Prologue

I keep my breathing steady as the nurse injects me with yet another vaccine, barely flinching in the process. I'm used to it by now. She applies a bandage where the needle has punctured my arm and slaps it harshly. "You're all set."

A scowl forms on my lips and I'm secretly glad that I never bother to learn the names of the nurses. They're never around for very long and none that I have encountered were even remotely friendly. Keeping the sour expression firm on my face, I hop off the medical table, and make sure to slam the door on my way out.

If she isn't going to play nice, well, neither am I.

I trace my finger along the blindingly white walls as I make my way, refusing to make eye contact with anyone I happen to pass. I'm not in a very sociable mood. It's not a long walk to the cafeteria, and after being here for five months, I know my way around pretty well.

"Katara."

I pause mid step and consider running. No good. He would probably just have his assistants cut me off and then I'd be in a world of trouble. Instead, I turn around on the heels of my bare feet and smile as sweetly as I can. "Hello, Doctor Pakku."

The old man purses his lips at me. What the hell did I do this time? He steps towards me cautiously; like I'm a wild animal that's ready to attack. "Might I have a word with you in my office?"

"Sir," I keep my voice perfectly even. "I was just about to go and have lunch."

"This will only take a minute."

I grimace and follow him to his office with my eyes firmly on the ground. He gently nudges me into the room and shuts the door behind him. "Have a seat, please."

I fall into one of the arm chairs in front of his desk and wait. He sits comfortably at his desk and stares at me, saying nothing. I lean forward and quirk an eyebrow. "Well? What did I do now?"

"It's not what you've done," his voice is gruff and old and it makes me want to punch a wall. "It's what you haven't done."

"I'm not sure that I'm following you, sir."

"You've been having dreams."

"Doesn't everyone?" I inquire innocently.

He isn't amused. "No, Katara. Not those kind of dreams. You understand what I'm talking about, yes?"

"No, sir, I'm afraid I don't."

"The boy in the iceberg." He holds up a notebook; my notebook. I bite back a hysterical scream and shrink further into my seat. On the cover is an illustrated scene of my reoccurring dream. A boy stuck, froze in ice along with his animal companion. Then there's a girl with dark skin and blue eyes, like me, who finds him.

"You went through my stuff," I accuse angrily. How many pages has he read? How much does he know?

"I thought I told you to let these delusions go," Doctor Pakku says darkly. "Katara, you know it isn't healthy to hold onto this. I know you are going through a hard time what with losing your mother and your brother but - "

"Shut up!" I shout, now seething. "You don't know anything. My brother is not dead! He's not! I'd know. I'd feel it. He's out there somewhere and he's going to come find me!"

Doctor Pakku raises an eyebrow. "Along with the boy in the iceberg?"

"Yes," I retort.

"Katara."

"Give me my notebook back!"

"Absolutely not," Doctor Pakku announces loudly. "If I were to return it, I'd only be enabling your silly little fantasies. The boy in the iceberg is not real, Katara. And your brother is not alive."

"Yes he is!"

Doctor Pakku sighs. "Katara, I didn't want to have to do this... But you leave me no choice."

There are tears streaming freely down my face but I'm positively livid. "What? You're going to douse me with more medication? That seems to be all you know how to do!"

I can feel the presence of several nurses behind me. I'm not scared, I'm not even bothered enough to flinch. I just want my notebook, my brother, and the boy in the iceberg. As a needle punctures my spine, I let out a shrill cry. Not of pain, but of pure resignation.

I wake up in a cold sweat. All I can feel is uneasiness as my sight becomes less blurry and I take in my surroundings. I'm not in my usual room if the lack of snoring from my roommate, Toph, is any indication. I sit up slowly. That's when it hits me.

I'm in the intensive care unit. I'd been here before, when my father first admitted me. They had called me severely delusional. I hadn't understood at the time. I was so confused. Now I see everything so clearly.

I'm the only sane one in this stupid hell hole.

It's dark and too warm. I slide off the cot I'd been placed on and start towards the door. I pull. It's locked. Of course, it is. Can't make anything easy, can you, old man?

I start banging on the door wildly before a clear, calm voice from the other side says, "Acting rambunctious will get you nowhere."

Rambunctious. I almost laugh. "I need to use the bathroom."

Silence.

"It's a girl problem." When the door doesn't open, I decide that I'm simply not being loud enough. "I'M BLEEDING FROM MY - "

The door cracks open at once. The old nurse gives me a withering look. "You don't have to be so crass."

"Apparently I do," I sneer at her before darting out of the room quickly and heading in the exact opposite direction of the ladies room. Either she doesn't notice, or she doesn't care. I'm not complaining.

By now, I know these hallways like the back of my own two hands. I'm not too far from my own room, maybe there I could enlist Toph's help in retrieving my notebook. She's always had a knack for this type of thing.

I'm so busy plotting that I don't look ahead of me and slam right into someone that I really, really hope is not a nurse. The person under me groans in a decidedly male manner. My cheeks flush as I scramble quickly to get up. I hesitate slightly before offering the stranger a hand.

He does not accept it; he instead glares at me menacingly as he pulls himself up on his own accord. He is terrifying. The awful scar on the left side of his face makes him look more like a serial killer than a patient, which is what I'm assuming he is, and his golden eyes flicker with distaste.

"Um. Hi." I squeak. He reminds me of someone and if I weren't so dazed I might be able to figure out who. "Sorry about that. I, uh, wasn't paying attention."

"Well you better start," is all he says in his raspy voice, but it's enough to send shivers down my spine. He hits me with his shoulder as he passes by and I try not to wince from the impact.

My eyes follow him and my feet are tempted to as well, but I figure it's not the best idea to piss him off further. He doesn't seem like the friendly type anyway.

Shaking off the encounter, I head onwards to my room.

"Toph." I nudge her gently. "Toph, wake up."

Her sleeping form is curled up into a ball and her dark hair is covering her glazed eyes. I huff in annoyance. "TOPH!" I shout, dragging her off of her cot.

She falls to the floor with a thud and continues to snore.

Unbelievable.

Left with no other choice, I stomp my foot against the ground harshly.

She stirs. "Go away, Sugar Queen." Her voice is thick with sleep and I wonder what time it is. Oh well. A bit late for that. I need my notebook.

"Toph, get up. Pakku's got my notebook. I need your help."

"Can't you see I'm sleeping, Sweetness? Or are you the blind one?"

"Did you hear me? I said he's got my notebook!"

Toph rolls onto her back and stares unseeing at the ceiling. Her lips curl into a nasty sneer. "So what? He's got your diary. Big deal. He learns you've got some crush on the intern guy. Whoop-De-Doo."

"It's not a diary," I insist, angrily. "And I do not have a crush on Jet!"

"Sure, sure. Whatever."

"Please, Toph. I need your help."

Toph pauses. "What's in it for me?"

"My undying loyalty and friendship."

"I like cookies better. Give me your dessert for the next three weeks and we have a deal, Sweetness."