Chapter 8: Motley Crew (or Bad ER References)

Bastila

:I wonder if she was right: Bastila said to herself. She frowned. The whiteness around her was blinding.

:Well, I guess I could try meditating.:

For hours she waited. Maybe she should not have trusted a former Sith Lord.

Revan

A small Tynnan walked into 113 B.

"Can I go yet?" asked Revan wearily.

The Tynnan brusquely shook her head. "Nope. Your healing rate is remarkable, but we want to keep you here for observation."

"For how long, Doctor…"

"Doctor Teaver. And we're not sure. We want to be able to fully understand your rapid healing rate. Something about it doesn't check out."

Revan sighed. She was going under an alias here, using the identity of an ordinary civilian who had gone missing in action sometime in the Mandalorian Ward and had probably been killed. Carth had been a friend of this woman's cousin, and that entire family was now presumed dead in the bombing of Telos. Revan could not give away her Force sensitivity or her Jedi training under this identity. Nor could she explain to Doctor Teaver that she had been a prisoner in Bastila Shan's mind and had used her Force healing to recover so quickly. Or whatever had just happened.

"Maybe I got lucky," suggested Revan as Doctor Teaver checked the intravenous drip.

"Well, we'll see," muttered the Tynnan as she patted Revan on the hand. "Doctor Har'tlock will be by in a few hours, and Doctor Dormay might check in, as well." She spoke of these doctors as if Revan would have some inkling of who they were.

Hopefully they're coming with food, thought Revan wistfully. Doctor Teacer's comlink crackled and a heavily accented voice, obviously accustomed to speaking a huskier language, came through. Revan heard the words "Jedi," "coma," and "front desk, please."

Revan sat up. Canderous and Carth seemed to have found her quickly.

"Thanks, Luvak," said Dr. Teaever calmly. She left the room.

Carth

Bastila, despite her appearance, was even heavier than Revan. It was a good thing Canderous was there; otherwise, Carth would never have gotten Bastila off of the ground.

It had not been hard to find the Jedi. The nurse at the hospital's front desk seemed extremely eager to do anything Canderous wanted, and in a flash, they had an address and directions for Bastila. Carth could have sworn that the Twi'lek had added on a "Please don't hurt me," but then again, Carth's Huttese was a little rusty.

Carth and Canderous were let in to Bastila's fairly large residence by an apathetic cleaning girl who was probably working her way through the Academy of Aldera. They called out for Bastila with no response, but Canderous, feeling a breeze at his side, had charged towards it. The breeze led outside to a lake, next to which was Bastila's sprawled, shallowly breathing form. Carefully, Carth and Canderous had lifted her. Their groans attracted the wandering attention of the cleaning girl, who then proceeded to help lead them all back to the hospital.

The Twi'lek receptionist was gone, replaced by a dark-featured Codru-Ji. With an inscrutable expression, he called in a Tynnan doctor. As the Codru-Ji looked over the unlikely group with his jadeite-colored eyes, he was obviously suppressing what would have been a slightly inappropriate smile. Watching the Tynnan helped Canderous load Bastila onto a gurney, Carth had to admit that the group did seem a little strange: a Mandalorian, a grunged-up teenager, and Carth in his Republic uniform, all carrying an unconscious, porcelain Jedi princess.

Carth then began to haggle with the Codru-Ji about visiting times, but even with Canderous' less-than-diplomatic form of persuasion, Carth could not break the doctor's cool exterior. The Codru-Ji merely folded his four arms and shrugged, saying that there was nothing to do about it.

"Your apologies aren't very convincing," said Carth through gritted teeth.

The Codru-Ji brushed back a strand of his dark hair. "I didn't apologize, actually, sir." His curling accent took on a sharper, more sibilant edge, closer to the canine language of Codruese.

Carth gave up and walked to the back of the waiting room. Canderous persisted in his arguing, but Carth decided to leave them at it. Bastila's cleaning girl sat down a seat away from Carth, slumping forward. Carth raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"You know," he said, "you can leave, if you want."

"Nah," she responded, twirling her black-white-and-plum striped hair around a finger. "The Jedi still owes me money."

Carth half-smiled and shook his head. The kid reminded him of Revan. He wondered if Revan had purple streaked through her hair at that age, probably barely ten years ago. Knowing Revan, she probably had a wider rainbow of colors than that, if at all.

Canderous finally surrendered and sat down angrily next to Carth.

"Don't worry about it," advised Carth. They'll let Revan out soon, right?"

Canderous shook his head. "Sorry, Onasi," he said, "They're keeping her for tests, it seems."

Carth blanched. The Codru-Ji looked smug.