Chapter 14

When Chiara woke up, she was lying in medbay with a splitting headache and no idea of how she had gotten there. When she tried to sit up, she couldn't quite get her muscles to cooperate. Her arm was throbbing, too.

Chaf'alm'itrina appeared beside her bed. "Don't try to move too much, yet. The effects of the venom are still wearing off."

"Venom?" she asked, confused.

He frowned at her. "I'm sorry, I can't understand you. It must be affecting your speech, as well."

"What is affecting my speech? What happened?"

Chaf'alm'itrina ignored her and picked up his comlink. "Captain? She's awake." He shook his head. "I'm not sure, sir. It seems to be affecting her speech and I can't understand her."

Thrawn appeared within minutes and crossed to her bedside, a frown creasing his forehead. "How are you feeling?" he asked in Basic.

"Aside from a massive headache and the fact that none of my muscles want to work correctly, not too bad. Oh, and my arm hurts. What happened?" she answered. She frowned as her words slurred together. Chaf'alm'itrina was right, she definitely was having trouble enunciating, even in Basic.

Thrawn turned to Chaf'alm'itrina. "Her arm hurts, she has a headache and her muscle control has not fully returned," he translated for him. "She also doesn't remember what happened."

Chaf'alm'itrina nodded. "That's to be expected. I suspect that the muscle control will continue to improve as the venom wears off. The headache is probably a side-effect, as well. Do you want something for the pain?" The last bit was directed at her.

She shook her head. Or, at least, she tried to, it was a bit more of a wobble. "No, s'not that bad." She heard Thrawn say something else, but she was already falling asleep again.

When she woke up again, her head was clearer and she was actually able to sit up on the first try. She was surprised to see that Thrawn was sitting next to her, tapping away at a datapad. "Thrawn?"

He looked up and gave her a relieved smile. "I presume that you are feeling better from the fact that you can actually move?" he asked, setting down the datapad.

"Much better. Remind me not to go climbing trees around here, again," she tried a rueful smile, but gave up when she felt the corners of her lips wobbling.

"Then you remember what happened?"

"Yes, it's coming back to me now. Who has ever heard of a bird with venomous talons?" she complained. "That's just overkill."

"It could have killed you. Are you always so reckless?"

She shot him a mock glare. "I was trying to help, in case you hadn't noticed. How was I supposed to know you have such nasty critters on this planet?"

Just then, one of the medics came in. She glance at Chiara. "If she is awake, she might as well go back to her quarters," she said frostily. "The worst of the venom has worn off and there is no reason for her to stay here."

Thrawn frowned at her and looked like he was about to make a scathing reply. "That sounds good to me," Chiara jumped in before Thrawn could say anything. "I'd prefer a little peace and quiet, anyway." She slid off the bed and nearly fell as her legs buckled under her. Thrawn caught her against his chest, steadying her.

He looked down at her. "Reckless," he repeated.

"Umm," Chiara said. She extricated herself from his arms, wondering if the sudden tingling she felt was another side effect of the venom. At least this time, her legs held. "I'm fine, really. I just got up a little too fast." Thrawn just raised one blue-black eyebrow, clearly not believing her. "Okay, okay. I'm not fine, but I'm not in any danger, it's just going to take a little while for the venom to finish wearing off. As long as I don't try anything that requires dexterity, it's not a problem."

"There could be other reactions or side effects that haven't shown themselves, yet," he pointed out. "You shouldn't be unsupervised."

"Then you supervise me. I'm not going to stick around with Ms. Hoth over there," she said, indicating the female medic.

He studied her for a moment. "If you wish."

His admission caught her off guard. "Wait, what?" she asked.

"If you wish, we will return to your quarters and I will stay with you."

She blinked at him. That wasn't the answer she had been expecting. "Ahh, okay," was the only thing she could think of to say. She headed for the door, trying not to wobble too much.

They made it to her quarters without any major incidents. Thrawn had steadied her elbow once or twice when she momentarily lost her balance. His touch felt electric, but not unpleasant. That is a weird side effect, she decided as walked into her cramped quarters and sat down on the narrow bunk.

"You don't have to stay," she told him as folded the table out from the wall and settled in to one of the chairs, pulling his datapad back out. "I'll be in a healing trance for several hours, at least. That's pretty boring to watch."

"I am quite capable of occupying myself," he told her.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," she said, rolling her eyes and settling back on her bunk.

Thrawn tried to read the reports from the scientific teams for a few minutes, but he couldn't quite focus. He sighed and pushed the datapad away. What was he doing here, anyway? He should have just ordered Chaf'alm'itrina to stay after his normal shift ended to monitor Chiara. He glanced at her, knowing full and well why he had chosen to stay with her. Now that he had finally acknowledged his attraction to her, he found himself wanting to be near her. He knew it would never work: she was a Jedi, he was a Chiss. She was only here for a limited amount of time and once she returned to her Republic, he would never see her again. He knew he should avoid her, but she was like a magnet, pulling him in closer. The feel of her body against his when she had nearly fallen and he caught her-

Thrawn shook his head. He shouldn't entertain those sorts of thoughts. His eyes flicked to her face, so peaceful and relaxed as she slept (or whatever Jedi thing it was that she was doing), making his decision. As soon as they were finished here and he had dropped the scientists off at the base and made his reports, he was taking her back to the Republic. The sooner he was rid of her, the better.

Resolved, he picked up his datapad and stood, heading for the door. He stopped just inside, glancing back at her. If he really was going to take her home in the next few days, what was the harm in enjoying the little bit of time that he had left with her? He went back to the table and sat down, crossing his arms and settling in to watch over her.