The truth was, he wasn't okay.
The Child watched as the armor-clad man fell from the massive machine in front of him, landing with an unpleasant thud. The Child grimaced at the sight, feeling an immediate sense of uncertainty. The pram came to a stop a few feet from the Mandalorian and the Child peered over the edge to gaze upon the unmoving man.
The Child still did not know who this man was, but he came to understand that he was his protector, in one form or another. Although the Mandalorian showed him no emotion, the Child could sense that he was beginning to feel a connection to him. With this connection came a sense of inner turmoil that wasn't visible to the outside, but was something the Child could feel. This man was the only person that the Child had ever felt safe with, even as they were attacked or robbed by Jawas. Somehow, the Child knew that the Mandalorian was going to protect him at all costs.
However, staring down at his protector, the Child felt a sense of dread. Just yesterday, this same man fought off a gang of vicious killers and walked away, but here he was laying helpless and still unmoving. Moments passed, and the Child, with growing fear, eased himself out of the pram and onto the dusty ground beneath him. He slowly walked toward the downed man and placed his hand on the Mandalorian's helmet, who still hadn't moved. The child whimpered as his eyes scanned the man in front of him. His arms were at his sides and his legs splayed out in both directions. His mid-section was bent slightly and his helmet was turned slightly toward where the Child stood.
The Child stood and listened, hearing a faint sound of breath coming from the modulator in his helmet. He knew he was alive, but he also knew that he was far from being okay and he could feel that his life force was slowly leaving him. Gently, the Child placed his hand on the exposed skin from the tear in the Mandalorian's outer layer and closed his eyes, knowing exactly what he needed to do.
The Mandalorian did not expect the Jawas to be armed at the top of the Sandcrawler. Nor did he expect thousands of volts of electricity to course through him and send his lifeless body toppling over the edge. With no control of his limbs, he felt himself plummet to the ground below. He knew what would come next could mean the end of him, but before he could think of an alternative, his body met the ground and the sky above him went dark.
He awoke to a world of absolute pain. His back, ribs, and head screamed at him to go back into unconsciousness again. He coughed and winced, moving his hand to protect his injured ribs on the right side. He squeezed his eyes shut and focused on his breathing, which was coming in much too short gasps. As a few moments passed, he noticed the pain beginning to lessen. He opened his eyes to see a blurry shape standing to his left, its hand holding his bicep. In an instinctual reaction he rolled to his right and pivoted onto his knee, grabbing the blaster that had fallen next to him and pointing it at the still-blurry shape, which gasped as the blaster was pointed at it.
As the blurry shape became clearer, the Mandalorian realized with relief that it was only the Child that was next to him. This realization caused the adrenaline to stop pumping through his body, and with a pained gasp, he lowered his blaster and and nearly collapsed again to the ground. He stayed there panting and attempting to compose himself. The pain that had lessened when he first woke up returned with refueled fury and for the first time in his life, the Mandalorian doubted his ability to beat this.
The child whimpered next to him and looked up at him with concerned eyes. He began to reach toward the Mandalorian with an outstretched hand, but was intercepted by the man's own hand.
The Mandalorian struggled to stand, but forced his body to because he feared if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to get up again. In doing so, he grabbed the child, who weighed barely more than his blaster, and put him back in the pram.
Slowly, he bent down to grab his rifle, holding his ribs as he did so and his body betrayed him as he let out an audible pained groan. It was going to be a long walk.
Several hours later, the pair made their way to the Ugnaught's camp. The Mandalorian visibly limped as his arm held onto his side, as if it was keeping him from falling apart. His breath wheezed beneath his helmet and the dizziness began to overwhelm him. The Ugnaught saw the pair from a distance and greeted them. As he neared them, his concern increased.
"I thought you were dead. By the looks of you, I wasn't far off."
A slight huff of laughter came from the Mandalorian's modulator, but it quickly turned to a sound of pain as he collapsed to his knees. His vision began to gray around the edges and static filled his ears. He had been on autopilot for hours before this, forcing each and every step across the desert out of sheer determination. But now that he knew he was safe, his body accepted that he had used the last of his energy. The pain returned in full force and the Mandalorian did everything he could to control his breathing, but each breath brought a new wave of pain.
The Ugnaught was at his side in seconds. He looked to the wide eyes of the Child, their concern matching his, as he gripped underneath the Mandalorian's beskar and helped hoist him to his feet. He knew if he didn't get him inside now and under his own power, he wouldn't be able to help him. The Mandalorian gave a sound of protest but limped inside with the help of the Ugnaught. Within moments, gravity took hold and he was relieved to end up on something soft, instead of the unforgiving ground of the desert.
"What happened to you?" The Ugnaught asked as he looked over the Mandalorian. He was unable to see where he was injured due to the full coverage of his armor. But he had noticed that his hand refused to move away from his right side.
"Jawas." He replied in a pained gasp.
"Jawas did this to you? A Mandalorian?"
"Destroyed my ship. I c-chased them. Sand...Sandcrawler. "
"First of all, stripped. Not destroyed. Secondly, what happened on the Sandcrawler?"
The Mandalorian took several seconds to answer as a wave of pain overtook him. He was disappointed in his inability to push past it as he was trained to. He felt the Ugnaught put a comforting hand on his knee as he rode it out. Normally, he'd feel on edge in this situation, but for his own survival, he knew he had to accept help.
"They were armed at the top...shot me...woke up on the ground." He said as he allowed his eyes to close, knowing the Ugnaught couldn't see.
The Ugnaught looked at the downed man with even more concern. He could see he was fading fast.
"No humanoid form should be able to survive that fall."
"L-Lucky me." He said quietly. Knowing that both he and the Child were in a safe place allowed his body to accept its situation. He no longer had to be awake and force himself to ignore the pain, which was already impossible.
"I need to remove your armor." He said as the Mandalorian tensed. "Do not fret. I will not touch your helmet. But if I do not remove the rest to see the extent of this damage, there is nothing I can do. I have spoken."
The Mandalorian began to assist in removing the beskar but was quickly stopped by the Ugnaught. "You need to save your strength until we know what we are dealing with."
Reluctantly, the Mandalorian allowed his hand to fall to his side while the right one remained glued to his injured ribs. He audibly winced when the Ugnaught began to remove his chest plate. He knew what was underneath was not good. From the time he woke up, the feeling of wrong had increased exponentially.
"I need you to place your right hand down. I will remove this outer layer and I will be careful. I've worked with my hands for longer than you've been alive, so you can trust me."
Slowly, the Mandalorian allowed his right hand to fall near his still-armored thigh. The Ugnaught began unfastening the fabric covering his torso and gently opening it to expose the skin beneath. At this angle, the Mandalorian couldn't see and he was thankful for that. The idea of someone he barely knew seeing him this exposed made him uncomfortable. He felt like he was breaking some part of the code, although he knew he wasn't.
"I need to see the extent of the damage to your ribs. It will hurt and for that, I apologize." The Ugnaught said as the Mandalorian gave a slight nod.
"I can handle it." He said, intentionally making his voice firmer than before. He hated how weak he really was at the moment.
The Ugnaught gently placed a hand on the Mandalorian's injured side. At the slightest touch, the Mandalorian inhaled sharply and braced himself for the unpleasant experience. The Ugnaught's hand increased pressure as he felt along each rib. The exam only lasted a few seconds, but by the end of it, the Mandalorian was sweating and breathing raggedly. The Ugnaught allowed him a few moments to compose himself as he went into another room to retrieve what he needed.
He returned with a bowl filled with a small amount of gelatinous liquid. "You have several broken ribs. The strange thing is that the bruise looks as if its a day or two old, almost like it started healing. However, it's far from it. There is not much I can do except use bacta, which will help heal you in a day or so.
The Mandalorian barely heard what the Ugnaught said. His vision began to blur out and the pain began to ebb. He didn't even feel the bacta being applied to his bare skin, which was probably for the better. The Child watched the interaction conclude with curiosity. He felt much safer as this helper assisted the Mandalorian. He allowed himself to lay down in his pram and drift to sleep.