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There was a knock at the door. It’s 11? On a Thursday, who on earth knocks on someone’s door at 11pm on a Thursday? Korra thought. “I’ll get it” I shouted to Mako and Bolin in the kitchen. She wasn't sure what could have prepared her for who was behind the door, it had been six months since she broke her heart and Korra was beginning to lose hope she would ever come back. But now, here she was, outside her apartment door.
“Asami . . .” I whispered, dumbfounded. She shivered as Korra looked her over, wet from the sleet outside, no doubt. Her hair was covering half her face and she had a suitcase at one side and her backpack on too. She didn’t respond at first.
“Asami?” Korra asked, louder this time.
“I’m sorry” she said, though it sounded more like a whimper, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I lied and said I never loved you, I’m sorry I blamed you, I’m sorry I ran away, and I’m sorry I’m here.”
Mako and Bolin were standing behind me equally dumbfounded. She was looking me in the eye now, her hair no longer covering her face. Her left eye was swollen and pink and there was a gash across her cheek. Korra shook her head to clear her mind. “Come in” She told her. “Mako, put her suitcase in my room; Bolin get me a bowl of warm water and a clean washcloth and the first aid kit”
Korra pulled Asami to the couch in their dingy and dark apartment living room. “I didn’t know where else to go” Asami whispered. Korra nodded. “My dad found out . . .” she continued “he found that picture from freshman year, at the football game, kissing” She smiled at that memory. She had been head over heel in love with her, how could she not be? She was the only other girl in the computer science program. She was brilliant, gorgeous, and hilariously dorky, and so sweet.
“He said it was my fault” Korra looked up at her, confused. “He said it was my fault my mom died. He said it was God’s . . .” she was sobbing now “punishment”.
Korra moved her hand to her back, trying to be reassuring. She had known her father was religious, and homophobic, she had known Asami was in the closet and scared. But blaming her for her mothers death? That’s some next level-bullshit gaslighting.
“He’s wrong, Asami” Korra said as evenly as she could, hoping the anger in her voice was hidden. “There’s nothing wrong with you Asami”
Mako and Bolin were nervously watching the exchange, the first aid kit, cloth and bowl of water sat on the coffee table in front of them. Korra grabbed the cloth and set the bowl on her lap, dipping the cloth in the warm water.
“Asami?” Korra asked, “Can I clean the cut on your face?” Korra didn’t bother asking about how it happened or who did it, she figured it was probably her dad; and if she wanted to talk about it she would. Asami just nodded, tears still streaming down her face. Korra pushed Asami's hair behind her ear and lifted her chin with one hand before gently brushing the cloth over her cheek. She could feel her watching me closely as she ran the cloth over the gash again, leaving it pink and wet. She moved the bowl and cloth to the table and grabbed the first aid kit for ointment and a bandage. As she did she asked her if she had been hurt anywhere else. She just shrugged, so Korra nodded.
“I fell down the stairs,” she whispered.
“You fell?” Mako asked angrily, they all saw Asami’s shoulders tense at that. “Sorry,” Mako said quieter this time, “but did you actually fall? Or did he push you?” Again, Asami shrugged.
“Does it really matter?” she asked, glancing between Mako and Korra.
“I think that’s for you to decide” Korra shot a glare at Mako, knowing his damn hero complex wasn’t going to help right now, “What does matter, is if you hit your head on the way down; or anything really.”
Korra tried to think through what Katara or maybe Tenzin would do. I tried to think through what Katara would do. She’d probably test for a concussion, right? And like broken bones? What about internal bleeding! Fuck, Korra thought, I'm not qualified for this.
“Where does it hurt?” Korra asked.
“Mostly just my head,”
“Okay, anywhere else?”
She shook her head “There’s probably bruises from the stairs, but, none of it’s as bad as my head”
Korra nodded and pulled out her phone, racking her brain for the memories of her Katara concussion testing her after bad hockey games.
“Can I shine a light in your eyes?” She asked, “It’s to check for a concussion, I think . . . maybe we should just go in to urgent care?”
Asami shook her head so fast she almost fell over
“Dizzy?” Korra asked, she nodded.
“No hospital, okay; then I’m gonna call Katara, she’s was a medic so she’ll know what to ask to make sure it’s not like, a really bad concussion”
“You don’t have to do that” She dialed the phone anyway “Ev, please . . . I, I broke up with you and I know how close you are with your parents, I’m sure they hate me”
Korra shrugged “My parents don’t hate you, and I kinda figured you didn’t mean half the things you said”
“I didn’t mean any of it!” Asami cried “None of it, it was awful and all lies, and I was horrible to you and I don’t deserve any of your help”
“Asami,” Korra held her hand, “You were scared. I I get it. You were mean, but . . . I still care about you”
Katara picked up on the first ring. “Korra! How are you?”
She couldn’t help but smile, it had been too long since I’d called her. Korra told her she was good and explained the situation (without telling her it was Asami, of course, she knew she was still probably mad at the girl who broke her heart). Katara walked Korra through a triage protocol, telling her to ask about pain on a scale and watch her eyes track her finger as she moved it. Fortunately, her assessments concluded that Asami was just bruised and maybe minorly concussed. she thanked her before hanging up.
"Korra, I'm really sorry. I still care about you too."