Somehow finding the strength to, I stood from her left side and stepped over to her right, kneeling down beside her again. Her head was turned to the right, so I could watch her come around, but when she started moving in discomfort, I knew I needed to keep her calm.

"Cordira," I called to her softly at first, fighting my own panic. She still wasn't quite awake, though, so I cupped her face with one hand, squeezing her hand in my other. Responding to my touch, she gripped my hand hard as her face twisted into a grimace of tremendous pain, followed by breathless whimpers that tore at my heart. To wake up to that kind of agony without knowing why had to be an unbelievable shock.

"Cordira, try not to move," my dad instructed numbly; he, too, sounded like he was at a loss. Though I wasn't sure because of the uniform blue glow in the cavern, but he looked even more pale than he had been earlier. Whether that was from his injuries he had likely sustained in his fall or from his concern for Cordira, I couldn't tell. I just kept holding her hand, comforting her the only way I knew how.

Her breathing became more rapid and shallow as she became more alert and aware of her wounds, and as she finally looked up at me, I could see the pure fear in her eyes. In that moment, I knew her thoughts, though she hadn't yet said a word: she was terrified that she was going to die.

The words were out of my mouth before I realized what I had said. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

It was the comfort she needed to hear, though, and as she tightly shut her eyes, I felt her hand squeeze mine more earnestly. She had accepted my pledge to her, but how was I supposed to carry it out?

"It doesn't look like you're bleeding too much, Cordira," Dad told her carefully, looking her over. "Just stay as still as you can, okay?"

Beside Dad, Tops whistled sadly at her, concerned for her, too. Blinking myself out of my shock, I snapped to attention, suddenly remembering the astromech's capabilities. "You can get back up to the surface and go get help, Tops."

Readying his rocket boosters, Tops beeped affirmatively, but he swiveled his domed head around, looking to Dad for permission. Tops was Dad's droid, after all, but what better use could we put him to than to go where we couldn't? Dad quickly agreed, hesitating only to cough weakly and clear his throat of lingering water. "Find Cade and Malin first. They'll know best how to get us out of here." Dad had only just finished his order when another coughing fit gripped him. It was like he couldn't catch his breath, and each cough sounded wetter as it carried on. At the time, I attributed it to remaining water in his lungs, but I later found out that wasn't the case.

Tops twirled around squarely on his wheels and obeyed quickly, firing his rocket boosters that propelled him up into the air of the vast cavern. We all watched as he disappeared into the corridor's opening in the wall, almost indistinguishable and hidden by the distance now spanning between us. Cordira recaptured my attention, though, when I felt her hand shaking, even in my grip. As I looked back down at her, I could see that her entire body was trembling; the initial adrenaline rush had worn off, and her system was finally reacting to her surroundings and to her injuries.

"I'm cold..."

I would have burned the shirt off my back for her...if I had had any kind of ignition source with me at the time. Dad had been wearing our supply pack with food for the day as well as anything else useful, but it was all probably already at the bottom of that pool of water he had fallen into. The only option available since Dad's was still soaking wet, I tucked my jacket carefully around her upper body, though I knew full well it wouldn't provide much warmth for her for long. Despite what I thought was diligent attention, I must have accidentally hit the rod in her abdomen, and her sudden cry of pain sent shards of ice through my veins.

"I'm sorry!" I answered in a panic, smoothing her hair back from her face. "I'm so sorry!"

It took her a while to breathe normally after nearly hyperventilating to endure the pain, but again, she seemed to calm as I kept a comforting hand on the left side of her face and resumed holding her right hand. Even though I was the one who had caused her the added torture, I was surprised she didn't send me away. Instead, it seemed like she was trying to pull me closer, tightening her hand around mine. I obliged as much as I could as I hunched over on my knees beside her, ignoring my own discomfort. My knee and my feet were screaming with pain from the long falls I had made down to her, but I knew it had to be nothing compared to what she felt. I could tolerate it.

Totally focused on Cordira, I had almost forgotten Dad was still there. "Derek..." When I looked back up at him on Cordira's other side, I half expected him to collapse before I could get to him. He was holding his palm against his temple that was still bleeding, wavering in place even though he was already sitting. Surely he couldn't tell that his head was hurting... His coughing coupled with his likely concussion must have been making him dizzy, something that wouldn't be affected by nonfunctional pain nerves. I couldn't figure out what he wanted my attention for, though, and neither could I really have done anything for him, anyway.

"Dad, lay down."

Obeying as if he hadn't been able to come up with the idea himself, he complied, slowly lowering himself to the rocky floor. He kept his hand on his head as he moved, though, taking in deliberately slow breaths like he was trying to stave off nausea. After a moment, he pulled his hand back and looked at it briefly before replacing it. "It won't stop..."

As frustrated as I was with our predicament, I couldn't let myself get too upset. With both Dad and Cordira so seriously wounded, I was the one who would have to keep a calm, sound mind, and though I was more scared than I had ever been in my life, I couldn't let them know that.

I released a shaky breath, forcing a soft, nervous laugh at the end to hopefully lighten their moods a bit. "Looks like you both will have to get friendly with some bacta tanks once we get out of here."

Dad gave me a weird look, but to my surprise, Cordira answered me with a reluctant groan. "Anything but bacta," she breathed weakly. "It smells...so...awful..."

I laughed again. "Yeah, you'd have to do without me for a few days afterward."

She looked up at me without any hint of a grin, but her humor was so dry without any injuries ailing her, anyway. "You can...hold your breath."

"Not for days at a time!"

Still, no grin. "You'd find a way."

I don't know if she was aware of how right she was. She meant it as a joke, but it silenced me. I couldn't come up with anything to parry her jeers for once, which was rare. She continued on another path entirely, though, and it killed me just the same.

"If either of us...had been accepted into the Academy...we wouldn't need the bacta."