Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrng!

"..."

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrng!

"Ughhhh..."

Brrrrrrrrrr-

Asami rolled over and tore the landline off of its base. "Hello?"

"Babe?"

The stranger's inappropriate familiarity woke Asami up. "Excuse me, who is this?"

"Dammit," the voice on the other end said. "Let me guess, wrong number again?"

"You shouldn't be able to call this number at all," Asami said, growing more suspicious by the second.

"Ahh, I'm sorry. I've been trying to remember, but-I woke you up, didn't I?"

Asami nodded. The person on the other end must have sensed it.

"I am so sorry."

The sheer heaviness in the woman's voice made Asami regret being so curt. She sounded like she was in her early twenties like Asami, but her voice was clearly fatigued.

"I'll hang up," the woman said. "Sorry to bother you."

"Wait," Asami said. She paused but didn't hear the dial tone. She decided to continue the conversation. "Are you...alright?"

"I'm okay."

"Are you sick?"

The woman laughed. "Just tired. I slept for three weeks and woke up tired."

"Three weeks?" Asami's eyes widened. She sat up on the edge of her bed.

"I guess I hit my head pretty hard," the woman said, laughing again. How could she be so cavalier about a head injury?

"What happened?" Asami asked. After a moment, she added, "Not that you have to tell me."

"Dirt biking." Asami waited expectantly.

"Hello?" The voice said.

"Oh, that's all?"

"What do you mean, 'that's all'?"

"Nothing," Asami said quickly. "I guess I was hoping for a story."

"Once upon a time, I was riding my bike, and I fractured my skull. Then I woke up and called half a dozen strangers trying to remember my girlfriend's number."

The silence following the woman's explanation was charged with sadness, desperation, and tension.

Asami said nothing for a while.

"Hello?" The woman asked.

Asami detected a hint of fear in the word and thought carefully about what she might say. Once the electric emotion in the silence had dissipated, Asami spoke again. "Asami Sato. It's nice to meet you."

"Korra," the woman answered slowly.

"Korra," Asami repeated, "what's your girlfriend's name?"

"Oh."

"What?"

Korra's voice was somber. "I don't have a girlfriend. We broke up a month ago. I forgot."

"Korra, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. Now I know why she hasn't visited me at the hospital." Korra laughed sadly.

"Are you still there?"

"I'm here."

"Not on the phone. At the hospital? It sounds like you could use some company."