Chapter 29
Slipping
What am I doing? What is she doing? What is going on?
A loud crack of thunder brought them both out of their hazy, yet mirrored thoughts. The boom frightened Korra into another coughing fit.
"You should get into the shower. You need to warm up. Your skin feels so cold…"
Korra's never cold.
Asami kept the Southerner upright until the hacking ceased.
"Thanks…" The Water Tribe girl whispered, wiping away a small amount of fluid from her lips with the back of her tan hand. She pushed herself with her elbows and flipped over so that she was on her knees. The tub was low enough that she could crawl in from the floor.
"Here are the rags and the soap. Try to clean your wounds, if you can."
The engineer walked to the doorway but was hesitant to leave. She eyed the damaged girl through the open curtain as she fidgeted with the soap container, her injuries preventing her from opening the lid.
"Let me…" She pulled the bottle from her tan fingers and unscrewed the top before shaking some of its contents onto a wet cloth.
Korra had given up on words for the moment, but maintained a look of gratitude to make up for it.
Asami reached the exit once more and took a look back into the bath. The Southerner was struggling to even grip the rag and run it over her gouges. She kept switching hands, testing out which one was more effective. Every attempt resulted in her dropping the cloth with a grunt of frustration and an occasional cough.
"Would you like some help?" The engineer knelt beside the injured woman, winter coat and boots abandoned.
The Water Tribe girl nodded in response and held the rag out to her with a timid look.
"It's okay, Korra." Asami was gentle but thorough in her movements. She re-cleaned many of the wounds she had sterilized a few days before, noticing each new mark that popped up between the old ones.
What happened when you were in the storm?
It was a question both of them wanted answers to, though Korra knew more about the details than Asami. The engineer repeated the query in her mind when she reached the younger woman's back. There were large bruises mixed in with deep gashes across her shoulders. Her lumbar region was somehow inflamed.
"The water feels so good, Asami…" the Bender murmured, unaware of anything that was going on inside and out. She felt herself slipping in a way she hadn't experienced before.
"Can you turn around at all?"
There was a small, groan-like sound as a response. "I… don't think so. The water, the heat feels… it's like I'm on fire."
Asami threw her hands up to the Southerner's face and examined her eyes. They were hazed and bloodshot. The steam and warmth may have helped slow her descent, but Korra's sickness was getting worse. She tossed her jacket aside and climbed over the shower place to reach the injured woman. One pale hand gripped her shoulder, while the other worked the soapy rag around her sores.
"Try to stay – upright – if you can." She struggled to hold Korra's torso up as another coughing spell hit her.
Once the back wounds were taken care of, Asami moved to the gash on the Water Tribe girl's skull.
How the hell did you get this?
She traced her fingers along the edge of the wound to gauge its size. The sting of pain snapped Korra out of her momentary trance. The younger woman noticed Asami's half-bent position into the tub and pushed herself forward. She patted the spot behind her.
"Here, this will be easier…"
Asami paused for a moment. She took the invitation after removing her socks and crawled into the cramped stall. The engineer shifted her legs so that they were bent on either side of the Southerner's body, feet flat against the bottom of the tub, and continued to exam Korra's head wound, ignoring the water hitting her. The hair around the injury was loose and matted, given the blood and the loss of her rear wolf-tail. She removed the other two blue bands that held the rest of her dark brown mane in place. With gentle repetitions, she combed through the younger woman's wet hair.
"That feels… so nice…" Korra leaned her head back to give the heiress better access to her scalp.
"Haven't you ever had your hair combed by someone else before?"
She sighed. "Not in a long time. Not since I was a kid, maybe four or five, back in the Southern Water Tribe with my mom. That was the last time. Once I started doing it myself, well..." There was sadness in her voice that the heiress wasn't expecting. She resumed her task, deciding not to press the issue; now was not the time.
The injured woman let out a soft noise and closed her eyes. The combination of the heat from the shower, the warmth against her spine, and the delicate movements of the comb pulled her from the slipping unconsciousness she had felt earlier and introduced her to a more pleasant approach to her much needed slumber. She slumped, half-against the wall of the bath, half-leaning on Asami's leg, until she was on the verge of sleep, where her mind was about to dash away and her body was a mere puppet to its subconscious desires.
By the time darkness fell, Korra's back pressed Asami's front and everything that had ever bothered her was very, very far away.
(-)
She awoke in a daze, the soft sounds of the shower water hitting the bath and her body creeping into her ears. Her dreams were black and uneventful, but she didn't care all that much; it was the sleep she needed, not the nightmares. Korra groaned as she tried and failed to move. Every inch of her felt sore. Her blue eyes scanned what she could see through her swollen slits. The water was still warm and gentle billows of steam floated up around her face. The colors of her cleaned wounds contrasted the white of the walls. Her undergarments and armbands were intact on her curled body. It was the sight of the pale hands holding her and the leg beside her that yanked the Southerner out of her haze.
Asami's arms were loose around her torso: one palm was on the edge of her hip while the other was on her right shoulder, as if holding her in place, holding her close.
A small smile stretched across Korra's lips. She couldn't help but feel comfort from her sleeping embrace. The Bender shifted her position just an inch, but it was enough to stir the slumbering engineer.
"Korra? Are you alright?" She pulled her hands away from their original position on the injured woman's body and rubbed her back instead.
"Mmmhmmm…" The Water Tribe girl murmured, falling into a new trance under the raven beauty's touch.
How are her hands so…
Asami chuckled. "Come on, I think we've had enough of the shower. We're starting to prune." She stepped out of the tub and knelt down in front of the younger woman.
Korra couldn't stop herself from noticing the way the engineer's wet clothes clung to her body. Though her red and black jacket was missing, revealing a simple white tank top, her normal dark-colored pants remained. She hid her blush; it was easier than she had planned, considering the amount of pain she felt when Asami lifted her up.
The heiress led the Southerner to her bed and toweled her off before helping her onto the mattress.
"Is it alright if I borrow some clothes? Mine are wet and I still have to go out to phone my dad."
The Bender peered out the window. The clouds were dark and the wind pounded into the building, bringing freezing rain with it.
"Asami, you aren't seriously going into the storm, are you?"
She turned on her heel, a pair of pants in her hand, and raised her eyebrow. As if on cue, Korra's throat throbbed and she began hacking from her sickness.
"Here, these ones are for you." Asami placed the fresh clothing on the bed beside her, claiming her silent victory.
Korra sighed in defeat and tried to pry her bindings off when the older woman left the room to change. She huffed and struggled to no avail. By the time the Non-Bender returned, she was splayed on her back, a thin layer of sweat forming on her skin, which glistened as she took in heavy breaths.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah… I'm, uhh… Fine… kinda…"
The older woman shook her head as she hung her wet clothes to dry on the back of Korra's desk chair. The borrowed blue sweatpants looked stark against her black and red jacket. "Do you need help," she asked as she laced her boots up.
"I… maybe…" She paused. "Yeah, I do."
Asami reached the bed in one stride and grabbed the folded pants beside her. "Since you're already lying down, I'll do these first." Her tone was nonchalant. She slid the fabric over Korra's legs with care and withheld her grimace when she saw the injured woman's mangled ankle. From that moment, she focused more on the cloth and less on the skin underneath it.
The Water Tribe girl propped herself on her elbows and arched so that the band could reach her waist with ease. She ground her teeth as Asami helped her into a sitting position and guided her arms into the shirt.
"Do you want me to take off your bindings and armbands, too?"
She shook her head and plopped onto her pillow. They were still wet from the shower, but she didn't care. The heiress covered her with the light pelt on her bed before pulling her winter coat on.
"Please don't go." Korra pleaded, worry in her voice.
Asami buried her fingers into the woman's brown hair. "I'll be back soon. I'm going to phone my dad and get you something to eat. You're sick and you're hurt. Just… Just get some rest." She wrapped her arms around her one last time before putting on her gloves and heading out of the dorm.
The Southerner rolled to her side, her window in sight. A flash of lightning flicked across the room, followed by a boom of thunder. Every blink brought an image of herself struggling through the gale, face pounded with freezing rain, body pummeled over by the gusts. She turned to her opposite side, keeping her back to the storm, and pulled the pelt up to her face.
"Just, be safe. Okay?" She muttered to herself, imaging an answer of assurance from the engineer as she forced her eyelids shut.