Fire!
The smoke curled around her, stifling and thick. No matter where she ran, she couldn't escape it. Cries of agony and suffering all around her, hands pulling her away and bundling her up in a blanket. Of being carried, then deposited somewhere cold and dark. Muffled voices, all scared. Her stomach gnawed with hunger. Where was her mother? No one would answer her. The cargo hold was so dark, she couldn't see their faces...
...And then it was so bright, so fast, it was painful. She had never been in a place so dry and hot. Words were exchanged with Unkar Plutt, the lumbering junk dealer, and then the ship left. She half expected the old freighter to circle around and come back, but up and up it climbed and then disappeared, leaving her behind.
Rey gasped and opened her eyes. Nothing would come into focus, but it was bright. Painfully bright.
She hated that dream. It spoke of memories that haunted her and questions of which she always denied the answer. But unlike in the dream, this air now wasn't saturated with smoke. Instead, it was thin, with a tint of ozone. Somewhere in the depths of her subconscious, she recalled it tasted like a ship's filtered air. Rey's heart beat thudded against her chest. She had a bad feeling about this...
The face of a cold medical droid entered her vision, still fuzzy on the edges. "Greetings," came its programmed speech. "You have suffered grievous injuries and are under the care of the First Order."
No! She had escaped...
Rey bit back a moan as she shifted against the pillow. Slowly, events began to filter back to her. She had escaped the clutches of Kylo Ren, only to pick up the lightsaber and duel him. She must have been wounded, though she had no recollection of it. Her mind felt frayed, as though something had caused it to unwind from the end.
"How are you feeling?" the monotone voiced droid asked. Absent of any sympathy, it watched her movements.
Truth be told, Rey felt as though she'd just been run over by a landcruiser. While her vision finally normalized, her eyes hurt from the brightness of the harsh, artificial lights and her arms felt like jelly. She tried to swallow.
"Terrible," she answered.
"I am sorry. I am not authorized to give you further painkillers."
Of course not, Rey thought, raising her head. She tugged weakly at the metal cuffs that locked her wrists to the bed frame, anger rising in her chest.
"Why am I captive?"
Lifeless diode panels looked back at her. "I am not authorized to discuss such matters."
Rey's eyes narrowed as she glared at the droid with unnerving concentration. "You will release me immediately," she ordered.
The droid looked befuddled, if that was possible, as it searched for potential responses in its databanks. Rey repeated her request, blackness skirting her vision again with the effort. The droid settled on repeating, "you have suffered grievous injuries and are under the care of the First Order."
Whatever power Rey had summoned to trick the stormtrooper into releasing her the first time was not going to work on a droid, much to her frustration.
She bit her lip. Kylo Ren was still unsuccessful in getting his map to Luke Skywalker. Either way, her life was worthless to them once he had what he wanted.
She began again.
"What are my injuries?" she asked, drawing as much civility as possible.
"Concussion," the droid answered coldly, "hypothermia. Spinal cord rupture between lumbar four and five vertebrae. Lower extremities non-functional until further repair."
Even as she heard it, Rey realized that somehow, she already knew. Horrified, she looked at her legs, hidden under the white sheet, and willed them to move.
Nothing.
Not even the slightest twinge.
Rey leaned back. Like all those in the midst of youth, she had not dreamed her body would betray her. She had survived much with nary a scratch. Her whole existence on Jakku was a calculated risk. Everyday she courted starvation, beatings, falls, or some other gruesome calamity that could result in her untimely demise. She was a survivor. Invincibility, however impractical, was the unspoken expectation. If it hadn't been, she would have never been so foolhardy as to combat the villain responsible for her fallen friends. Perhaps she felt the righteousness of her convictions would protect her from potential harm. Perhaps this "force" was nothing more than a party trick, she thought angrily.
The young woman quickly assessed her dismal situation. She once again was prisoner of the First Order, and this time, paralyzed. Escape was unlikely, whereas torture and death were inevitable.
To make matters worse, just then, the door hissed opened, revealing the dark form of Kylo Ren.
She swore.
{}{}{}{}{}
"How unbecoming," Kylo chided, standing a meter away from the infirmary bed. He cut an imposing figure. Tall and swathed in black, somber robes, he movements were fluid. Rey didn't note any limp as he paced, and gathered that whatever his injuries, he was in far better shape than her after their lightsaber duel.
"What would you know?" she spat, her tone vitriol.
Even beneath his mask, she could sense his quirked lips. "More than a desert rat who picks up a lightsaber she knows nothing about."
She closed her eyes a moment, trying to summon the memory. It came back to her in flashes. With a sharp intake of breath, Rey looked at him, her eyes wide.
"I disarmed you."
It was a taunt as much as it was the truth. She saw his gloved hands fist, and knew she hit a nerve. "Your lightsaber," she asked, seeking to twist the dagger, "it's destroyed, isn't it?"
Kylo glared at her. The hapless medical droid smashed into the opposite wall, falling to the ground in a sparking heap.
"Your master will be most displeased with you," Rey concluded, ignoring the feat of indignation around her.
Quite suddenly, a deadly stillness returned to the room. Kylo steadied his thundering heartbeat. The girl was right. The Supreme Leader would make him pay for his weakness, but not yet. Kylo could not have her mock him with impunity. He cocked his head at her, his hands held behind his back.
"I am told your back is broken."
She looked away for a moment. Finally, he hit a nerve. "So it would seem," she said quietly, staring at the ceiling. Suddenly, Rey felt a squeeze on her middle, uncomfortable at first, and then tighter.
"What...what are you doing?" she gasped, powerless to do anything about the increasing pressure on her weaken body.
"I feel it," Kylo said, concentrating, "the break in the tissues." He pressed harder through the force, and was rewarded with her agonized scream.
"Stop, please!" Rey cried out, her body arched against the restraints. "Just kill me!"
A moment later, he released the pressure, and she collapsed back on the bed. It grated on him that even now, the girl was too noble to cry. She blinked and turned her head away from him. Kylo approached her bedside and placed a gloved hand on either side of her head. He leaned over, his cold mask inadvertently brushing against her ear. She shivered at the contact.
"Your death is no longer up to me," he told her, his voice low and menacing. His gloved hands moved from the sheets to pressing down her bare shoulders, hard.
Hearing the prisoner's tortured screams through the infirmary's thick doors, the stormtroopers outside moved away as fast as they could.
A/N Apparently, FFN decided to eat the reviews for this story. I can't access or see any of them, as I would normally love to respond to what you guys have to say. I hope this is a temporary issue. Has anyone experienced this before?