Cole sighed as he saw Lloyd and Nya walk towards the reception section of the hospital, and the exit.
They had wanted to be there once room visit was a possibility but both needed to rest, change, bathe and everything else, even if it was the minimum.
His siblings hadn't made a stop at the monastery like they had, as soon as the bounty was flying above the hospital they had rushed in alongside Pixal and Zane with Kai on their arms and hadn't left ever since.
And because of that loyalty they were still covered in dried blood,, skin, gi's, hair, just... everything was covered in blook.
A gruesome reminder of what had happened the previous day.
It has barely been a day, Cole couldn't believe it, it felt as if months have passed.
First Master, he felt so tired already.
He chose to ignore how the seat below him creaked, obviously the chair was defective and that's why it had broken.
Definitely nothing to do with him.
Not at all.
Ahem, anyways...
Focusing on the reception he saw Zane talk with a nurse while signing some papers, he guessed permissions, bills and all that official stuff.
Lloyd waited on one of the seats for Nya looking as if he could fall asleep at any moment.
Nya meanwhile was currently hugging Jay in the middle of the corridor.
And do they needed.
He smiled slightly, it was always sweet to see those two despite the situation.
Jay had been a ball of nervousness and anxiety since the incident, he had been so close to having another panic attack (He already had been on the verge of one when they found him over Kai's bloody body) and Cole had felt so damn useless, usually he would be the one to help him through them yet for the first time in his life he couldn't.
He just couldn't.
He wouldn't be able to tell you if he was on the verge of a panic attack himself or something else but he just... froze.
He had ended up being grounded by Pixal and Zane.
Admittedly he felt guilty despite knowing no one was on their right mind at the moment and this wasn't his fault.
Zane and Pixal were already desperately trying to keep Kai alive until they reached the hospital, which was easier said than done when you were on the middle of nowhere, they didn't need the burden of taking care of the rest of the team.
He felt useless..
He was sure the rest had similar feelings.
No one could help it.
Damn it..
Briefly he wondered if Nya and Lloyd would be okay, but Pixal was at the monastery so at least there would be someone to push them around to take care of themselves if it came down to that.
Pixal...
Pixal had chosen to stay at the monastery, she mentioned already being able to contact both Sensei Wu and Misako, so they were probably on their way back.
She mentioned also informing Skylor, Cole wasn't sure what was going on between she and Kai but he knew damn well she cared about him so it was fair to let her know, he agreed.
Zane had commented about letting his fellow Nindroid process everything. The most probably thing would be that her and Skylor would visit later once they've settled their minds.
That was fine, everyone was still considerably shaken up.
...
That was an understatement and he knew it, but it was easier to not have a crisis if he actively didn't think about it.
Easier said than done of course.
He sighed heavily as he saw Zane walk closer, they were lucky the media hadn't caught wind of anything happening... Yet. It would happens sooner or later, and he wished it would be way way later.
"The doctor should come to talk with us soon"
Cole nodded, unkept dark locks falling in front of his eyes before being brushed away.
Suddenly he felt a cold hand grab his, carefully intertwining their fingers, it was at that moment he noticed he had been having the armrest on a death grip.
Calmly Zane used his other hand to brush away Coles locks again before cupping his cheek and leaning forwards, in an awkward angle, to press both of their foreheads together.
"It's gonna be fine, we're gonna be fine, the worst part is over"
Cole hummed, not completely convinced of those word, closing his eyes as he leaned onto the touch.
"It's still an uphill battle from here"
"Yes, but he survived the night, this is his battle and we will have to support him from the sidelines the best we can."
Cole sighed, slumping onto the other man.
"I hate this"
"So do I"
The two of them stayed onto the embrace until they heard footsteps approach, both looking up to see Jay walking alongside the doctor, his eyes were downcast.
"Ah, the Ninja"
The doctor cleared his throat.
"Please, sit down, this might take a while"
Pixal huffed a breath as she heard movement around the monastery.
She never knew she could feel this tired, well, now she knew. Good for her.
And the worst part it was that whatever she was feeling it wasn't something she could fix, the logical part of her brain told her that there wasn't something she could do to help the fire elemental and it would be better to focus on something else.
Like, you know, tracking down the motherfucker that did this to Kai.
But instead she found herself spacing out.
Her mind felt... fuzzy, it felt weird, scrambled and it was made worse by the fact that she was useless.
Even if she were to get up and track down the villain and arrest him then what? Kai would still be fighting for his life, they all would still have the image of him trying to just survive while everyon frantically tried just to do something.
It just... It felt wrong, so so wrong.
And she didn't believe herself strong enough to bear with it.
Sighing she hugged her knees as she hit her head lightly against the headboard of the bed, closing her eyes and just listening to the life around the monastery.
Being aware of the changes on everyone's movement didn't make her feel any better.
On the contrary, she felt like crying.
Maybe she did.
Nya combed through Lloyds hair as both rested on Kai's bed.
It hasn't been planned, originally her plan was to shower and then curl up on her bed while anxiously awaiting news about her brother. Maybe sleep a little if she somehow managed to.
But her feet had led her to Kai's room without thinking and she had found a recently showered and changed Lloyd curled up on bed, silently hugging a pillow. What probably took her attention the most was the big red hoodie he was using.
Of course she had joined if only to share their current misery together.
She hugged him while he changed focus from hugging the pillow to hugging her waist as he just laid there with his head on her tighs.
Nya found helself sitting, back against the wall with Lloyd accomodating himself across her lap, she had her phone besides her but frankly she didn't want to see it, instead she focused on combing through Lloyd's messy hair, hoping to soothing him a little.
Closing her eyes she tried to not think about what had happened the previous day, but it felt impossible.
The blood, the gasps, the pain on her arm, the hospital, the flatline.
Kai flatlined.
He flatlined several times.
And she had been there watching the medic team rush everytime, every single time.
And on the last he had been declared dead for five minutes.
Five whole minutes.
At this point Nya wasn't sure if Kai had a death wish he wanted to fullfill so bad and the universe simply said no or if the universe was death set on wanting him death and he was fighting with all his will to live.
She guesses coming back from being death after five minutes would be testimony of the latter.
Five minutes...
She could feel the tears starting to run down her face.
Goddamn it.
Roughly she whipped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve but they kept on falling for several minutes, she tried to quiet her sobs as to not disturb Lloyd.
Taking deep breaths she eventually calmed herself enough, tiredly she moved her hair of the way.
Nya looked down to see Lloyd sleeping, it wasn't a peaceful sleep but it was something.
Good, because she didn't want Lloyd to see her like this, she had been keeping it up together somehow up until now.
Taking her phone again she saw some missing messages from Jay,
She sighed tiredly and closed her eyes without answering a single message.
Eventually she too fell asleep alongside her little brother.
Jay curled up against Cole, who had an arm around his small form, they had been td it would be a few more hours before they were allowed into the room and if they wished they could go out and come back later as they would call them.
Yeah sure, as if they were gonna leave their brother alone while he's fighting for his life.
And so, that's how all three of them found themselves sitting mostly in silent on the waiting room.
It's been a bit more than a day but Jay felt absolutely drained, he couldn't remember how long it took them to reach Ninjago after the incident happened but they do remember it took hours, hours of not knowing if Kai was gonna even be alive by the time they reached civilisation.
On top of that the surgery was long, eight hours if not more, Jay couldn't remember, he could ask Zane but he didn't feel like speaking.
They had been waiting close to three hours now, if his track of the wall clock was correct, he looked up to see Cole with his eyes close, breath even.
The lightning ninja couldn't help but feel a pang of guiltiness.
Add one more thing to the list.
He hadn't been able to rest and the other two had been dead set on making sure he wasn't alone, the fact that they were so tired was his fault in the first place (but that is a lie isn't it? He knows they too are worried for Kai, of course they stayed up).
He takes his phone out, nothing Nya has read the messages but never answered.
He tries to convince himself she's probably just sleeping.
No need for more anxiety on top of the one already bubbling inside.
He bites his lip, he knows is irrational but part of him wishes she or Lloyd had told them Kai flatlined several times and on one of those he was technically dead for five minutes.
It was... A lot to take in and he wasn't sure if they all had actually processed what was said.
A pair of footsteps took him out of his stupor and he sat properly, gently bugging Cole as they saw the doctor approach.
Kai wasn't up yet but he was stable enough for visitors, that was a good progress, finally.
Zane let out a relieved sigh as he took Kai's (too cold) hand in his own.
He had been the first one to enter and it didn't felt right with him.
It wasn't as if he didn't want to see Kai, on the contrary, despite him being in the state he is seeing him alive and breathing was more than enough.
Even if his usually rich dark skin was almost unbelievable pale and ashen.
Zane had chosen to not look at his face, he didn't feel ready to see his neck even if it had been "fixed", the wound was there and so where the memories.
Instead Zane decided to take Kai's closest hand and just, crawl it, play with his fingers, feel the pulse in his wrist and just, make sure Kai knew he was there.
It was the least he could do.
Lloyd woke up with a pounding head and a dry throat.
He felt like shit.
It took him a bit to take on his surroundings, noticing he had been sleeping on Kaos room and wearing Kai's hoodie.
Uh, he doesn't remember doing that.
Or Nya joining him for the matter.
The water Ninja was sleeping in what he could only assume it was an uncomfortable position.
She was sitting cross-legged against the wall slightly hunched over, it made Lloyd wonder how she hasn't fell over.
Rubbing his eyes he sat on bed, seeing the dim light that came from Nya's phone, making he remember to check his.
As he took the phone out he tried to kick his lips, only to find them dry, remembering he hasn't drink anything since yesterday.
Huh, that's probably why he felt like shit then.
Maybe he should go get something to drink and eat, even if it was something light, not like he had anything else to do at the moment except for waiting.
Those plans were quickly thrown to the bin as he read Jay latest message and hurriedly turned around to face his sleeping older sister.
"Nya" He whispered, the water Ninja didn't move, swallowing the anxiousness that that bring up (don't think about Kai, dontthinkaboutKai) he tried again.
"Nya" he whispered harshly, this time taking her from the shoulders and shaking her slightly.
"Uh... Wha'?"
Just as Lloyd told her visits were open for Kai's room there was a knock on the door, making both of them jump.
Lloyd didn't yelp, really, he didn't.
Confused for a moment the siblings crossed gazes with each other.
"Lloyd, Nya?" The voice was low and it sounded tired but it was easy to distinguish who the owner was, after all, it had a certain mechanical rumble beneath.
"We're up Pixal, you can come in"
Softly the door opened and Pixal seemed to doubt for a second before entering the room, Lloyd crossed eyes con her, sympathy shining on his eyes.
The droid smiled faintly at the two of them and Lloyd felt himself mirror the action, a quick glance at Nua told him she too mirrored it.
"Hey Pix" Lloyd couldn't help but wince a bit at the hoarse voice that came out of Nya, it was obvious she had been crying.
"Hey" She seemed to doubt for a moment before asking "How are you holding"
"How are you Pixal?" Lloyd himself felt surprised at how strong his voice sounded, toning it down to a more soft tone he continued. "I know despite what it looks like you and Kai are pretty close"
Leaning onto the wall Pixal tiredly passed a hand through her face before combing her hair.
"I'm... I'm okay, well, not really but I think I'm holding up"
Lloyd gave her a sympathetic smile. "So are we Pix"
Nya got up from the bed and slowly took her hand before hugging a surprised Pixal, who stood there stunned for a moment before hugging Nya back just as tightly, letting out a shaky breath.
Carefully Pixal took Nya's left bandaged arm, fingers slightly tracing it with fatherly touches.
"Sorry about the hastily transfusion, we ended up hurting you too"
Nya made a face Lloyd couldn't decipher, but warmly took Pixal other hand and squeezed.
"It was our only option, and you know I would to it all over again"
Pixal squeezed back before letting go and stepping back, breaking the moment.
"I can take you to the hospital" She eyed everyone "I'm planning to visit Skylor and I can drop you off."
Lloyd tilted his head, getting up from the bed too.
"Aren't you two gonna visit?"
Pixal shook her head. "Tomorrow" Was all she said, Nya hummed in response.
"Oh, yeah, I guess that makes sense" The youngest let out a nervous laugh.
Nya smiled at her. "We would appreciate that, thank you Pixal"
Pixal nodded, before leaving towards the hangar.
Nya turned around to face Lloyd, seafoam eyes shining in the dim light of the corridor.
"Are you ready?"
Lloyd doubted for a moment before shaking his head, Nya exhaled. "Yeah, me neither"
Passing her hands through her head she lightly hit her cheeks, as if to cheer herself.
"Well, let's get going, the sooner we arrive the sooner we can see him"
The green Ninja kicked slightly the up pooled floor with his sneaker before walking towards the room door, rearranging the red hoodie he was using before following Pixal's path.
Just before closing the door she took on the room a last time, noticing one of Kai's jackets hanging on the bed frame, almost instinctively she took it, putting it on and smelling it.
It was a comforting smell and for a moment she imagined Kai hugging her.
The moment was over soon as her phone vibrated again, Nya taking it out to finally answer Jay and telling him they're on the way.
With uncertain steps Nya exited the room and closed the door.