A/N: In this chapter I blend emergency medicine with Star Wars "medicine." I personally don't believe kolto can fix everything. How exactly is kolto going to fix a broken bone for example? Plus, if kolto was the end all, be all healing agent, they wouldn't cut so many limbs off and replace them with cybernetics. So, in my world we're using more traditional tactics too. If that makes it a little AU, so be it. Hope you still enjoy it.

Taking Down the Fortress

Chapter 3

Zane's POV

Closing my eyes, I tried to rein in my pain and stop the deck from spinning. I could feel the waves of worry rolling off my lover, when he knelt down next to me on the deck.

"I'm fine," I breathily tried to reassure him.

"You're NOT fine," he said, putting emphasis on the second word. "We need to work on your definition of the word."

Opening my eyes, I looked up and saw the fear on Theron's face. Before I could say anything, he continued, "Ashe his lips are blue!"

What?! It was hard to breathe but…shit…it was more than just hard to breathe…it felt like I couldn't inhale at all! What the hell was going on?

Taking command of the situation, Ashe'dani ran the medical scanner over my body. Her frown deepened to a worried scowl. "Get his armor off!" she ordered, "Everything above the waist!" She reached into a medical bag and started pulling equipment out.

"Koth," Theron asked, "Can you give me a hand?"

Nodding, the pilot came over and joined the circle around me. "What do you need me to do?"

"Help me get him up," Theron said. Together they carefully sat me up, causing the deck to spin dangerously and my stomach to lurch. Theron scooted behind me, so I could rest against him and try to regain my equilibrium.

"Damn," I wheezed. It was getting harder and harder to breath with each passing moment. My vision was starting to darken at the edges.

"Hold him!" Theron ordered the pilot, "I need to get his armor off!"

Kneeling down in front of me, Koth said, "Lean into me," as he gently helped me lean against his chest.

Theron started releasing the closures on my armor, expertly stripping me of my gloves, bracers, and breastplate. He tossed each piece aside as he removed it, leaving me in my sweat soaked shirt I wore underneath.

"He's done that before," I heard Samgir comment. I missed the glare Theron shot his way, silencing him again.

"I got the shirt," Ashe'dani said, grabbing the bottom hem. Using the scissors she took out of her bag, she cut it off me, taking special care around my injured shoulder.

As she pulled the wet fabric away from my skin, I heard Theron hiss and Koth whistled.

"Damn Zane!" the pilot said, "Those are some bruises."

"What?" I asked, not bothering to move instead concentrating on my battle to breath.

"The right side of your back is one large bruise from your shoulder to your waist," Theron said, as he helped me lean back against him and rest my head on his shoulder.

"Not surprised," I managed between gasps, "Hurts."

"I'm sure," Theron said, kissing the side of my head in sympathy. "What?"

Following his gaze, I saw the shocked look on the young healer's face. It wasn't my damaged shoulder that had captured her attention but the scar left by Arcann's lightsaber when he ran me through. Though it had healed, the skin was still puckered, gnarled and angry looking. Without conscious thought, I touched it, fingering the uneven edges.

The consummate professional, Ashe'dani picked up a small instrument she had taken out of her bag and said, "He's got a few injuries but the most dangerous is a rib that's punctured and collapsed his lung," she explained, "If we don't do something soon, it could kill him."

I could feel my lover stiffen with alarm behind me. I was well aware, that his worst nightmare was something happening to me…again. While I wanted to offer him some comfort, it took everything I had to draw air into my struggling lungs. It was a battle I was quickly losing.

Luckily Koth stepped in, "But we aren't going to let that happen," he said. "Are we?" putting significance on the last two words.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Ashe'dani agreed. "We need to lay him out on the deck."

Working together, the trio carefully lowered me down, taking special care with my shoulder, Theron staying as close as possible on my left side and holding my hand tightly.

"Keep him still." Looking me in the eyes, the healer said, "This will hurt."

"Just do it," I panted, closing my eyes.

Using an alcohol wipe, she cleaned a spot on my right side and inserted a large needle between two ribs. I gritted my teeth and tightly clutched Theron's hand but didn't move or say anything. When I was about to squirm to get away from the pain, I heard the hiss of released air and glorious relief when I could draw some air into my oxygen starved lungs. I closed my eyes in relief, as Ashe'dani removed the needle but left a tube inserted and tapped it down.

Sitting back on her heels, the healer wiped her brow with the back of her hand.

"Thanks," I whispered, grateful that I could breathe easily.

With a wry grin, she returned, "Don't thank me yet. That was your most pressing medical issue but not the most painful to fix."

"Shoulder," Theron said, from his spot next to me.

"Shoulder," she agreed, "Among other things."

Pulling more items from her medical bag, Ashe'dani began a physical examination of my injuries, starting at my head.

"Documented nausea, pupils are unequal and two large lumps on the back of his head," she said to herself. Working her way down, the healer continued her observations, "shattered collarbone, dislocated shoulder." She gently ran her fingers down my right arm, checking color and pulse. "Broken rib and collapsed lung." My lower body armor and boots were still on, so she stopped at my waist.

"How is he?" Theron asked, still holding my hand. I could hear the concern in his voice.

"I can't," she started but I interrupted her.

"Its fine," I assured her, "Theron is my listed family contact and holds my medical proxy."

She smiled as if some missing pieces of information fell into place, as she said, "He has a concussion, broken rib and collarbone, dislocated shoulder and collapsed lung." Taking a few more items from her bottomless medical bag, "I've treated the lung. Let's set him up."

The world tilted on its axis and my stomach rebelled when Koth and Theron gently picked me up and rested me back against Theron. "Going to be sick?" he asked.

Shaking my head, I said, "No," but I wasn't so sure.

Ashe'dani continued, "We're close enough to Odessen, I'll just brace and immobilize his right shoulder and arm."

I flinched and groaned in pain, when Ashe gently picked up my right forearm and slipped it into a sling. She secured the tie around my neck and wrapped a strap around my torso, securing the arm tightly against me.

Between the pain and the dizziness brought on by my concussion, I lost the battle with my stomach. "Gonna….sick."

An open plastic bag was pushed into my hands just in time. The pain in my chest spiked again, as I threw up into the bag, making my stomach roll and in turn, making me sicker. Through the whole thing, Theron held me up, rubbed my back and whispered words of comfort in my ear.

"Fuck," I muttered, as the spasms in my stomach turned to dry heaves.

Pushing two hyposprays against my exposed skin, Ashe'dani injected me with some medications. "That should help with the dizziness and nausea." Picking up a third one, she pressed it against my skin. "This one is some kolto."

"Thanks," I managed. I was left sweaty and shaking.

"Done?" Theron asked.

"Yeah," I said, shutting my eyes and resting my head against his shoulder. I felt someone take the container from my hands and disposed of it.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," Koth answered.

"Let's get him up off the cold deck and on to the cot," she said, motioning to a small bed, set up in a corner of the ship.

I sighed. I'd be more comfortable on the small bed but I knew it would be painful getting there.

"Ready?" Theron whispered to me.

"Yeah," I said, reluctantly.

Carefully putting my left arm across his shoulder, Theron slowly stood, shouldering as much of my weight as possible. Luckily the medication helped and I didn't get dizzy. Koth stood behind us, just in case. It was all I could to stay on my feet, as we slowly walked across the room. Together, Theron and I sat down on the cot. The spy slipped out from under my arm and helped me lay down on the cot. Picking up my feet, he removed my heavy metal boots and put my legs on the bed. He expertly removed my pants and leg armor, tossing them on to the growing pile and pulled a blanket over me.

"Love you," I drawled, as I started too succumbed to sleep.

"Love you too," he whispered, swiping sweat dampened locks of hair off my forehead and pushing a stray lock behind my ear. "Now rest."

"Mmmm," I murmured, enjoying the feeling of his fingers playing with my hair as I drifted into slumber.

Sometime later, I could hear a discussion going on around me but didn't really process what was being said. Gradually, the conversation got steady louder and louder Abruptly, I left Theron jump up and leave.

"What?" I slurred, groggy with sleep.

Opening my eyes, I looked around, trying and at first failing to find Theron. Eventually I located him on the other side of the hold. He had Samgir pressed up against the wall, his arm pressed against the trooper's throat. One blurry glance was enough to realize Theron was irate.

"Theron?" I asked, my foggy mind not understanding what had happened.

He didn't answer me, instead continuing to glare daggers at Samgir."What happened?" I asked again, this time with a note of command to my voice.

I caught Ashe'dani's eyes first but it was obvious she was a surprised as I was and didn't know what to say. When I looked to Koth, he sighed and answered, "The kid stupidly said somethings about you and Theron took offense."

"Such as?" Damn. I really wasn't up to dealing with this right now. I just wanted to close my eyes and go to sleep and it took everything I had to not do exactly that.

"It started with Samgir saying your injuries were your own fault, that you should have gotten out of the way of the Exacrch."

"Did someone explain to him?" I started, covering my eyes with my one free hand, "That had I done that he'd be dead?"

"Ummm…sir?" the young trooper asked, puzzled.

The light was aggravating my eyes and giving me a serious headache. I didn't feel well enough to have this conversation right now. Better to be blunt now and explain later. "Your situational awareness sucks. If I'd moved he'd have knocked you off the platform and you would be dead, period."

"So instead the Major stood there, knowing he'd be injured so you would not get your fool ass killed," Ashe'dani said, moving to my side and checking my vitals. "Headache?" She asked gently.

"Yeah."

"Eyes light sensitive?"

"Yeah," I answered, my hand still covering my eyes.

She placed a hypo spray against my neck and injected the contents into me. "It was just a little something to help the headache, nothing too heavy with that nasty concussion."

"Thanks," I whispered, already feeling my exhaustion catching up with me again.

"Just rest," she said, laying a gentle hand on my shoulder. "The rest of you," she continued, suddenly turning stern, "Enough! No disturbing my patient."

"Samgir," I called out, softly.

"Sir," he answered.

"Think about the consequences of your actions," I said, keeping my voice low, "I didn't want to tell your family you were dead."

"Yes sir," he said, almost sounding contrite.

"Now, you can tell my loved ones why you allowed your actions to hurt me."

"I will sir," he said.

"I don't think you understand," I said, fighting to keep my eyes open, "You can tell him now."

I didn't miss the almost evil, feral smile Theron gave the kid. I almost…almost felt sorry for him then my head throbbed again and that feeling of compassion for Samgir evaporated.

"Yeah," Theron said, "Come explain it to me."

As I was drifting off, Theron leaned down and kissed me gently and whispered in my ears, "We'll talk about your lack of self-preservation later…

Ugh! I almost whimpered too…

TBC

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