Chapter 21

(Warning: suicidal thoughts)

Water...

It's all around and it's needed to survive. But water can be deadly. People die from floods, hurricanes, pollution, drowning, and more. For Kai, he could only think of the bad things associated with water. He almost died from it and now he had PTSD.

Water...

It was suffocating Kai's thoughts. Wait.. It was literally suffocating him! He couldn't breathe!

'One breath of fresh air! Please!' Kai panicked and threw his limbs around trying to save himself from drowning. 'Not again! Please! No!'

Kai's motions started to grow slower and he felt weaker. Death stared him in the face and laughed. He was done and he let himself just drown.

'I'm weak... pathetic... how can I just give up now? I guess I don't deserve to live then...' Kai thought to himself as the air escaped his lungs and water replaced it.

Just as Kai thought it was over, he gasped for air. To his relief it was actually air that entered his lungs. Kai coughed as he violently caught his breath. His vision was blurred with water... no tears.

Kai couldn't stop himself from thinking his own tears could drown him and he roughly wiped his tears away. He hugged his chest painfully as he coughed and took in air. Once his sight was restored, he relaxed more seeing that he was in the hospital bed and his friends weren't there to worry about him.

Kai took a shaky deep breath in and coughed it out. When Kai reached for a tissue on his side table he froze when his eyes met Cole's. Kai felt a weird wave of anxiety take over him and his cheeks went red in embarrassment.

"I... I forgot w-we were sharing a room." Kai mentally kicked himself for stuttering like an idiot.

Cole was standing in between the two hospital beds and gripping onto Kai's railing to hold himself up. With one hand holding the railing, he raised the other to sign something to Kai.

'Are you ok?' Cole signed and Kai went to sit up. Cole reached with his signing hand and placed it on Kai's shoulder. Cole moved his hand when he was sure Kai wasn't going to get up. 'Stay'

"Cole I'm fine."

'No you are not.' Cole signed with an upset look on his face. He was worried. 'You weren't breathing.'

Kai looked up to Cole. "It was just a bad dream."

Cole's eyes watered, 'Dream or not. You almost died, again!' He signed aggressive and rubbed his eyes with one hand.

"Cole, I- I promise it's not serious. I'm not going to die." Kai persuaded. "I just can't stop thinking about-" Kai bit his lip and tears threatened to fall.

Cole could barely hold himself up anymore and move to sit on Kai's bed. 'If you can't talk about it, sign it.'

Kai raised his bandaged hand and it was clearly shaking. 'Water.'

Cole looked confused and pointed to the cup of water with a straw at Kai's bedside.

Kai felt anxious and shook his head. "No... I'm afraid..." He switched to signing. 'Because of drowning'

The look on Cole's face said it all. He felt so stupid for not realizing what the problem was. 'Was your dream about- that?'

Kai nodded and avoided Cole's eyes. Cole opened his mouth to speak, "K-Kai.."

Kai's head snapped back to face Cole. He had tears threatening to fall. "Cole! You spoke!" And in response Cole grimaced and coughed a little. His chest felt tight and his throat was no better. It was almost like his vocal cords were forcefully ripped out.

Shaking his head, he forgot about his pain and focused on the pain Kai was feeling. 'I'm afraid of water too. I'm a ghost.' Cole signed and gave a small smile to Kai. He understood Kai's fears even if they were formed for different reasons. 'It's ok to be afraid. It's about how you move forward. You can't avoid it forever.'

"I know." Kai felt a tear run down his face. "I feel so stupid. I'm a ninja... I shouldn't be afraid."

Cole quickly signed to interrupt his thoughts. 'Everyone has fears! Just because you are a ninja doesn't mean you are not allow to be afraid. I used to be afraid of dragons. Zane was afraid of loosing his humanity. Nya was afraid of loosing her powers. Lloyd was afraid of becoming his father. Jay has a lot of fears but the point is we are here for each other. We can help you overcome this.'

Kai couldn't control his tears anymore and they continued to flow. Suddenly Dr. Roberts rushed into the room in complete disarray. His hair was tangled and he had dark bags under his eyes. He clearly just woke up and came to Kai's side.

"Kai! Are you alright?! My pager was going crazy saying you stopped breathing?!" Dr. Roberts shared his concern and checked his vitals.

Kai wiped his tears away and coughed as he controlled his breathing from crying. "I'm okay. It's was just a bad dream."

Dr. Roberts rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes and looked to Kai. "A bad dream literally took your breath away? Are you sure you're alright? I can get you an oxygen mask."

Cole signed down to Kai. 'An oxygen mask might help you sleep.'

Kai rolled his head to look at Dr. Roberts. "Can I get that oxygen mask?"

The doctor smiled to him. "Absolutely"

After helping adjust the oxygen mask and triple checking his condition, he was sure Kai was fine. He helped Cole get back to his own bed and he left to get his own rest.

Kai turned his head to Cole and raised his hand. 'Thank you.'

Cole smiled, 'Get some rest.'

Cole watched as Kai finally drifted off to sleep. He frowned to himself thinking about how terrible Kai looked. Sure he was cleaned up a bit since finding him on that island but he didn't look like the Kai he knew. The fire in his eyes, gelled hair, that stupid smirk he always wore. But now Cole saw how broken he was since his accident.

His eyes traced Kai's IV, heart monitor and other equipment. It was scary to look at but he knew that it was necessary to make Kai feel better. Cole forced himself to look away as his eyes watered. He held his chest in comfort and pain.

'I'm going to have to talk to the others about Kai's mental health.' Cole thought to himself. 'There is no way I'm getting sleep now.'

It was decided in that moment that Cole was going to stay up to make sure Kai got good sleep. He shifted into a upright position and began to count random things in the room to keep himself occupied. Sometimes he would catch himself watching the heart monitor or watch Kai's chest steadily rise and fall. It stayed that way till the sun started to peek through the blinds.

A few hours later, the remaining ninja returned with a good nights rest in a long time. It was recommended to them by the doctors after noticing the lack of sleep they've had since everything started. Quietly they filed into the room, recently showered and rested. Cole was kind of jealous.

Jay and Zane smiled to Cole and lifted their hands to wave. But after a quick glance from Kai's oxygen mask to the dark bags under Cole's eyes. Before anyone could speak, Cole moved his finger to his mouth to show them to be silent.

Zane understood and acted first. He raised his hand sign, 'What happened?'

Cole barely lifted his hand from the bed. 'He had a nightmare so I stayed up to make sure he slept.'

Zane didn't look to happy. 'How long have you been up?' Cole only shrugged and Zane motioned to the oxygen mask. 'That bad?'

Cole nodded and Zane sat looking defeated.

Jay looked between the two. He whispered, "You guys sign too fast. What happened?"

Zane took the time to slowly translate to Jay. Cole looked over to see Nya next to Kai, her hand hovering over Kai's cheek. Cole understood what she was feeling, he was too fragile to touch.

Lloyd spared a glance to Kai and quietly pulled up a chair next to Cole. Lloyd signed to him, 'Now it's my turn to make sure you sleep.'

Cole couldn't help but smile at the gesture and replied with a quick, 'OK.'

He carefully shuffled to a comfortable position and finally allowed himself to relax and sleep. No more watching Kai's heart rate, instead his started to mimic Kai's slower breathing. It wasn't long till he was peacefully asleep.

Only a few chapters left! How do you think this will turn out? Thank everyone for being patient. I truely appreciate every one of you. :)