Young Justice: Solstice

Four

It was dark.

I couldn't move.

It was dark.

Was I breathing?

It was dark.

My arm was so sore.

It was so dark and no matter how hard I tried I could not open my eyes. I couldn't even yell.

Suddenly, all at once, I could.

Light burned my eyes and air flooded my lungs as I screamed.

"Kiran!"

Still breathing heavily, I blinked, and found myself in my parents' arms.

"Kiran!" Mom sobbed, stroking my hair. Dad kept his arms securely around me, rocking back and forth silently.

"Wha-" I cough violently, shaking my whole body and feeling like my lungs would fly up my throat and out of my body. Mom gently rubbed my back while Dad, still red-faced, helped me hold the mug of water to my lips.

"Th-thank you." I whispered. I looked down at the arm I'd tried to use to hold up the mug, wondering why it hurt so much. Right in the crook of my elbow was an IV, and a blueish buise forming around it. I looked away, down at the hospital bed I was lying in.

"Oh Kiran!" Mom seemed unable to say anything else as she sat on the bed with me, holding me closer.

"What happened?" I coughed again, and Dad held up the mug, urging me to drink while he talked.

"Someone got into the camp a couple nights ago. We woke up to Cassie screaming your name, and a blinding flash of light. All of us came out of our tents to see Cassie running after a dark person who was standing over you, holding the box you discovered earlier that day."

I coughed on my water, contemplating if I should tell them that I was up to mess around with the artifact I'd found, whatever it was. 

"Cassie swung at them, but in the blink of an eye they had run off. We can only assume that they knocked you out with that box when you got up to investigate and tried to stop them." Both my parents smiled at me proudly, and I only felt more guilty.

"Wait a minute," I forced myself to calm down and took another sip of water before I coughed again. "You said someone got into the camp a couple nights ago, and took the box I'd found that day. How long have I been out?" A second after I asked that I regretted it.

Mom and Dad looked at each other.

"Four days." Mom rubbed my arm as goosebumps popped out.

I shuddered.

"Where's Cassie?"

The door flew open, and I found myself pinned down to the bed.

"You idiot!" Cassie cried. Doctor Sandsmark stood in the doorway, shaking her head.

"Are you okay? Tell me you're okay!" Cassie begged.

"I'm fine. I think." I told her.

"Good." Cassie hugged her again. "I can't lose my best friend. Wake me up next time okay?" She pointed a finger in my face.

I laughed at her threat. Cassie would hurt a fly. "Okay, I will."

"Ah! Miss Singh!' the door opened, and a nurse in scrubs walked in. "It's good to see you awake. I'll get he doctor up here and we'll get you an MRI to make sure your brain's okay. Okay sweetie?"

I nodded, slightly dazed. "Okay."

"Are you tired again?"

"You should get some sleep," my parents fussed over me, without even pausing to hear if there was something I really thought I'd need.

I rolled my eyes at Cassie, who gave me a sympathetic look. "Actually, guys, I just want some alone time, to process this. I've been sleeping for four days. I want to think."

"Of course," Dad calmed down, smiling at me. Mom kissed my forehead, helping me find the button to raise and lower the bed so I could sit up.

"Come on, Cass, we should go too. We can stop by the station and see if the police have found anything." Doctor Sandsmark put her arm around her daughter.

"Police?" Maybe there was more to process than I realized.

My father turned to me. "Whoever invaded he camp, whoever knocked you out, they stole the artifact you found. And we want to prosecute him for hurting you." He smiled in a way that was supposed to be relaxing, closing he heavy hospital room door behind him.

I let out a shuddering breath. The details of the night were still a bit hazy, but I knew no one had invaded the camp. The last thing I remember before waking up was opening the box. Whoever my parents had seen, it came from the box.

But that wasn't all I remembered. I distinctly remembered Cassie literally flying towards me, but had to be a hallucination from the pain medication.

I looked down at the IV in my arm, and saw something else that wasn't supposed to be there.

I rarely ever did henna, so why weren't my parents suspicious when they saw a henna tattoo on my right forearm?

😁 

~Lizardgurl