Private Painful Motivation

[Ara Sheridan]

CORUSCANT | JEDI TEMPLE
AFTERNOON | SUNNY
TAGS: Amani Serys

With everything going on, Ara's pursuit in going down her list of people was getting increasingly difficult. She and Miri Nimdok had a moment where they ha to work together and set aside their problems, but it still wasn't an apology. Since that day, it felt more like shame rather than anger which kept her from approaching the woman. Then there was the other name she still had on her list. She didn't wrong her directly, but what she did still ruined what should have been a proud moment for the Mirialan. She had paid an involuntary visit to Amani only a week or two earlier when degreaser burned her eyes to the point of blindness, but she never had a chance to actually talk to the woman.

Luckily fate had a morbidly funny way of forcing the Zabrak's hand... literally.

"Yo, someone help me please!" Ara spoke up as she stormed into the Halls of Healing at a brisk pace, clutching her left arm against her body as gingerly as she could. Her watery eyes quickly found the Mirialan and she rushed over with a strained smile. "Hey, what's up. You mind helping me out, please? Like... karkin' for real, this is hurtin' like a harpy right now." She rambled as she gestured to her arm. The forearm had a disconcerting bend in the middle, her skin was an uncomfortable shade of purple, and a deep gash was causing a mess even through the greasy towel pressed against it.

"I wanted to come see you anyway, but holy kriff this is painful, can you just do the magic hand thing real quick for me?" She continued with her strained smile unwavering. "If ya don't mind, I'm just gonna keep talkin' 'cause for some reason it hurts less when I'm talkin' so don't mind me..."

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani had just earned a moment of peace after a hectic morning. She plopped in the seat behind the nurses station, sighed, and leaned back to rest her eyes. The healing halls were designed to be quiet and easing for patients, but it worked for the staff as well. The walls were painted in soothing colors, and an array of well-maintained, aromatic plants decorated various corners and walls. It was all quite meditative, and Amani took whatever opportunity she could just to sit back and soak it all i-

"Yo, someone help me please!"

The mirialan blinked slowly. Her head lolled forward with the same lack of energy, to get a look at the source of the voice. Scanning down the figure of Ara that had appeared in front of her, she at last registered the battered limb held tightly tenderly against her body. "O-oh, wow-!" Amani stumbled out of her seat and quickly rounded the corner, before the padawan had even finished talking. "C'mon," She ushered the girl towards one of the patient rooms and sat her down. Ara hadn't exactly made the greatest first impression, but that was never all that relevant when it came to Amani's work. She was going to help no matter what, and in her position it's not like she could refuse even if she wanted to.

"Okay, uh-" Amani pursed her lips, and searched in one of the cabinets, grabbing a needle, "Show it to me?" She gestured for Ara to remove the towel. It was definitely broken, which left one slight hurdle before they could patch things up, "I can heal it, but- The bone needs to be set back in place to mend properly. This is a local anesthetic-" Amani raised the needle, "I can use it to dull the pain, if you're okay with that," Presumably yes. But patient consent was sort of a bare minimum requirement in this field. If given, she would administer, and it would begin to numb the are within mere seconds. "What happened?"

Ara Sheridan​

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Amani was quick to usher her into a room and park her on a bed before she got to work on inspecting the mess of an arm. Ara pulled the towel away and immediately regretted it as the unnervingly deep gash began to bleed all over again. "I'll mop the floor and wash the sheets, sorry 'bout all this, just please fix it." She muttered through clenched teeth as she carefully lifted her arm to show it to Amani.

At the mention of anaesthetic, Ara gave a desperate nod and waited for the substance to kick in. A few seconds later, the Zabrak groaned as her head craned back. "Karkin' hell that feels miles better... by the way, am I supposed to be feelin' light-headed or am I just bleedin' that much all over the place right now?" She asked with a nervous laugh.

"What happened?"

Ara had to think hard for a moment on how the hell she got her arm crushed again... and passed out for a few seconds. Nobody needed to know that. Or maybe Amani needed to know. It was better to not hide anything from the doctor, no matter how embarrassing it was. "Okay so... I did pass out, I think. Stuff's a little hazy. But basically some jackass flying a super snazzy luxury ship came in and his ship needed to get fixed up. Karkin' Nubian or something. Those luxury hand-built pieces of garbage your silver spoon enjoyers love to flex with. Kriffer's number one engine had a problem but in order to get to either one or three, you need to pull engine two up and out. But because that would be too easy, the kriffers who designed that ship needed to make the hole you gotta pull it through super small and difficult. Tried to wiggle it loose while a droid handled the lifting controls." She winced as she accidentally tried to flex her hand.

"Engine popped loose from a snag and smashed my arm into the hole's wall. Naturally the edges were nicely thinned to fit the panels cleaner which meant you can dismember yourself with 'em when you're feelin' bored enough." Her eyes were beginning to droop and her balance was going, though she still tried to hold on.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

After removing the towel, the wound immediately began to seep blood, and Amani grabbed the towel once again to lay it on top, "Hoo boy. That's-" A lot. She'd never quite had a patient offer to clean up their own mess before, and in a less stressful situation it might have been amusing. Right now, though, she was just concerned about making sure this padawan didn't bleed out entirely, "I- wouldn't worry about that."

She injected the anesthetic, which immediately got to work dulling the pain. Still had the broken bones and blood loss to deal with, though, "Yyyeah that's not… great," Amani admitted. The floor, bed, and both of their clothes were stained with red now. Ara was bleeding quite a lot, and apparently passed out, which meant she probably lost even more blood while unconscious. The healer nodded and twirled her finger, as if asking Ara to please speed up her story as she added some unnecessary details.

Once it finished, Amani gently lifted the broken arm with her palm, and raised her other hand over top, "Okay. On three, I'm going to quickly set this back in place. The anesthetic helps, but it's still not going to feel… nice. I'd also suggest looking away if you're squeamish," A beat, then she began, "One-" And before even getting to two, Amani abruptly snapped the broken limb back into place with a harsh crack. Better to do it quick and when Ara wasn't expecting, like ripping off a bandage. It was a tried and true strategy, in Amani's book. Also usually the kind the people only fell for once. Afterwards, she immediately laid her hand over the wound, applying a heavy dose of Force Healing. The blood slowly began to clot and coagulate. "Still alive?"

Ara Sheridan​

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Amani beckoned her to hurry up with the story, but it did little to actually prevent the Zabrak from including unnecessary information. "Hey, it hurts less the more I talk, I'm gonna be talkin' as much as I can." She quipped with a tired laugh. "And hey, cleaning up my own mess is the least I can do..." She listened carefully to the Mirialan's explanation, though Ara knew better than that. "I bet you ten creds it ain't gonna be on-"

Snap

Ara grunted with clenched eyes, her teeth grinding together from the pain as she grimaced. "Holy kriff, that hurts!" She shouted as she wiped at her eyes. But at least her arm wasn't hanging down anymore. Ara's spirits were lifted further as Amani began with the healing, the pain already dissipating as the pale Zabrak watched her. "You owe me ten creds, by the way." She snickered in response as she leaned forward a little. Between the pain and blood loss, she was going to need a really long nap.

The pain continued to dull as her arm was restored to its former glory, bit by bit. Ara looked around for a moment as she thought of something to say to at least break the silence. "I, uh... wanted to thank you, by the way." She started. "Week or two ago, I was brought in here. Don't think you'll remember, it was an in and out thing. Had my eyes burnt by degreaser, couldn't see a thing. I was told by the rest of the mechanics that you healed me up and gave me my eyes back. Thanks for that." She gave as good a smile as she could under the circumstances as she looked at the Jedi.

"Also wanted to... say sorry." She continued. "At the Gala. When I knocked Miri's head in. I was... I was in a real bad place when that happened. Boyfriend cheated on me then broke up with me to be with her. Seein' her and him together... really screwed me over. I was selfish and jealous... and I ruined it for you and everybody else. You were having your moment and I screwed it up for you. I'm really sorry about that." She explained with a guilty voice as she looked away for a moment. "If you, uh... need anything, lemme know. Ship needs fixin' up, or you want someone to cook up dinner for you, whatever. Just let me know, I owe you at least that much." She offered with a laugh.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani just focused on her work at first, more concerned with making sure the Zabrak didn't bleed out and die on the floor rather than listening to everything she said. When the most immediate problem was at least dealt with, she calmed, and even managed a smirk, "I don't remember agreeing to any bets." Ara took the next few moments to recuperate, while the healer poured all her energy into the busted arm. Muscles slowly weaving back together, flesh regrowing in real time. It was a fascinating, if slightly gross, phenomenon.

"Also wanted to… say sorry."

Amani blinked curiously, sparing the padawan some of her attention. The reminder of events at the gala, admittedly, made her lips purse in dissatisfaction. Between Ara's impromptu assault, and Inanna injecting some needed drama into her and Alicio's relationship, it soured what would've otherwise been one of the best nights of Amani's life. She listened, albeit with a grain of salt, as the padawan tried to amend her mistakes. The mirialan's gaze flicked back and for the between Ara and the arm, but she remained dead silent. Only after she finished speaking, and a pregnant pause took over the room, did Amani sigh, "…What you did was… pretty shitty," She said bluntly, but at the same time there was a bit of a smirk on her face. "But, I'm not really looking to punish you more than you already have been." Between actual criminal charges, and whatever damage the padawan might have done to her own social life, the outcome was self-destructive enough. Amani was by no means happy with how things turned out, but she was neither a vengeful spirit.

"Sorry is enough for me. I believe you," She laid Ara's arm back down, then walked over to grab and apply a sling to it. There was another pause, before she smirked again, "Although maybe if something goes really wrong with my ship, I'll hit you up for that after all." Her old vessel very likely would have been a likely candidate. Thankfully, her new one was in much better condition.

Ara Sheridan​

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Ara looked at Amani as she began to speak. The Zabrak could feel the hesitation and doubt from Amani, as light as it was, as she watched her work on the battered limb. At least she wasn't going to make her life more of a living hell than it already was. Perhaps it was better to let it go and just accept that one more name could be crossed off the list.

"Sorry is enough for me. I believe you,"

"I can feel the doubt." She blurted out. So much for letting it go. "I don't know how I can prove it to anyone, but I'm trying to turn things around. I'm trying to be a good Jedi." She explained with a defeated voice. "I mean... I'm here. I had a chance to go live with my mom on Hefi and maybe join the Mandos or something. But I wanna make things right. I know me and you don't really know each other... but I owe you." She continued with sincerity.

Ara remained silent as she moved however was needed to fit the sling. Only after looking at her fixed arm for a moment, and the new scar adorning it, did another idea pop up in her head. "Can you teach me?" She spoke up as she looked up at the girl. "The healing thing? It's probably difficult as hell to learn, but I've been in too many situations where people are hurt and needing someone who can help them." She carefully got off the bed and stepped away from the blood marks on the floor. It was a lot. "Holy kriff, last time I saw this much blood was when a dude got his brains blown out... thanks a ton, honestly." She muttered with wide eyes.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani raised a brow. Perhaps some of those lingering misgivings were apparent, but her trust that the padawan was at least going to try, was genuine. "I do believe you, Ara. I believe everyone deserves a shot at redemption," Even people much worse than Ara. "But not everyone will. You're on the right track. Actions are going to make the difference."

"Sorry is a good start, though. And for my part, that's all I need, really."

The mirialan smiled earnestly, before stepping back to see that the sling was properly applied. Ara then gave another suggestion, which made Amani tick her head to the side. The zabrak didn't exactly strike her as a healer, but anyone could learn. Who would she be to turn down anyone effectively offering to make her work easier? "I could…" She raised a brow again as Ara continued, bringing up a point she was about to make herself, "…But we should probably wait until you're a bit more, uh, full of blood?"

"Force Healing can be an exhaustive ability, especially to someone untrained. I'd rather not risk you hurting yourself more while you're still recovering. Losing that much blood is… not good for you, generally speaking."

Ara Sheridan​

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Amani brought up a really good point and her words meant a lot to the Zabrak. It reminded her of a conclusion Valery helped to reach her a good few years ago. "Actions... haters gonna hate, huh?" She quipped with a tired smile. A grossly simplified view, but it was the general conclusion in Ara's mind. All she could really do was push through and do her best.

At the request of learning Healing, Ara was glad to hear that Amani was willing to teach her. Naturally after she recovered a bit. "Oh yeah, definitely not now." She agreed as she held up a hand. "Right now I'm gonna be sleeping for three days straight. Could you maybe just give me a formal thing I can show the foreman and the Masters? I dunno about you, but working with heavy machinery while running on empty ain't really a good idea." She asked her with a snicker.

Once the Zabrak was sorted and ready to go, she turned and wrapped an arm around the Mirialan for a hug. "Thanks, Amani... for everything." She smiled before turning to leave, the fatigue of blood loss evident in her steps. "You ever need lunch or a mechanic, you know who to call!" She gave a final wave as she made her way out of the room... then promptly crashed onto a couch in the waiting area.

"Hope y'all don't mind... I just wanna catch my breath here real quick." She muttered as she deflated entirely.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani just scoffed and nodded. If that was how Ara could vest synthesize that information, then it worked well enough. As for healing, she was just glad to hear that they were on the same page, "No, it's not. And sure. I'll give you a doctor's note," The healer chuckled. She finished getting the young zabrak recovered, stepping back to let her get up, only for Ara to pull her into an abrupt hug. Amani blinked at first, but then gently reciprocated, "You're welcome. And I'll keep it in mind."

They two of them signed off, and after the mirialan had finished putting away her things, she stepped out into the lobby to find Ara laying on the couch. Amani simply shook her head, and began the walk back to the front desk. One of her medical droids approached curiously, "Shall I… direct her to one of the rooms, Chief Healer?"

Amani lazily waved a hand, "Nah. Let her rest. Just... make sure she doesn't start bleeding everywhere again, yeah?"

Ara Sheridan​