A/N: AHhhhh I can't believe we are nearing the end of this story! It's been a wild ride. Just one more chapter to go!
I would like to thank every single person who has read and enjoyed this story, your kind words make me so happy, y'all are too nice. This chapter is longer than the last one, so I hope it makes up for the cliffhanger I gave you last time.
BTW, I fixed the end of the last chapter because I realized after the fact that it ended exactly the same way as chapter 5, and that's no bueno.
"Is this him?"
"Yes, this is the Mandalorian I was talking to you about," Cara replied, her patience running short after the trip back to the ship. The woman was an infuriating middle-aged lady. She clearly wasn't known for her smarts; Cara just hoped that her skills as a healer were significantly better than her interpersonal and life skills.
The supposed healer bent over to inspect Din's most obvious injury, tutting softly to herself, before gesturing up at his face. "Is he one that can't take his helmet off?"
"Yes," Cara affirmed, her tone steady and—she hoped—threatening.
The woman put her hand in the air and shrugged. "Hey, I wasn't thinkin' about touchin' it." She stepped around the table that Cara had moved Din to, keeping a fair distance away from the retired shock trooper, and started prodding various parts on his torso and arms. "Broken ribs…wounded shoulder, it looks to be healin' nicely though…lots o' superficial wounds as wel'...
"Other than the gapin' hole in his side and the prominent infection, he seems fine," she continued with a nod towards Cara. "But obviously I can't see underneath the helmet to check for a concussion….
Cara interrupted her, "Will he survive?"
The healer retreated into her thoughts again, thinking over Cara's question, before opening her eyes and pointing a finger at her. "Depends."
Then the woman walked away.
Cara tried to reel in her frustration, sighing to herself in an attempt at calming down. "What are you doing?"
The healer didn't look up at her, instead, delving into her medical pack. "I am attemptin' to heal your friend."
For some reason, Cara felt the need to protect Din, to make sure that this woman would do everything right. Her friend's life was in the healer's hands now, and that terrified Cara more than anything. "What are you giving him?"
"A small amount of bacta. Without it, I'm afraid that he wouldn't make it long after the journey back to my facility," she spoke slowly. "So unless you want your friend to die, I would move out o' the way and make yourself useful."
Cara felt like she was cut in the gut, and opened her mouth to protest the woman's words, but after a glance towards Din's shaking form, she sank with defeat. The healer was right. There was nothing more she could do now for Din besides sitting by his side.
As if noticing her sunken shoulders, the woman spoke again. "If you wanna help, renew the rags on his wrists. Can't have him die by the fever before I've even started workin'."
Snapping back to attention, Cara nodded. Yes, she could do that. She stepped over to the bucket of water, testing to see if it was cold enough, then smiled at the chilled temperature. After dipping the new rags into the liquid, she walked back over to Din, a small bounce in her heels rushing her movements. There was no time to waste.
By the time she made it back, the healer had already injected the bacta into Din's bloodstream and began to step back to her medium-sized medkit. The kit was a lot bigger than the one Cara or Din usually held, but it seemed to be filled mostly with bandages.
"I'm not gonna lie, this isn't good."
Cara looked up to meet her eye, hesitating for a moment before placing a cold rag on Din's wrist. "I know."
"There's no guarantee he survives this infection with how weak his body already is."
"I guess we will have to ensure that he has the best chance then," she added, a glint in her eyes daring the woman to disagree.
Instead, she looked surprised. "Yes, we will."
XXXXXX
They had just moved the sheet metal over to Din's makeshift bed, and now were trying to figure out how to get Din on top of it without causing him more pain. Eventually, they ended up wrapping their arms around both sides of him—one grabbed his arms, the other, his legs—and lifted him into the air. Laying him down onto the flat metal surface, the healer checked to make sure he was still stable and unconscious. She nodded, and Cara wiped the back of her hand over her forehead. Her nerves were as tight as wires, a sense of foreboding hung over every movement she made; the stress was going to cause her hair to go white.
"You ready?" the healer spoke to her.
"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied to the question.
Cara had already collected the child from his small temporary room and the kid was standing right behind her boot. "C'mon kid, you get to ride with Mando." She nudged him onto the sheet metal, and the kid instantly curled up under Din's limp arm, hiding from the stranger next to him.
The woman had given the child a strange look but had ignored the fact that he wasn't mentioned to her. Cara made a mental note to keep a careful watch on both of their interactions. Can't have the kid trying to strangle this person too; even though she knew it would be in the defense of his dad.
Cara herself had eventually forgiven the kid, glossing over the incident as a mistake and looking at it as the child's way to keeping his father safe, however justified it was.
If she was honest, the kid frightened her a little. Sure, he was an adorable child that needed love and attention, but as innocent as he was, the kid still had incredible powers that could kill people. She just hoped that he would learn to use it correctly and wouldn't accidentally hurt someone he loved.
Cara and the healer lifted both sides of the sheet metal and began the trek back to the woman's medical facility. Din made no sound as he was moved, but the kid let out a soft warble of surprise.
The continuous jostling of the makeshift stretcher made Cara cringe. Every uncoordinated step from either of the women holding it up made the entire sheet wobble and bend; let's just say that Din wasn't as secured as she would have liked. He tossed and turned with every hill, rock, and obstacle they crossed. Unfortunately, Cara was unable to land her ship closer to the city, so the terrain in-between was rough and hard to navigate.
By the time they reached the healer's building, both of the women were gasping for breath, bending over their knees in an attempt to regain their composure and to wipe the fatigue off their faces. The real battle had only just begun. Dragging the sheet metal through the now opened door and into the awaiting room, Cara realized that it had a legitimate hospital wing; the healer wasn't making that part up at least.
"Where do you want him?"
The healer nodded towards a secluded bed off to the side. "That one wil' do."
Taking another breath, Cara slid Din over to the bed. Her lips curled into a small smile when she saw that the beds were nice as well, sheets soft and clean, pillows full and plentiful. Maybe she had misjudged the woman, her building seemed to be in great condition. No wonder the whole village turned to her whenever they had a medical problem or injury. The healer had her stuff together.
As if on cue, the healer came stepping around the corner, her boots clicking swiftly across the floor, a medical droid in tow. Realizing what she wanted to do, Cara helped pick up the sheet metal again and they placed it onto the bed. Somehow, they managed to shift Din onto the bed and remove the sheet metal without too much trouble; the kid was the biggest obstacle, for he had an iron grip on Din's forearm.
Once they had the man situated and hooked up to the healer's medical screens, Cara took a seat in a chair placed next to the bed, grabbing ahold of Din's hand. She didn't know how the advanced medical technologies worked, and she didn't feel like getting in the healer's way, so she sat, content to provide support and companionship for her friend until he was healed.
XXXXXX
The beeping of an alarm shook her from the tendrils of sleep, shocking her into complete awareness. She looked around frantically for the origin—she gasped. Din's vitals were failing!
"Healer!" she yelled, her voice horse with emotion.
The woman came running around the corner, eyes widening when seeing her patient. "What happened?" She rushed over to his side and began to inspect his entire body.
"I don't know!"
Din was shaking, his body jerking as if seizing and his arms gripped the sheets below him with a force that could shatter bones.
"Mando!" Cara yelled, not wanting to reveal the man's name, yet wanting desperately to call it out, wanting to comfort her distressed friend. She grabbed the kid and tucked him into the chair behind her before returning to Din's side. "Stay with me, buddy."
He was awake, groaning and tossing his head back and forth, he looked to be in terrible pain. Cara felt her blood run cold when the man's breathing became even worse, the wheezing becoming barely noticeable. Din's chest wouldn't even move.
"He's bleeding internally…" the healer spoke quickly. "He's punctured a lung! Droid!" she bellowed.
That's when Din grabbed Cara's hand, squeezing her digits so hard it brought tears to her eyes. The man's chest stopped moving—he became frantic. He jerked around, trying to find a stable grounding for himself. Cara's heart stopped. Terror stabbed through her gut, shocking the air out of her lungs.
"Healer! He can't breathe!"
The rest was a blur for her, a disconnected series of events that were muffled by the roaring of her pulse in her head. The kid scrambled up to the bed, tears pricking his eyes, yet Cara did not stop him. Din was dying. The healer moved around frantically, her droid right by her side, trying to help the Mandalorian, but Cara didn't look at her.
She stared at Din's face, the helmet blocking the terror and distress she knew was occupying the hollow shield.
Then all of a sudden, the beeping stopped, and Cara felt herself deflate, her heart shriveling up. There was only one reason that the beeping would stop.
She stayed where she was, shock freezing her nerves. No… he can't be dead...She forced herself to open her eyes, not wanting to see what she knew was there.
That was when she saw the kid; arm outstretched on Din's chest.
The kid.
Cara swung back around to the healer, her eyes were wide with shock and surprise, the adrenaline from the fiasco not five seconds ago still coursing through her body, her hands shaking. She let herself have hope that he survived. "Is he...alive?"
The woman turned to her. "Somehow...yes…" She was still shocked from the look of it and stood perfectly still.
Alive. Din was alive. The kid saved him.
Knocked from her frozen state by a notification, the healer stepped over to the medical monitors. "The Mandalorian's rib and lung are both intact and healthy," she stated, awe lacing her voice.
Din's alive.
Collapsing to the bed below her, she grabbed ahold of Din's now limp hand, sobbing tears of relief, her terror seeping away in bucketfuls. Din's alive. She lay, content to watch the steady rise and fall of her friend's chest. Her legs and arms shook uncontrollably, so instead of moving the now unconscious kid to a separate bed, she gently wrapped him into her arms and hugged him close to her chest, letting the closeness of her two friends relax her mind.
"Don't you ever do that to me again," she whispered.