A/N: Guys I owe you all an apology. I did not expect to disappear for 2 months like I did. This year has been a lot, prob the most intense year I've had thus far in terms of study load. I guess it's expected considering how close I am to finishing my degree, but still. Anyway, Christmas holidays are approaching so I'll be better at posting, but expect a whole lot of sporadic posting after that. I hope you guys are still there and will enjoy this chapter after such a long wait. It was my birthday today, so I took the day off and said I'd finally post this, so yay for birthdays? XD
1 week later:
Katara's POV:
Tired eyes scroll up and down the screen as I glance over any abnormal bloods in this man with haemetemis. 'His urea is still raised which makes me wonder if the varices repair even worked.' I rub my forehead as I tap the end of my pen against the desk. 'He needs another endoscopy.' I decide as I click to order one.
"Dr Aqua? Sorry to bother you, but someone is here to see you. He says he's your brother?" Kiki says as she points to where I spot Sokka tapping his foot with folded arms. I frown and rise from my seat immediately.
"Thank you, Kiki." I voice gratefully before moving around the desk and approaching my brother.
"What are you doing here? I'm in the middle of work." I reprimand as the ponytailed man glances to either side of him.
"Is there anywhere we can talk privately?" He asks, ignoring my question. I purse my lips at him.
"Did you not hear me? I'm in the middle of.." I repeat, but he cuts across me.
"You're in the middle of work. I know. I wouldn't bother you if it wasn't important." Sokka assures and finally meets my eyes. There's a touch of alarm in his blue orbs and I find myself guiding us to an empty room against my better judgement. Once I've closed the door, I turn to my brother in confusion.
"What's this all about? You never pop in for a visit." I say, cutting straight to the chase. Sokka massages his temples before dropping his hand to his side.
"The police have been doing some investigating into what happened to Aang." My brother begins and I immediately find myself scowling.
"Sokka, how many times do I have to tell you that I want nothing to do with him." I remind between grit teeth, but the man barely flinches and continues on regardless.
"Trust me, this is something you should know." My brother reassures and my curiosity gets the best of me.
"Fine, but make it quick. I'm meant to go and see another patient soon." I mutter.
"You know how Aang was hit by a speeding car?" He starts and I nod my head for him to continue. "It wasn't an accident." At his words, that familiar sense of rushing ice swarms within me.
"What?" I echo back, prompting Sokka to start pacing up and down the room.
"The incident was caught on CCTV camera. The car had apparently been tailing Aang as he walked on foot for a while and when no one was around the driver sped up and hit him on the pavement. Twice. The footage then got a bit distorted after that, but someone might've got out of the car before driving off." Sokka reveals and suddenly I feel sick.
"You mean... someone was trying to kill him?" I croak back as my knees go weak. At Sokka's nod, I find myself reaching for the couch behind me to steady myself.
"Spirits. Why would they do that?" I wonder sickeningly. My brother shakes his head.
"That's what they're trying to work out now. Of course, members in the council are better informed and the general notion is it's because he's the Avatar. Aang made a few drastic suggestions that some people didn't like, but it's unclear which one created this hostility. Even more worrying is that they found him in the first place. You know how the Avatar always needs to travel around, how in spirits name did they find him?" The ponytailed man mutters to himself as he rubs his chin in thought. I frown and tilt my head to one side.
"Suggestions? What suggestions?" I question in confusion. Sokka lifts one shoulder up, appearing unsure.
"I don't know the details. It's on a need-to-know basis with the Avatar. All I know is that a few of those changes had something to do with banning knowledge over certain subtypes of bending and also his plans of making citizens of every nation living in separate towns. Obviously, those weren't very liked proposals. And when I pressed him about it a couple of days ago, he said he couldn't remember why he had those ideas to start with." My brother explains, but a part of me is already starting to go numb. 'Banning some bending subtypes? Is that because of the bloodbending?' I wonder as I recall our argument with agonising detail. I look down to stare at my open palm. 'I used the horrific technique on the airbender during our fight. Did he carry a grudge from it? No. Aang doesn't hold grudges. Then why?' I clench my hand into a fist.
"So, I'm guessing they're trying to find the driver?" I ask in an attempt to distract myself. Sokka nods.
"Yeah, but no luck yet." He says with a sigh. I can't help but snort.
"No change there. The police are always so useless." I mutter, eliciting a hurt expression from my brother.
"Toph is trying her best. After she changed careers, she's been making the police force a better place. It's not perfect yet, but it's improving." Sokka stresses with a tone of defensiveness. I roll my eyes.
"If it were better, Yon Rha wouldn't still be on the loose a decade later." I retort bitterly. Sokka frowns.
"He was caught and received a 4-year prison sentence for what he did to you. The evidence against what happened to Mum just wasn't enough to pinpoint him as the..." Sokka tries to explain, but I narrow my eyes, cutting him off.
"As the murderer? Is that what you tell yourself to make you feel better? He killed our mother and got off completely free." I remind angrily, but the man crosses his arms.
"That's a problem with the law, not the police." Sokka argues. I snort.
"The police are the enforcers of the law." I retort, but my brother simply shakes his head.
"You know what, I didn't come here to argue. I just wanted you to know what's happening." My brother utters. I frown at him.
"But why? I told you before that Aang isn't my concern anymore. What's going on in his life isn't any of my business." I voice, sounding exasperated.
"And I told you, he's still your husband." Sokka throws back firmly. I clench my hand.
"He's not my husband, how many times do I have to tell you that?" I say between grit teeth.
"Until you stop lying to yourself." Sokka answers nonchalantly as he drops his arms to his sides and starts to walk around me, but he pauses when he's beside me. "You miss him, but refuse to acknowledge it. You want him by your side again, but you're too angry to admit it. You love him way more than you hate him, but you're too scared to say it." My brother whispers. I can feel the blood pounding in my ears as my heart thuds against my ribcage. I jerk my body away from the ponytailed man.
"Stop deluding yourself." I bite, but there's a weakness in my tone that's obvious to both of us.
"Maybe, you should stop deluding yourself." Sokka mutters as he yanks open the door.
"Sokka." I warn tightly, but he's out of the door without a further comment. The door slams loudly after him. I exhale heavily and run a hand through my fraying hair.
"Most frustrating brother in the world." I mutter under my breath. 'He needs to learn when to butt out of other people's lives.' I think in irritation as I drop my hand from my hair. I take in a deep breath and reach for the door, but voices from outside hold me back.
"Did you talk to her?" My entire being freezes at the sound of Aang's voice. 'Shouldn't he still be in bed?!' I wonder anxiously as Sokka's voice floats through the crack of the door. 'That jerk.' I think to myself.
"I did. She's still insanely mad at you buddy." My brother discloses. I glare at the door, as if the heat of my staring could penetrate through the wood and hit Sokka right in the face.
"Oh." The sound of disappointment in the airbender's voice makes me want to sink to the ground. "I guess she should be. I was terrible to her." He continues in a mumble. I screw my eyes tightly shut. 'Sokka, next time I'm going to punch you so hard.' I vow to myself.
"Well, she wasn't an angel either." Sokka points out. 'Yep, he's done for.' I think venomously.
"Well, I was the one who started it." Aang utters as his voice cracks. 'Oh shoot. I don't want to listen to this.' I twirl around and glance around, but to my stupidity I led Sokka and I to a room that doesn't have any other exit except the one where the two of them are just standing outside of. 'Double shoot.' I curse as I start pacing up and down the room.
"Honesty, I don't know what you could do to break her out of her funk. I mean, it's been a long time Aang." Sokka says gently.
"I know. For all I know, she could be thinking of getting engaged to someone else." The torture in his tone makes my feet falter as I gaze at the closed door.
"I might not see her as often as I'd like, but I'm pretty sure that isn't the case. She'd have to divorce you first before marrying someone else." My brother reassures him with an upbeat tone and I can't help but roll my eyes at how oblivious that man is.
"She could be ready to sign those papers at any moment. The fact she hasn't done it yet is puzzling in itself." The airbender protests. I hear a light slap, as if Sokka clapped the young avatar on the shoulder or back.
"It's because she still loves you buddy. Under all that anger, it's still there." The ponytailed man explains and I wish I could just burst open the door to stop my brother from putting insane ideas in Aang's head.
"She barely looked at me when she took my blood. I don't think..." The air nomad breaks off with a cough.
"I think we should get you back to your room." Sokka ushers.
"But..." The airbender starts to protest, but I can hear how breathless he sounds, even from here. I near the closed door and rest my palm against the cool surface as my chest twinges with concern. 'Airbenders shouldn't be breathless.' It was a belief I've always held. But that belief fractured with Aang's previous words:
"Well, airbenders can suffocate too!"
I close my eyes and draw away from the door.
"Could you tell her I'm sorry?" He asks quietly. I hunch my shoulders and give my back to the sealed exit.
"I think she knows buddy." Sokka's voice drops to just above a whisper.
"Tell her anyway. And tell her I still..." He trails off and I can almost imagine him shaking his head at this point, as if he changed his mind about what he was going to say. "... doesn't matter." He ends with, sounding defeated. I bite my lip as I have a pretty good idea what he was going to say. I hear my brother sigh heavily.
"Come on Aang. Let's head back." Sokka urges and finally I hear the sound of shuffling feet as they walk away from the door. As they move away, Aang mumbles something else. I can't quite catch what he says, but I almost could swear it sounded like:
"I didn't want to lose her."
When I taste a rush of metallic, I realise I've bitten my lip so hard that I've split it. I curse under my breath and reach in my pocket for some tissues to dab at my lip. 'I don't think I can think straight with Aang being here. I hate using up my holiday time, but maybe I should lie low until he's been discharged. This is the third time I've run into him and if he's walking around now, I won't be able to keep dodging him. I mean, he knows exactly where I work.'
I massage my temples before reaching for the door handle and pulling it open. 'I need to talk to the ward manager.' I decide begrudgingly.
My eyes sweep down the corridor that I presume Aang and Sokka must've gone down and to my dismay I find that they're still walking, or rather in Aang's case he's hobbling, down the long hallway. Fortunately, their backs are turned towards me.
My eyes can't help but zone in on the large brace on the airbender's leg as he uses a crutch to walk. There's one point that he almost loses his balance and my feet subconsciously takes an alarmed step forward, but Sokka grabs the boy before he can face plant to the ground and keeps a steady arm around his back.
Despite all of our sibling tension, I find myself smiling at Sokka's caring behaviour. 'Maybe some of mine and Mum's compassion did rub off on him.' I wonder with mild amusement before releasing a quiet sigh and stroll down the opposite corridor to find the manager. 'I hate breaks.' I silently grumble.
30 minutes later:
"You want a what?!" The manager exclaims with wide eyes from her seated position at a desk.
"A holiday." I repeat, trying to fight the distaste off my face. The lady stares at me as if I grew two heads.
"But you never ask for a holiday. I literally have to force you to take one. So, what's brought this on?" She queries with a tone of suspicion. I bite my tongue.
"I guess I'm feeling a bit worn out and thought a break would do me good." I say reluctantly. At this, the manager rises from her chair and rounds the table before eying me carefully.
"Are you doing ok? I don't want what happened last time to..." She begins carefully, but I rush to change her line of thought. 'Other than my family and Yue, my manager is the only other person who knows about my collapse.'
"It's not like that at all. I just thought it would be good for me." I insist. She looks at me dubiously before sighing.
"Alright then, when did you want to book off?" She asks as she grabs her calendar from the desk behind her. I cringe, knowing she won't like what I'm about to say.
"From tomorrow?" I request meekly. The woman almost drops the calendar as she stares at me.
"Tomorrow?! But you've been given shifts for the next two weeks! I can't just leave those slots empty." She protests. I drop my head, having half expected this.
"Ok that's fine. I'll just wait." I mumble. But the manager must've noted the melancholy in my voice as she clucks her tongue.
"I suppose I could get some locum doctors in. I wouldn't want you to push yourself." She murmurs to herself. I hold back a flinch, but when I see her marking the calendar, I almost feel that the embarrassment was worth it. Almost. "How long off do you need?" She asks without looking up from the dates on her hand.
"2 weeks." I say, having calculated when the airbender will likely be home by. 'Technically he should be medically fit for discharge in under a week, but writing discharge forms and counting for any possible complications could push that back a little, so two weeks is a safe bet.' I think to myself. The woman sighs as she starts circling the dates.
"Well, the next fortnight is not going to be fun. The other juniors are nowhere near as efficient as you are. Alright, I won't be able to get tomorrow off for you, but from the day after you're free for two weeks, sound good?" She bargains and I can already find myself smiling.
"Thank you so much. I really appreciate this." I voice gratefully and bow low in appreciation. She waves me off.
"Think nothing of it. Just make sure you rest. I want a rejuvenated Dr Aqua come two weeks, you understand?" She says with a wag of her finger. I chuckle and nod my head.
"Got it. Thank you again." I utter and leave the room with a slightly lighter weight around my shoulders. 'I only have to avoid him for one more day. I can do that.' I reassure myself as I return back to my job.
A/N: Probably not the most exciting chapter, but at least we have our healthy dose of angst right? XD I've got a bunch of PMs to reply to which I sincerely apologise for taking forever to get to, pls be patient with me, I'll reply soon I promise! Hope you're all keeping well and that you enjoyed reading, see you in a couple of weeks or so. Take care!
5/12/22