Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The seconds seemed like hours as Han paced outside the cruiser's sick bay. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Han glared wildly at the clock, hand twitching towards the blaster on his hip. One more second of this waiting and that clock was going to be blasted to smithereens. Just then the door whooshed open and out walked a young woman with a clipboard. Han turned to her and said impatiently, "Well?" The girl consulted her clipboard, "Well Captain Solo, I'm afraid you'll have to wait till Princess Leia arrives before we disclose any of the information." Han stared at the girl, "I'm not waiting for Leia. Tell me how he is right now!" The girl sighed, "I'm sorry sir but the Doctor said to disclose the information only when Master Skywalker's family gets here. And that would be the Princess, and she's on her way and…" As the girl spoke Han advanced on her with a glower, until she was pressed up against the wall with Han towering over her. "Look, I don't care what the doctor said. I want to know how Luke is. And I want to know now!" Chewie roared in agreement. "Captain Solo, I'm sorry, I just can't let you in, regulations you know." The girl squeaked. "To hell with regulations," muttered Han and pushed past the girl, yanking open the door to the medical station. He was barely across the threshold when he saw Dr. Cartathank exiting one of the cubicles. Han was not the only one who saw the good doctor, as the young nurse hurried into the hallway exclaiming, "Dr. Cartathank I tried to stop him!" The doctor looked up and saw Han, Chewie and the nurse and smiled tiredly, "It's all right Nurse Scott. Captain Solo is the person who brought Master Skywalker in." The nurse looked embarrassed and turned to apologize to Han, who ignoring her demanded of the doctor, "Where is he? How is he? What's going on?" Dr. Cartathank frowned at the nurse, "Really Miss Scott, you could have told him that Master Skywalker is stable and resting. No need to cause anyone to panic." The nurse opened her mouth to protest but Han had really had enough of her, "Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Han asked her pointedly. The nurse glanced at the doctor and then scurried out of the hallway.
"Now, Captain Solo, Master Skywalker is stable, all his bio signs are normal, but until he wakes up we won't know what happened or how bad the psychological damage is," explained Dr. Cartathank as he guided Han to Luke's cubicle. Han turned to look at him, "Psychological damage? Whaddaya mean psychological damage? I thought you said Luke was ok." The doctor nodded, "Physically yes, but until he wakes up…." He shrugged. "You can sit with him if you'd like. I need to make sure the Princess got my message." The doctor left and Han entered the cubicle. Machines blinked and hummed and a droid sat by the side of the bed fixing an IV of some sort. When the droid saw Han it stood and left, giving the two men relative privacy. Han barely registered the droid's movements, as his attention was centered primarily on the pale faced man lying on the hospital bed. Luke had about six different tubes coming out of him in various areas, as well as some sort of oxygen mask. His face was splotchy with bruises and cuts. As Han moved to sit next to the bed, he noticed a burn across Luke's right shoulder and collar bone. All in all Luke looked like shit, but at least he was stable and breathing, albeit with some help. Han slipped his hand into Luke's, "God Kid, what have you gotten into now? You're going to be ok, the doctor said so. And we're going to get whoever did this too you. But we need you to wake up and tell us what happened. We need you Luke, the rebellion needs you," Hand paused and murmured quietly, "I need you." Just then the door opened and in rushed Leia.
Han dropped Luke's hand and rose to greet the Princess. "Han! Oh my god. Is he going to be all right? I just got word; I came as soon as I could." Leia looked as though she was about to burst into tears and Han said reassuringly, "Hey Your Majesty, just calm down. He's going to be fine. The doctor says he's doing great. Should wake up any time now." I hope anyway, Han thought. Leia looked so relieved, "Oh thank goodness. I was so worried." She went silent and then suddenly burst into tears, "I'm sorry we quarreled Han, I'm sorry that I sent you out on that mission, and I'm sorry I sent Luke on his mission. This is all my fault; we didn't know anything about that sector of space. What if something had happened to you too?" She was babbling and crying and Han had no idea of what to do. In what he hoped was a soothing tone he said, "Easy now Leia. This isn't your fault, and nothing happened to me. In fact it was a good thing I was going out there; otherwise we might not have found Luke in time." Leia started to cry harder and Han pulled her into a hug, running his hand through her hair as she sobbed into his shoulder, "Come on Princess, it's all right," Han murmured. Leia pulled away slightly and wiped her eyes, "I'm sorry, look now I got your jacket all wet." Han chuckled, "Well I'll just send you the bill your royalness." Leia laughed weakly, "I'm going to go talk to the doctor," she said and turned to exit the room.
A coughing noise from the hospital bed grabbed the attention of both Han and Leia. Han rushed to the bedside as Luke slowly came to and began to cough hard. "Doc! DOC GET IN HERE!" Bellowed Han as he watched Luke change from gray to blue. Dr. Cartathank rushed into the room and hurried over to Luke. He pulled off the oxygen mask and took a tube out of Luke's mouth. The coughing ceased. Noticing the panicked looks of Han and Leia, the Doctor explained, "It's a new medical procedure for bringing people out of a coma. The drug reacts violently with oxygen; there must have been a leak somewhere in the tube." Han and Leia nodded, relieved that Luke wasn't hurt. Or rather that he wasn't hurt more. "Why don't you two wait outside while I run a check up on Luke now that he's awake?" Han and Leia nodded unhappily and left. "He didn't even notice us Han. Do you think he's ok?" Worried Leia as she twisted her shawl in her hands. Han looked at her and said, "Leia, he was trying not to cough up a lung. He was a little bit busy. Don't worry." Leia nodded, "Of course. Oh. Isn't Chewie here? Well, I'd better go tell him that Luke is awake." She hurried down the hall to find the Wookie.
Han sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and leaned against the wall. It felt like hours standing there even though Han knew it was only a few minutes. Just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore Dr. Cartathank stepped out into the hallway and smiled at Han, "You can go in now. He's anxious to see you." Han hurried into the room and stopped by the bed. "Heya sport! Man do you look like shit!" Luke gave a weak grin and said, "Still look better than you anyway." Han couldn't help the grin that spread across his face; Luke was going to be ok. He opened his mouth to return the banter when Luke began to violently cough again. Han looked about helplessly, but before he could do anything Dr. Cartathank rushed in, "Hold onto him Captain!" Han braced his hands on Luke's shoulders and held him as he shuddered in pain. The doctor hurriedly grabbed a vial of blue liquid and dumped it down Luke's throat. Slowly, painstakingly slowly, Luke's coughing and shuddering stopped. He fell back on the bed, asleep. Han stared at Luke and then turned to the doctor, asking shakily, "Doc, what the hell just happened?"