Chapter Text
“Sato, speaking.”, a black-haired woman tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder, still reviewing blueprints on her desk.
“Hello, this is Republic City Central Hospital speaking. I’m nurse Yubin from the emergency room. You were registered as the emergency contact for our patient.”, The woman’s voice was steady, professional – but her hesitation made the woman’s stomach clench. “May you come to the hospital’s emergency room, please? It’s about your-”
“I’m coming. Twenty minutes.”, the black-haired woman cut her short and ended the call.
She was on her feet before the phone hit the desk, striding to the door. “Cancel all appointments for today,” she told Makoto, her secretary.
“I can call the chauffeur. Where-”
“I’ll take my bike. Faster.” She was already swapping heels for scuffed biker boots, shrugging into her leather jacket. The rare choice of pants over a skirt felt like the only good decision she’d made all day.
The streets blurred. Wind roared in her ears, each red light a personal insult. Her hands locked on the handlebars, knuckles aching, chest tight. Whatever had happened – it had to be serious. She didn’t let other people call on her behalf.
Images clawed at her mind: the woman at breakfast, smiling faintly over the paper; the woman working late under the hum of fluorescent lights; the woman saying “Don’t worry” like it was a law.
She couldn’t be gone. Not like this.
With a screech of the rear tires as she stopped at the hospital, kicked the stand, and was through the sliding doors in seconds.
The man at the reception desk looked up. “If you have an emergency, please—”
“Nurse Yubin called me. About a patient.”
“Name?”
“Sato-“
“Yasuko!”
She spun. Bolin was hurrying toward her, face pale, jacket askew.
“Bolin! What- what happened?”
“I happened to be there, when it happened. She was on her way to Future Industries Tower. The crash-”, Bolin answered. “I got her here. Mako’s on his way.”
“Uncle Mako? He doesn’t handle traffic cases anymore.”, Her voice sharpened. “What happened?”
Bolin’s gaze skittered away, guilt written all over his face.
“Yasuko Sato?” the receptionist said, drawing her attention back.
“Yes. I’m the emergency contact for Asami Sato – my mother.”
“ID, please. Wait in the room to your right. I’ll get Head Nurse Yubin.”
Yasuko obeyed, Bolin trailing after her.
“Will you tell me what happened?” she pressed.
Bolin swallowed. “Your mom wanted to tell you herself. It’s… not my place.”
Yasuko stared at him. “How bad?”
“I made them call you this time. You need to know.”
Yasuko’s head was spinning. Her pulse hammered in her ears. Not sure how to react in this situation, she was just afraid of what had happened to her mother.
“Miss Sato?”, a woman’s voice she recognized called her. The woman was tall with kind eyes. “I’m Yubin. We talked on the phone. Please follow me.”
“What happened to my mother? If it were her choice I wouldn’t be here.”
They walked in silence past curtained bays and rows of beeping machines until they reached the ICU.
Yasuko stopped in the doorway.
It wasn’t her mother in the bed – not the woman she knew. Not the woman who used to stride through boardrooms like she owned the world. This figure was too still, too pale, her hair matted from blood and antiseptic, skin swallowed by the sterile white of the sheets. Tubes and wires formed a web around her.
The sound of the heart monitor – that slow, steady beep – pressed into Yasuko’s ears until it was the only thing she could hear.
A memory punched through: six years old, curled on the couch while her mother read blueprints, one hand absently combing through Yasuko’s hair. That hand – the same one now limp on the sheets – had been warm, steady, unshakable.
Her knees buckled. She caught herself on the doorframe and bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to taste blood, forcing the tears back.
“Mom…” The word broke in half, barely more than breath.
Dr. Yang approached. “Your mother was in a serious collision. A van struck her vehicle intentionally. She sustained multiple injuries – surgery was successful, but we placed her in a medically induced coma to allow her body to heal.”
Yasuko’s voice came out flat, a reflex from boardrooms and negotiations. “Details.”
The doctor hesitated, glancing at the nurse – but before he could speak, a low voice cut in.
“Kid.”
Mako stood in the doorway beside Chief Beifong, two uniformed officers behind them. Even Lin’s usual steel had softened.
“Let’s talk inside,” she said.
Once the door was closed and two officers stationed outside, Mako rubbed the back of his neck. “Your mom’s car was hit at the intersection of Sokka Avenue and Yue Road. CCTV shows her getting out, conscious. Two masked men tried to force her into the van. She fought them off, had them both on the ground.”
“Wait.”, Yasuko interrupted Mako. “When she was still fighting after the car accident why is she like..”, she looked at her mother. “Like this…”
Mako sighed loudly. She could see that this is hard on him, too. They were close friends and a little more. They are family after all.
“She went to help her assistant – he was unconscious, shoulder impaled with glass. That’s when one of the attackers grabbed a gun. Two shots. Shoulder and abdomen. Both clean through, but she lost a lot of blood. Bolin kept her alive until medics arrived. She coded twice during surgery.”, Chief Beifong finished.
Yasuko’s fingers curled around the bedrail. The smell of antiseptic filled her nose, too sharp, too clean.
“Due to the blood loss and reanimation, we decided to put her into a coma that her body can better heal without her being in pain.”, Dr. Yang added.
Yubin stepped closer. “Relatives talking to coma patients can help. They may hear more than we think. We will give you privacy.”
When the door shut, Yasuko sat heavily in the chair and took her mother’s hand.
“Don’t you dare leave me,” she whispered, a tear sliding hot down her cheek.
In the hall, Mako pulled an evidence bag from his coat. Inside was a folded letter. Bolin read the words aloud: “Give us the Avatar.”
Mako’s jaw tightened. “This is bad.”
Opal’s voice was low. “She never told Yasuko.”
Bolin’s gaze flicked to the door. “Then we need to call her.”
Opal spotted movement – Yasuko started toward them – and quickly intercepted, spinning her around, knowing she must have heard them. “Hey, sweetheart. Come sit with me for a moment.”
Yasuko let Opal steer her away, but the muffled voices behind the door pressed against her skull. They weren’t talking about the crash. They were talking about something – someone – else.