Traitors To The Heart

Chapter 6: Palace Life

"She told me she makes a mean Cushnip and tral." Lyra scoffed and rolled her eyes again, lightly pushing Nova away. The younger girl chuckled quietly.

"Don't have much choice. Guess I might as well get a good Cushnip out of it." Lyra tried her best to smile genuinely but it came out lopsided and unconvincing. But the consent was good enough for Aurora who immediately waved in the medical droid.

"Excuse me, Nova." Aurora brushed her hand on Nova's shoulder as she got up with a kind smile on her face. The droid handed her a med pack.

"Uh, what're you doing with that?" Lyra inched away from Aurora sitting on the bed.

"Cleaning your wounds so they don't get infected." Lyra supposed it would be better than the alternative. Nova watched as Aurora gingerly cared for her. She smiled fondly at the two of them she already felt connected to in a special way.

"I don't remember that being a part of the deal." Lyra grumbled as she pouted and grumpily crossed her arms again.

"You didn't read the fine print." Aurora spoke softly as she focused on dabbing the cloth on her torn forehead.

"It was a conversation! There was no fine print!"

"Shh. I'm working." Lyra groaned and turned around to the other side of the bed. Aurora sighed but worked with the stubborn girl, moving to the other side of the bed and continuing her work. Nova went from smiling fondly to rolling her eyes within minutes.

"Oh my God! Just let her do her thing, please." Nova cried out after watching Lyra dodge the bacta patch for the eighteenth time in a row. Aurora turned in her seat and gave Nova a pointed look.

"You know that you're next, right?" Nova's irritation turned to anxiety in a snap. She stared into Aurora's soul.

"Wait, what?" Lyra laughed at her, stopping when Aurora slapped her on the arm.

"Now, this is my friends droid. His name is Doomsday and he'll take good care of you." Lyra was on the edge of her seat by that colorful name.

"You know, that name isn't terribly reassuring."

"He's the best one we've got, and he's never let us down. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will begin dinner. But I'll be back for you." Aurora jabbed a finger on Nova's shoulder as she left the room. Nova got up from her seat across the room and went back to sit on the side of her bed.

"Does it hurt?" She shyly asked, regretting making fun of her for loving it it did.

"No. Not for long, at least. It's just..."

"I get it." Lyra jumped when Nova laid her hand on top of her own. Lyra swelled with peace. It was like her whole body relaxed.

"Thanks for not running away again, kid."

"No problem. You're a lot more tolerable now that you're sarcasm is t aimed at me alone anymore." Lyra didn't know what to think of that.

"Greetings, miss Lyra. All I need you to do for the scan to be completed is to sit still. This shouldn't hurt at all." Lyra flinched when the blue light from the droids scan came on. Nova gently put her hand on Lyra's again for comfort. She relaxed slightly but still glanced from her leg to the droid's emotionless face.

"Scan complete. Your tibia bone is fractured. Luckily, no nearby arteries or nerves were damaged. Recommend treatment is as the following: surgery to fix broken tibia." Nova smiled at Lyra, but the relieved sentiment was not shared between the two.

"What!? Now I need surgery? This is ridiculous."

"Do not fret, miss Lyra. I would be conducting the surgery. And to ease your pain, you would be put to sleep for the duration of the surgery." Lyra's jaw went slack as the droid kept listing things that made her infinitely worse than before.