#hurray for kix and all the medics :)

[mahizli]

Coming Back Down (Kix & Obi-Wan, 20 BBY)

Part 15 of ‘Sparks of Hope, A Star-Wars Advent-Calendar’

***

“The kriff, Master…”

General Skywalker’s annoyed words echoed from the medical fresher, topping the sound of water, and Kix sighed, eyes tracing the dirty trail of mud and blood leading to the shower.

It had been hard to distinguish any feature, let alone injury, under the layer of grime and blood and dirt covering General Kenobi’s face. The mission had gone completely sideways after barely a day on the planet – thanks to a rockslide where General Kenobi had once more felt obliged to save half the regiment by Force-pushing the men along with General Skywalker out of the avalanche. Getting knocked off the mountainside and half buried under rocks himself. And staying that way for about twelve hours, because of course it had been night, making them unable to see and search for him properly.

General Skywalker had been frantic. But to be honest, Kix preferred frantic to the hot, angry way he had acted ever since General Kenobi had returned from his mission as Rako Hardeen. Himself and the vode had felt between a rock and a hard place for weeks now, and seeing their General finally display something else than fury towards General Kenobi had felt reassuring in a sad, very odd way.

Of course, said General had been the one literally caught under rocks – he had been conscious though, if not truly lucid, once they had found him, lips moving silently, mouthing words Kix couldn’t understand at first. Kenobi’s hair was matted with blood but, though the Jedi had obviously been sick several times, the eyes staring up at Kix and Skywalker had been bright.

“My charms are overthrown”, Kenobi had been whispering, oblivious to Skywalker’s hand meeting his face. “What s-strength I have’s m-mine own…”

“Master, hang on, let me lift those rocks…”

Kenobi had just shuddered, letting out a quiet moan as Kix checked his pupils, muttering on: “Which is most faint; now t’is true, I m-must be here r-released b-by you…”

Kenobi had been trembling when Kix had finally been able to assess his body – field-scans were not the most precise, but the General must have managed to shield his body from the worst of the impact. He had a severe concussion, a broken collarbone and forearm, huge bruises on the chest and legs, hypothermia… and Force-exhaustion, according to General Skywalker.

General Kenobi tended towards downplaying his injuries, shielding himself behind sarcasm or joking. Even on Geonosis, he had always answered Kix questions clearly while hurt, his command on the Force enough to help him push through blood-loss and pain.

Here, however, General Kenobi had let Skywalker gather him in his arms like a child, mumbling incoherent words, without a sign of recognition. They had got him back to the ship as quickly as possible, and Kix had run a more thorough scan, fortunately confirming there was no inner injury.

He had allowed Skywalker to drag Kenobi to the showers, stabilizing him through the Force, and was determined to get the General clothed, lying down and monitored within minutes – but the quiet water sound and humming he was hearing did not look like anything but trouble.

“Master, stop splashing around!”

Kix entered the showers to find an exasperated and quite damp General Skywalker holding a very wet General Kenobi, who had been stripped down to his briefs and was sitting down on the ground, hair plastered on his head by the shower-spray, uninjured hand running quietly through the stream, pushing water towards the drain.

“Raindrops f-falling on my head”, General Kenobi was singing, sputtering slightly as water met his chin. “But t-that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be t-turning red… Crying’s not for me…”

Kenobi looked up at Kix and smiled, with an expression of childish glee so unlike him he winced. The water was brownish under him, the General sported various bruises and scratches, chest in an interesting hue of blue-green – but Kenobi simply smiled.

“’Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain by c-complaining”, Kenobi sang, pitch and rhythm undisturbed by the water streaming on his body and face.

“He threw up twice, Kix. And he’s getting quite warm. He keeps singing and splashing like a kid!”

“General…”, Kix said, crouching before Kenobi, turning off the water and wrapping a towel around him. “General, can you hear me?”

The motion seemed to rouse Kenobi, who stopped singing and looked up at Kix, wincing slightly, grey eyes squinting in the light.

“Can you tell me your name?”

Kenobi’s hand moved, clutching the towel, wet head leaning against Skywalker’s shoulder in trusting, abandoning move that made Skywalker stiffen, then wrap an arm around Kenobi’s trembling shoulders.

“Obi… Obi-Wan K-Kenobi.”

“Very good. And can you tell me who you are?”, Kix asked, gently.

The General blinked, rubbing a bare foot against the wet tiles.

“I’m Master Jinn’s Padawan?”

The voice was thin, the question mark plain at the end. The General was getting pale and blinking, too, cheek leaning against Skywalker’s arm.

“Come on, Master…”, Skywalker urged him, keeping his arm still and placing a hand on Kenobi’s bouncing knee. “Shh… It’s alright. You can do this.

- I’m… ah… I’m… I have a… a Padawan.”

Kenobi was frowning now, face scrunched up with pain and paling even further.

“And a G-Grand- Padawan. Anakin a-and Ahsoka. I’m a… I’m a… w-what am I, I’m a… I’m not sure… I’m… tired.”

Kix met Skywalker’s eyes and found his worry mirrored there, because General Kenobi never ever complained and never got confused. The hot skin and the relentless throwing up could be explained by the concussion, and yet…

“Let’s get him into a proper cot”, Kix ordered, and together with Skywalker, they helped General Kenobi up, into clean medical scrubs and lying down.

All along, the General stayed pliant and blinking, not even wincing when Kit placed an infusion line on the back of his hand.

“Do you know who I am, sir?”, Kix asked him, gently parting his wet hair to assess the head-wound he had quickly stapled on the field, and that looked clean enough to reassure him.

Kenobi’s face scrunched up once more, and after a few seconds of silence, Kix noticed a small drop of blood falling from his nose towards his lips.

“Shh, Master. No use of the Force for you. Not now… You can’t.”

Skywalker wiped the drop of blood away, with uncharacteristic gentleness, and Kenobi shuddered, eyes fluttering shut, features going lax as sleep claimed him, face tilting towards his former Padawan and friend.

It was then they noticed the two pin-shaped bruises on Kenobi’s neck.

“Stims…”, Skywalker sighed. “Of course. I couldn’t believe he was still conscious when we found him.”

“That one is older, though”, Kix observed, gently tilting Kenobi’s head to assess the skin better. “And there is another, on the other side.”

“You mean…”

Skywalker’s face turned dark as he frowned – and Kix felt his own chest tighten, because it all made sense, suddenly. General Kenobi’s alertness and quick reflexes, during the expedition, despite his previous lack of sleep and food – Kix knew, of course, but he was a medic and Kenobi a Jedi.

Nothing to be done.

“He took them before the mission?”

Skywalker looked slightly sick himself, now, and Kix sighed, taking Kenobi’s temperature and blood-pressure, inserting a saline bag on the infusion line.

“So it would seem”, he answered. “And I think he injected himself with another below that rock. Which, to be honest, was the right thing to do – but with all those stims it explains his confusion and the fever. He has to sleep it off and let his body get rid of them – since he cannot use the Force for a while.”

“Why would he do such a thing? Obi-Wan never uses stims when he can help it!”

Skywalker sounded upset and Kenobi made a soft sound in his sleep, a thin frown appearing between his eyes. Skywalker looked down, and ran his thumb across that worried line, watching it smoothen, shoulders dropping slowly.

“He’s not alright, is he? He’s…”

“No”, Kix said, very softly. “I think he is pushing himself. I think he tries to make up. For… you know.”

“That stupid, kriffing idiot”, Skywalker said, but there was no anger in his voice, just sadness. “I never asked that of him. Quite the contrary, Kix. I wish… I wish he could draw limits. But he can’t.”

The dark frown was back, and Kix sighed, placing General Kenobi’s hand back on the covers.

“Then perhaps we should help him. As we did, before…”

Skywalker let out a breath, and then he placed a hand in Kenobi’s hair, combing through the auburn strands until they fell back properly on his forehead once more.

“Perhaps, Kix.”

He watched his former Master sleep, for a while, emotions battling on his face, and then the frown vanished, some lightness returning on his young features, and Skywalker looked up, a small smirk around his lips.

“He has a fine singing voice, though…”

And, because of that smile, Kix let Skywalker sit next to his Master, fiddling with a small radio device. And when Kenobi woke up, after a few hours, still exhausted and confused, but less feverish, Kix pretended he did not hear Skywalker ask him if he knew the song playing.

“It’s a nice one, quite a success on Coruscant, listen to this: I’ve been hyp-no-tized, by the lights! Come on, Master, sing along, I know you can… But I’m coming home…”

Skywalker’s voice was slightly off-pitch, but warm and strong. It made Kenobi smile softly and turn his face towards him.

“I’m coming back down tonight”, he whispered, grey eyes searching for Skywalker’s, who never stopped looking at him, and let out a slight laugh.

“You’d better, Master. You’re high as a kitten.”

Kenobi just blinked. There was more colour to his cheeks, a gleam in his eyes that was not there before, and that had nothing to do with stims. And Kix knew that, somehow, he would be alright, now.

He left them to their song and quiet vigil, closing the door behind him.

They would be alright.