"Yes thank you—goodbye," Ikiaq pulled the pin device away from her mouth, turning to Ren and Tetsu. "The Kantocar will going to take you to the office. I already gave them the address."
"Are you coming with us?" Tetsu asked.
Ikiaq shook her head. "There's something I have to be at today."
"Alright," Ren said scooting into the Kantocar. Tetsu looked around for a moment and joined his brother. A man walked up to them in a pressed uniform and bowed.
"I contacted Iroh," Ikiaq said, holding out a hand palm up toward the man. "He'll be joining you."
He bowed and got into the passenger seat in the front.
"Good luck," Ikiaq said, holding her hand up and closing the back door of the Kantocar.
The ride down was serene the Kantocar muffling the sound of the city outside. They pulled up to a side street right in front of a thin two-story. Their escort got out and opened the door for them. They walked to the door of the building and knocked. A young woman answered. Her eyes widened briefly at the man behind then her eyes settled on Ren and Tetsu.
"Come in," she said quietly, moving back from the door and sitting down at a small reception desk. Perched on the edge of the desk a small tarnished bronze vase held a blindingly bright aqua-green feather. The interior, painted a vibrant red was occupied by antique furniture.
"The person waiting for you is in through those doors," she said, pointing down the hall.
They walked through the open doorway and turned into the hall. One of the doors was ajar, the scent of sandalwood creeping from the entrance. Ren and Tetsu knocked.
"Come in."
They slid through the door and the man who had accompanied them waited in the hall. His back to one of the walls. The room had several scuffed decorations of wood and gold. The physician stood in plain but practical attire. Her dark brown hair was pinned back tightly. Honey eyes landed on them.
"Who wants to go first?" she said her voice fairly low for a woman.
"I can," Tetsu said, shedding his outer shirt and placing it over the back of an hourglass-shaped chair.
"Sit in that chair," she said, pointing to an old-looking chair near the middle of the room. He did so, and she came over and pulled a side panel on the chair, which looked like a flat, wide armrest.
"Put your arm up."
Once he did so, she pressed two fingers to his wrist and held it there for twenty seconds. She then moved her fingers farther up and did the same thing. She came away and wrote something down on a pad.
"Your pulse is stable, though it is slower than average. But it seems that is just the way your heart behaves," she said. "Do your hands and feet get cold?"
"Occasionally," Tetsu said.
She wrote something else on the pad.
"Now breath out for me out of your nose," she instructed, holding a thin finger below his nose. Tetsu took a breath in and out.
She nodded and wrote something down.
"The air coming from both nostrils is fairly even," she said as she pressed on the sides of his nose, "It also looks like there isn't any major deviation."
"How is your vision?"
"It's alright I think," Tetsu replied.
"Can you read this?" she asked, holding up a small card as far from herself and Tetsu as possible.
"Peach," Tetsu said.
"Alright." She walked to a cabinet and pulled something out coming back over and placed a stick under his nose.
"What do you smell?"
"Smoke?"
"Anything else?"
Tetsu shook his head.
She repeated this with a few other sticks. Then pulled out a small long rectangle of metal and held it up to his ear tapping it with a stick.
"Can you hear that?"
He shook his head. She exchanged it for another one.
"That?"
He nodded. She repeated the process with several more.
"Alright, the sense test is over. I'd like you to get up and walk around."
He did so, walking around the fairly large room. She nodded and wrote something down.
"Now I'd like you to jog."
Once he did that, she had him sit down again and she took his pulse as before, once again making a note.
She took one of his hands in hers and looked down at his upturned palm. "Which hand is your dominant one?"
"Right."
She turned his hand around so that his palm faced downward. "Do you often get broken nails?"
"No."
"How often do you have to cut your hair?"
"Every few months."
"Alright."
"Are your eyes ever irritated or dry?"
"They are here."
She wrote something else down.
"Do you have allergies?"
He shook his head.
"Do you ever get stomach pains?"
"Sometimes."
"When is that?"
"If food is too spicy or if I've been stressed. Often at school."
"Do you ever have joint pain?"
"In my neck, sometimes, and in my hands, if I write for long periods."
"That's normal, but I'll get you something for that."
"Now stick your tongue out for me," she said and then studied it.
"How long do you sleep?"
"About seven hours."
"Do you sleep deeply?"
"Not always."
"Are you often thirsty?"
"Yes."
"Hungry?"
"Not as much."
"Do you often have chills?"
"No."
"Do you often get fevers?"
"No."
"I'll put my hands on your abdomen."
Tetsu leaned back a little as she did so.
She pressed in several areas and then pulled back. "You're done for now."
Tetsu stood up and Renshu came, his foot twitching as he sat. She ran through the same things for him, asking follow-up questions if he answered yes to her questions and moving on if he said no. Once she finished, she wrote something on a sheet and came over.
"Sit back down for a second."
She leaned down and pressed her hands to his chest and closed her eyes. After a few moments, she reopened her eyes and straightened. "You have a heart condition," she said.
Tetsu snapped his head from where he was sitting. Ren looked up at her as well.
"There is an irregularity in the heart and its beats are quick."
Tetsu came over and shook his head. "But we're the same physically."
"Not exactly," she said. "I'm going to take some blood from you," she said to Ren who was silent.
She rolled up both Ren's sleeves and chose his right arm. She drew out a syringe and dipped it into a liquid then shook it for a moment. Then she pressed it against the main vein and inserted it slowly, pulling out a vile of blood. She quickly took the syringe away and poured a liquid onto the prick wrapping it with a smooth bandage that compressed against the wound sucking against the skin.
"That's all," she said, undoing the needle from the tube of blood and putting the small glass container into something.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Tetsu said, his voice shaking.
She frowned. "I'm going to run tests on this and have someone look at the blood," she said as she rolled up the vial in a small sheaf of leather.
"I also have some recommendations on this page," she said, indicating a small page about half filled. She folded it neatly and slid it into a dark knife-thin pouch.
"I'll drop off a few things once I get them," she said.
Ren stood slowly out of the chair and Tetsu by his side. She watched them with her yellow eyes as they exited.
The ride was silent, enunciated by muted horns and the rumble of engines. They drove over the bridge, the sound of water lapping of water seeping through the windows. Their door was opened by the assigned guard. The man in uniform bowed and got back in the vehicle as it turned round.
Ren rocked back on his heels as he squinted at the sun. "Can you not tell Jinora?"
Tetsu turned toward his brother. "She'll find out anyway—why would you not? Didn't you hear the physician?" He paused for a moment. "Do you think she'll keep it a secret?" he said his brows swooping down.
Ren looked around at the trees and worried his lip. "I'm afraid she won't teach me airbending anymore," Ren said, fixing Tetsu with a level gaze, "Or anything else."
Tetsu looked back for a few seconds but then dropped his eyes. "Okay."
Ren smiled, tucking the wallet deep into his front pocket.
Tetsu lay awake in the dark. He turned in his bed his back to the wall and threw the covers off. Ren was asleep on the other side of the compact room. Tetsu approached the chair Ren had thrown his shirt over. He fished in the front pocket and slid out the wallet and opened the door, silently exiting. The courtyard air was fresh. Small puffs of moisture slipped between his lips. He slid into a nearby room, gliding the panel open. He searched for a light source and flipped it on. It basked the room in a small flicker in the shade of a burned-down fireside. He sunk into a low seat and pulled the slip of paper out from the wallet, unfolding it.
"Irregular beats of the heart. Rapid pulse. Most likely congenital," he read quietly to himself.
A muffled sound echoed outside the room and he looked up. He folded the paper closed once again.
He squinted in the light-less doorway as a small sigh of wind entered the room. A shape coalesced in the faint light.
"Don't read it." He heard his brother say.
Tetsu remained mute for a moment. "Why not?"
"What's the point in reading it?"
Tetsu shifted forward in his seat. "Did you read it?"
Ren remained silent and held his hand out for the paper. Tetsu frowned and handed the paper and wallet back to his brother. That night, he didn't sleep.