A/N: thanks to all of you out there who took the time to review my story! I love you! It's your reviews that make me want to keep updating. I admit, I have been slacking these past couple weeks, I apologize, I had finals to study for, but all that's over, and I'm on summer holiday, so expect a lot more updates to make up for it. I have some really good news for those of you that like this story, I've started a new kotr fiction, Always Hoping, which follows a different format, and a completely different story. Those of you who asked about a sequel, I may write that that after the completion of Out of the Darkness. As for Always Hoping, I'm not sure if the actual quality of the piece is better but in my opinion, the actual story line is better. Ah, well, I suppose I'd best start the chapter.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Wars, or anything thing similar to Star Wars.
Out of the Darkness
Chapter 12: The Edge of Death
Jolee
I'm not sure if I had ever seen Carth in such a state of panic in the entire time that I've known him. He was frantic, shaking in a fear, or a worry, scouring the main deck and yelling at the top of his lungs for me. It seemed a little ridiculous, but something about it worried me. He was carrying a limp, bloody heap in his arms, it looked like a dead animal, his eyes blind with trepidation.
"Now, calm down, m' boy…"
"Don't tell me to calm down, don't you dare try and tell me to calm down, old man." He spat, his eyes burning with anger, with a rage that reflected the dark side.
"That's no way to talk to and elderly man! And just what's that your holding that's gotten you so worked…oh, in the name if the force…"
It had finally occurred to me what he was holding in his arms. I hadn't been able to tell from the distance that I had been standing, but the second he had gotten near enough for me to see, I could feel the panic wash over me, I felt the distress hit me like a punch in the gut. He was carrying Revan's bloody, broken body in his arms, and he himself was covered in blood. The rest of the crew had heard his calls by now, and had flooded into the main deck.
"Help me, damn it! We've got to get her to the medical bay NOW! She's still alive!"
We rushed away. Carth had laid her down on a cot, and I began looking for her wounds, to find the source of the bleeding so I could stop it, but she was so covered in blood, it was nearly impossible. I began bandaging, cleaning the wounds, I hooked her up to an IV and started pumping so much kolto into her bloodstream it was likely there was more kolto than actual blood. The rest of the crew were beating their way to the door, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Finally Canderous caught a glimpse of her broken body lying there on the cot, and started to throw a Madalorain hissy fit. The Damn idiots wouldn't get out of the way so I could work. Damn stupid youth. Don't understand that there is a life at stake.
"ONASI!" Canderous roared, grabbing Carth by the neck, vessels looking quite like they were about to burst at any second, "What the hell did you do to her!?"
"I didn't do anything," Carth choked out, scarcely able to breathe with the Mandalorian's hands tight around his throat, his face bright red, "the swoop gangs…got mad cause they were beaten by a woman…put a bomb in her speeder…"
"Ordo, get you hands off of Carth's throat, we sure as hell don't have time or the resources to keep two of you young fools in here. And Carth, I would greatly recommend a trip to the refresher, I can't be sure if that blood you're covered in is Revan's or yours."
"No, Jolee, I'm going to stay here…"
"Carth, there's no way in hell she's going to wake up any time soon, and when she does, I think it would be much better for her if the first thing she saw wasn't a filthy man covered in blood. Plus, I don't need you morons in here why I'm dressing these wounds!"
I watched him as he hung his head down in defeat, as he walked to the refresher units. It's a terrible situation really. Carth coming back home to Telos, only to have the worst experienced of his life reenacted, replayed, all over again. This time though, things were going to be different. This time he had me, and I swore it on my dead wife, that I wasn't going to let him loose the girl, not this time, not again.
Revan was in an awful state. She had lost a lot of blood, too much blood, and she was still loosing it. She was badly burnt, and I still wasn't sure what all was broken. She was covered in cuts from the flying shrapnel, and she had several severe lacerations down her back. I was still cleaning the caked blood off of her when Carth returned. I looked at his hands-they were blistered and burnt as badly as Revan was, and cut up to hell.
"Boy, sit down and let me bandage those hands up before you loose them."
"No, really, Jolee, it's…"
"Would you like a nice robotic one? Those are really cool, I hear that they're all the rage these days."
Carth sat down reluctantly, and I applied a salve from the cabinet, and began to wrap his hands in one of the bandages that Bastila had helped me roll. He did look like the fool he was, sitting there with his hands wrapped up in white gauze. His face was still a light of fear and concern.
"You're a damned fool, do you know that, Carth Onasi?" I grumbled.
"And just why is that old man?"
"Only a fool would have dug through burning wreckage with his bare hands…a fool, or a man in love."
Carth just sighed, and kept watching Revan lie there on the cot motionless. That poor soul has the worst luck I have ever seen in a man, wookie, or anything for that matter. He would probably want to be alone with her. Damn the youth and love.
"You're worthless, do you know that Carth Onasi? You're going to stay up with her, right?" I grumbled, and Carth responded with a nod, "You know how to check vitals, Onasi?"
"Yes, I…"
"I'm going to send a message to Corisaunt about our…delay, and then I plan on catching up on some much needed sleep. If anything happens, alert me on the com-link, and I'll be right over. I'll come back to check on her progress later."
"Alright, then, thank you Jolee."
I gave a half smile as I turned around and looked back at them. He was holding her hands tightly in his, softly rubbing them with his thumb, and whispering something into her ear. Stay with her Carth, I thought, and you just might be able to pull her out of this.
A/N: Thus ends another chapter. Don't forget to check up on Always Hoping, which may even be up now, as you are reading this!