𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒

𝟎𝟏𝟖. 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫

"Rey..." the name was barely audible as his voice croaked more than anything.

She frowned, but stepped over to the water basin and filled the nearby ladle with liquid, "drink."

He tried to sit up, and she noticed that he had grown tense since his head bandages also covered his eyes. His dry throat prevented him from protesting, but she understood his intent and gently shoved him back down.

"You need to rest," she stated in a neutral tone, but added almost hesitantly, "You're alright for the time being, but you've got a nasty concussion."

"I know—" he was interrupted as she forced the ladle up to his mouth.

"You're also dehydrated."

Again he tried to resist, but gave up after a minute once he realized that he was too weak to fight against her. He relaxed although the motion somehow seemed forced. After he had drunk enough for her to be satisfied, he slowly lifted a hand toward his head and gently pushed the bandages above his eyes. Even though the cavern was dimly lit, he was still forced to blink in adjustment to the sudden light. Once he noticed her, he appeared to tense.

"Eva."

She nodded her head, "How do you feel?"

"Where am I?"

"The local Jawas have provided shelter," she repeated her question, "How do you feel?"

He didn't answer, but she received one anyway as he tried to sit up. He groaned with what she suspected to be immediate regret as he leaned against the wall to support his back.

"That good, huh?" she asked rhetorically with a small smirk.

He rolled his eyes, but even that motion seemed to pain him.

"You're lucky," she grew stoic, "that they found you when they did."

He remained silent.

"Also," she changed the topic of conversation, "since when did you start working with resistance spies?"

"They're here?" he asked and seemed to perk up, "Where's Rey?"

Evangeline raised an eyebrow, "There were only two... there was no girl."

His expression darkened and he tried to stand. Her eyes widened and she immediately forced him to sit back down.

"Dank Farrik, Ben!" she exclaimed, "You'll tear open your stitches! It was only a temporary fix until we could get you to an actual medical institution."

"I need to speak with the pilot," he ignored her statement and tried again to stand.

"I'll get them," she pushed him back a bit harder this time, "Just don't—"

She immediately gasped in shock as a thousand voices entered her mind at one time. Her eyes widened, but her vision started to blur. That wasn't the worst of it though. It was exceedingly painful. The mixture of voices and thoughts crowding her mind and forcing her out of her own body. She was aware of what was going on around her but she could no longer move or control her actions. It was as if she was seeing the world from the outside rather than as part of it herself. She did the only thing she could clearly think of to try and relieve the pain. She screamed.

She could feel someone's arms wrapped around her, shaking her, trying to break through to her in some way, but she was unable to respond. She could also hear a pair of footsteps entering the room, but she had no idea as to whom they belonged. Soon, even her mind stopped working. She couldn't remember where she was, what she had been doing or even her own name. That was until the chaos surrounding her centered around a word.