(This is the fifth work set in the universe in which Bolin has Leukemia. Bolin reconnects with his brother after their fight.)
The receiver felt cold and glassy against Bolin's hands. He sighed, putting it down once more. He'd been inside of a small, private room of one of the government buildings—the only location in the Southern Water tribe that had a working phone—for almost an hour and still hadn't accomplished the task he had set out to do.
Determined, Bolin picked up the receiver and once more punched in the requisite numbers. After a few moments an operator picked up, asking how to direct the call.
"Republic City Police Department." Bolin said after a moment's hesitation. More silence, and then the ringing began again.
"Republic City Police Department, front desk," a light female voice said. "How may I help you?"
"Could I please speak with Officer Mako?" asked Bolin, dread germinating in his stomach.
"Absolutely. Please hold." Quiet descended on the line, and Bolin waited, biting his lip in nervousness.
It seemed to take forever for his brother to answer. Bolin could feel his breath start to speed up and tried to concentrate on steading it, as Mako had attempted to teach him a million different times when he was a kid. It had never worked; the only surefire way for Bolin to quell stress was bending a nice, solid stone.
Too bad rocks were conspicuously absent in the South Pole.
"Hello?" Mako's voice sounded distant on the other line. Bolin paused, anxiety washing over him in waves.
"Hello? Bolin, is that you?" Mako asked again, his tone rising in hopefulness.
Bolin cleared his throat. "Hi…yeah, it's me."
"Bo…" Mako sighed. "I'm so glad you called...I mean…thank you for calling. How…how are you?"
Bolin chewed his lip. "Oh, you know, I'm okay. I've been spending a lot of time with Katara; she's really been helping me, a lot."
Mako spoke slowly, as if choosing his words very carefully. "That's good; I'm really glad that she's there to support you."
"How have you been?"
A pregnant pause. "Work is real busy. I haven't had a lot of time to see Korra or Asami very much. But mostly…mostly it's been lonely here, without you. Spirits, Bo, I really miss you."
"I know. I miss you too." Bolin admitted quietly.
"I realize that I wrote this to you, but I want to apologize again. I'm so sorry for what I said…how I acted. I shouldn't have been so overbearing. Are we…are we okay?"
Bolin smiled. "Of course we are. We're brothers," he said, echoing Mako's long ago words after their match with the Buzzard Wasps.
Bolin could hear the grin in Mako's voice. "That's good to know. How have you been feeling?"
The corners of Bolin's mouth fell abruptly. "Well…not so great. Mostly I'm real tired. Usually I feel…I dunno…sort of sore…like how I always felt right after a Fire Ferret's practice."
There was a pause in which Mako didn't respond. Bolin continued: "I've also been…kinda…seeing things…now and then. People." He laughed nervously.
"What do you mean?" Mako asked, his voice full of concern.
"Oh, well, I'm not totally sure. Sometimes when I'm alone, at night…I see Shu, or other times Chan. They don't really do anything…they just…sort of stand there."
The ensuing quiet after Bolin's words lasted so long that he thought the call might have been disconnected.
"Bo. You know that these—uh…visions—that they can't be real, right?" Mako asked.
"Yeah, I know." Bolin replied, annoyance coloring his tone.
"Okay. This isn't anything to worry about. You're probably just thinking about them a lot, or else about something that reminds you of them. These sorts of things happen, sometimes." Clearly worried, Mako defaulted into big brother mode: instructive, helpful, supportive.
Bolin sighed and tried to remember that Mako was just trying to show that he cared. "Right, Mako. I get that. Clearly I am thinking about them a lot, especially little Shu. Practically every minute of each day reminds me of him…what he went through, how he died."
"Bolin, I know that was really tough. Shu was a great kid, and he was crazy about you. But there's nothing that you could have done. The surgeons too...they did everything they could."
"Yeah." Bolin said. "I know all that. I guess I just wish that things had turned out differently. For Shu, I mean." And also for me was left unspoken.
"I know you do, Bo, and so do I. It seems like a lot of the time bad things happen to good people for no reason. It's our job to deal with it all, I guess." Mako said.
Bolin nodded, then remembered Mako couldn't see him. "Yeah," he replied.
Abruptly Mako changed the subject. "Bo…I don't want to push you or anything, but I was wondering if you had given anymore thought to what I had said in my letter about…about you coming back to Republic City?"
Bolin cleared his throat again, stalling for time. "Yeah, I had. I'm sorry Mako, but I just don't think that I can go back there."
Mako swallowed, loud enough for Bolin to hear him over the phone line. He paused for a few moments before speaking. "Okay. I wish you would reconsider, but I respect your decision." His voice was full of despondency.
"I was thinking, though, that—if you still wanted to—you could maybe come here." Bolin said quietly.
"Yes! Absolutely yes!" Mako exclaimed almost at once, his voice rising in pitch and volume. "I will be on the next ship. Bolin, this is wonderful—thank you so much for allowing me to come!"
"No problem, bro." Bolin answered. "I'll let you go; I'm sure you have a lot of preparations to make."
"I do! Thanks so much again! I love you."
"I love you too."
Bolin hung up the receiver and began to tap his fingers absentmindedly on the desk in front of him. He stared straight ahead, lost in thought, not really seeing the tiny office.
A pang of guilt shot through Bolin's chest as he admitted to himself that he hadn't been entirely truthful with Mako. If he had been honest he would have had to confess that his visitors—no, hallucinations—were much more forceful than he had let on. He'd had full conversations with both of them, multiple times, and he was beginning to see them throughout the day, not just when he was alone. To be frank, they were starting to scare him.
Bolin stood up and walked across the small room. He couldn't dwell on this now—he had a healing session with Katara in just half an hour. Bolin opened the wooden door and exited, heading towards the outskirts of the city.
