He was able to walk out of Supreme Leader's throne room under his own power. At least he was granted that grace. That was a bad session, to say the least. As the oversized doors clanged shut with a decisive boom his body finally said 'enough.' He groaned, and his knees gave way while he slowly collapsed to the floor.
As he lay there on the tiles he heard the sound of boots clicking decisively across the metal floor of the vestibule outside the audience room.
Not him, he thought. "Please, please be a random Stormtrooper. Anyone but him.
Apparently, he had not offered sufficient propitiation to whatever gods kept an eye on the First Order. The boots came closer and stopped next to his prostate body.
"You don't look too good," commented a flat voice. Gods, he hated that voice.
"Stopping to gloat?" he asked breathily. It hurt to talk. Hell, it hurt to breathe. Snoke must have broken something. Probably a rib. Maybe two. Maybe more.
"Would you like me to?" the voice asked sarcastically. "I can do that if you'd like."
"Just go away," he whispered.
"You need to go to the medical bay," declared the voice. "Can you make it under your own power or do you need assistance?"
"Leave me alone!" he shouted. Or at least he tried to shout. It came out as another whisper, followed by a coughing fit and intense pain as his ribs reacted poorly to the coughing.
"Assistance then. I can carry you if necessary." The voice sounded amused.
"No, damn you! Don't touch me!" he ground out.
"Now you're being ridiculous, the voice huffed. He felt two hands reach under his arms and gently lift him up. "I'm trying to keep from aggravating your injuries," the voice added.
As he regained his feet he felt an arm snake around his waist, supporting his weight. Another hand took his right arm and draped it over strong, broad shoulders. He held on tightly, hating the fact that he needed anyone's help. A plate of metal near his face felt cold, and he shivered. He hated that damned mask.
"I think I can get you to the medical bay without anyone seeing how weak you are," said Kylo.
"I'm injured, Ren, damn you. I am not weak."
"Of course," answered the Knight smoothly. "Then I think I can get you to the medical without anyone seeing how injured you are.
"I won't thank you," growled Armitage bitterly. "I still despise you, Ren."
"Don't worry, I wouldn't take any thanks, General," replied Kylo.
**KS**
"Did General Hux have another session with Supreme Leader, Commander Ren? Or perhaps another assassination attempt?"
Kylo turned away from the bacta tank containing Hux's floating body and contemplated the question.
"Is that pertinent to his treatment regimen, doctor?" replied Kylo.
"No sir, it's not," answered Chief Medical Officer Kelley. "But his injuries were consistent with an attack." Dr. Kelley found the blank, black mask covering the Knight's face more than a little intimidating. However, concern for his patient overrode his disquiet.
"It wasn't an assassination attempt, doctor. The general was in a training accident."
Kelley raised a skeptical eyebrow. He noticed that the Knight avoided his question about the Supreme Leader. He frowned. It had become a frequent occurrence. Inevitably, whenever Kylo Ren and General Hux were onboard one or the other would end up in his sickbay with injuries. Sometimes both.
"General Hux has bruises across his torso as well as around his neck. His right wrist is sprained and he has a couple of broken fingers. Two of his ribs are broken and several are bruised. He has a mild concussion. Additionally, there is evidence of several electrical burns on his forearms," observed Kelley.
"As I said, a training accident."
"This is the General's third 'training accident' since you and he arrived on the Supremacy two weeks ago, Commander. I'm just curious how often I will see him in my sickbay." intimated the CMO.
Kylo was impressed. Most personnel assigned to the Supremacy were terrified of him. They found his black robes disturbing and his mask frightening.
"Sometimes people are injured in the course of training, doctor."
Kelley merely hummed in acknowledgment and turned back to his patient. Kylo did not like the doctor's abrupt dismissal. He waited a few minutes, then reached out with the Force and gently squeezed Kelley's neck.
"I wasn't done, doctor," he fumed."General Hux and I need to depart for the Finalizer as soon as his injuries are mended."
Kelley turned back to Kylo and waited patiently for the Knight to release the Force from around his neck. This wasn't the first time he had used the Force on the doctor, and Kelley's complaint up the chain of command eventually resulted in Supreme Leader Snoke administering corrective discipline so Kylo would understand that a highly trained and decorated chief medical officer was not to be treated like a therapeutic chew toy.
"He needs to stay in the bacta for another 6 hours. At a minimum, I am going to keep him under observation overnight to insure that his injuries are properly healed. I would prefer to keep him longer but I can release him tomorrow morning if necessary."
"That's not good enough, doctor," retorted the Knight.
"It will have to be, Commander Ren," corrected Kelley. "In medical matters, my word is the last word. If you disagree you may take it up with the Supreme Leader." He turned away in dismissal and calmly walked out of the medical bay.
**KS**
Kylo stomped out of the Medical Center, furious. How dare he disrespect a Knight of Ren! How dare he disrespect the Master of the Knights of Ren! Kylo growled. The only, only reason the doctor's head is still attached to his neck was how angry Supreme Leader would be if he did execute Kelley. For some reason, the Master valued the Chief Medical Officer.
He walked down random corridors, one hand clenched in a fist and the other wrapped around his lightsaber. The longer they delayed on the Supremacy the more probable it would be that the map to Skywalker (he carefully does not think of him as 'Uncle') could slip through his fingers.
He could ask Supreme Leader for an audience and make his complaints, but there was as good a chance for it to be a painful interview as it was to get the results he wanted. No, no reason to risk the possibility of floating in a bacta tank next to Hux if the Master thought he was being presumptuous.
If he could he would get on the shuttle and leave without Hux. Unfortunately Starkiller Base was as just a high a priority with Supreme Leader as the Skywalker map. He'd have to wait until the weasel was cleared for travel and released from Medical.
So what could he do to occupy his time while he waited? He could meditate but the Supremacy had so many people on board that opening his mind to the Force would undoubtedly invite all sorts of mental detritus Force nulls tend to project into the psychic landscape. No thank you.
He could go to one of the officers' gyms and work on katas. Yes, there was always training. And it would have the benefit of burning off the nervous energy that was settling on his skin like an unreachable itch. He'd just pick up his training gear from his temporary quarters and …
There was a sudden, thrumming pressure in his head, right behind his eyes. Kylo sighed. His Master was summoning him. Oh, bugger. Bugger, bugger, bugger. He's going to want to talk about the progress, or rather lack of progress in locating Skywalker.
He changed direction and made his way to Supreme Leader's throne room.
This was going to be painful.
