A/N: I'm really pumped about this fic, so glad you all of you are too! Hope you enjoy chapter 2!
Korra
I've always hated hospitals. They're harsh and cold, nothing like the healing hut back home. Everything is bright, white and unsettling. The air is polluted with chemicals, the smell of sterility. I stared down at the nurse who sat before us, her pinched face scanning a clipboard of patient names.
"Mako or Bolin?" she asks, making sure the names I just told her were correct.
"Yes..." I grumble. She's taking way too long, "They were in a car accident, we were told they were brought here."
"And your relation?" she peers over her thickly framed glasses, "Family members are the only allowed visitors for the first 24 hours."
"What!?" I snap, slamming my hand down on the front desk.
"Please, we just want to know if they're okay, if it's even them!" Asami says softly.
"A Bolin was recently admitted through the Emergency Department, but I don't see the name of the other one, he may have gone directly into surgery..."
"I'm Bolin's sister-in-law!" I say, with more volume than I intend. I feel Asami stiffen beside me as she casts me a look. "This... this is his actual sister."
"Um... yes... I am." Asami smiles nervously, elbowing me in the rib.
She gives us the least convinced look I've ever seen. "Room 312, third floor." she sighs.
"Thank you!" I say as I lead Asami towards the elevators. I slam the button for the third floor, and Asami grabs my hand.
"You didn't tell me you and Mako got married?"
"We didn't... I lied." I say, "Although, I did a betrothal necklace in Mako's nightstand the other night. I just hope he's okay." I feel the anger and fear melt into desperation. My limbs feels too heavy, the elevator too small. I want to scream at the top of my lungs and huddle silently in a corner at the same time. Surgery, the nurse had said. Surgery for what? They usually try to avoid surgery by using healers... That means that healers weren't enough. Tears sting my eyes and threaten to fall when Asami squeezes my hand again.
"I'm sure he's fine, I bet the doctors will have more information than that moody woman." her reassuring tone doesn't help as much as it did before.
"There was so much blood..." I whisper.
"Where?" Asami asks.
"At the accident, didn't you see it?"
"We don't know who's blood that was, Korra."
"I know."
Mako
I've been with Bolin for over two hours. He's been awake for most of it. He asks about my condition every time a nurse walks in to check on him. They always give him the same answer, 'He's still in surgery.' Bolin's tried asking what for, but they never give details. I wish I could tell him, from where I sit in the corner. My leg is broken, my ribs are broken, so much of me is broken. I could have followed myself into the operating room, but I found it too morbid. I'm much happier to stay with Bolin, who keeps whispering under his breath for me to be okay.
A flash of blue and brown passes the door as I pull my knees up to my chest. It quickly reappears in the doorway. Korra.
She rushes in, Asami close behind her. I stand as she looks over at Bolin, her eyes straying momentarily on my corner. Bolin tries to sit up straighter against the pillows propping him up.
"Bolin!" she gasps, her arms wrapping around his neck. He winces. "Sorry..." she says as she slowly pulls away.
"It's okay, it's great to see you." He smiles sadly.
"Korra..." I say, my voice hoarse from disuse. She doesn't hear me, I don't expect her to.
"Where's Mako?" Korra asks, her face falling.
"I'm right here!" I answer before Bolin.
"All I've been told is that he's in surgery, but it means that he's alive. That's gotta be something, right?" I have always been able to tell when Bolin is putting on a brave face. He's doing it now.
"And that you're alive." Korra adds.
"What happened?" Asami asks as Korra gently sits in the chair beside Bolin's bed.
"Somebody crashed into us on the way home... I honestly just remember the car spinning and losing sight of Mako. I was told he was thrown from the car." Bolin says, looking between Korra and Asami. Korra gives Asami a knowing look, but over what I can't be sure.
Bolin, although in better shape than me, looks beaten and tired. His black eye is swollen shut, his arm is sprained, and his chest is bruised. I'll have to thank Asami for making seat belts mandatory in all models later. I'll also have to start wearing them religiously.
"Sir?" a feminine voice says from the doorway. A young green eyed nurse steps into the room. She's surprised to see Korra and Asami, but directs her attention at Bolin. "You said you wanted to be informed when your brother got out of surgery?" Bolin nods as his eyes widen. "He's doing just fine, and he'll be in room 117 on the first floor in a few minutes." I wonder what her meaning of 'just fine' is. After all, I'm still standing here, with the unhelpful ability to walk through people, something I learned by accident earlier.
"Why? There's an empty bed right next to him?" Korra points at the made up hospital bed on Bolin's left.
"Oh, um... These room are reserved for VIPs... I'm afraid-"
"He's my brother, I want him up here!" Bolin snaps. I've only seen Bolin snap like that six times in my life. It takes a lot to make my little brother angry, though this time he seems more terrified than angry.
"Bolin, it's fine..." I say, hoping that somehow one of them will hear me.
"Of—of course sir." the nurse jumps, fiddling with her long fingers nervously. "I'll see what can be arranged."
"I'm gonna go see him," Korra stands from the chair. She looks at Bolin. "Unless you want me to stay here..."
"No! No, it's alright. If he's awake, I don't want him to be alone." Bolin says. I see the brave face again.
"Is it alright if go too?" Asami asks, a kind smile on her lips. Bolin nods. "I promise I'll be back soon."
"I can assure you, I'm not awake." I groan, "I'm going with them, Bo, though I don't know why I'm telling you this..."
I shuffle out into the hall behind Korra and Asami. In the few hours I've spent as this invisible whatever I am, I've learned that people can't hear me, feel me, or see me. I'm completely helpless. I've also resigned to that fact.
"Hey, so, you said something earlier that made me curious..." Asami nudges Korra with her shoulder. Korra had brightened up a bit since her arrival, not as on edge as before. Most likely due to that nurse saying I'm 'just fine'.
"Hm?" Korra says. "Oh, about the necklace I found?"
"You found it!?" I shout. For a moment, I almost think I see Korra glance toward me over her shoulder. "Why were you in my nightstand!?"
"Well, yeah." Asami says.
"What about it?"
"What were you doing in my nightstand?" I repeat.
"Why were you in his nightstand?" Asami asks.
"Thank you!" I throw up my hands as we get into the elevator.
"I was... Bolin asked me if we... Bolin was looking for protection, but I don't know where Mako keeps them..."
"In my shirt drawer." I cross my arms.
"So I found it under an old newspaper, it really wasn't hidden well." Korra smiles.
"You never go in there. I figured I was safe." I grumble.
"That's really exciting, right?" Asami looks to Korra for some kind of reaction. I find myself doing the same.
"Of course it is, I just... I want to focus on Mako getting better first. That and this whole thing." Korra motions towards her stomach.
"Are you still sick?" I ask. I had told her to go see a healer after I heard her throwing up two mornings ago.
"Right." Asami nods knowingly.
"What's going on?" I look worriedly at Korra as she exits the elevator.
I immediately understand why Bolin's semi-private room is reserved for VIPs. The first floor is packed wall to wall with patients waiting in the hallways, some looking worse for wear. Korra and Asami carefully made their way to room 117. Eight beds fill the room, all of which are occupied by unconscious looking men and women. I could almost sense myself lying in the farthest bed.
Blood stained bandages cover my arms and wrap around my head. My jaw is covered in a large purple bruise, my cheek has been scratched up by the pavement, and my leg has been put in a bulky cast.
"The nurse said he was fine..." Korra whispers as she gently takes my hand in hers. "He looks awful!"
"Excuse me, miss Avatar?" a short pudgy man with a receding hairline says from the end of my bed. He wears a doctor's coat and holds a clipboard.
"Yes?" Korra looks up.
"I'm Mako's doctor, Dr. Harada. Do you know him?" he gestures to me. It was obvious she knew me, he was probably just wondering the relation.
"He's my-" she looks quickly at Asami, "He's my fiance."
I wish I could hear her call me that under better terms.
"Then I'm sure you'd like to hear how he's doing."
"Please." Korra almost begs.
"I'm afraid his situation is a bit serious. His injuries are severe and he'll be in a lot of pain when he wakes up. We're going to want to keep him here until most of his fractures heal and we can get a healer to work more on his arms to prevent any kind of infection..."
"When will he wake up?" Korra interrupts him.
"If everything goes as planned, in an hour or two. We didn't sedate him heavily, we only needed to repair a few broken ribs."
"We want him moved to the third floor, with his brother." Asami says.
"Um, I'm afraid that could be quite expensive... VIP rooms are-" Dr. Harada mumbles.
"Money isn't an issue." Asami assures him.
"I'll tell the orderlies right away." Harada turns to leave.
"He's the Avatar's boyfriend, you'd think that would qualify him as a VIP..." Korra's lower lip sticks out in a pout, "But knowing him, he wouldn't want any special treatment." She runs her hand through my hair. I love it when she does that, I've never told her that my mother used to do the same thing. I just wish I could feel it.
"I hate that you can't hear me." I mumble, reaching out to touch her hand. My fingers pass through hers, but I let them linger. She withdraws her hand from my head, almost like she's been bitten. My breath hitches in my throat as she stares at her hand then back at my hair.
"You okay?" Asami asks, her brow furrowed.
"Yeah, my hand got really cold for a second..." Korra shakes it out beside her. Did she feel me? I've heard enough ghost stories in my life to know that they can make people cold. I'm not a ghost, though. Not if my body is alive.
I see a dark shadow hover over another patient out of the corner of my eye. It's eery gray glow floats above the floor, almost an outline of something. Seeing it flips my stomach.
"Is anyone else seeing this?" I ask, looking to Korra.
It looks directly at me, making a soft clicking noise. Like a noise Bolin once made when he tapped two komodo chicken bones together when we were looking for food in a dumpster as kids. As my heartbeat quickens, I push myself against the bed. I'm surprised to hear the sound of it's metal frame scraping the tile floor as it moves an inch or two. I look down for only a second, and when I look up again, the gray shadow is gone.
"Did the bed just move?" Asami asks softly.
"I don't know, did you lean on it?" Korra looks up from my body.
"No, but I did." I say, checking for any remnants of the shadow before allowing myself a moment of hope.
I moved something. Maybe I can do it again. The flower vase on he tray beside me catches my eye. Shutting my eyes tightly, I swat at it. Nothing happens. My hand goes right through it. "Damn it." I frown. Perhaps I didn't move the bed.
Clicking echoes in my ears, much louder than before. I turn around slowly to find myself face to face with the gray shadow, who now looks much more like one of the dark spirits we saw in the South Pole several years ago.
"Korra!" I yell, hoping still that she'll hear something. Why can't they see this spirit? He's practically hovering over them.
Before I can utter another word, the spirit swipes at me. A sharp pain sends me flying backwards against the opposite bed, which doesn't move. I stand, my fists raised. I know I can't bend like this, I've already tried, but if it can hurt me I can hurt it.
Unphased by my willingness to fight, the spirit holds up it's large claws and swipes at me again. I fall to the ground, the same pain pulsing in my chest, almost like I'm being ripped apart from the inside. I hear a shatter of ceramic, the flower vase I tried to move has been knocked to the floor by the spirit.
Korra springs to her feet, looking around for the reason. How can she not see this? She's the Avatar.
"Sweetie, please, now would be the time to tune into your spirit senses..." I huff, clutching my chest.
A few orderlies file into the room, distracting the spirit creature. I take the chance to swing at it, and as my arms pass through it, it evaporates into the air just like it had before.
"What the heck is going on!?" I shout angrily. I jump onto my bed, phasing into myself partially, which is far weirder than I had anticipated. I slam my hands on either side of my body, staring down at my own beaten face. "Wake up! Wake up you stupid idiot!"
"Mako..." Korra's shoulder passes through my arm as she leans towards the pillow, her lips centimeters away from my ear. "We're moving you up to Bolin's room, I'll see you up there, okay?"
"What am I doing?" I fall back on my knees, "Why is this happening?"
I just want answers. I've been scared before, but nothing has ever made me feel so completely hopeless and detached in a long time; I've also never wanted to hit myself in the face so badly. I feel tears escape and fall down my cheeks as the irresistible urge to cry punches a hole in my chest. I've never been one for crying, I couldn't be, not with Bolin relying on me for most of our lives. I had to be the strong big brother, that's what my mother told me. He can't see me now, no one can. No one can hear my pathetic sobbing as I sit at my own body's feet, begging to wake up.
