Guest: Thank you. :) I'm glad you liked how it ended up. I had planned Ravi's chapters to be the ones where I focused on his squad and their dynamics, and I ended up making Turns' story more about that, and giving Ravi someone to flirt with lol.
It's so funny, when I got my phone my husband asked if I wanted a keyboard for it, and I told him I'd never use it...ha. Time to revisit that. ^_^
...
Net
.
.
"Check that one out. We'll take the next." Steel swept a hand over the doorway and held up two fingers, pointing inside. Net and Fetcher peeled away from the rest of the squad, who continued down the corridor and stepped inside.
The room was in no better shape than the hallway had been, the walls and flooring cracked and curling from the heat and smoke.
They picked their way carefully across the splintering surface that groaned beneath their feet and scanned it with their displays. Fetcher tapped the side of his visor and shook his head.
"These readings are useless. Everything's hot in here. I can almost see better without the filtering."
"Can't navigate the smoke without it. Try it and see how far you get. I'm not coming to your rescue if you trip over a chair." Net caught movement out of the corner of his visor and zoomed in on it, but it was only the remains of a desk shifting with heat, sending up a final plea of sparks.
"Well, that's not very nice. I'd rescue you from a chair."
"Nothing in here." Net pointed to a door at the far side, "Maybe someone made it to the stairwell from this level. Let's check it out."
The landing was choked with plumes, but marginally cooler. Empty. Net commed Steel, waving a hand to disperse the smoke before his visor.
"Nothing. Heading up the to the last level."
"Copy."
"Race you to the top?" Fetcher joked. His helmet was tilted upwards, and he peered up between the lines of the stairs, a finger tapping his visor as he switched between views on his HUD. "Really hot up there. If there's anyone, I don't think ..."
"Gotta check." Net began the climb and Fetcher followed.
They paused at the top of the landing, watching the flames licking at the door on the other side through the small view piece on it.
Fetcher looked at Net and shrugged. "Gotta check." Net could hear the smile in his voice and shook his head, but he grinned in response at his companion's jovial perspective.
The rookie had only been placed with the squad a week an a half ago, but he was growing on Net. He had a cautious and incredibly observational outlook regarding any task they performed, often pointing out or noticing things others did not. But he also never hesitated to disregard those things to do what was asked of him.
They kicked the door down together and began sweeping the room. They didn't find anyone there, and Net let out a breath of relief. The rookie had been right, if anyone had been here, they wouldn't need to be rescued.
They were almost to the other side of the room when Lt. Shard's voice crackled over the comms.
"Found them. Everyone else, pull out now. No dallying."
Fetcher looked at Net. "Think they're alive?"
"The Lieutenant didn't call for medics. That's either a good sign or a bad one." The medic shrugged. " Nothing we can change by thinking on it right now". He looked over his shoulder at the room behind them and took hold of the banister.
"Come on. We'll take the main stairway back. No sense crossing that room again. We're on borrowed time already."
He'd only taken a few steps, Fetcher on his heels, when he heard a loud crack and raised his eyes to see the ceiling cracking above them, jagged lines spidering across the surface like crinkling flimsi. There wasn't time to move, or anywhere to go for that matter. He exchanged a quick glance with the younger trooper, who he heard take a sharp in breath over the comm.
"Fek."
...
Net awoke to a room that was pale green and tidy, sunlit from the window to his left, sheer curtains sweeping softly across the bed he lay in. He squinted in the light, lifting an arm to shade his eyes and sat up.
A muffled sound came from his right and the medic looked over to see Fetcher in a bed beside his. He had a breathing mask over his face and his eyes were on Net as he moved. He gave a small wave and tried to pull himself into a sitting position against the pillows at his back but only got halfway up before he fell into a coughing fit.
Net flung his legs free of the blankets and over the side of the bed. He stood to take a few steps across the room, but staggered as the sudden movement brought a wave of disbalance and a flash of light behind his eyes. He fell to his knees, dizzy, as his left arm surged with pain. He looked down at it confused, and found it bound and strapped tightly to his chest.
It came back to him then.
The building, the fire. The smoldering blaze within and the crumbling stairwell upon them.
Fetcher had stopped coughing, and he made a raspy noise in his throat, shaking his head at Net. He lifted a finger, telling him to get back in bed.
Net snorted and rose again. Slowly this time. He made his way to Fetcher's bed and sat beside him, eyes slipping over the readings on the vitals display beside the bed as he palpated the trooper's chest and neck with his free hand.
"Smoke?"
Fetcher nodded, wincing at the touch on his throat. He swallowed beneath Net's fingers and his eyes streamed a little with the pain.
Net looked around as he probed with his fingers, hoping to glean some answers to the questions bouncing around in his head from their surroundings. They were in a medical facility of sorts, although one Net wasn't familiar with.
A muted click came from across the room and they both raised their eyes to the door as it slid open.
A young woman in a medical uniform entered and blinked in surprise at them before a smile spread across her face and she approached the bed, setting down a set of linens as she did so.
"You're awake."
She stepped over to Net and looked into his face closely, gaze flitting between his eyes in study, then lifted up two fingers.
"How're you feeling? Follow my fingers with your eyes, please." She moved her fingers back and forth a few times and he did as she asked.
"Ma'am, where are we?"
She must've been satisfied with what she saw because she smiled at him and pulled a small holopad from her apron and jotted something down.
"This is the Highloft Medical Facility. We're not far from where you were." She put the pad away and chhecked the bandaging on his arm. "How's the pain?"
"It's fine. Broken?" He asked, looking down at his arm. She nodded.
"Clean break, though. Should heal quickly." She patted his arm, gesturing for him to scoot over so she could check on Fetcher. He did, and watched her go through many of the same motions he had, running hands along the sides of his neck and pasing a scanner over his chest.
She frowned at the readings it gave her, eyebrows knitting as she looked up at Fetcher. "Still hurts, right?"
Fetcher shook his head and she let out a breath of disbelief, catching sight of the streaks on his cheeks. She said nothing but stood and walked over to cabinets across the room, unlocking them with a keycard she wore around her neck. After a minute of rummaging, she closed the doors and returned with a hypo that she injected in his IV line.
"That should help a little. You tell me when that wears off, ok?"
Fetcher nodded mutely to the finger she pointed sternly in his direction.
Net laughed and the woman caught him in her gaze, placing her hands on her hips and giving him a once over.
"You're just as naughty. Getting out of bed before the doctor cleared you."
"I'm a medic, Ma'am."
"Of course you are." Her tone said she didn't believe him, and she pulled her 'pad from her pocket and tapped a few notes on the display. "I'll let Dr. Sane know you're awake. And I just put your meal orders in. They should bring it up in a short while."
She tucked the pad back in her apron and walked across the room, pausing at the doorway. Her hand was on the trim, and she stood staring at the numbers inscribed on the door for a moment before turning to look at Net over her shoulder.
"Thank you, for what you did." She spoke to Net but her eyes passed over Fecther as well. "Going in that building to rescue the fire crew. It was very brave. I think you're both...wonderful."
They both just blinked at her, unsure of how to respond, but she didn't seem to expect an answer, and gave them one last smile before stepping into the hallway.
...
Dr. Sane came into the room as they were eating and pulled up a chair to sit with them. He sat, elbows on his knees and chin on his folded fingers, chatting and checking them both over with an open friendliness and familiarity which positively baffled Net.
Accustomed to the rigid, subdued and sterile manner of kaminoan techs and the training and care they had received and been taught to give their entire lives, the civilian medical center and the bedside manners of the professionals therein were quite foreign to him.
The doctor touched them with hands ungloved, spoke to them, not of them, and preferred the answers they gave to the readouts provided by the monitoring display. He asked their names, their preferences in meals, inquired about hobbies, even threw in some bawdy jokes to get them laughing.
Net found himself lost and trying to make sense of the doctor's behavior, with no base of normalcy in this departmnt to draw parallels from. He wasn't quite sure it it all fell under the range of normal or if Dr. Sane was, in fact, a little...not.
He sat on his bed and watched Dr. Sane interacting with Fetcher across the room, trying to see if his friend could perhaps made any sense of it.
The rookie sat upright, watching the doctor raptly, taking it all in. His expression gave nothing away, save the fact that he seemed to be soaking it all up, seeing it not as an oddity, but rather the unraveling of a phonomenon he had merely not come across yet.
One that, by the looks of it, he found agreeable.
Net noticed that Fetcher positively beamed beneath the doctor's outspoken care and attention, responding promptly and in an animated fashion to the man's inquiries. Joining in on the jokes, and fairly blooming under the affection like a plant unfolding in the sun.
The medic watched with unrestrained interest as the doctor began maneuvering Fetcher's hands in some sort of hand-greeting ritual combining shakes, punches and claps that left them both grinning like idiots at the end.
"I saw that in a movie, and I always wanted to try it," Dr. Sane laughed. He looked at Net and raised a hand, wiggling it.
"Want to learn our secret handshake, Net? Only cool kids allowed."
Net shook his head, grinning.
Another nurse came in then, a pretty and vivid green twi'lek, who caught sight of Dr. Sane and snorted.
"Should I have brought you dinner too, Doctor?" She asked. She stepped over to retrieve the meal trays, smiling kindly at both troopers as she did so.
"Ah. No, no. I'm going to get some myself, I think. That pudding looked good" he commented, eyes following the trays as she lifted them and balanced them both on a forearm.
He rose and scooted the chair back to where he'd got it from against the far wall, then laid a hand on the nurse's shoulder. She poured a glass of water for Fetcher and placed it on the small table beside his bed.
"This is Shilla. She's your night-time nurse, so if you need anything just call her. She's pretty nice."
"I'm always nice." Shilla smiled as she poured a glass for Net and left the cup and pitcher on his bedside table.
Dr. Sane made a thoughtful expression and hummed. Shilla gave him a light smack on the arm and turned to Net and Fetcher.
"Emilie restocked the bathroom earlier, so you should be good to go there if you want to shower or anything. Don't get that arm wet." She pointed at Net, then looked between them. " Let me know if you need help, ok?"
"We can manage, Ma'am."
She nodded and walked out, Dr. Sane a few steps behind. He looked at them both and gave a sloppy salute, which they weren't sure to return or laugh at.
"I spoke to your Lieutenant before I came to see you. Told him you'd be fine here until you're on your feet again. I thought that it might be the preferrable place to stay. I had the ah, priveledge of visiting a miltary hospital years ago..."he made a comical grimace and interlaced his hands behind his back.
Net and Fetcher weren't quite sure of what he was referring to but tried to look as grateful as they felt. Compared to the usual, this place felt like a resort. They did miss their brothers, though.
Dr. Sane seemed to pick that up from their faces and smiled. "He said he'd be back to check on you tomorrow. Friendly fellow, your lieutenant." He added, and they knew he was joking then. Dr. Sane chuckled along side them for a moment before continuing.
"Emilie is your day-nurse, and she'll be back tomorrow morning. And I'll be back to check on you tomorrow afternoon." He pointed to the breathing mask beside Fetcher's bed. "Put that back on before you sleep. I want those lungs to be in much better shape tomorrow. Got it?"
Fetcher nodded and Dr. Sane gave them a cheery wink.
"You really should bug Shilla if you get a chance."
...
The next morning Net had them both up and showered and redressed, and was re-checking Fetcher when Emilie came in. She smiled at them both and came over to take over Fetcher's assessment after placing some bags at their feet. Net moved aside, letting her do it, waiting for the readings on her scanner and wishing he had his. He eyed the bags she had set down curiously while she worked.
When she'd finished making her notes, he held out a hand for the chart and she stared at him for a moment, but did finally place it in his hand without protest. He looked it over as she bent down and grabbed the bags. She placed one in Fetcher's lap and the rookie glanced between it and her in confusion. Net raised his eyes from the chart to look at it curiously as well.
"For you. From the families of the firefighters."
He blinked at her in incomprehension, and she returned his expression in kind.
"You know, as a thank you." She waved a hand at it then lifted the other bag and handed it to Net. "Here's yours."
Still getting blank looks, she glanced between them suspiciously, before deciding they really were as lost as they looked. She sighed and reached over to open the bag she'd given to Net.
Both troopers watched as she pulled out a stack of cards and a few small parcels. She placed the parcels in her lap , placing the empty bag on the ground at her feet and choosing one of the cards from the stack, laying the rest down. She raised it, opening it and holding it out for Net to read.
He took it and she and Fetcher watched as his eyes panned the words inside. His face was at fist confused, then surprised, and then absolutely lost by the end.
"This is...written to me." He plucked another card from her lap and opened it, read it. Reread it. He grabbed another. "These are all... to me." He sat, holding a couple of cards in his hand and looking between them. He looked at the young woman sitting beside him in utter confoundment.
"Of course they are." She blinked at him. "All of those in that bag are for you, and those are for Fetcher. This one is for your Lieutenant." She pointed at the last bag beside her feet. "I heard he's coming by today. The bags for the others are at my station. I was going to give them to your Lieutenant to take with him when he goes."
Net was shaking his head.
"But why? We didn't do anything special."
Emilie gave him a look that said she thought he was completely nuts. "Nothing special? You guys went into a burning building to save those men."
"We just did our jobs, Ma'am."
"Well, doing your job saved lives." She squinted at them both. "Haven't you guys gotten 'thank you' cards before?"
The looks on their faces told her they hadn't, which puzzled her.
"Well...now you have." She picked up one of the parcels and rolled it between her hands. "I bet I know what these are." She grinned at them both. "The Firehouse has a huge bake sale twice a year, and these smell like Ms. Flyn's cookies. They're amazing. You have to try some right now." She undid the wrapper and held out the opened package for Net to take. He set down the cards he was holding and took it, placing it on his lap and lifting one to his face. It really did smell wonderful.
He looked at Fetcher then Emilie. "You're sure it's for me?"
She just laughed and stood.
"I'm going to go put in your breakfast orders." She looked at Fetcher. "You probably can't eat yours yet, but you should read your cards." She smiled at him and he placed a hand in his bag and pulled out the stack of cards from inside, lifting and studying each as though it was hallowed treasure.
...
A few hours later all of the cookies from the first parcel had been devoured, and the others, as well as the cards had been carefully tucked back inside the bag and placed beside Net's bedside table.
Across the room, Fetcher's bag sat in the same state, and after much readng and rereading, discussing and joking and sharing in disbelief, they were both lying on their beds staring at the ceiling when Lt. Shard stepped in.
They both snapped to and the lieutenant gestured for them to be at ease. He looked between them and then around the room.
"You two doing alright here?" They could tell by his tone that the surroundings made him distinctly uncomfortable.
"Good as we can be, sir." Net replied. "How is everyone else?"
Shard looked at him. "They're fine. You lot are the only ones who took a tumble."
"We knew you'd rescue us, Sir." Fetcher scratched out. His throat was still raw and a slight pained expression crossed his face before he winked at Shard, who lifted an eyebrow.
"Who said I did?" He joked. Or maybe it wasn't. It was hard to tell.
"Lieutenant!" They all turned to see Emilie standing in the doorway, carrying lunch trays. She flashed Shard a smile before setting the food down and picking up the gift bag that lay by the foot of Fetcher's bed.
She carried it over to Shard and held it out to him, her face alight .
"This is for you."
Shard stood staring at her for a moment before taking the bag. He held it up like he wasn't sure what to do with it, eyes dancing from it to the young woman standing in front of him with a blank expression.
"I have more for you on the way out, ok?" She pointed to the bag and smiled at him. He just blinked at her. Used to that reaction now, Emilie just chuckled and turned, looking at Net and Fetcher.
"I couldn't carry your drinks and the trays. I'm going to get them. Be right back."
Shard stared after her as she left, still glancing at the bag in his hands with uncertainty.
"Sir, we had no idea. Why didn't you tell us?"
Shard tore his eyes from the bag to look over at the medic in confusion.
Net made and exasperated sound and shook his head. "Don't you know what it means when a lady gives you cards and cookies?"
Shard's face was blank for a minute before a grimace slowly spread across it, and he stared down at the bag with something akin to horror in his eyes. The way he held the bag away from his body suggested he considered it akin to a deadly toxin.
When Emilie returned she carried the pitcher past Shard and placed it on the mobile tray between the beds. Shard stepped out of her way, moving away from her as though she was radioactive. He tried to do it as subtly as possible, but Emilie noticed and looked up at him in surprise. He still wore a grim expression, and his eyes widened as she looked at him.
"Is something wrong, Lietenant? That expression...Are you in pain?" She stepped closer to touch his arm and he almost tripped over the chair behind him in his haste to scoot away.
Net burst out laughing and Fetcher made a half-choked noise. Emilie turned to look at them.
"What's so funny?"
Neither answered and she huffed a stray curl out of her face and rolled her eyes.
"You guys..." She put her hands on her hips and shook her head at them. She turned to Shard and pointed at the bag. "Enjoy those cookies from Mrs. Flyn, ok? And the others. They're very grateful to you guys for saving their friends and family. And don't forget to stop by my station for the bags for the rest of your guys on the way out." She smiled at him and threw another exasperated look over her shoulder at the two troopers who were still laughing.
Net looked up from between tears to see Shard passing a long, suffering stare between them.
He opened his mouth to say something, when a loud blast rang out from beneath them, reverberating off the walls and shaking the hospital around them, sending them all to their knees on the floor. The glass in the window shuddered and dust and paint rained down from the ceiling. The contents of the cabinets rattled within and the trays of food came crashing down around them.
When the shaking stopped, Emilie peered out at the mess of food and servingware and cards scattered across the floor in front of her from beneath Shard's arm. He had dropped the bag and thrown an arm over her to block any falling debris, and he looked up from beside her at the ceiling, scanning the room, and then at the others.
The fire alarms rang out loud and blaring and a choir of screams took up pitch in the halls.
"Something tells me that fire wasn't an accident."