"Miss Thalassa, Mister Kael, please wake up. There is a medical emergency."
Thalassa was on her feet, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Kael groaned and rolled from the bed. Thalassa already had her hair in a ponytail and her shoes half way laced up by the time Kael was on his feet and yawning.
"What's the emergency?" She asked as S2 was them from the joint room.
"Three blaster shots. One to the chest, one to the gut, the last to the right leg. She has a severe head injury, probably from a rock of sorts. She has not woken since she arrived," S2 explained, offering gloves to both healers.
"She?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Who is it?"
"I am not positive you want to know the answer to that, Sir."
"S2, who is it?" Thalassa asked firmly.
"Miss Penelope, ma'am."
Thalassa glanced over at Kael, who'd gone suddenly pale. She swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Where is she?"
S2 rushed the Healers to the Medical Bay. Alliance soldiers parted like the sea at the sight of them. Upon finally entering the Medical Bay, Thalassa and Kael pulled on their masks and protective outerwear, but when Kael caught sight of his cousin in such a way, he froze, staring at her wounded body.
The blaster wounds were putrid, the smell of burnt flesh floating through the room. Her skin was blackened, still smoldering. The blood mixed with charred flesh looked like Mustafar. Her hair was soaked in her own blood and it dropped down her face.
"Kael, we have to get these wounds fixed as much as possible and get her into a bacta tank quickly," Thalassa said, starting to pull the torn clothing from Penelope's skin. She grabbed the nearby scissors and began to cut away before noticing Kael's unmoving body.
"Kael!" He tore his eyes from his cousin, but still didn't move. "I need your help. Penelope needs your help." Kael shook his head, clearing his thoughts.
"Right. You're right. What do you need me to do?"
"Help me get these clothes off of her."
As the two worked away, the only two available 21-b droids worked furiously to get everything ready.
"S2, is the Bacta Tank prepared?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good. Kael, we'll have to cut her hair around the wound on her head."
"She won't be happy about that."
"At least she'll be alive."
With the clothes fully removed and being carried to the incinerator by the other 2-1B droid, Thalassa began to cut Penelope's long hair from her head, revealing a wound at least three inches in length. She tossed the hair into a trash bag.
"The wound looks to be an inch deep, still bleeding. She'll need to have a blood transfusion after she gets out of the bacta tank," Thalassa told Kael, who was attempting to clean the wounds. A few moments later, they had done all they could and rolled the medical bed towards the bacta tanks.
"S2, we're ready!"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Please," Thalassa breathed to herself. "Please work."
S2 started to attach multiple tubes to the unconsious body of Penelope. Thalassa and Kael stood back and watched as S2 lifted her limp person, placing her gently into the bacta fluid. Thalassa took Kael's hand, noting how cold it was, how pale he'd gone. She tried to keep the tears from her eyes, but when she finally blinked, she swipped them away and turned to Kael.
"As soon as she gets out, she's going to need aa blood transfusion. Do you know her blood type?" Thalassa asked, still looking at floating in the bacta tank. Kael didn't respond.
"Kael, what's her blood type?" Thalassa looked to her friend, but he had this far away look in his eyes, as if he was seeing 20 years worth of life standing before him, as if it was all fading away. She grabbed his shoulders and turned him to look at her, tears rolled down his face, his mouth hung open. Thalassa put her hands on his face. She gazed into his eyes for a few moments.
"Kael, tell me what Penelope's blood type is."
Kael shook his head, trying to clear his mind.
"A positive, I...I think."
"I need you to be sure. Are you sure?"
"Yes. Yes, she's A positive."
"Good. What's your blood type?"
"B negative."
"That's fine, that's fine. I have O negative. I can give her mine." Thalassa smiled a soft smile. She brushed the tears off his cheeks with the pad of her thumb. "She'll bealright, Kael. I promise you, she'll be alright." He wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck and proceeded to sob. Thalassa put her arms around his neck and held him close. She'd always taken care of him, she'd always beenthere to get him out of his troubles, and this time was no different.
"Miss Andor?" Thalassa pried herself from Kael, who sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve.
"Yes?"
"The General wants to see you." Thalassa dipped her head. She stood on her toes and kissed Kael's forehead.
"She'll be alright," Thalassa whispered before she turned and followed the Alliance soldier out of the bacta room.
"Why does the General want to see me?" She asked, pulling off her gloves and the outerprotective wear, tossing it in the biohazard bin as they exited the Medical Bay.
"I was instructed not to tell you anything, but it has to do with your brother."
Thalassa increased her pace.
"General Merrick?" Thalassa pushed her way through the small crowd of Rebellion soldiers near the door and marched up to the General "What's wrong with Cassian?"
General Merrick turned to the young woman, putting his hands on his hips.
"We've lost contact with your brother's ship," said the General. Thalassa felt a dagger go through her heart. She grabbed hold of the nearest control pannel, clinging to it for dear life, but she kept her face straight.
"Wh-" her voice broke," Where?"
"Eadu."
"And..is he-" her voice cracked again, so se cleared her throat. "Is he alive?"
"We have reason to believe so. But we have sent a squadron to Eadu, in case he and the others were unable to complete their missio," the Genneral told her. She nodded once.
"Thank you for letting me know, General." She let go of the control pannel beside her and began to turn towards the door, but the General stopped her.
"Miss Andor." She looked back at him. "I'm sorry." She nodded once. She pivoted towards the door and marched out, keeping her head high. As she walked ack to the Medical Bay, her pace increasingly got faster. Her eyes glossed over in tears, but she refused to allow them to fall. She made it back to the Medical Bay, but Kael had already left. Thalassa pulled up a chair and sat, watching Penelope's body, trying to keep her mind off of, well, off everything.
She didn't know how long she sat there, staring at the bacta tank. She tried to preoccupy herself by examining every aspect of Penelope's naked body, hoping to see her body heal. She could tell it was working, but she was frustrated that she couldn't see it.
It wasn't until s2 walked up to her that she finally tore her eyes away from Penelope.
"Hello, S2." She attempted a smile, but she knew it didn't look too convincing, because it didn't feel too convincing.
"Hello, ma'am." S2 sat next to her. He said nothing for a few moments. "Are you and Mister Kael...courting?"
Thalassa almost laughed.
"What?"
"You and Mister Kael. When I came to get you and Mister Kael this morning you were sleeping together."
Thalassa smiled and looked down, fiddling with her hands.
"We're not 'courting', S2. He's been my friend for so long. He...he keeps away the nightmares," she told the droid.
"Ah." They were quiet again. "So you have no interest in anyone? Miss Penelope is very beautiful. There are many people here who are worthy of your affection."
Another chuckle came from Thalassa and she looked down at her feet.
"Yes, Penelope is rather beautiful, but I don't have time for a relationship, S2. I've got my patients to heal and my brother to worry about. Besides, no one in their right mind would fall in love with a girl who is constantly covered in other people's blood and who's sole occupying thought is for her brother. People don't fall in love with a girl like me," Thalassa told the droid. S2 out a hand on her shoulder.
"Do not think like that, Miss Thalassa. If I were a human, I would love you," he said. Thalassa looked up at him and smiled. For a droid, it was quiet possibly the sweetest he could be. She put her arms around his metal torso.
"Thank you, S2." He put his arm around her waist in an attempt to hug her back.
"Why are you asking me these questions?" She asked her robotic friend.
"You have always told me that the best way to make a grieving person feel better is to make them feel comfortable, and to treat them with only kindness." S2 almost sounded proud of himself. "Also, you are my friend. I do not like to see my friends in pain."
"S2, I'm not grieving. I'm not in pain, either," Thalassa said, maybe a little too defensively. "But thank you for trying."
"'No one who is hurting should hide it.' You say that to almost every person who comes in here. I do not see why you take your own advice." The droid sounded mildly concerned, as concerned as a droid could be.
"It's a bit more complicated than that, S2." Thalassa stood. "Can you watch Penelope? I'm going to take a shower."
"Yes, Ma'am. I will be here. Always."
With a soft smile, Thalassa glanced over at Penelope one last time before leaving.

The water chilled her to the bone. Hot water was something Thalassa didn't generally like to use, so she had grown used to the cold. It helped her think, helped her clear her mind, helped her stay awake, all things she needed at the current moment. After shutting off the water, Thalassa wrung her hair into the tub. She tied the dark, wet mess into a bun, promising herself to brush it out later. She had just finished putting on her clothes when Kael knocked on the door.
"Pen's out of the bacta tank."
Thalassa grabbed her necklace and rushed out the door. Kael lead her back to the Medical Bay, where Penelope lay in a hospital bed, her wounds almost completely healed. She still looked awfully pale and as Thalassa touched her hand, she was cold. She was still strapped up in tubes, an oxygen mask over her face. She brushed her thumb over Penelope's cheek and managed a teary smile.
"You don't have to be here, Kael. I'm just giving her blood." Thalassa sat in the chair beside Penelope's bed.
"I've got to be there for my girls, don't I?" He offered a worried smile and sat in a chair across the room. S2 entered the room and stuck the IV into her arm and the other side he attatched to a blood bag.
"Remember that you have to stay awake during this transfusion, Miss Thalassa."
"Of course, S2."
It wasn't the first time Thalassa had donated blood, it wasn't uncommon that she did so, in fact. She leaned back in her chair and kept her eyes wide open. She stared at the ceiling for hours. The monotonous white squares started to melt away, turning a dark blue, littered with small white dots. When the ceiling had finally gone away completely, the expance above her head began to shift, moving inwards. One of the white dots grew closer, turning a bright yellow until she could tell that it was a sun. Thalassa cocked her head to the side, staring up at the bright sun, wondering what system she was in. The expanse began to move again, but this time, off to the side. She saw a blue circle, which, as she zoomed in closer to it, she realized was a planet. It was a blue planet covered in storms.
"Eadu." The realization of the name of the planet struck her with such ferocity that she almost fell from her chair.
"Thalassa! Hey, Lass, hey! You weren't supposed to fall asleep." Thalassa's eyes snapped open. Kael had her large hands on her shoulders, his worried look all over her face. She widened her eyes and breathed in deeply, shaking her head to wake herself up.
"Of course." She sucked in a deep breath again. "Sorry." She sat up staighter in the chair and shook her head again. She looked over at Penelope, who had regained a lot of her colour.
"She's doing a lot better," Kael said, standing up. "But I think that you have given her enough for now. You're looking a little pale."
Thalassa waved her free hand.
"I'm fine. Penelope-"
"Penelope has enough. You're no good to anyone if you can't stand on your feet. Go take a nap." Thalassa yawned, just proving Kael's point. Kael pulled the IV out of her arm and helped her out of the chair. Her legs wobbled, so he put her arm around his shoulders and wrapped his own arm around her waist.
"I'll help you there."
"You've got to stay with your cousin," Thalassa mumbled.
"She'll survive."

Thalassa expected that she would have a lot of trouble sleeping, but she had passed out before Kael had even left the room. He gently placed her shoes by her bed. He leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"Goodnight, my friend. It'll all work out in the end. Don't worry." The sleeping woman mumbled incoharently and rolled over, pulling hre blankets in to cover her nose. Kael smiled. At that moment, she looked like the young girl he'd met when they were 8. She looked innocent, as if nothing in this galaxy had yet to harm her. Kael crept out of the room and made his way back to Penelope, where his cousin was slowing looking better.
His two best friends, both his girls, were in pain, and he couldn't do anything about it.

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Thank all of you so very much for reading this story. I very much enjoy your votes, comments, and reads, it means so much to me. Many of you probably understand, but for those of you who don't, it feels absolutely fantastic. You guys mean the world to me.

If any of you would be willing to help me edit by pointing out errors, that'd be fantastic as well. I'm a wretched editor, so it would be much appreciated.

I would like to tell you that I am open to any of you PMing me if you want to talk about anything. I know that sometimes it feels better to talk to a stranger, so you can come to me.You don't have to be shy and you don't have to give any specifics, just send me a message. I want to be there for you guys. Thank you so much.

Your Obedient Servent,
O.G.
(jk)

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