This chapter has been beta'd by the lovely tumblr user loizeaux!
It's been three days since the battle, and Korra wasn't getting any better. She was in constant pain, her whole body sore and hurting, except her legs. She had lost all feeling in her legs soon after waking up that night following the fight. The doctor stayed on the island and checked on her several times a day, but there was not much he could do for her, other than to have her wait. He told Tonraq that the poison damaged Korra's nerves, but she would be able to regain some feeling after physical therapy.
Asami stayed too. She was always by Korra's side, ready at a moment's notice to do whatever she needed. She remained in Korra's room most of the time, waiting for her to get better, and even resorted to sleeping on a cot, by her bed. Korra, however, never uttered a word. She just laid there, her body convulsing from the occasional pains. The doctor told them that the pain would subside soon, since the poison was out of her system, but Korra wasn't getting better. Asami thought that, if anything, she was getting worse.
Korra spent all day staring at the ceiling, not moving, sweat covering her body as she tried to ignore the pain. Occasionally it would get unbearable, and she would whimper, as tears poured down the sides of her face, while Asami held her hand and attempted to distract her.
After three days of this, Asami had enough. When Korra's father came in to check up on her, Asami quietly left the room to track down Lin or Suyin. She entered the living room where everyone usually gathered, and saw Suyin pouring herself some tea, Bolin napping on the couch, his head in Opal's lap, and Jinora chatting quietly with Kai at the table. They all looked her way as she entered, save for the sleeping boy. The surprise was evident in their faces as they watched her approach the older woman.
"Asami, has something happened to Korra?" Kai asked quickly, his face looking panicked.
"No, she's with her dad," Asami spoke, softly, sounding tired and worn out. "Suyin, can I have a word with you please."
"Of course," Suyin put the pot down and followed Asami out as the others followed them across the room with their eyes. When they were behind closed doors they spoke.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"Are you sure you got all the poison out?"
Suyin's eyes widened. "Um, I believe so. I'm not sure, everything was happening so quickly, I just pulled the metal out as fast as I could."
"Can you check? I can't watch her suffer like that. She's my best friend. Please," Asami pleaded.
"Let's go," Suyin said with strong resolve.
They marched down to Korra's room, getting the doctor on the way there, in case something went wrong. When they told Korra what they planned to try, she looked surprised. Asami's heart leaped in her chest as she watched Korra display some emotion. Tonraq removed himself from the chair by her bed, as soon as they told him the plan, and Suyin took his place. As she settled in, she closed her eyes in concentration and lifted her hands over Korra's body.
"I feel it!" She said, startled. "It's coursing through her bloodstream."
"Can you get it out!" Korra shouted as she tried to sit up. As soon as her muscles readied to lift her up, she let out a loud scream, as her face contorted in pain.
"Korra!" Asami was by her side in a blink of an eye, grabbing her hand and holding her shoulder down gently in an attempt to comfort her.
"Ok, Korra. I'm going to begin. Stay still," Suyin started to move her hands along the length of Korra's body in small, circular patterns.
Asami felt Korra grip her hand tightly, and saw the strain in the girl's face as Suyin bent a miniscule amount of poison out of her mouth. As soon as the metal was out, Korra relaxed a little, until she looked over at the metal that was floating above her.
"That's it?" Korra felt defeated. There was barely any poison taken out, a small handful, which meant that her body really was that harmed, and it wasn't the metal in her that was doing it, because there wasn't any trace of it left. "Get out," she whispered.
"Korra?" Asami didn't know if Korra wanted her gone too.
Korra just turned her head towards the wall and laid there quietly, so Asami stood up and followed everyone out the room. Tonraq took one of the chairs that sat outside her room and sat down. He motioned for Asami to join him, and she pulled up another chair.
"She'll get better, you know," Asami told the waterbender.
"I have no doubt that she will," he smiled at her gently. "In fact, I honestly believe she'll come out stronger." He placed his hand on her shoulder, and they sat there in silence for a long time, guarding the person they loved most.
Korra still has poison in her, even after this chapter. I just thought it would be cool if Su was a bit careless at the battlefield and didn't properly treat Korra. So she still has the poison she later took out at the swamp in her.