Chapter 4:
Leia awoke feeling groggy. She looked around and frowned; she was no longer in the medical bay but in the infirmary on the Millennium Falcon. She placed her hands on the sides of the bed and tried to sit up. She winced as a sharp pain shot through her left hand. She let her body fall back on the bed and lifted her bandaged hand. The bandage was not as thick as she remembered, just a compression bandage. Leia unwound the bandage. Blue stitches closed the straight line Han had carved between her thumb and forefinger.
The princess tried to sit up again, but this time she used only her right hand to push herself up. As soon as she was in a seated position she winced as he a dull pain took over belly. The princess pushed back the covers and lifted her shirt. There were three red marks on her skin, signs that she had laser surgery.
"Hey, Sweetheart." Han strolled into the infirmary carrying a bowl. "I was just coming to check on you." His smile faded when he saw her unwrapped hand. "Whadya do?"
"How did I get on the Falcon?"
"Chewie brought you."
"Why?"
"We needed to get you outa the medical bay before anyone noticed you were there."
"Oh."
Han put down the bowl and picked up the compression bandage. "Why'd you take this off?"
"I wanted to see the damage."
"Dr. Salimni just stitched up a couple of days ago. You're gonna pull 'em out if you're not careful."
"And this?" She pointed to her stomach.
"The Polium virus caused a few ulcers. The doctor lasered them away."
"When?"
"Four days ago. He said you'd be sore for about a week or so."
Han picked up a tube of salve. He screwed off the cap and squeezed a dollop onto his index finger.
"I can do it."
"Sure."
He started to smooth the salve onto one of the red marks on her stomach. Leia shoved his hand away.
"Give me."
She held out her index finger. Han muttered something under his breath.
"What was that?"
"What?"
"Never mind. Just give some to me."
Han squeezed a dollop of salve onto her finger and she rubbed it on the remaining red marks.
He held up the compression bandage. "Gimme your hand. Or do you think you can do this by yourself?"
Leia narrowed her eyes on him but held out her hand. He wound the compression bandage around it to limit the movement of her hand. Once he finished, Leia stretched out her fingers as far as they would go.
"Ow."
"Bandage too tight?"
"No, my hand just hurts. I don't recall it hurting this much."
"That's cos that crap Chewie put on the bandages works as a pain killer as well as an antiseptic."
"Can he put some of that on it now?"
"It'll do no good now. The wound is closed."
"Oh."
"Nicco spider bite pain can last a few weeks."
Han collected a couple of pillows from an overhead bin and placed them behind Leia. She lay back and exhaled. Solo began to pull her shirt back into place, but she scowled at him and did it herself before pulling the bed clothes over her.
"How long have I been out of it?"
"Three days in the medical bay. Four days here."
"What?"
"You were really sick. How you feelin' now?"
"Okay."
Han tilted his head and pursed his lips.
"A bit weak and sore," she said.
Han picked up the bowl he had brought into the infirmary. "You need to eat something."
"I'm not really hungry."
"I know, but you have to eat something."
"It does smell good. What is it?"
"Chewie's get-well-or-else soup."
"'Get-well-or-else soup'?"
"It has medicinal properties."
"What's in it?"
"All I know is nerf and lemon grass. He won't tell me the rest."
Han used the spoon to stir it, releasing more of its aroma and allowing her to see the contents. The broth was a transparent orange with chunks of nerf, strands of lemon grass, some kind of mushroom, and a few other items Leia didn't recognize. Han scooped up the floating contents of the soup and lifted the spoon to her lips.
With her good hand Leia ripped the spoon from Han's hand. "I can do it, Captain."
Han rolled his eyes. "Someone's feelin' better."
He held out the bowl to her. Leia reached out with her bandaged hand then grimaced.
"Want my help now? Or are do you wanna spill soup allover yourself?"
Leia stewed for a moment. "Fine," she mumbled.
The princess blew on the contents of the spoon before sliding it into her mouth. Her eyes closed and her haughty scowl melted away. Han's stomach flipped. It was rare that he had the privilege of witnessing such a sight; it seemed like there was very little room for pleasure in her life.
Leia opened her large brown eyes. Han looked away, hoping she didn't catch him watching her.
"This is even better than it smells."
"Chewie is a whiz in the kitchen."
Leia smiled at him—a genuine smile pointed at him—that was contagious. Without another word, she finished the soup.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Where is she?"
Chewbacca shrugged.
"I told you if she left the Falcon, you're to follow her!"
The Wookie scooped up a spoonful of oatmeal and shoved it in his mouth. He pointed to his mouth and then held out his hands.
"Hurry up and swallow!" Han snapped. "That assassin is still out there. She's not safe."
Chewie tilted his head and gurruffed.
"No, I didn't expect her to stay on the Falcon forever. I don't want her to stay forever. She's been nothing but a pain in my ass. But I don't want her to get killed either."
The Wookie brayed.
"Never mind. I'll go find her myself."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Han stormed into the mess hall and looked around. He spotted Leia carrying a tray and about to take a seat at an empty table. He stalked over to her and sat down across from her.
"Whadya doin'?"
"What does it look like?"
"Why aren't you eating breakfast on the Falcon?"
"Because I'm sick of oatmeal and you've ran out of lami honey."
"It's not safe for you."
"It's just breakfast."
"You're putting yourself in danger, Your Worship."
"No one's going to kill me in such a public place."
"You're willing to bet your life on that?"
Leia glared at Han. Han then took her fork out of her hand. He scooped up a small amount of powdered fenyl eggs and put it in his mouth. He then did the same with the nerf sausage and potatoes.
"What do you think you're doing!"
Han grabbed her cup of nerf milk and took a sip.
The princess grabbed the cup out of his hand. "Go get your own." Then she sharply inhaled. "You're testing my food for poison. You think the cook is the assassin?"
"Could be."
Leia shook her head. "And what if it was poisoned?"
"Then I wouldn't let you eat it!"
"Are you crazy?"
"Depends on who you ask."
"If it was poisoned…are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"I took small bites."
"One bite could've killed you."
"It'd take more than poison to kill me."
Her mouth opened and closed as her brow furrowed and her face turned red.
Han spread his arms out. "Hey, it's me."
"You're such a dif'ling idiot."
"Such foul language from such a pretty mouth. Not very becoming, Your High-and-Mightiness."
Leia huffed. "You're not immortal, Captain. What if you died?"
"What if you died? Remember, you came pretty close to dying a couple of days ago." Han leaned forward.
"I'm not taking stupid risks."
"You're not?" Solo sat back and looked around.
Leia looked around as well and quieted her voice. "I didn't eat something that I thought was poisoned."
"It wasn't."
"But you thought it could be."
Han shrugged. "You didn't."
"Oh! You're always taking such stupid, idiotic…pointless risks."
"Idiotic? Pointless?" He pointed a finger at her. "I got you off of the Death Star, Sweetheart. If it wasn't for my brilliant risks do you think you'd be sittin' here eating a breakfast that could have been poisoned?"
Leia shoved her tray away from her.
"Now you're not gonna eat? After all the trouble I went through to make sure it wasn't poisoned?"
"I've lost my appetite."
Han and Leia glared at each other.
"Hey," Luke said as he sat down next to Leia. He punctured his sausage link with his fork. "Nerf sausage. What a great way to start off the day."
Leia mumbled an Alderaani curse and Han grunted. They both rose to their feet and stalked off in different directions.
Luke was left there holding his sausage link up to his mouth. "What did I say?"