The quiet hissing sound from the doors opening woke you up. You hadn't really slept properly, getting up every so often to check on your patient, still quietly sleeping on his bed. You were not really sure if you had just gotten used to it, if it was because he was asleep or hurt that you could not feel his presence as much as when you had first met him.
The two men from before were still standing guard as General Hux entered the room. You quickly got up and patted the scrubs down you had slept in. Did you really forget to change after you checked on him last? You were certain you had gotten new ones BEFORE checking on him but after....you apparently just fell asleep in them. Gross. Atleast there was not any blood on them, or was there?
Even the face mask and hairnet were still relatively in place. Marvelous.
Atleast it was better than standing in front of the second in command in the black suit you worn under armour, right? You were not really sure about that...but it was not like you could change anything about it now.
"Sir.", you said and stood as straight as your wound allowed you to.
General Hux mustered you from top to bottom. He was most certainly wondering if he had encountered you before, you could even see the moment he realized that he in fact did. Perhaps he just had not really thought you were a woman. It did not matter.
"How is he?", Hux asked and walked over to Kylo.
"It's good for the situation he was in, Sir. He lost a lot of blood, but he is out of the worst."
Hux nodded and attempted to lift up the blanket to see the damage.
"Sir, please don't. Please let him sleep. He needs it.", your voice was firm but quickly lost it and got more quiet towards the end. General Hux's displeasure with you 'ordering' him around was more than clear. If it would have been anyone other than his superior lying there on the medbed...you did not even want to imagine.
"You don't look so much better yourself.", he said, his voice icecold.
"Then be glad half of my face is hidden.", you shot back, it was a far better option than replying with 'atleast I don't look like this 24/7', which you had only barely managed to swallow down.
He squinted his eyes slightly.
"We'll be landing soon, prepare him for moving."
A sigh escaped you as the doors closed behind him. You changed your scrubs again. Apart from those there was no other 'medical suited clothing'. No tunics, no different pants. It bothered you. You could not wait to get back to a proper equipped hospital setting where you would not have to sleep and work in sweaty, bloody, dusty and especially contaminated armour underwear.
You walked over towards Kylo and did what Hux had wanted to do: lift up his blanket. You did not do it for the sake of seeing the wounds though, well not just...after all you did have to clean up the drainage. With some careful and light pats you soaked up the liquid that had been draining out of them.
"You're gonna be well soon again, Sir. No worries. As long as the General does not decide to bother you any further.", you whispered quietly, mainly to yourself.
Kylo made an odd sound that sounded like a pained, distorted chuckle. Or breathing problems. You hoped it was the first.
He turned his head towards you and probably? He probably looked at you? It was hard to tell.
"I'm sorry, Sir, I did not know you were awake.", in fact you still did not know properly. He could just be dreaming.
"I am awake.", he said quietly, turning his head back upwards towards the ceiling.
"Did you sleep at all, Sir?", you continued your work. A bit more careful this time as the memory of getting thrown around the room was still all too vividly present in your mind.
"A bit."
You nodded, "You're gonna be sleeping in a proper bed soon, it's gonna be much better.", you were not sure if you were saying that to yourself or to him.
Kylo sat up on his own, the rest of his armour hanging off of him in black fabric strands. You were quite sorry that you had to cut it apart but it had been the only way.
You removed the IV from his arm, "I hope they bring a proper stretcher to get you inside, Sir. I'm just gonna ask them really quick-", he grabbed your arm to stop you from leaving.
"Don't. I can walk on my own."
He was determined to not get any help. It was most certainly useless to try to convince him otherwise.
"Alright. Do you want me to get you some untorn clothing then? Or your coat, Sir? To cover the bandages and stitches up?"
"The coat is enough."
You quickly got it and attached it to his armour. Patting it down a bit and moving it slightly so it would cover the torn parts better.
You took a step back, putting your hands on your hips and nodded slightly.
"Great! I think you are good to go... Sir.", you quickly added the 'Sir', realizing that your patient was after all not just anyone. He still looked intimidating, even though he was slightly hunched over, subconsciously trying to relieve the pressure on his wounds.
You nodded again, "Good, good, good...uhm...", you did not want to stare at him for too long and instead turned around awkwardly, looking in which corner you had thrown your uniform before.
"I'm gonna be right back myself, Sir.", you grabbed your armour and disappeared into the bathroom to change. Getting it on was not as much of a trouble as you had anticipated. The moment you looked into the mirror however...it was bad. There was the obvious part that was just broken out of the side, with blood and dust still smeared over it. Cleaning it off was not much of a problem, it took you a good five minutes to quickly wipe off the worst....your face however... There was no wiping the bags under your eyes away. No fixing the tiredness and exhaustion so clearly written all over it.
Your hair was everywhere but where it was supposed to be. The braids you had put it in had only barely protected it, strands sticking out to all sides. It almost seemed as if your hair itself tried to hide your face. Well that was useless. You had your helmet for that. Or a facemask. Easily fixed, thanks for nothing, hair.
If atleast that one would have stayed in place. One thing that could have stayed proper...but no. It had to do...whatever it had done. What exactly it had tried was not clear...other than not stay in place.
You sighed and put your helmet on. Much better.
Kylo was standing in the room, reattaching his lightsaber to his belt. He seemed preoccupied but you could not shake the feeling off that he'd just been looking at the door to the bathroom while you were changing.
The two stormtrooper entering stopped you from thinking further about it. Their stares at your damaged uniform were a bit too long for your taste, so was Kylo's.
"You'll need a new armour.", he said in a monotone voice.
"So do you, Sir.", your voice was almost as quiet as the sound that came from under Kylo's mask. By now you were 90% certain that it was in fact a chuckle and not in fact respiratory issues.
You left the vessel you had arrived with and went towards the on-board hospital. Atleast, that was what you assumed. After you took several wrong turns and two elevators that you had never used before you realized that it was probably NOT going to be the medical wing.
The hallways were still similar, if not identical. Of course, the numbering was different. Many people did get lost on these massive ships, but after you had figured out the way they numbered everything...it made sense and finding your way around was not incredibly hard. And if all else failed you could always ask your data pad.
You entered a room which was essentially a fully equipped mini hospital just for one person. After putting your bag down by the door, you looked at it in awe. Amazing. The assistant droids they had for surgeries were top notch, the newest of the newest and definitely the most expensive!
It did make sense, the First Order had quite enough money to finance all of this...but still! It was a dream come true, only one person...less risk of cross contamination and being able to work completely alone!
General Hux entered shortly after you.
"I see you can already walk again, Supreme Leader?", it was obvious they could not stand each other, but you were unsure why.
Kylo ignored him and opened a door to a different room. Halfway through it he turned around to Hux.
"Show her around."
The anger rising up in Hux's face was even more obvious than their hatred for each other. Marvelous. And you were in the middle of it as well! Now that could not have gone better!
Hux scoffed loudly and pointed towards a door, opposite to the one Kylo had just vanished through.
"There is a bedroom and bathroom behind that. You'll be staying here until the Supreme Leader does not require your services anymore.", he more or less spat the words out.
"Thank you, Sir.", you said and without hesitation went towards your designated sleeping spot.
You removed your armour and got out of the black suit underneath. It was a hassle. The dried blood from your abdomen had glued skin and cloth together. The dust and sweat only making matters worse. You peeled yourself out of it, as careful as possible but still managed to tear open a few scratches and minor cuts you had sustained in battle.
You combed out your hair, untangling the tiny knots and got out of your proper underwear before finally being able to take the shower you had been craving for the past hours.
The hot water on your face was incredible. It washed away the dirt and sweat and took part of your exhaustion with it. Until it reached your wounds. It burned. It burned so intensely that you were forced to sit down. You legs were weaker than before and everything felt like it was going to crush down on you.
The past days on the battlefield suddenly reappeared in your mind. Every death you had witnessed, every death you had failed to prevent and every death you had caused. Like a flash. You pulled your knees to your body and hugged them.
Death...it was odd. You could not care less for all the resistance fighters that had lost their lives, in fact...you were happy about it! Of course you were! They were the enemy after all! Yes, they probably had families and people that cared and now mourned for them...but it was the same for stormtroopers. Perhaps no families...but you all did have each other. You cared for each other, watched out for each other and developed trust in each other. A trust you had never had in anyone else. You doubted that you'd ever have it with anyone else either.
The deaths of your comrades hurt you, especially the ones you were unable to save or had to watch die. Some of them were just plain incompetent, standing in the open and practically begging to get shot. But others...it was just plain bad luck for others.
You lifted your head up, letting the water rain down on your face. You were overwhelmed. You had not slept, you were injured and the stress of fighting for your own life and others' finally got the better of you.
You pulled yourself up and carefully continued washing all the dirt and debris away. Your legs trembled ever so often and you had to support yourself to not fall over.
After getting out you found yourself a tunic and some loose pants. Finally a proper medical gown you could be wearing. No matter how much you liked being on the battlefield, the unsanitary conditions were a massive bother.
As you wanted to take away your armour for cleaning you noticed that you had gotten a notification on your data pad.
'You are expected in Hallway P37 at 2030'
Alright. You took a look at the clock, a bit more than three hours. You could still get some sleep in and you were also able to bring your armour away, given it was on the way!