preferred to stay with John. I wasn't even hungry. For the past couple of days, I only ate once a day, once I was back from the hospital. I was exhausted at times but I just couldn't stand the thought that he was there all alone.

That night when I was already laying in bed with my new furry friend I received a message from Clara.
"Hey, how you doing?"
"Hey, I'm not too good, to be honest. I can't sleep :("
"Give me your address, I can come over and make you feel better ;)"
I sent John's address to her and then I got up, put on a t-shirt and cleaned my teeth.
Half an hour later Clara knocked on the door. I let her in and she immediately gave me a hug.
"Poor thing." She said as I started to sob into her shoulder.
"I don't want him to die. I realized I love him much more than I thought." I told her.
"I brought wine, maybe this will cheer you up."
I told her to sit on the couch while I went upstairs.
"Look, I found him outside. He's the cutest cat ever." I said showing her the kitty.
"Aww, he's adorable!" Clara immediately took the little guy from me and started playing with him.
We drank the wine and talked about music and our lives, not mentioning John even once.
"Thanks for coming. I feel much better." I said and smiled to Clara.
"No problem. I love hanging out with you, you're great." She replied and returned the smile.
"I wish I met you earlier."
"Before John?"
"No! I don't know..."
"I'm sorry, that was a stupid question."
"You will never know how your life would look like if you changed even one small thing. It's no use reminiscing about past decisions." I said and squeezed Clara's hand.
She got on top of me and gave me a passionate kiss. At first, I didn't oppose and kissed her back, but then I looked at the photos of me and John hanging on a wall and decided it wasn't the right thing to do. It was really shitty, to be honest. I was being a douchebag.
"I'm sorry Clara, I can't. It's his house and I feel bad doing this to John."
"That's fine, I understand. I guess I'm gonna be going now."
"You can stay, I'm just saying that I don't wanna get intimate..."
"I know, Josh. I just wanna go home, I'm tired."
"If you say so..."
"Goodnight. I hope John's gonna wake up soon too." Clara said and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah, me too..." I replied and closed the door behind her.