Young Justice: Solstice

Five

"What happened when I opened that box?" I whispered. Gripping the bed railings, I scooted over to the edge of the bed, and used the IV rack to pull myself to my feet and inch over to the bathroom.

I looked at myself in the mirror. There were dark bags under my eyes, even though I'd been asleep for four days. I imagine it hadn't been a restful sleep, though I couldn't remember any of it.

I stared long and hard at the face in the mirror. Why couldn't I remember?

Suddenly, something about my face seemed...off. I leaned forward for a closer look. My nose was slightly bigger, rounder, like dad's, and I still had my nose piercing in. My hair was shorter, more wavy, and forehead was larger, like mom's, with the red dot in the center. I reached up to touch it, but it wasn't there. I traced my nose with my finger, but it didn't have my piercing in. When I looked back at the full view in the mirror, I was back to small nose, small forehead, and straight hair that was incredibly greasy and needed a wash.

"Huh." I'd hit my head a lot harder than I thought.

"Miss Singh-!? Oh, there you are!" the nurse popped back into the room and panicked for a second before she found me in the bathroom.

"Sorry, I just want to freshen up a bit." I apologized.

"That's just fine. Is ten minutes good?" She asked, unhooking the IV from the rack and capping it off in case I blacked out again. "They have an opening in the radiology department."

"It's fine, just fine." I turned on the sink and splashed ice-cold water on my face, no longer worried about ruining the IV. I rubbed the water all over my face, erasing some of the bags. Then I squirted some soap from the dispenser onto my hand and rubbed it all over the strange new tattoo on my right arm. If it was henna, it should be enough to make it fade at least a little bit.

A moment later, I found that it was not henna. It wasn't irritated, like a regular tattoo, but it definitely felt like henna or some other kind of ink.

"Why won't you come off?" I grunted, rubbing harder and creating more friction. The ink beneath my fingertips grew warmer and warmer rapidly.

"Ow!" I gasped, pulling my fingers away. That was much hotter than any skin-on-skin friction could create, wasn't it?

"Are you alright?" The nurse headed for the door, but I quickly closed it.

"Sorry! Personal business!" I lied quickly. 

"Okay...make it quick, we've got to go soon."

I reached for the light switch, but looked down at my arm in disbelief. The tattoo was glowing in the dark!

Even after I flicked the switch up, the tattoo was still glowing. The design changed from black to bright yellow, and it seemed to be getting brighter by the second.

"Okay what's happening?" I asked myself.

"Miss Singh, is there anything I can get you?" The nurse knocked on the door. "We've got to get down there pretty soon."

"M-my sweater!" I gasped, trying to hide my arm in the folds of my hospital gown. The thin fabric wasn't enough to block the growing light. "Did my parents leave some of my things here?"

"Yes?" The nurse said slowly.

"I'm kind of cold, could you get my sweater out of my backpack?"

"Sure thing, Miss Singh." She opened the door and I put it on, careful not to tug at the part of the IV still in my arm. Thankfully, this was my cardigan, no metal pieces to interrupt x-rays and scans. And the thick-knit wool easily blocked the light, whatever it was.

"How you feeling? Do you need something to eat?" The nurse, whose nametag said "Austin", helped me settle into the wheelchair for the ride down. My legs were about to give away after standing in the bathroom for a few minutes. I wasn't walking anywhere any time soon.

"I could use my water." She handed me my mug.

"How do you feel on a scale of one to ten. One being no pain, and ten being the worst pain you've ever felt."

I thought for a moment. "I've got a bit of a headache, and the IV's kind of bruised my arm, so I'll say a five." 

Austin grinned at me. "Don't be afraid of over-exaggerating if that's how you think you feel, she told me as we sped down the hall towards the elevators. "Better say you feel you're in pain when you think you aren't then say you're fine when you're not. I'll get you some Tylenol after this, and we'll see if you've got a concussion."

"That won't keep me in here past the start of the school year, will it?"

Austin laughed. "I doubt it. Where are you going to school?"

I gripped my fist inadvertently, forgetting that I didn't have my acceptance letter in my hand. "Haven't decided."

"College, huh?"

I nodded. "College."

Like I predicted, they didn't make me take the sweater off during the x-rays and MRIs, so I didn't have to show my tattoo just yet. Hopefully all that would show up there was a brighter color on infrared. But if it did show anything out-of-place, I hadn't planned that far ahead.

Once Austin had left me alone in my room while she went to go get my requested medicine, I ripped the sweater off, nearly yanking the IV out with it.

"Ow, ow, ow, Kiran you're an idiot," I growled to myself, grabbing a paper towel out of the bathroom and applying pressure on my arm. The same arm where the tattoo was still glowing. And it was definitely glowing brighter than it had before.

"Oh come on!" I moaned.

Then the light exploded again, filling the room and swirling around me. Words caught in my throat as I tried to ask someone--anyone, or anything, even!--what was going on. The yellow light covered the walls, accenting and outlining every object and piece of furniture that lay strewn around the room, and swirling around me lifting me off the bed so I floated in the air without even a breeze.

"Kiran!" Cassie's voice sang as she threw open the door, "Guess what I-" She stopped in the doorway, shielded her eyes with her hand, and looked up at me with wide eyes.

"Kiran?" 

My throat ran dry as I looked at her. "Help me!"