Of Scalpels and Space Magic

[Taozi Fuyuan]

Taozi sat behind the teacher's desk in one of the small teaching rooms in her hospital's research building, connected to the library. The Jetii had offered her a padawan to tutor in medical practices, and to help her at the hospital. An odd offer, really, and one that the doctor was dubious of. She accepted it nonetheless, however, as more medics were always needed in such dangerous times in the galaxy. She looked over the supplies on the table: bandages, a tourniquet, a hyper-realistic medical dummy, a vibro-knife, surgical supplies, and a medical scanner.

The dummy had been made to already have injuries, inside and out, and Taozi wanted to test [member="Aurelion Nova"]'s medical knowledge before teaching him. Now, all she needed was for the padawan to arrive.

 

[Aurelion Nova]

Taanab​

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Aurelion stared up at the doorway to the classroom he would be entering, nervously fidgeting from foot to foot as he took a deep, calming breathe. A singular eye of robin-egg blue nervously flitting from the small sign that denoted the room as a "teaching area". Aurelion couldn't help but think about how necessary something like this Doctor [member="Taozi Fuyuan"] 's profession had become since the recent attack on the planet. It had been months since the attack and even now Aurelion could still feel the wounds in the Force all the death and violence had caused. It made his already tenuous and unstable connection with the Force waver and be almost painful for Aurelion to pay too close attention to. Like an incessant itching in the back of his mind that turned to a chilling, burning pain if he chose to acknowledge it.​

Taking a deep breathe Aurelion clung the few medical datapads he could find on Kashyyk to his chest, biting his lip in consternation as he wondered if he would be bothering her by coming in now. He didn't see any note or indication he was SUPPOSED to go inside. Then again, he also didn't see anything telling him NOT to go inside either. He groaned quietly. His pale, soft features flushing a soft pink of embarrassment before he swallowed in nervous anxiety. Keeping his books hugged to his body, much like a security mechanism, he shakily opened the door just enough that he could peak inside. Leaning over so that his platinum blonde hair would be visible, then his thin, small pointed ears that drooped with timid apprehension, then finally his flushed cheeks and singular eye that stared at the floor as he asked in a quiet tone. "M-Miss Fuyuan? May.... May I please come in?"
​

 

[Taozi Fuyuan]

Ah, time to see what medicine the Jetii are selling from their gourd. Taozi thought to herself when she heard the door open slightly. She looked up from her holo-pad curiously when it didn't open all the way, and tilted her head at [member="Aurelion Nova"]'s question. Why would he need permission to come in? This floor of the building was public in all areas, including the teaching room. What was this padawan afraid of?

"You may, Aurelion. Did I pronounce that correctly?"

Once the padawan would enter, he would notice the welcoming smile on the doctor's face, and the dummy on the desk in front of her.

 

[Aurelion Nova]

It took Aurelion a moment to take in the lady before him. As he hesitantly stepped inside and closed the door behind himself, ears twitching as it sounded unusually loud to him in the lonely room, it was much more accurate to saw he was taking a moment to try and reconcile what he imagined her to be with with what she WAS. When he had been informed he would be studying with a Mandalorian doctor, of all things, Aurelion had imagined some older, rough, rugged warrior woman who looked like she would rip his head off at the first chance she got. Not... well... not someone who looked like a princess out of a fairy tale. Aurelion' grip on the datapads tightened a bit as he bit his lip, pearl-colored teeth tugging at it fitfully as he awkwardly waddled up closer to Taozi. His posture stiff and obviously very nervous as his single, uncovered eye flitted from her kind smile to the floor by her feet.

Though he had only really made the thought in his own mind he couldn't help but wonder if she had somehow heard it? It took Aurelion a few awkward, silent moments longer than it perhaps should have to realize he had walked into the room without so much as addressing her question about his name. He gave a start, jumping as he realized how rude he must have seemed. He opened his mouth, intent on assuring her that she had in fact said it correctly, but all that came out with a small, embarrassed hiccup that caused his pointed ears to bounce in the air and his single eye to widen in speechless, utter humility. Not able to deal with looking at anyone Aurelion awkwardly raised the small stack of datapads between his eye and Taozi, giving a sheepish nod as his face flushed a crimson, cherry red.


[member="Taozi Fuyuan"]​

 

[Taozi Fuyuan]

Taozi watched [member="Aurelion Nova"] curiously. The boy was more nervous than a 13 year old about to take their Verd'goten, but in a bad way. The doctor made mental notes of his behaviors, and tilted her head as the padawan remained silent. Biting of the lip, avoiding eye contact, tight grip on the datapads in his hands, stiff posture. Did this poor child have anxiety? Did it have something to do with his lack of an eye, perhaps? A quiet hum came from the doctor as he hiccuped, and hid his face.

"Very well then. Why don't we get started now? I'd like you to examine this medical dummy, and tell me everything wrong with it. There are multiple injures built into it, and you will have 5 minutes to find each one, provide treatment, and keep it from dying. I hope you aren't attached to those clothes of yours, because there will be fake blood involved. I would also suggest leaving those datapads of yours on the other side of the room."

Taozi smiled innocently as she stepped away from the table the dummy was laid on, holding up a remote control and a timer set to count down from 5 minutes. Once Aurelion would, seemingly, be ready, Taozi would press the button. Then, the clock would be ticking for the dummy as the artificial arteries and veins would begin pumping blood. If the padawan made one wrong move while treating the dummy, he may "kill" it faster than the 5 minutes would have.

 

[Aurelion Nova]

As if being anxiety-ridden and more than a little afraid of his instructor wasn't already bad enough Aurelion's singular eye widened to the size of a dinner plate. His pupil constricting down to a worried pinprick as he stared up at [member="Taozi Fuyuan"] for a long, tense moment. Not saying a word. Aurelion had, quite literally, had nightmares about this very instance occurring. Being forced to take a test with absolutely no chance to study beforehand! A classic nightmare, to be sure. To Aurelion Taozi's words stopped making sense after she mentioned a time-limit., her lips continued to move, he continued to blink and react, but she may as well have been entirely mute for as much as Aurelion could process what was being said to him. His mind buzzing like a beehive as he wondered whether his inaction would annoy or aggravate her. The infamous reputation of Mandalorians only making Aurelion even MORE afraid of the potential wrath of his instructor. His knuckles whitening as his grip on the datapads tightened instinctively.

Even as his ears rung it took Aurelion a second or two longer than normal to realize that Taozi had stopped speaking. Her innocent smile striking Aurelion's paranoid mind as hiding her true feelings as he simply stood there. Dumbstruck and floundering to even regulate his breathing. Without so much as a conscious thought Aurelion took a step back, then another, and another. Subconsciously getting well out of arm's reach of Taozi before he looked down and held up the stack of datapads in lightly-shaking arms, his mouth feeling dry as he quietly murmured out what, to him, was a defensive response. "M-Miss Taozi I.... I-I was hoping to m-maybe study these?" He bit a lip, eyes not only downcast, but averted. Contrary to his earlier casual flushing Aurelion was now paled and all but unresponsive. A closer examination of the datapads would reveal they were, in a few words, very basic medical principles.​

 

[Taozi Fuyuan]

As [member="Aurelion Nova"] stares at Taozi, so too did she stare right back at him. The only difference? Hers was a stare of confidence and quiet expectations. The doctor watched him quietly, waiting for him to respond. If her suspicions of anxiety were correct, the boy would be running through thoughts faster than a Rancor on a fresh kill. She would have to take him up to the third floor of the tertiary tower once this was done, and get him officially diagnosed. When he stepped back, Taozi tilted her head curiously. What was he afraid of?

"Study will do you no good on a battlefield, if that's all you've ever done. You should have at least some rudimentary medical knowledge, if the Jedi have sent you here, especially with those datapads. I want to see what you do or do not know in a practical setting. There is no failure for this task, Aurelion. This is not an actual life or death situation, so do not be afraid. Take a deep breath, put the datapads down, take another breath, and then we will start. Think of this as a training exercise, only with a medical dummy instead of a lightsaber."

 

[Aurelion Nova]

Aurelion's thoughts froze in his mind as Taozi responded to him. The halt of frantic motion so complete and refined even a Force Master trained to stun the thoughts of others might struggle to produce such an instant, effective response. Years of trauma, however, could prove far more effective than even the Force itself. Aurelion swallowed, the action entirely involuntary as he stared up at Taozi with obviously ingrained obedience. A small, lilting nod of his head being his response before he hesitantly set the data-pads down and approached the medical dummy. His steps were stiff and almost fumbling and, whether she had intended it or not, Taozi's unrelenting insistence had caused Aurelion to regress into abject silence. An inborn attempt to be as silent, unnoticed and confrontation-avoid-ant as he could be without physically leaving the room. As Aurelion stared down at the medical dummy, his singular eye roaming over it's form without really absorbing any information. Even the very obviously injuries, such as the singular wound beneath the dummy's jaw, that would begin to bleed profusely and was only slightly hidden, passed his mind's attention like a single probe droid in an asteroid field.

Aurelion didn't dare raise his gaze from the dummy, his shoulders hunching slightly in forced focus on the object. Though his brain didn't absorb anything it looked at, he refused to allow himself to look away. This reaction was... normal? For this kind of situation, anyways. This wasn't the first time Aurelion had been instructed to do something that made him uncomfortable by a woman. Though Taozi's tone and the task being requested of him was... much gentler than what he had dealt with in the past, you don't have to hit an old wound very hard to make it bleed again.


[member="Taozi Fuyuan"]​

 

[Taozi Fuyuan]

[member="Aurelion Nova"]'s reaction was highly concerning to the doctor. She watched him, reading his body language and expression, before setting down the remote and the timer. His eye was unfocused, his posture stiff and he moved with very little sound. It was at the point Taozi realized something was deeply wrong with the padawan in front of her, and she began running through the best course of action. Grabbing him would likely result in a negative reaction, but she couldn't yell either. Thinking quickly, Taozi slowly stepped forward, and held her arm between Aurelion and the dummy.

"You should sit down, you're having some type of anxiety attack. Mental health comes before any lessons in this room, and yours needs to be addressed before you even think about studying medicine. Tell me what kind of tea you like, and I'll have one of my clansmen fetch you some, all right? Then we can just talk, or I can bring you to one of the hospital's therapists?"