My two days of rest were over before I could blink. On the third day, Soon-Yi was knocking on my door. "Hurry and change into those clothes I gave you! You need to be in the Infirmary in ten minutes!"
"Where is it? I was sorta out of it when they took me," I pointed out.
"Just down the hall and to the right. It's the only room that has double doors down here." I assumed that we were partially underground. "You can't miss it. Hurry!" By her tone, I assumed something bad happened to latecomers. As soon as Soon-Yi left, I hurriedly changed from my blue dress into the scratchy cotton outfit she had given me and left.
Walking down the halls, I saw Benders of all Nations hurrying off to whatever, and the one who couldn't bend were rushing of to the fields, if I remembered what Soon-Yi had told me correctly.
Soon-Yi was right; you couldn't miss the sickbay. Moans of agony rent the air around it. "Good Spirits," I muttered. "Is this an infirmary or an execution hall?"
"Both." A voice behind me made me jump in shock. "Sorry. Mother always said I was too quiet for my own good." I turned to see an Earthbender behind me. He had a serious wound on his right arm. "Most who go in die from infection three days later."
"That's awful," I remarked. "What happened to you?"
"Oh, I cut myself with a sharp rock," the Earthbender said nonchalantly. "But Master Chen ordered me to get it healed."
I nodded, then went into the Infirmary. Upon entrance, I gasped.
How could I have missed this when I was here? Healers were tending to infected wounds without hot water, the bandages were filthy, and almost a hundred people were waiting for a healer. I knew it wasn't their fault; that Chen must never give them proper healing supplies. I was utterly appalled at this place.
"I've seen cleaner swamps," I muttered under my breath.
"Hey, you! Get to work!" I felt something whippy hit me, causing a stinging sensation on my back. I moved away and began to heal a Firebender with serious burns. (Quite frankly, I was amazed that all Firebenders didn't have burns.)
I spent my entire day that way, avoiding blows from guards and healing those poor souls. Then I went back to my cell, and soon fell asleep.
There were five bells during the course of the day; one to wake everyone up, one to signal when to work, one that allowed us to eat lunch, one to let us know when to head back to our cells, and one to signal sleep. They got annoying after awhile.
I guess it was my fifth day in Chen's, for lack of a better word, possession, when there was a loud explosion just outside the Infirmary doors. A healer nearby remarked, "Must be a Firebender. Only they cause those explosions." Several other healers nodded in agreement and took no more notice of it.
I, on the other hand, watched the guards bring in another wretched captive. He was tall and muscular, but also unconscious. Two guards had to carry his weight, which didn't look to be very easy. Once he was given over to another healer, I ignored him and went back to work.
It was not long after the bell that signaled for us to return to our rooms when a hard knock shook the door. Not even waiting for me to open it, two guards threw the door open. The Firebender from the Infirmary was shoved in, well and truly trussed up. Also blindfolded with a gag. He must have put up a major fight.
The door slammed shut. Realizing they were expecting me to share a cell that was almost too small for me with a Firebender, I sighed and began to untie him, hands first. The Firebender didn't put up a fight, surprisingly, once he realized what I was doing. The second his hands were free, he set about undoing the gag and blindfold. I helped get his feet loose.
"You must have put up a major fight," I remarked.
"I'm not going to be slave to some ignorant bastard," he replied. I froze. His voice was familiar. Too familiar.
I stepped back slowly, double-checking it was who I thought it was. Sure enough, the scar was there.
It was Prince Zuko.
"Spirits above, why on earth did they put you in my room?" I exclaimed. Zuko snorted as he stood up. He was shaky, but he tried to hide.
"This is great. I get captured, told I'm supposed to be some idiot's slave, and stuck in room with a Water Tribe peasant's brat! This is humiliating."
"Hey, how do you think I feel about all this? I hate your gut, and they apparently expect me to sleep in the same room as you!" I cried. "You might just run me through while I sleep and make it look like an accident!"
"How? They took my dagger away, and there would appear to be no weapons here," Zuko pointed out, sweeping he hands around the tiny room.
"You'd find a way," I retorted. He was about to say something, but the bell signaling sleep rang out. "Unless you want to be in serious trouble, my advice would be to go to sleep now," I sighed. "They beat anyone still found awake after that bell." Zuko glared at me, but sat down against the wall, head in hands. I shrugged and climbed onto the cot. The last thing I saw before sleep took me away was the sight Zuko shaking his head and sighing.
It turned out Zuko had been placed in the furnace room, ordered to keep the entire compound warm. (I had heard that from a guard that passed by the Infirmary at lunch. Of course, he never said a name, just "the new one".) There were about twenty other Firebenders working with him. (Apparently, the compound was rather small.)
I woke up a bit before the bell, a trick Soon-Yi had told me would help me be more focused when the work bell rang out. I looked over at the Fire Prince, who was asleep, leaning against the wall. To wake him up or not to wake him up, I asked myself. I toyed with the idea of letting him sleep until the work bell, but I knew that severe beatings would greet both him and me. Zuko for sleeping late and me for not waking him up.
Sighing, I rolled off the cot and walked over to Zuko. "Hey, wake up," I said in a hushed tone, shaking the Fire Prince. Thank heaven he was nothing like Sokka; one shake was it all took to wake him up.
"What?" he snapped at me.
"Hey, if you want to be working in a furnace half-asleep, fine by me," I said, hands up in submission. "The sooner you wake up, the less likely you'll get beaten. There's a bell, but the work bell is only ten minutes after that. Hardly enough time to wake up properly."
Zuko stood and rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, thanks, then." I looked at Zuko in shock. Gratitude? Wow.
The bell to signal morning rang. Ten minutes later, right on time, the bell for work rang out. "See you tonight, sadly," I remarked to Zuko as I headed for the Infirmary.
Three furnace workers visited the Infirmary before lunch. "I can't believe it's come down to it," one said to me.
"Come down to what?" I asked, curious.
"Well, in case you haven't heard, Prince Zuko is working in the furnace. Rumors are going around now that his father is hunting him, making him a wanted man!"
I had to stifle a gasp. That was just horrible.
Another Firebender, also working in the furnace, added, "Don't forget the general. He's Ozai's own brother!"
Soon-Yi shook her head. "As my husband said before he passed on, Ozai is a bastard and that's all there is to it."
"You over there! Quiet! Slaves are not allowed to talk to one another!" a guard called out. Soon-Yi and I bowed and kept quiet.
The day could not be over fast enough. There were a lot more burned Firebenders in the Infirmary this time then there had ever been, according to Soon-Yi. The bell rang and I was one of the first ones to get out the door.
I reached the room before Zuko, so I used the basin of water that had been left there by a guard to wash a bit. (I smelled. End of story.)
With my back towards the door, I didn't see Zuko come in. I heard him stumble in, apparently exhausted. "About time," I remarked, turning to face him. "The bell rang…" I trailed off when I got a good look at him.
He was covered in open cuts and bruises. Zuko must have caused a lot trouble to be so badly hurt. "What on earth happened to you?" I asked incredulously.
Zuko glared at me through his good eye, which just happened to be his scarred one. (The other was swollen shut.) "I refused to obey that overfed milksop in charge of the furnace. He got mad," he snapped.
"Apparently," I said. "I bet a lot of the Firebenders in the Infirmary today burned themselves to get out of there! You look awful!"
"Thanks for stating the obvious," Zuko snapped again. "Now, unless you have something else to say, good night."
"Wait, Zuko." I picked up the basin. "If I don't heal you now, you'll never get healed. Soon-Yi, the older lady in the Infirmary, told me that the furnace overseer never sends those he beats to the Infirmary."
"I don't need healing!" Zuko spat. I rolled my eyes.
"That's like saying you don't need water. I have never seen anyone so bloodied up before, and running from you, that's saying something. Sit still…please," I added as an afterthought. Why I wanted to be polite to that bastard, I'll never know.
Surprisingly, my politeness worked. Zuko sat still and allowed me to heal his face. It wasn't long before I was done. "Did he get you anywhere else?" I asked, dreaded the answer.
"Yes; my back." I groaned inwardly. Why were the Spirits putting me in these predicaments?
"Are they severe?"
"No," Zuko said abruptly. I nodded. Thank Spirits.
"Do you want the cot?" I offered. Zuko shook his head and leaned up against the wall. I shrugged and climbed onto the cot to sleep.