Waking Up
by CorellianBlue
(first published 2002, revised 2016 and 2020)
XIV
Leia wasn't sure what had woken her. One minute she had been in a deep and sound sleep. The next, she was wide awake, eyes open, staring into the night-mode lighting in her cabin.
She immediately looked to her left. Han was still there in her bed, his eyes closed in sleep, a frown marring his brow.
Leia glanced at the chrono-display set into a nook on her side of the bed. They'd been asleep for about eighty minutes. Another seven hours before she was due back on duty.
There was a sharp intake of breath, and then Han was gasping, shuddering as cries of distress choked in his throat. His anguish did not startle her; but her heart shattered regardless.
"Han. Han," Leia called his name as she gently shook his shoulder. "Sweetheart, wake up."
His eyes snapped open, but she could sense he wasn't fully awake from the way his gaze appeared lost and unfocussed as he panted and gulped for breath. And then he struggled upright, fighting with the bedcovers, trying to untangle himself as he surged from her bed and stumbled into the refresher.
She heard him wrench up the lid of the sani unit, the nauseating sound of him retching and the ensuing tumble of what little he had in his stomach as it spilled into the bowl. As he'd only had soup and a small piece of bread, the vomiting itself was brief, but his gagging and dry retching continued for a minute or so after.
As concerned as she was for him, Leia stayed on the bed. The last thing Han wanted would be her fussing over him; she knew him well enough to know that much. She was glad, at least, that she'd had the foresight to leave a light on for him.
There was a mutter of self-disgust and she heard him spit into the bowl before cycling the unit to cleanse it. The sound of running water and another spit, this time into the hand basin. The lid of the sani was lifted again and he whimpered as he relieved himself into the bowl. Leia was tempted to call out and tell him that she had left the tube of anti-inflammatory gel on the shelf above the basin, but she knew he wouldn't appreciate that either.
The sani lid closed and it cycled again. Another sound of running water as he washed his hands. And then silence.
On the bed, Leia leaned towards the refresher, straining for any further indication as to what he was doing in there. Her heart thumped in her chest. She was certain Han had thrown up as a reaction to his nightmare; this was not a continuation of the hibernation sickness. The idea made her just as nauseous.
Five minutes passed and he remained in the 'fresher. She found him sitting on the closed lid of the sani, forearms resting on his thighs with his head bowed over into his hands. The muscles in his jaw jumped and bunched as she watched him from the hatchway.
"Come back to bed," Leia told him softly.
Han looked up her through weary eyes.
"Sorry I woke you," he mumbled.
"You didn't. Come back to bed."
He nodded, followed her back into the room.
Leia slipped under the sheet first, then waited for him to settle himself back onto the bed before snuggling into his side, pulling the coverlet over them both.
"I love you," she whispered.
He held her tightly. "I know."