Charisma~ Poe Dameron

White lights and Fairy Tales

A piercing white light cut through the blackness. It grew and grew until every shadow dissipated. It didn't stop until it sucked the air out of the space around it. It was suffocating, intoxicating, heavy. 

Aria's eyes shot open as she jumped up in her bed. She wheezed to try and get a breath in, but a mask around her mouth controlled the amount of oxygen she had. She tore the mask off her face and sucked in more air. She swallowed it in large gulps as she looked around the white, sterile room. White, all white.

The heart monitor beeped next to her, mirroring the fast thumping in her ears and giving it a more mechanical tone. Her chest heaved violently as she tried to remember how she got in the bed. Her head pounded as she thought back, flashes of pain- searing hot pain, tearing flesh, bubbling blood- it made her sick to her stomach. 

Stomach acid built up in her throat, and before she could do anything about it she gripped the side railing of her bed and vomited over the edge onto the sterile, tile floor. 

"Woah, hey- okay- okay- breathe, just breathe through it." A soothing hand rubbed on her back as she emptied all of the acid from her stomach. "Jackie, can you start up the janitorial droid, please?" 

Aria's body rocked forward as she continued to dry heave, but nothing came up. There was nothing left. 

"I'm going to give you some meds to help with the nausea." The hand left her back and Aria spotted a pair of blue non-slip shoes step around her vomit. "You're going to smell something bitter, that's the saline clearing the IV-" As he said it, a smell unfamiliar to Aria filled her senses. She shook her head and fell back into the bed. "Now here's the anti-nausea..." He slowly pushed the syringe to fill her drip with the medication. "That should kick in pretty quick. That will help keep your stomach calm. How do you feel?"

"What happened?" Aria's throat ran raw from all the acid and her voice suffered for it. 

Samuel moved to the other side of her bed as the janitorial droid came in. "You lost quite a bit of blood." He adjusted the IV on her bed to release a kink in it. "Thankfully, I got the artery closed, finished cleaning all the burnt tissue and began the process of rebuilding the muscle and tissue in both your leg and arm. We don't have a Bacta tank anymore, so I did the next best thing... I flooded your wounds with the fluid, kept them well hydrated as the tissue began to repair itself. When the muscle was restored I stitched you up. You'll be happy to hear it will leave a scar."

Aria gave a trouble chuckle at his morbid sense of humor. 

"However, since I couldn't fully submerge you, the muscle is very fragile. You'll have to stay off of it for a week at least." Aria opened her mouth to complain, but Samuel stopped her. "I would recommend a month if I knew you'd listen to me." He chastised her. 

Aria closed her mouth and pressed her lips tightly together. Samuel nodded as he expected as much. 

"How- how long was I asleep?" Her voice strained at the added pressure in her throat. 

"A day. You have some very worried people waiting for you." Samuel tried to keep himself occupied as he grabbed her chart. He used the pen to bring up the hologram of her latest vitals. He added the new measurements as he let her gather her bearings. "I haven't let anyone in to see you yet, I wanted to wait until you were conscious."

"Thank you," Aria's eyebrows pinched together at his thoughtfulness. "Can I see Leia now?" She asked. 

Samuel put the chart back on the table beside her and nodded. "Of course, I'll go call her and tell her you're awake." He headed to the door, but stopped in the doorway and turned back to her. "General Dameron has been in the waiting room since you arrived. We've tried to get him to leave but he insists... should I let him in?"