Four days had passed since the Hand of the Empress had arrived at Gooi-Moord with the broken shell of his friend, Jaz Holden, desperate for help to save him. His body had been almost completely broken by the detonation of a sonic imploder within the confined space of a Collective Dreadnaught bridge. While the Mandalorian had escaped the worst case scenario of being fused with all the other items on the bridge, his desperate escape had left his body nearly destroyed.
Both Maeva and Vincent had stayed true to their word and hadn’t left the hospital for the duration of Jaz’s stay. For the first four days Jaz had been confined to the bacta tank for recovery purposes. His condition had been steadily improving, though likely not as quick as any of the three would like.
Today would be his first day out of the tank and attempting physical therapy. His broken bones had finally healed enough to allow weight to be placed on them. Now came the journey of learning to use his muscles once again.
There was a chair at the ready in front of Jaz. Near by it was the tray with towels and Jaz’s helmet.
Maeva had been doing her best to avert her eyes and so far, she had been successful. She only knew the color of his hair because of the seizure. Luckily, he had been doing well and seem to be resting in the bacta tank without any fight.
Unlike other Mandalorians that would try to break the glass just to get their helmet back.
She wondered if she should change the policy? Or maybe hire some Miraluka nurses. She internally sighed.
‘Drevdea, who am I kidding? By the ashes, my own kind’s rare enough and I’ve never met either of my species.’ She started to type on the screen and the holoprojector inside would light up and Jaz would see her message.
“Mr. Holden, today’s the day you take a break from the tank. Squeeze your hand two times if you understand and are ready. Once if you are not quite ready. I…” There was a pause in the typing, “I guess no squeeze if you don’t understand this.” Maeva grumbled at her mistake. This was why she barely was a nurse. She was grateful to win on the orders for the horizonal bacta tanks. She mentally rolled her eyes at the board argument against the horizonal tanks during that time.
Her eyes glanced over to where his hand would be at the bacta tank.3
Jaz wanted to chuckle, but the breather and bacta wouldn’t allow for it. Since he had regained his cognitive abilities, he had found himself quite amused by the woman that was taking care of him. She seemed sweet, and genuinely helpful. After spending so much time with Vincent and the Siths of Clan Scholae Palatinae, he had almost forgotten at times what decent people were like.
He looked out of the tank and into the room. Sitting on a chair near the door was Vincent. He was out cold, his head leaned back over the back of the chair, drool running down the side of his face from the corner of his mouth. He had even switched out of his armor and was in his robes for a change. He hadn’t forgotten his promise about Komilla, even though it had just barely registered at the time, but it was strange seeing this different, vulnerable side of the man.
He focused on his left hand. Slowly at first, he squeezed it once, and then again. He couldn’t believe just how quickly atrophy had occurred. Even a simple squeeze of his hand felt like it took a lot of effort.
”It’s probably the bacta” he thought to himself, looking for an explanation to why such a simple task took so much effort.
“Good.” The screen disappeared after an ample enough time for him to read. Maeva glanced towards where Vincent was and didn’t want to wake him up. They were all tired. She double checked everything. The chair? Close and locked down. Tray with towels and his helmet? At the ready. The machines? Ready to be unhooked save for the heart monitor. She walked to the other side of the bacta tank. Maeva swiped her ID as it beeped a couple of times. The top slid open as Maeva put her hair into a ponytail. She put on a temporary breather and slipped behind him like she did when she first entered with him. With her support, Jaz’s head and shoulder was now out of the bacta tank. Maeva soon quickly followed, his back against her chest as one of her hand gripped the side to keep herself positioned. She immediately removed her breather.
“Keep using the breather. We’ll go at your pace and your time. Mr. Holden, I only request that you listen to your body. If it’s too much, don’t push too hard or we’ll be set back. Now. I’m going to remove the breather and you take your time to get onto that chair and I will support however I can from behind. She shifted her body and was now kneeling to behind him. No longer needing to grip the sides of the tank, her hands reached to in front of her as she felt around and removed the breather.
"Slow and steady breaths…”
As the breather was removed Jaz fought the urge to gasp out for air, instead taking a slow, steady breath in through his nose as he was instructed. He was thankful for the breather, the bacta, the nurse… everything that had helped him get to this point, but there was something reassuring about the normalcy of regular air. Even the distinct smell of cleaners and sterile hospital equipment was relieving, but the thing that felt most comforting may have been the gentle but supportive touch of the woman helping him. Relief washed over him. He was on his way to being better.
It took most of his mental restraint to not try to do too much at once. He wanted to swing his legs out over the edge of the tank and hop out, but he knew that would only cause more trouble for this seemingly generous woman. He couldn’t have that. Slowly he began to move his right leg, as he did the side of the bacta tank dropped, allowing him to gingerly droop the leg over the side. After a few moments and another few deep breaths, his left leg followed.
He kept his face pointed away from Maeva. She had been very careful to respect his culture and not look at him more than she had to. He didn’t want to make her feel bad by turning towards her, but yet, he felt the need to speak.
“Please… it’s just Jaz.” he said between breaths. “This is all kind of new for me. I’ve been hurt in battle before, but never like this. I don’t want to undo any of the work you’ve done to get me here, but I’m going to try to move to the chair now.”
He stabilized himself on the edge of the tank with his arms as best he could. Using as much strength as he could muster, he lifted himself up. He could feel her arms supporting him. He dropped his feet to the floor. His legs wanted to buckle, but he held them as straight as he could. Gingerly, he turned and dropped himself into the chair. Almost immediately he reached for a towel and did his best to pat his face and short, messy blond hair dry. He placed the used towel back on the table and then grabbed his helmet. He pulled it over his head and let out a sigh of relief.
Maeva allowed him, her body tensed when his legs buckled but he made it to the chair. In a rapid motion, he had already tried his head the best he can before putting the helmet on. She slid out of the bacta tank and the glass side went back up. She put in a few codes and it beeped as it was now self washing and cycling.
She was going to argue about calling him Jaz but since they were going to be working together, she should respect his wishes.
“How are you feeling so far, Jaz?” Maeva asked as she got a clean towel and started to dry his legs. “Any headaches? Confusion? Eye sensitivity?”
He actually had to think about her question. He had been so focused on getting out of the tank and back into his helmet that he hadn’t even thought about how he felt. He took a moment to process things.
“Before I got my helmet on, the lights felt pretty bright… I feel weak and beat up… like a battle droid that Vincent kneecapped.”
He finally did allow himself to chuckle at his own silly analogy.
“But considering that the last thing I remember before all this was an explosion that propelled me into a durasteel wall head first, I think I’m doing as well as could be expected.”
Maeva chuckled with him and winced. She didn’t really know the full story. Just an explosion, not.. a legit head impact into a fracking durasteel wall. Vincent wasn’t exactly a talker. They both had been focused on Jaz and resting.
“I do apologize for.. having to remove your helmet. I wish we didn’t need to. Good news, you’ll always have it back on again… except for one thing. When you go back into the tank. However, I believe my co-workers and I can develop a 3D replica of your helmet with addition of the breather?” She stood up and placed the towels into the dirty towels hamper as she grabbed another one. She leaned forward and started to dry his chest and arms.
“You don’t have to apologize. As much as it pains me to have the helmet off in the company of others, I understand the need for it in this case.”
The longer he sat in the chair, the easier it became to breathe. He certainly didn’t feel like a million credit ingot, but how he felt now was preferable to how he had felt the last several days. He felt the need to stretch, so he reached his arms up slowly and pushed them outward, carefully rolling his head on his neck.
“If you have the ability to create a helmet that I can wear in the tank, that would be… well… nothing short of incredible. I can tell that you’ve gone to great lengths to be respectful, but it would probably be easier to communicate if we could look at each other.”
Maeva lips curved into a smile but he would notice that she’s been doing what she can to keep him from seeing her teeth.
“Unless you’re a Miraluka-” Maeva quickly caught herself and cleared her throat.
That wasn’t professional.
Drevdea, this is why I prefer working with dead bodies.
“I will inform my coworkers then. It will mean you’ll have to be in the tank without the helmet one more time so we can take it and take measurements.” She set the towel aside and stood back up. She reached to underneath the towel and pulled out clean boxers and ugly patients’ pants, “do I have your consent to do so?”
Jaz laughed heavier than he probably should have at the Miraluka comment. She had been so professional. It was nice to see that there was a sense of humor beneath the duty that she had to her job. He lowered his arms back to his side and processed what she had said. She had made him laugh, maybe he could return the favor. He slowly turned his head towards hers and put on his best cheesy robot voice
“Roger, roger.”
Maeva was surprised at his laugh and relieved at the same time. Well. What was her boss going to do? He can’t do kist since Bnar, Losa, and Farrow were her actual bosses.
Maeva then laughed and shook her head, “By the ashes, please don’t. That sounded really corny.” It was such a fresh breath of air that he wasn’t bitter and angry about his situation. It was why she was concerned about being his nurse, but now? Maybe it won’t be so bad.
“As for putting on the new clothes, I will wheel you to the bed where we can do the sponge bath then put your new clothes on. Finally, after that, we can get some food in your stomach. I bet you miss food. You’ll have to start slow at first though.” Her amethyst eyes with silt pupils glanced towards where Vincent was.
“Ah. Would you want him to be here during the bath? If you are not comfortable with me, I can bring in a male nurse or a droid?” Maeva asked as she glanced back towards Jaz’s visor.
As the two laughed, Vincent let out a long snore and then began coughing on his own drool. His eyes shot open as he lurched forward to catch his breath. His eyes watered, but then he caught sight of Jaz out of the tank and with his helmet on. Almost instantly he managed to control himself, his eyes widening.
“JAZ!” he shouted. “You’re awake!”
In an instant, almost quicker than either Maeva or Jaz could track with their eyes he was standing next to the two.
“How do you feel? Can you walk? Are you okay?” he asked in quick succession.
Jaz sighed. He was just beginning to get comfortable around Maeva.
“I… I’m getting there, Vincent. I’m not ready to walk yet.” he said. “But, it won’t be long and we’ll be back to our usual tricks.”
Vincent nodded.
“Can I bring you anything other than Komilla’s head at the moment?”
Jaz was happy that his helmet was on so that Maeva couldn’t see the sneer on his face at the mention of the young Lap’lamiz.
“Um… maybe just a bit of privacy for now…”
Vincent looked confused for a moment, raising an eyebrow. Then he looked back and forth between the two and noticed their relaxed postures.
“Oh. OH!” he said. “By all means! Let me step out for a deathstick. I’ll make some calls and check back in with you in a while.”
The Sith turned and exited the room as quickly as he had approached the two. Jaz sighed.
“I really hope he hasn’t been much trouble for you… no one knows better than I do how overbearing he can be.” Jaz then took his attention back to her earlier statements. “If… it’s not too weird for you… I think I’d feel most comfortable with you. I don’t know if I can trust anyone else to be so sensitive about my culture… and really? Who wants a sponge bath from the cold, metal hands of a droid?”
Maeva nearly jumped out of her skin when he was there so fast. She had suspected he may had been a Force user but what just happened, it confirmed it. She seemed a bit uncomfortable but safe. He had not shown any ill intent towards her. Her meeting a Force user was rare. He was the second one she knew of. She had heard about Chancellor Bnar but never really meeting the Neti.
Maeva pretended she didn’t hear the name that Vincent just offered to serve in a platter to Jaz.
Nope.
She doesn’t want to go to court. Thank frack for patients privacy protection.
“He hasn’t,” the Evereni hybrid reassured him. “He… if anything, was just really concerned and worried about you.” Maeva nodded as she started to wheel him towards the bed and locked the chair in place. “Hop on.” She prepared to help him get on the bed.
“It’s not weird for me. I’ve seen a lot as a medical examiner.”
Maeva chuckled as she shrugged softly, “some people prefer droids cause it grants just that. Less human error, less personal touches, more privacy. People get weird about having naked bodies around staff but really, we as staff, seen it all.”
Jaz nodded to Maeva gently, satisfied with her answer about Vincent, her instruction to move from the chair to the bed, and her explanation about why some might prefer the cold, lifeless hands of a droid giving them a bath. The woman fascinated him, but he could tell that Vincent had made her uneasy with his sudden movements. As he reached from the arms of the chair to the railing of the bed, he spoke.
“He’s not always such a bad guy… Vincent, that is. You probably don’t know him well, but those that do might tell you that he is the Devil himself. Hell, he might tell you as much himself. It seems as though you’ve seen the real man behind the mask. I’m glad to hear as much.”
Jaz cautiously pulled himself onto the bed, feeling her hands support his every movement. She was strong. He wondered if she knew just how strong she really was. Once he made it to the bed on his stomach, he carefully rolled to his back, placing the back of his head on an awaiting pillow. He turned, a smile on his face beneath his helmet.
“That wasn’t so bad. Maybe those kneecaps are growing back.”
He paused for a moment.
“Or maybe I’m just in really good hands.”
“Even the cruelest person in the world can change for someone they really care about.” The Evereni smiled warmly at Jaz. Although it did concern her when someone went as far as calling themselves the ‘Devil.’ It didn’t help as being a religious person herself, the different views on the word Devil vary. Such as Jedi and Sith.
“I’m just.. Not used to Force Users. They aren’t exactly common.” In fact, her military teammate, Vigo, was the first Force user she had met. It was nice to have a conversation with a patient.
“It’s all you. And your mentality,” the Evereni pointed out, “there’s… a reason why I don’t usually take up nurse shifts. Sometimes, patients’ mentality is so bitter that it even slows their healing down. I do not have the tolerance for-” She stopped herself. Right.
She gave him a weak smile, “as I was saying, it’s all on you. As for your kneecaps, well.” She poked them gently. “Unless I’m a horrible medical examiner, I’m certain they are still intact… unlike that battle droid you mentioned earlier.”
Jaz tilted his head like a curious canine. He seemed perplexed by the words that he had heard from Maeva.
“Well, that’s a relief!” he said, cheekily bending his knees up and down one at a time to make sure the kneecaps were there. He reached down, first touching his left knee, then his right. In the same corny voice as before he spoke again. “1…2… roger, roger…”
He straightened himself out and cleared his throat, taking a more genuine, heartfelt tone.
“But it does pain me to hear that patients could treat someone like yourself so… unfairly. Being mad at the situation that got them in a hospital? I get that. If I’m being very honest, I’m none too pleased with what brought me here. But… I could never point that anger at the very person trying to help me. What good would that do?”
Maeva paused in her actions to let him bend his knees. It was good. Part of physical therapy.
However, what she didn’t expect was the continuation of the corny joke. She laughed and shook her head.
“Knees down,” she said as she continued while listening to him.
“Everyone is different. Some people .. I guess a bit of shock. Bitterness. I get it though. I’m not exactly innocent.” She glanced towards his helmet. “Alright, do you think you can rotate to lay on your stomach?
Jaz smirked to himself beneath his helmet. Her laughter made him happy, and he was tempted to quote the stupid droids again at her latest question, but he decided that he probably shouldn’t press his luck. Instead he nodded at her.
“I think so.” he said.
He groaned just a bit at the soreness in his muscles as he lifted his left side off of the bed and rolled to his right. With a bit of effort he was on his stomach. He lifted a hand from the bed and gave her a thumbs up.
“Success!”
Maeva stifled a laugh and shook her head at his silliness. There was a beep as a droid entered with a tray with food, covered by a cover to keep it warm and fresh.
“Perfect timing, but your face should be washed. So let me…” She started to gather up the bowls and towels for him and placed it on the other tray by the food tray.
“I need to go change clothes..” she gestured to her soaked scrubs from being in the bacta with him, clinging to the curves of her body.
“So let me know when you are done with washing your face… will you be okay? I … can try keep my eyelids closed but I’m worried about poking you in the eye or shoving my finger up in your nose.” And with her sharp black Evereni nails, that may be a very bad idea.
Jaz looked at her hands and noticed the sharp nails and let out a clearly fake audible gulp.
“At least let me take you to dinner first.” he said as he began to roll himself back onto his back.
Maeva was taken off guard as her jaw slacked for a moment before she quickly clear her throat.
“I-I-“ she stopped and glanced to the door before back to Jaz’s visor. Her grey skin gave nothing away but where there’s lavender patches near or on her cheek, there’s a hint of blush.
“I can’t date patients while they are in a recovery program.”
The droid that had brought in the food looked back and forth between the two before settling on Maeva.
“My processing unit indicates that he was attempting to be humorous. Flirtatious, but humorous.”
Jaz playfully sighed as he looked at the droid.
“Yes, thank you Doctor Funnybot.”
He then looked back at Maeva.
“Fair enough. I’m a patient man. Besides, surely if we were to go to dinner we could find something better than hospital food.”
Oh.
Her internal panic subsided as she chuckled weakly at Jaz’s nickname for the droid.
Then the panic returned. She didn’t know what to think or even react.
How would Drevdea take this…
“I -uhm- the hospital is new and we did all we could to make the food top notch,” Maeva reassured to Jaz.
She has met many over the years. Just for a quick fling.
Never had been asked out in a date. At first she was hurt knowing it was a joke but that follow up-
Does he mean flowers and all?
She cleared her throat, “Will you be okay to wash your face by yourself?”
Jaz chuckled, his face turning a bit red beneath his helmet. He wasn’t usually this forward, but there was something about Maeva that made him brave. Her laugh was like a sweet song in his head, and he knew that he had to keep listening to it.
“Oh, I was just being playful about the food. I’m sure it’s wonderful, and certainly much better than anything I’ve had in a few days.”
He reached for one of the towels and nodded at Maeva.
“I’ll be fine. You go ahead and get yourself cleaned up. We can talk about the future some other time.”
The future?
Maeva had plans for the future and this was a straight up speeder detour. And it had her confused. Along rethinking her decisions.
“Okay, if you need me, just push this button-” she made sure the remote was by his leg. She turned and headed to the connected room. She swiped her card and the door slid open and she stepped in. She had the towels and spare scrubs at the ready. She started to change and realized that she forgot how to let her know when he had the helmet on.
She mentally facepalmed.
A patient got her that distracted?
Maeva figured she would give him enough time and can walk backwards out of the room to be sure not accidentally see his face. Her hair still felt gross but she can always shower later. At least she was mostly cleaned up and new scrubs. She frowned after it had been a bit…
Or was she being a bit too worrisome?
With a deep sigh, the door slid open but she had her hands over her eyes, her head tilted forward, and eyelids closed.
“Sorry, I realized I didn’t let you know how to alert me to when you were done- Do I need to go back in?”
Jaz couldn’t help but giggle to himself a bit as he pulled his helmet back over his head. He had just finished as much of the food that was brought in as his body would allow him to. Maeva was right. The hospital actually had very decent food. Some kind of seared fish, seasoned rice, and a green salad. It was delicious, but his body still wasn’t quite ready for the heaviness of the full plate.
No longer giggling, but still smiling wide beneath his helmet, he spoke.
“You’re fine. Please, uncover your eyes before you fall and end up in a tank next to mine.” he laughed. “I just finished up as much as I can manage from the plate of food that was brought in. You were right, the hospital kitchen staff seems to be top notch. My stomach still doesn’t seem to be quite ready for a lot of solid food, but what I had was delightful.”
Maeva smiled as she looked to him, “I’ll be okay.” She reassured with a smile. She started to gather up the utensils and tools
“I’m not surprised, you had been in the tank for four days. While we did give you what we could, your stomach naturally shrinks for a while. You’ll be right as rain soon.” She glanced towards him, her eyes scanning his body.
“You’re actually rapidly progressing than I expected, which is good. I like being proven wrong in this case.” She moved the tray away. She put away the wheelchair that needed to be clean from bacta and got the other one out as she patted the seat.
“Hop on, we got to go to physical therapy.”
The Mandalorian grabbed the rails on either side of the bed and twisted his body so that his backside was at the very edge of the bed, lined up with the wheelchair beside the bed. He carefully reached back and down with both arms, grabbing both arms of the chair. He pushed himself up and off of the mattress and then pushed himself backwards off the bed. He allowed himself to slowly drop down into the seat of the chair. Scooching backwards into the seat, his legs dropped off of the bed and in front of the chair. With just a bit of effort, he lifted the legs and put his feet into the footrests.
His arms, legs, and back were already a bit sore just from the activity that he had done since getting out of the bacta tank, but he felt ready for the therapy anyway. The sooner he could rebuild the muscle memory and strength, the sooner he could get back to work. He looked forward to a lot of things, but what he may have looked forward to most was sleeping in his own bed again. Vincent was cheap at times, but the chambers he had been given in Seraph were quite nice, and private. He missed them a bit more than he might have expected.
He turned his head to Maeva.
“I’d say ladies first, but… well… I don’t think that really works in this scenario. So, instead, I’ll just say that I’m ready when you are.”
Maeva softly chuckled as she leaned forward to the sides. There was a small click as she removed the breaks of the wheel.
“Not in this situation, no.” Then the other side.
“Though… I can say you’re the first person to show me chivalry.” She cleared her throat and started to wheel Jaz towards the physical therapy room. He would notice that this hospital, was indeed, brand-new and upgraded with state of art items.
The hallways had clear and clean holoprojections. Maps, departments, and what not. There’s houseplants to give a ‘homly’ vibe being tended by droids. At the direction they are in, the snow covered mountains can be seen through the windows.
“After physical therapy, you will have to go back in the tank but good news, it would be two days this time, instead of the four.” Maeva started.
“While you’re in the tank, I would suggest you try to move your muscles as much as you can. Squeeze your hand, raise your knee….” Maeva then smiled.
“Maybe it’ll be one day instead of two with your progress.”
Jaz took in the scenery as Maeva rolled him through the hallway. Kasiya was quite beautiful. The mountains were stunning. Even the hospital itself was like nothing he’d ever seen. It was almost like he was in a totally different galaxy.
His heart sank a bit when he heard Maeva say that he was the first person to show her chivalry. She had been such a sweet and caring person. She seemed genuinely focused on doing good for others. She laughed at his stupid jokes, and she was drop dead gorgeous. How in the seven hells could he possibly have been the first to notice?
He nodded along as she spoke. He didn’t particularly look forward to getting back in the tank, but at least this time he would have a helmet to wear. Even then he felt a bit conflicted. He felt urges that he hadn’t felt in years. He wanted to show her his face so that she could see the smiles and the curves of his lips when she said something funny or stumbled over herself laughing at him. He wanted her to see more than a cold, beskar face. He wanted her to know the real him. Maybe some day? Maybe in time?
As she finished her words, he turned himself in the seat to look back at her. She had given him another opportunity, and as long as she kept laughing, he’d keep joking.
“Roger, roger” came the corny, fake metallic words.
Maeva slowed down the chair as he started to turn, “what are you-”
Then she busted out laughing. The few passersby paused at the sudden laugh and raised their eyebrows but kept walking. Some, Jaz may have noticed, gave more space when they saw Maeva.
Their body language showed discomfort. This didn’t seem to bother the Evereni as she tried to covered her laugh and a small snort escaped.
“Mr. Holden, please,” Maeva then pursed her lips to try not to laugh anymore as she got them to a door with a plague next to it saying, ‘Physical Therapy Room 344’.
She swiped her card and wheeled them in. The lights buzzed on and the mountains were still seen through the windows.
“Okay, the physical therapist should be here any minute.”
The Mandalorian inhaled deeply, completely satisfied with his stupid joke and his ability to make the woman laugh. Still, that line about chivalry, it burned in his mind like a fire that burned too hot to be extinguished. He grabbed the wheels of the chair and held one in place while spinning the other so that the chair turned to face Maeva.
“Thank you. I’ll look forward to seeing you again later…” he said, his voice trailing as though he wanted to say more, then he did. “I just… I have to say. If I’m the first man to have shown you chivalry, there must be a whole lot of dummies out there. If that was true, it hurts my heart, but I’m glad that I could extend that small courtesy to you.”
Maeva looked at him, a bit shocked. She only had on her black scrubs and her kyber crystal necklace hidden underneath. What was it about her that allure him?
“It’s… a bit complicated and not professional. Another time, maybe?” Part of her was surprised to meet someone that didn’t request a different nurse cause they didn’t want an Evereni.
Or saw her as ugly due to her vitiligo.
Or being temporary nice just to get a quick-
She cleared her throat as the door slid open.
“I’ll be back in an hour, Mr. Holden.” Maeva reassured him as she stepped out as the female soft blue-skinned Twi'lek grinned.
“Hello! I’ve been reading that you had been progressing rapidly. I guess it’s that Mandalorian spirit, huh? You ready?”
Jaz dipped his head to greet the Twi’lek.
“Hello there! Maeva certainly seems to think I’m progressing quickly. I’m not sure. First time with this sort of injury, ya know?” he said. “But, if she says so, I believe it. I’m ready when you are. Whatever gets these legs moving again.”