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10. the voice of heart!


CHAPTER 10

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THE VOICE OF HEART!

JESSE WILLIAMS AS
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THERO AZOLLA!

*:・゚✧

The lonesome clatter of a metal box tolls throughout the entire space of the barn.

"Gaia!"

Mando scurries to the woman's side faster than a blaster bolt, splaying a nervous hand upon her shoulder. He calls out to her once more. His eyes are frantically searching her pale face, the hum of his voice filled with vain hope of his travel companion waking up. She doesn't respond, and in his attempt to get help he hastily unclasps her sniper rifle and sword, noting the sweat smeared on her blanch skin and the ragged breaths drawn from chapped her lips. Mando's heart beats rapidly against his ribcage as he rolls Gaia onto her back. He slips an arm underneath her neck and legs, mindfully carrying her, and just now perceiving how limb she truly is.

Mando shoots a firm look in The Child's direction. "Stay here and don't move!"

The Child gurgles, though whether or not he actually understands Mando is still in doubt. Regardless, the bounty hunter darts across the barn's threshold, painfully aware of the shallow breaths scratching their way out of Gaia's throat. His heartbeat is slamming mercilessly against his eardrums like a sickening ballad as he does so, and for once he's genuinely afraid, ambushed by a howling fright he hasn't heard nor felt in a long time.

How did he not see this coming? All of the signs were there yet he had merely thought Gaia was simply tired and therefore lost on appetite when she declined her chance for soup yesterday. He figured she had been too hard on herself in some way and not gained enough sleep or something, and that was it.

Mando can't help but curse himself. His gaze sweeps across the village, noticing a few of the inhabitants providing him looks fraught with worriment. "I need a medic! Anybody!"

"What's going on?"

Mando catches sight of Cara nearing him. "I-I don't know," he stutters, words slipping. "I found Gaia collapsed in the barn. She wasn't like this when I left her. Cara, help me! . . ."

"It's going to be okay," she soothes before twisting around with a serious glare to her face. "Can we get a damn medic or WHAT?!"

A random villager perks up by the exclaim. "Yes, yes! Thero — I'll go get him right away!"

Mando draws a trembling breath in, allowing it to swirl his lungs like a fish. Nothing but a moment or two passes before a man with a trimmed beard, tan complexion, and bright blue eyes quickly greets them. He's sporting clothes similar to that of the krill farmers;a shirt and pants in muted yet vivid colors. "What's the issue? I was told it was urgent."

"It is! My. . ." Mando pauses, hesitating and looking down toward Gaia before resuming. "It's about my friend here. When I returned to the barn, she was sprawled on the floor. I think she fainted." He presents Gaia forth for the medic to see. "Do you know what it is?"

Much to Mando's disapproval, Thero shakes his head with a sigh. "No. Not at a first glance, but with further examination and perhaps testing, I may be able to come up with a diagnosis. We should move her to my medical station for now though, please follow me."

Mando agrees wholeheartedly. He faces Cara before taking off. "The kid — he's still inside the barn. Please watch him while I'm gone."

"Consider it done."

Thero starts ahead alongside Mando. They briskly jog across a decent amount of land before coming upon a hut which is tucked away on the green outskirts and sitting ever so calmly on the perimeter of the secluded village. The room inside is much different from the rest of the huts:there's a row of beds lined next to each other by the far wall which are separated by 'privacy curtains', various shelves donning the walls as well as multiple lanterns, and several cupboards containing all sorts of remedies which are pushed up against the left side of the establishment. Scattered about is a door or two, which most likely leads to a private room or an office.

Thero guides Mando towards one of the beds, adjusting its divider's curtain. "Lay her here."

Mando places Gaia gently down onto the bedsheets and pillow. Thero fumbles as he kneels by the bedside, collecting a small flat device that emits a radiant light as soon as he has adjusted himself. He pries one of Gaia's eyelids carefully away and begins to position the light in a different angle every few seconds, above her contracting pupil. "Okay, you — Mandalorian, do you have a name?"

"Y-Yeah, it's Mando."

"Alright. Mando," Thero pronounces with emphasis as to have his full attention, "your friend here has a lot of trouble breathing and I will therefore be giving her Prednisolone by injection right about now, which should help reduce any airway swelling or alike that she may have. It's perfectly safe, I assure you."

Thero almost springs to his own two feet. He dashes to a standalone cabinet, preparing everything and making sure to wash his hands before hurrying back to Gaia's side. He peels the sleeve of her armor swiftly away, and inspects her arm for a prominent vein while holding a syringe stocked with a transparent substance. The targeted vein is later found by the light purple seam running along the bend of her limb. Thero fixates on it, slowly introducing the syringe into her delicate skin with a prudent hand, watching as the dosage is successfully transferred.

"Now," he chimes softly, "Mando, I'm going to ask you a series of questions and I need you to answer them as thoroughly as you can. First question:what is your friend's name?"

"Gaia," Mando recites.

"Good. Regarding her current condition, have you seen or noticed any specific changes lately? Has Gaia told you of anything in particular, such as being in discomfort, issues with her stomach, head, body, or anything?"

Mando shakes his head. "Nothing. She seemed tired yesterday, but I thought. . ."

Thero's brilliant blue eyes strays to the Mandalorian and in the direction his helmet is facing, while the smallest waver in his voice is brought out and forth:Gaia. It's a possibility that his focus never left her ever since they entered Thero's medical station. The medic's gaze flickers toward Mando's arm in order to note his gloved hand gripping Gaia's on account of a subconscious act, tracing her knuckles with his thumb in a comforting manner as if to remind himself that she's truly there. Thero may not know much about their relationship as of yet, still, it's apparent that Mando cares about her to the extent of being fearful on her behalf.

"How did she acquire this injury exactly," Thero asks, blatantly pointing down at Gaia's scorched cheek — the wound somewhat healed but still fairly visible, "and was it sterilized when the opportunity showed?"

Mando sighs upon recollection. "Her injury came from a gunfight. She was partially grazed by a blaster bolt, and I unfortunately had nothing to sterilize it with but I did manage to find a salve for the pain. Is the wound what's causing her to be like this?"

Thero shakes his head, his attention fixed on Gaia's skin as he glosses over her scars. "I'm afraid not. I believe she was thorough and actually prevented infection. It's healing."

"That's good to hear."

"Next question," Thero continues without hesitation. "Gaia is obviously not Human. Is she of Crenata origin, as I suspect her to be?"

Mando falls silent. ". . .Yes."

"I'll be honest and say I don't know much about her species." Thero shifts, a light hint of frustration inching towards the surface of his face. "There is next to nothing left of any sort of Crenata record after the Empire saw defeat a few years ago. I suppose they made sure that if they were to fall, Gaia's kind would fall right with them. It gave just about everybody in the whole galaxy the impression that they were driven to complete extinction, overall."

"Including me," Mando admits. His hold on Gaia's hand tightens, as if believing she'll vanish in the next second and never return.

"Since Gaia is an entirely different species, I'm unfortunately not familiar with the things she may or may not be allergic to since that might be the case with this one. She could have an affinity for a whole category of things I'm not aware of and be lethally vulnerable to another in the same instance. She could've therefore eaten, touched, or even smelled something which may as well have caused this type of condition, or come into contact with something unseeable which could be affecting her body from the very inside."

Thero releases a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck in silent speculation. He reaches out to settle his palm on Gaia's forehead, afterward. "She's burning up," he announces, feeling the swell of warmth dig into the ridges of his skin. Standing, he moves towards and about one of the shelves and then what looks to be a hand-woven basket, seeking a specific item. "Listen. After I've made Gaia consume what I'm looking for, I need your help undressing her."

The Mandalorian tears his gaze away from the bed, glaring at Thero as if he had just thrown an insult. "Are you crazy?" he blurts.

Thero scoffs in a dismissive fashion. "No, but I can't have Gaia be constricted in any way;I need her to be able to breathe. Don't worry, I have some spare clothes that should fit her."

"You have clothing fit for a woman?"

"Yes," Thero states as he wanders back in the direction of Mando. "For my patients, if theirs are somehow ruined and they can't afford to spare time to find anything decent in their own home. It's purely related to my work."

"If you say so," Mando grumbles, eyeing the wooden cup in Thero's grip. "What's that?"

"Medicine in liquid form, containing herbs with great subduing qualities. It should help Gaia's body fight the fever off and whatever it is that's plaguing her. There's a possibility it might not clear the whole thing, but a reasonable amount should be altered regardless. Prepare for a reaction, though."

Mando quirks an eyebrow. Thero cannot see it but the indication of prolonged staring is enough for him to understand. The medic refers to the smooth liquid. "It's very bitter."

Aiding Thero in raising Gaia to sit up in order for her to not choke, the lip of the cup steadily prods her mouth to slightly open. The liquid slips securely across her tongue and down her throat with the sustain of a natural reflex, seemingly with no resistance at all. Thero is reasonably surprised that she's not putting up a fight. Usually, his patients — conscious or not — begins to childishly protest or object as soon as the bitterness really settles in, yet Gaia simply adopts a grimace as her reaction.

"I thought you said to prepare for a reaction."

"Yes, I did," Thero affirms, "but it would seem that Gaia is one of my better patients. Please keep her sitting upright while you're at it."

Thero hurries off again, diving for a chest beneath the many shelves. He mumbles something indistinctly to himself, picks an outfit, and then paces back to Gaia. Now close, Mando can make out the swamp-green dress that's clutched in his hand — relatively the same in design as that of the woman's work dress, who greeted them in the barn. Thero places the article of clothing aside for now and begins to attentively rid Gaia of her armor and boots. Mando concentrates solely on her face the entire time, slightly flustered.

In the end, Thero drapes a blanket over her, noting her breathing which has calmed.

"The effects are already kicking in."

Mando has gone quiet. His visor is directed down at Gaia as he grasps the way her wild breaths have faded to mist. She still looks pale though, and the temperature of her body remains unusually high, causing his inane overthinking to spin in different directions and spiral down an abundance of scenarios in which her odd condition might never let up.

The thought of Gaia not being by his side when he has to withdraw from Sorgan, is a possibility Mando will never come to accept. There's still so much he has yet to know about her, to hear and learn from her. There's so much of him he hasn't told. He's evidently scared, for just a moment, that she'll never know the whisper of his true name — however drastic that may sound, never know the man behind the helmet and the inner workings of his mind. It's not until now he's realized how truly empty it would all be without her:the future Mando anticipated of himself a few weeks ago was of him and only him, but then came The Child, and at last Gaia followed.

The future is not just 'him' anymore.

It's 'them'.

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