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"This place is very...old fashioned." Jay remarked as the four of them got out of the bus.
Cole held Lloyd close to his chest as he took in the sights, although he was more focused on the fact that he could feel Lloyd wheezing against him.
"We should find someone in charge," he decided, adjusting Lloyd in his arms, wincing at the small groan before turning to Kai, "Kai? Any chance you know who we have to talk to?"
Cole watched as Kai looked over the field of workers, before approaching one of the women who had her greying black hair pulled into a tight braid as she worked; they followed closely behind, even though he had to adjust Lloyd again.
"Ms. Akiyama?" Kai called out, gaining her attention, "We need your help. More specifically, we need Dr. Hamasaki's help."
"You can't be here," the woman warned, and Cole winced; they must've made a mistake, but that's when she added, aimed directly at Kai, "Ignacia has become hostile towards you and your sister."
"But they grew up here! Why do they hate them?!" Jay protested loudly, and Cole couldn't keep himself from scowling at him. 'You'd think he would know what a "low profile" is by now.'
"Lower your voices. Ignacia is embarrassed by how your sister treated you five and manipulated the media into believing she's the good one here. Because of that, Kai is guilty by association."
Cole nodded; it made sense that he would be dragged into it. 'Kai wasn't kidding when he said Ninjago could hold a grudge.'
"If I stay away, will Dr. Hamasaki try his best to treat Lloyd?" Kai asked softly.
"Dude, no way! Lloyd needs you!" Cole protested, hearing Jay and Zane's protests as well, but Kai had to stay; he was the one who was closest to Lloyd, he was the one with the plan to stop Nya, he knew how to stop all of this, or was at least working on it.
"I believe so." The woman nodded at what Kai said, resulting in Kai turning around and approaching him with a message, tears falling down his face.
"Stay with him; guard him with your life. I… I can't lose anyone else."
"I get it." Cole smiled softly, glancing down at Lloyd when he let out a particularly painful sounding wheeze before making eye contact with Kai again, "He's my brother too. He's safe with me."
Kai nodded, leaning forward to gently ruffle up Lloyd's hair, which Cole couldn't help but smile at. 'No wonder this punk looks at Kai like a dad.'
"Well, well, I didn't expect to see you again, Kai." A voice interrupted with a slight snark in his tone, giving Cole a bad feeling in his stomach; at best, he was just an ass, and at worst… he was working for Nya, or someone worse.
"I was just leaving, Mr. Shimizu." Kai insisted, while the man looked over at Cole and the others, a smirk spreading across his face. 'I definitely don't like this guy.' Cole decided right then and there.
"Your friends seem to be in rough shape," Mr. Shimizu remarked before turning to Ms. Akiyama, "Don't worry about them, Hana. I'll take them to Dr. Hamasaki."
"Go with them," Ms. Akiyama nodded at Cole, and Kai did the same, seemingly telling him it was okay.
Cole nodded back, and after adjusting Lloyd so his neck was resting against the crook of his inner arm, he followed the man into Ignacia.
"Does anyone else get weird vibes from this dude?" Jay whispered to Zane and Cole as Mr. Shimzu was going on and on about the history of the town.
"Yes, he seems to be able to switch from being terrible towards Kai to treating us as esteemed guests very quickly." Zane agreed with a nod.
"Even if it's only how he treated Kai and how he smirked when he saw Lloyd." Cole added, hearing Lloyd wheeze again, although it practically sounded like a gasp for air, so he decided to call out to Mr. Shimzu, "Excuse me, sir, but we really need to get medical attention for our friend."
"Like, now." Jay added for emphasis.
"Of course, of course," Mr. Shimzu turned so they were standing in front of a tall, mahogany building, "this is Dr. Hamasaki's practice, only the best for the Golden Ninja."
Cole nodded at Mr. Shimzu, watching as he led Zane and Jay away before looking down at Lloyd. 'These people must really be out of touch with current events. Lloyd hasn't been the Golden Ninja in a long time.'
Cole reached forward and clicked the doorbell before returning his hand to where it was supporting Lloyd; even though he had super strength, he still had to support the kid's ribs.
The door opened, revealing an older man with glasses and long, greying hair, his face went from resting to a frown when he looked down at Lloyd.
"Are you Dr. Hamasaki?" Cole asked, hearing Lloyd wheeze again. "He needs help."
"Come in, please," the man ushered him inside, closing the door behind them before leading him to a small room in the back, "set him down here."
Cole complied, maneuvering his arms before gently setting Lloyd on the cot in the middle of the room and gently taking Lloyd's right hand with both of his.
"What happened to him?" Dr. Hamasaki asked, breaking Cole's focus on Lloyd and redirecting it to him.
"I...I really fucked up with one of our friends, Nya, and I don't think she meant to hurt Lloyd, but she did," Cole explained, realizing as soon as he spoke that he had meant Lloyd's injuries, so he quickly added, "he got a bunch of puncture wounds from shattered glass. There was a really big shard in his left collarbone area, and we pulled it out, but now that's infected. His ribs on his left side, I'm pretty sure those are broken as well."
Dr. Hamasaki nodded and reached forward to take off the top half of Lloyd's suit, which made Lloyd whine softly.
Cole had to keep himself from gagging when he saw it. Despite the fact it was covered in gauze and dirty bandages, he could see the red lines running from Lloyd's neck towards the wound. He looked up and saw Dr. Hamasaki's face twist into a tight frown. Not to mention the fact that it smelled as well.
"Is it bad?" Cole asked, knowing damn well that anything that looked and smelled like that could not be good, even with his limited medical knowledge.
"Yes, it's bad, but not untreatable. If you two had gotten here just hours from now, your friend would not be nearly this lucky."
Cole couldn't stop himself from smiling for a brief moment. "That's Lloyd for you. Punk always draws the short stick and still gets lucky."
"You should wait outside. I need to work, and given the face you made when I removed his gi, you don't want to see this." Dr Hamasaki explained, and despite the fact that his gut was telling him to stay with Lloyd, he knew that Dr. Hamasaki was right.
Cole nodded, gently squeezing Lloyd's hand before letting go and forcing himself to walk out of the room, turning back for a brief minute before shutting the door behind him.
Cole swallowed harshly as he looked up at the ceiling; 'This is all my fault. If I hadn't made that stupid comment… I can't believe I said that. I'm such an idiot.'
"Master of Earth?" A soft, feminine voice asked, and he looked away from the ceiling to meet her eyes, swallowing when he realized just how much she looked like his mom, "I'm Dr. Hamasaki's wife, Midori. Care to sit with me?"
"I'm Cole," he introduced before declining her invitation, "I should stay here, my friend is in there."
"They'll be in there for awhile, and you've been through a lot; no one will blame you if you took a moment for yourself."
After considering it, her offer did sound nice; Cole's legs were kind of sore, and his bones were starting to ache now that the adrenaline was wearing off. He nodded, and followed her into the main room.
The room, like the rest of the building, was made out of mahogany boards and candles were the only thing lighting the way. The smell of the chamomile tea on the stove was soothing, and the room seemed to be filled with a thin layer of steam.
Cole sat at the table as Midori walked over to the stove and transferred the tea into a pot before bringing it and two cups over to the table, pouring one before sliding it to Cole, who took it in his hands.
The heat against his rough hands calmed him as he brought the cup to his lips, taking in the calming taste. "Are you hurt as well?" She asked softly.
"No, I'm okay." Cole smiled, although he was unable to stop from looking over at the door.
"You're worried about your friend," Midori observed, and Cole nodded in response before she continued, "it's understandable, especially with everything you've been through."
Cole nodded again, and sipped at his tea again. 'She can't possibly know about Mom, right? Then again, Dad took her to nearly every doctor in Ninjago, so they must've come to Dr. Hamasaki at some point.' He swallowed, trying to keep his tears at bay.
He knew that his mother's illness and Lloyd's infection were two very different things, but at the same time… 'What if Dr. Hamasaki can't save Lloyd?'
"Thank you, for the tea." Cole stood up before wiping at his face, unsure if he had been crying from the memories or sweating from the heat.
"Of course. It might be best for you to get some rest." Midori suggested while she stood, but Cole shook his head.
After all, he promised Kai that he would protect Lloyd, and he couldn't do that if he was asleep. "I have to make sure my friend is okay."
"I'll wake you up when my husband finishes taking care of him. But you're overtired, and worn down," she walked over and gently led Cole to a small cot in the corner with a pillow at the top and an orange blanket folded at the end, "it's not much, but it'll do for now."
Cole had to admit, the cot looked way better than the hard ground of a serpentine tomb, so he accepted and laid down, draping the blanket over his shoulders. "Thank you, Midori."
"Get some rest, Cole." She smiled softly before blowing out one of the candles and dimming the room just enough so he could sleep; he couldn't keep himself from drifting off as soon as she walked away.
•••
When Cole woke, he winced at how sore he was. 'So much for the sleep helping.' But then another thought sprang to mind, 'Lloyd.'
He immediately found the strength to get up, and as he started to walk towards the door, he had to stop himself from walking into Midori and Dr. Hamasaki.
"How's Lloyd?" Cole asked before either of them could say something about how they had almost collided, "Is he-"
"We were on our way to come get you," Midori interrupted, "He's resting now, but he's going to be okay. You can go see him."
"Thank you, Dr. Hamasaki." Cole nodded before walking past them, not even hearing their response and opening the door, taking a sigh of relief.
Lloyd was sleeping; a slight snore came from him as he wheezed, although it was a lot less scary sounding now, and although he was pale, and he could still see the streaks, they weren't as prominent.
Cole sat next to Lloyd's feet, leaning against the wall as he watched the kid's chest rise and fall; now that Lloyd was going to be okay, maybe they would be okay. Maybe Kai had come up with a plan by now.
Cole reached forward and gently wrapped his hand around Lloyd's right one, speaking just above a whisper in order to avoid waking him. "We're going to fix this, punk. I'm going to fix this. I promise."
Time passed so slowly that Cole was convinced that every second was a minute long from the ticking on the clock, despite Midori explaining that the clock was a bit slow.
Soon enough, after Dr. Hamasaki finished changing Lloyd's bandages and told him that it was three in the morning and it would be best for Cole to sleep, he found himself drifting off while still holding Lloyd's hand.
Despite knowing it would be better for his sore muscles if he left and laid down on the cot, the voice in the back of his brain was nagging at him.
'Lloyd could get worse again and no one would know. Lloyd could wake up and be by himself. One of Nya's lackies could kidnap him, or even kill him. You should stay awake, just to make sure. Besides, evil never sleeps, so good never rests. That's what Kai says, at least. And Kai trusted you to watch him. He would hate you more than he hated Lord Garmadon if he found out something happened to Lloyd on your watch.'
"Cole, you should sleep," Midori whispered as she walked into the room, startling Cole out of his thought process, "Being overtired isn't going to help anything."
"But-"
"I'm not going to make you leave, but I'll be right here with him the whole time, and I'll wake you up if anything happens."
Cole sighed, gently squeezing Lloyd's hand. He could feel his eyes burn as they tried to close. He was so damn tired, and Midori's offer sounded so good...
•••
Cole jumped awake. 'I should've stayed awake, what if-'
"Good morning, Cole," Midori smiled as she passed him a cup of tea, which he took almost subconsciously, "you crashed pretty hard last night."
Cole turned his head, until his eyes settled on the person who he had been looking for. 'Lloyd.' He was in almost the exact same position he had been last night, and he was still snoring softly despite the wheezing.
"My husband said that he'll be waking up today, if not tomorrow, but to also be prepared for him to still be delirious because of his fever."
"Where is Dr. Hamasaki, by the way?" Cole asked, lifting the tea cup to his mouth as he watched her move around the room.
"He had to go and get some more supplies, just a stock up," Midori smiled before kneeling beside Lloyd and laying a cloth over his forehead, "I'm hopeful that his fever will break soon."
"Yeah, me too." Cole looked down as Lloyd let out another wheeze.
"I'm going to go check on your friends, see to it that they're settling in okay," Midori explained as she stood, "my husband should be back in about an hour, but I'll just be two doors down at Juro Shimizu's place if there's an emergency."
Cole nodded, and watched as she walked away. 'She's way too much like my mom.' he decided, before turning to Lloyd and gently moving the cloth so it pushed back the kid's hair.
"You're gonna need a haircut when we get back, punk. Or we'll just braid it. Maybe shove it in a bun. I'm sure Nya would…" he trailed off.
He had forgotten about Nya for a second, one second, and he was treating her as if nothing was happening, like they were on vacation instead of in hiding. All because of him.
"You're such a fuck-up, Cole." He said aloud, closing his eyes as the tears welled up in them.
"I-I don't think y-you're a fuck-up."
'That was definitely not my internal voice.' Cole opened his eyes, nearly sobbing in relief when two barely open green eyes stared back at him, but the only words that came to his mind were;
"Sensei would wash your mouth out with soap for a week with that kind of language, punk."
"W-which is why I don't swear around h-him." Cole nearly burst out laughing when the kid flashed a full toothed grin at him, despite the fact tears were still running down his face.
"I've missed you, Lloyd."
The room was silent after he said that, and Cole used the opportunity to gently press his hand to Lloyd's cheek that was still too hot. 'At least he's awake now. Fully coherent, to be determined, but awake.'
"T-things are bad, aren't they?"
'So somewhat coherent.' Cole gently reached forward and adjusted the cloth again. "Yeah. It hasn't been going well since you clocked out on us."
"Wasn't going well b-before that either." Lloyd argued back, his eyes fluttering closed; Cole couldn't even argue with him, he had a point.
"Are you in pain?"
"N-not bad right now, just r-really dizzy, so closin' my eyes. Don't wanna t-throw up on you." Lloyd slurred.
"Good call. I'd think I'd have to disown you if you did that." Cole joked before moving the cloth from Lloyd's forehead to over his eyes, hearing him sigh in relief, "better?"
"So much."
"You should go back to sleep, you'll probably feel a little better when you wake up." Cole advised, reaching over to adjust the blanket that was on top of Lloyd before pressing a kiss to the top of his forehead.
Lloyd yawned and adjusted his body slightly before settling down. It had maybe been two minutes before the kid started wheezing and snoring again.
But instead of being worried, Cole couldn't help but smile at him. 'Maybe we're not completely fucked after all.'
•••
The next couple days passed quickly, with Lloyd only waking up occasionally and usually mumbling about Morro or Nya, even his father. But he was continuing to heal, and continuing to get better.
Jay and Zane came and sat with him for a few hours at a time, giving Cole the chance to eat and stretch his legs, but his stomach dropped whenever he was away from Lloyd for too long. 'Punk's got my stomach in knots'.
But on the third day, Cole woke up to a smile on Dr. Hamasaki's face, and he could tell Lloyd had officially turned the corner. "What is it?"
"Lloyd's fever has broken. The infection is almost gone."
Cole nearly cheered when he said that, but instead, he heard Lloyd speak instead. "I wanna see Kai."
"I'll go get Kai. You just stay awake for a minute, okay?"
Lloyd gave him a nod, and that was Cole's cue to start sprinting towards the Akiyama's house with one thought in his head.
'He's going to be okay. And maybe, just maybe, we'll be okay too.'