Heart To Heart To Heart

[Darben Skirae]

Darben Skirae's eyes were red from crying, his burned arm up to his chest. Bandaged up, and he winced everytime he had to move. From the waist all the way up to his neck, the left side of his body was horribly burned. The thermal detonator had done a lot of damage, such as nerve damage. He could not feel almost anything in his left arm, and it hurt to breathe from the burn on his neck. Yet, he is more worried about another.

Before him lay Stardust. Here on the planet she ruled, Imahaylan, the queen was in terrible shape. Many wounds, but there was one that worried Darben greatly. The chest wound. A sniper had hit her there, it had caused incredible damage. Only one name came to mind, as he thought of who could help her...so he sent out a call for help to an old friend. Using a commlink, he attempted to contact her and sent this message; "Aesona. It's Darben Skirae...I have no idea if you remember me, but I need your help. Come to these coordinates. I'll pay whatever you need, just please. I need your help."

[member="Stardust Australis Skirae"] @Dr.Aes'ona Terrani

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

/ [member="Darben Skirae"] | [member="Stardust Australis Skirae"] \​

| Location: FIV Malice |​

†††​

"18. Your play, T."

For a moment, it looked like Terrani was going to put down her datapad to play her pazaak hand when she leaned forward over the table and reached over--though it was only for the last torn piece of her bread. She ate the entire thing even though it was a little larger than bite-sized, furrowing her brow at whatever she was reading.

"Aes'ona?" asked the therapist, concerned.

Covering her mouth with one hand, she replied simply, "Commenor," voice slightly muffled by her food. He probably knew what story she was talking about specifically--the CSA rebellion and the stand at the First Order embassy--as he had more time to follow current events than her.

Brayaa nodded in understanding. "What's the word from Dosuun?"

"Don't know," admitted Aes'ona, pausing after her statement to swallow. "But i--" Suddenly, she stopped as her earpiece chirped with an incoming call notification. "Hold that thought, Dermin." With that, Aes'ona excused herself from the table and fast-walked out of the noisy cafeteria so she could hear the caller before answering. But as soon as she did, only the voicemail played back:

"Aes'ona. It's Darbin Skirae...I have no idea if you remember me..."

And for a moment she didn't understand. She remembered him, of course, but her brain was unprepared for a personal call rather than a medical one.

As his recorded voice continued, she transferred the attached coordinates to her tablet and quickly input them into the galactic map widget. She stopped mid-keystroke when she heard the raw desperation in Darbin's voice. She didn't know what he needed, but she knew in a moment that she was going to supply whatever it was.

"Tell Doctor Brayaa that it was an emergency," she told a stormtrooper passing into the mess hall. His "yes, ma'am," was drowned out as she rushed off.

---

By some miracle, Doctor Terrani had managed to find a discreet pilot--one of the few hired wings on the star destroyer. They arrived at Imahaylan and landed at the capital's spaceport, as Aes'ona assumed that would be easier to accomplish than landing directly at the hospital.

She paid the man for the time he had already spent on her, as well as gave him a little drinking money for the layover. When sure he would wait for her, Terrani hurried off the find the hospital and Darben.

"Excuse me," she interrupted may a time, asking those on the sidewalks for directions. She was sure she looked suspicious for other reasons--namely for rushing about lost--but at least she didn't look too out of place on the basis of her outfit. "I'm looking for the hospital."

Eventually, someone took pity on her and pointed her in the right direction. She entered the building by way of the emergency room, looking somewhat disheveled.

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

[member="Darben Skirae"] [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]

This twilek had been from one end of the galaxy to the other end, she had fought with many groups been many thing and had built up a reputation of war and peace. Scars laid upon her body to tell stories of glory and war and yet today

Today a new scar stood upon her, one that has put her on the brink of death hanging on a thread by the mercy of fate

It was a miracle she was alive, the sniper had penetrated her armor, nearly went through her had the armor not been so thick, extensive damage to her lung and heart combined with internal bleeding. One of the nurse someone who had seen star plenty of time spoke that the only way she survived was do to her enhancements

The building was quite large, 4 stories up and three levels below, stardust rest on the third level being taken away out of sight in case anyone decided to try and attack the injured queen

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

[member="Darben Skirae"] [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]

This twilek had been from one end of the galaxy to the other end, she had fought with many groups been many thing and had built up a reputation of war and peace. Scars laid upon her body to tell stories of glory and war and yet today

Today a new scar stood upon her, one that has put her on the brink of death hanging on a thread by the mercy of fate

It was a miracle she was alive, the sniper had penetrated her armor, nearly went through her had the armor not been so thick, extensive damage to her lung and heart combined with internal bleeding. One of the nurse someone who had seen star plenty of time spoke that the only way she survived was do to her enhancements

The building was quite large, 4 stories up and three levels below, stardust rest on the third level being taken away out of sight in case anyone decided to try and attack the injured queen

 

[Darben Skirae]

Darben Skirae held the hand of his wife tight, as if holding onto her life. As if holding onto the one thread of string that held her to the galaxy. It was all he could focus on now. His eyes red from crying after he had seen the state she was in. And he hoped her help would come soon, he prayed for it. The First Order had been on Commenor, and he hoped that it would not affect [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]'s judgement on helping with this as he had recalled her being part of the First Order. And he would have to hope that [member="Stardust Australis Skirae"] would trust them enough to help. Things would become bad quickly if Stardust did not.

A nurse came in, holding a datapad with her. "This woman...she matches the description you gave." Darben was handed the datapad and looked it over. He sighed with relief. Not only did she look barely changed at all, but just seeing an old friend sent relief through him. He nodded to the nurse. "Send her up."

Once the nurse had been dismissed, Darben turned back to Stardust. "A friend is coming to help with the wound on your chest. You can trust her, trust my word for it" he whispered almost silently, his voice hoarse. It hurt to talk still. And he had to resist the urge to rub at the itch.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

/ [member="Stardust Australis Skirae"] | [member="Darben Skirae"] \​

†††​

"Excuse me, but why am I--?" Aes'ona began, practically running to keep up with the nurse that had come back for her, and was now leading her who-knew-where. The doctor didn't sense any immediate danger, but she needed to know where they were going. "Wha' are you--?" Suddenly, the nurse had stopped outside a room on the third floor and turned back to Aes'ona.

"Scrubs are in the vending machine," she informed. "Leave your clothes on the bottom bunk."

"Slow down!--"

"There's no time!" the woman exclaimed, thrusting her ID card into the doctor's hand.

Though Aes'ona had at least a dozen more questions, she ducked into what turned out to be an on-call room. She hurried over to the textile vending machine against the far wall, scanned her borrowed ID, and picked out a medium top and bottom. After they dispensed, she changed quickly, hung the ID around her neck, and exited the room.

Only then did the nurse begin to explain, "You were called for by the Queen's husband." Aes'ona had no time to be shocked at that revelation. "She's in critical condition. I'm needed back at the ER, but I'll send for a droid, ma'am."

"Doctor Forr," she introduced, thinking fast to recycle the name she has used when undercover for the FOSB. "She's in good hands."

At the end of their quick exchange, the pair had reached the Queen's private operating room. Blackout curtains hid the scene of within behind bulletproof glass. The nurse opened the highly-secured door for her, and Aes'ona rushed inside.

Her heart sunk at the sight of Darben and his apparent wife. The doctor rose a hand to her mouth as she gasped. Yes, she had seen worse, but it had never hurt her so much to look at it before. "Oh, by the..." She barely stopped herself from finishing the exclamation with "leader."

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

I always trust you

A hushed voice spoke, sounding near death as stardust eyes barely opened unable to move at all. Pain course brough her, she barely felt like she was there within the physical word as her hand squeezed tightly as she closed her eyes and let a shallow breath out. It had been the first she had woken up in weeks, yet know her husband was standing before her there with her it gave relief that he was alive and better then she was

Noises reached her ears, the force around her moved towards it, she felt the nurse that had been with her for weeks and a new signature as she moved her head a bit to see the horrified face of the new doctor as she frowned a little then rested her face

is..she...it?

She asked darben

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] [member="Darben Skirae"]

 

[Darben Skirae]

Darben Skirae had his head against the bed, just holding her hand. He looked up, and managed a light smile of surprise and hope as he saw her wake. He reached with his other hand, stroking it across the side of her face. She bore so many scars, so much pain and he wanted it to stop for her. As he did so, admiring her beauty he heard the door open. And hearing her, he managed a smile as Darben looked over to Terrani. "Aes'ona...I'd greet you more formally if I was not in dire need" he managed to say, trying not to break down from relief and all the held back pain.

Darben stood and stepped aside, but not before giving one last assuring squeeze. "It is only her, but I promise she can do good" then he gave a pleading look to his friend. It pained his heart to see his wife in such a condition.

[member="Stardust Australis Skirae"] [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

/ [member="Darben Skirae"] | [member="Stardust Australis Skirae"] \​

†††​

Aes'ona wasn't offended, but moderately understanding. She didn't have a team with her, she must have looked less put together than a doctor that inspired confidence, and she was a stranger to the Queen.

She picked up the datapad chart from the end of Stardust's bed and began skimming it over:

Injury: Penetrating ballistic trauma to thoracic artery; non-through; shrapnel from armor contained; internal bleeding combined with cardiac and right pulmonary trauma
Prognosis: Short-term exsanguination; possible long-term damage to affected areas if blood loss stopped

Putting back the records, she glanced over at the nearby patient display:

Nurse: Larbec
Doctor: Vance
Head Surgeon: Acksedge

She's taken care of, Aes'ona thought before correcting herself. Obviously not in the state she was in. Was everyone here medically inept for this situation and that was why she had been called over such distance? ...Was she going to be much better?

She shook the thought away--it wasn't important at the present. She had to try. If not herself, Darbin seemed to have some confidence in her abilities. "I need to-- " the doctor began before hearing the door behind her open. A glance over her shoulder confirmed it was the medical droid that she had been promised. "--put you under to operate," she finished, curiosity satisfied as she turned back to the organic pair before her. She looked between them, asking, "Do you have any objections?"

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] [member="Darben Skirae"]

Her eyes closed feeling his hand as she moved her cheek rubbing against it softly and sighed with a smile before she glanced over to the new woman again and watched her careful...she wasnt one of the doctors here...eye squinted before she closed them

I know ill have to be put under...I've no objection

However she looked to her husband, if he objected she would as well, but considering she was barely holding on and no one around knew how to handle such a injury as severe as stardust had...she had to put her faith in this new woman

after I come to we will talk

She said and sighed relaxing

 

[Darben Skirae]

Darben kept his gaze onto [member="Stardust Australis Skirae"] now. He trusted [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"], and while he had not seen her work he knew her to be trustworthy of making the call he had to get her here. Darben shook his head to the question. "No objection...please do what you can..." He stood, and put his hand on Terrani's shoulder. "Please save her." He had not meant to look so pleading, or give that burning look. He was trusting her with his wife's life, but with how red his eyes were and his own pain it looked very different despite his tone and words.

Darben stepped to the door, and there he waited. He did not intrude, but he wanted to stay for Stardust's sake, so she would know that he was close. Even if he had to get some gloves and help Terrani, as he already had sterilized clothing to be this close to his wife.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

/ [member="Darben Skirae"] | [member="Stardust Australis Skirae"] \​

†††​

Of course they didn't. She just had to ask.

"Droid?" she asked as she asked as she momentarily left the main bullpen to rush into the scrub room to begin washing her fingernails, hands, and forearms.

"My designation is 2-1B-43312T," it replied with a masculine-programmed voice.

"Uh, is 1B alright?"

"I will respond to anything, Doctor Forr," he informed as she began drying off herself.

"To be honest, " she began, leaning over the large trough sink to pull a pair of gloves from the nearby dispenser, "I've never operated with an inorganic assistant before."

"Don't worry, Doctor Forr, I am not programmed to fail."

Doctor Terrani frowned slightly and replied, "I hope not." A pause. "Well, start with a general anesthesia IV. Once she's out, I'll intubate."

With his orders, the droid left and Aes'ona followed soon after. As she walked out of the scrub room her to surgeon's station on Stardust's right, Aes'ona stopped in front of Darben, telling him, "If you want to be in here, wait in control. " She pointed to the observation room to the left, where the minister would be able not only to see what was physically happening, but he'd be able to watch the details on monitors. "Just don't go too far. You'll be up next."

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] [member="Darben Skirae"]


Stardust looked over to darben and smiled, taking a deep breath in then out shallow once more as she went to speak

darben...I love you...no matter how many or anything I will always love you till the end of time

With that she frowned feelimg tired and closed her eyes yet again and sighed as she rested back knowing she wouldn't feel much after she went enter....smiling as the world faded she fell into sleep

 

[Darben Skirae]

Darben Skirae watched as the doctor left, and [member="Stardust Australis Skirae"] spoke to him. He wanted to hold her hand again. To soothe her, assure it will all be all right. "I love you Stardust, and I will never leave your side." Except for this moment, as [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] told him, or rather ordered him to go to the observation room. Darben glanced to it, and frowned. He didn't want to leave the same room as his wife, he wanted to help in any way he could...but if he could help from there, then he would.

He nodded as he had to respect her wishes as well as not get in the way, but did not leave before making an assurance that he was fine. "These are just burns, they will treat themselves. I am not bleeding or have broken bones" but his voice was still hoarse and it still felt on fire when he talked. With that, he left to the observation room and felt a twist in his gut as he watched.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

/ [member="Darben Skirae"] | [member="Stardust Australis Skirae"] \​

†††​

"Thank you," Aes'ona told Darben as she shifted her blue surgical mask up over her nose. Then she walked towards Stardust's bedside and turned her attention to the barely stopped up sucking chest wound. "Give her some more oxygen, her right lun-- " In the middle of her order, Aes'ona looked up and stopped dead.

They weren't painfully obvious, but a mess of some light scratches radiated out from the bottom of the droid's motherboard hatch at the base of his neck. The way that the light was shining onto his casing made it easier to see than it would have been otherwise.

Had someone reprogrammed a medical droid? Considering the disparate nature of the markings, that person had been unauthorized--probably not a hospital staff member.

Not wanting to antagonize B1, Aes'ona simply continued, "--g is operating at partial capacity." He wasn't doing anything threatening to the Twi'lek yet, but he surely could as he quite literally had part of her life in his hands. "I'm going to intubate."

When she did, she stepped back and couldn't help but glance over at Darben. She needed to find an excuse to get B1 out of the OR and hopefully deactivated altogether.

But how could she communicate that with Darben behind glass?

 

[Darben Skirae]

Darben Skirae watched from the observation. He had not really seen an operation before, and already he was growing increasingly worried as time went by. He even began pacing. Muttering to himself, how he should have stayed by her side in combat, how he should have fought with her. It was as he was pacing that he caught her glancing his way. Was there something wrong already? Darben grew worried as he looked back, trying to figure out if something was wrong. He tried signing, like he had learned to with Mute, mouthing the question 'is something wrong?', all those. Hoping something got through.

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

/ [member="Darben Skirae"] | [member="Stardust Australis Skirae"] \​

†††​

Though she had never seen Galactic Sign Language being used on FIMS Mountbatten--likely because of some societal stigmas surrounding disabled near-humans, though quite a bit less than surrounded non-humans, permeating the First Order--and, therefore, never had reason to learn it, something deep within her understood. Seeing Darben sign triggered a feeling akin to déjà vu.

She physically shook the idea from her head. The idea was preposterous. There were no grounds for it. The simplest explanation for this feeling was that she and he had had a congruent understanding. Nothing else.

Right?

Of course it was because even if she instinctually understood Darben, she didn't know how to respond to him.

So she did all she knew how to do, hoping Darben would pick up on the code.

She began, "B1, what are your combat specifications?"

The droid looked up, tilting his head slightly to the side as he tried to compute. "I am unarmed, Doctor Forr."

Hopefully, Darben would not think much of the new last name. Maybe he'd think her newly married and the lack of a ring would be easy enough to explain by virtue of her occupation.

Nodding, Aes'ona continued, "I'd be concerned if you were. But just so you know, if we need it at any point, there should be a holdout blaster in the supply closet in observation. The code for the lockbox is 1-3-3-6." She made a point of not looking back at Darben. He was in her peripherals, however, and as soon as he had the weapon, she'd calculate her next move.

 

[Darben Skirae]

Darben Skirae knew how to read lips at least, a skill he'd picked up thanks to his daughter who had taught him how. He watched her mouth move, and it took a bit. She was asking...for the droids...combat specifications? Now he was sure something was wrong, why would Aes'ona ask the droid about combat? He didn't hear through the glass, completely missing the droid's response. And his gaze remained on the doctor's lips, watching her speak more. A holdout blaster, in observation? And the co-

It struck him suddenly. She was not talking to the droid. Darben moved over to the supply closet, slowly just in case they were being watched for still he did not understand the situation. He put the code in, and went through the lockbox. There was the blaster, and he took it before crossing his arms in an attempt to hide it. Then, he returned to the window.

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

/ [member="Darben Skirae"] | [member="Stardust Australis Skirae"] \​

†††​

She couldn't ask B1 to leave too early into the exploratory part of the surgery. She needed an assistant and, though she had initially thought Darben would be able to step in easily enough, she now hesitated to move her plan forward. She wasn't too concerned with Darben's lack of medical skills, but rather with how he did not give off the confidence of a fighter, much like she herself didn't.

She was getting better after going through some sidearm training with her friend Tempest on the Fleet, but she was not about to trust herself to take on a compromised droid, medical or not.

That left Stardust.

...No.

Stardust was Aes'ona's patient. Would jabbing her in the middle of her own operation, albeit not yet far along, with an adrenaline stim be malpractice? For sure. But, though the doctor had no idea the woman was a Jedi, she did know that whatever she was and however much combat prowess she had, she had the best chance of pegging the droid of the three of them. So what choice did she have?

"Monitor her vitals, B1," she ordered as she took off and set down her gloves, slightly-bloodied from exploring and gently prodding Stardust's wound to look for armor shrapnel. "I need spousal permission."

Oh, that one would probably scare the living daylights out of Darben. Nothing was truly wrong though, aside from the plainly obvious, but the excuse was enough to allow her to walk out of the operating and into the observation room.

 

[Darben Skirae]

Darben Skirae paced a bit, watching inside. [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] said something to the droid, then something else. Spousal, and his heart rate soared. Spousal what? He had missed the next part and stood by the door, as if thinking he was needed. Whether she was coming out, or he was coming in, he waited. Something was not right here, that much he knew. The situation was bad, that much he knew at least. The holdout blaster he still held under his crossed arms, trying to match Aes'ona's gaze to at least see how much she was worrying.

Then he noticed she had taken the gloves off and stepped back. Darben expected she was coming out to him now, and he would be able to get this whole thing explained away. There he stood, against the wall across from the door, arms crossed.

[member="Stardust Australis Skirae"]