Chapter Text
After heading back to the Temple the team split up, with Obi-Wan meeting up with the Council for the post mission report, and Anakin along with Ahsoka taking the tooka to the Temple medical bay.
“Dr Nema, could you please take a look at this tooka here?” asked Anakin.
Dr Nema was generally a caring medic who had good bedside manners, but the ever growing casualties of Clone Wars had evidently taken a great toll on her patience, besides she was always a no-nonsense person. “Is this some kind of a joke on me?” she asked, raising a brow. “Do I look like a vet to you?”
“But Doctor—“
“—Can’t you see that I have so many patients there?” she pointed at all those injured Jedi in the infirmary before pointing her finger directly at Anakin, “OUT!”
Anakin has made “defying the Council” one of his favorite hobbies, but even he knew that it’s pointless to try to argue with a medic. Getting out of the medical bay, he sighed, “things seem not go as planned this time.”
“Well master, you always teach me that it’s when things don’t go as planned that we Jedi are at our best,” Ahsoka reminded him.
“Maybe we should find it a real vet,” Anakin mulled over. “The problem is that we don’t have money outside of a mission.”
“We could always find part time jobs,” suggest Ahsoka with a mischievous smirk, “I could be a waitress, and as for you I’m sure there must be some clubs on the lower level that are looking for go-go dancers.”
Anakin seemed to fall into a deep contemplation.
“I was just joking, Skyguy! Please don’t tell me that you are actually considering it!”
“Well, the money has to come from somewhere,” shrugged Anakin.
“I have a better idea,” suggested Ahsoka, looking serious for once, “Barriss has been volunteering in the medical bay for some time now. She must have picked up some knowledge along the way. We could ask her for help and keep you clothes intact.”
“That’s actually a great idea, Snips! Go and fetch your friend. I’ll be waiting for you in my quarters!”
On his way back Anakin bumped into Obi-Wan. “You finished your report, Obi-Wan? That was quick.”
“That’s to be expected, since I had to cut all of our involvement with your little friend out of my report,” Obi-Wan gave Anakin a reproaching look, “speaking of which, how is it? Did you get Dr Nema to check it over?”
“No, she threw us out, but Barriss is going to come here to see what she can do.”
“I see. Must be Ahsoka’s idea,” Obi-Wan nodded approvingly, “out of you two she seems to be the more sensible one, not that it’s a very high bar, though.”
“Hey!” protested Anakin, “I can be very sensible!”
“Just look at how fast I have aged since I had to work with you,” sighed Obi-Wan wearily. “I have a feeling that I’d look like if I were in my 80s in just two decades.”
“You have your own drinking problem to blame if you age up poorly.”
“Touché,” acknowledged Obi-Wan reluctantly, “but that still doesn’t explain how Admiral Yularen has also aged like twenty years in the span of just two years.”
Anakin really didn’t have an argument to that, so he quickly changed topics, “anyway would you like to come along? We might need some extra hands.”
“Of course, someone has to keep an eye on you guys so you don’t accidentally maim or kill this poor creature whom we took so much effort saving.”
“I hate you,” Anakin complained halfheartedly.
“And I love you like a brother,” replied Obi-Wan calmly. “Now let’s go. We don’t want to keep the girls waiting, do we?”
It took some time before the girls finally arrived. “Sorry for the waiting, Master Kenobi and Master Skywalker,” explained Barriss. “I had to make some preparations after Ahsoka explained everything to me and—oh my goodness, Ahsoka! It’s even cuter than you described!” seeing the tooka held in Anakin’s arms, she exclaimed and clutched her chest, fawning over the animal. “I want to hug it so hard and squish its little body!”
The tooka spat at her in obvious displeasure, wiggling against Anakin’s firm hold on it.
“Oh, Ahsoka also told me about that. A grumpy little thing, aren’t you? Anyway, I’m going to take your vitals and do some bloodwork before we decide how to treat you, sounds good?” asked Barriss. “And Ahsoka, while we are at work, could you please find that page for tookas from the Wookieepedia for us? I’ll need the data for their average physical characteristics.”
“Sure,” Ahsoka shrugged, pulling out a datapad.
Measuring the height, length and heart rate were easy, since the tooka didn’t move much while they worked, with only the never ending hissing and the twitching of its tails indicating its discontent having to put up with a stranger nearby. The weight, however, proved to be a challenge as the tooka absolutely refused to hold still on a balance. In the end Anakin had to weight himself while holding the animal, for it fiercely resisted anyone else’s attempt to pick it up. This whole process had made him a little bit self-conscious, as now everyone in this room knew how much he weighed.
“So according to the Wookieepedia, the tooka’s size is normal, slightly larger than average, actually, but the poor thing’s only half of the average weight. We’ll check the heart rate with data from the Republic Vet Database later when we get the results from the bloodwork. Oh, and it’s a boy, by the way,” concluded Barriss, double-checking the data on Ahsoka’s datapad. “Now the easy part is over, the real challenge will begin.”
“You call that the easy part?” complained Obi-Wan, his sleeve ripped from the animal’s attempts to swipe at him.
“Yes, the next part is… a little intrusive. We’ll have to take his temperature and collect a blood sample,” explained Barriss.
”Don‘t you guys take the temperature by pointing that blaster-looking-thingy at us? Why would it be intrusive?” questioned Anakin.
“Unfortunately, Master Skywalker, the infrared thermometer doesn’t work well on sentients with thick fur since it’s a great insulator, and I believe creatures should be no different. We’ll have to take his temperature the old way, which is to insert the thermometer into his anus,” explained Barriss patiently while taking out a thermometer, a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a tube of medical lubricant from her kit.
“Ewwww, gross!” Anakin could feel the phantom pain in his rear, already feeling sympathetic to the poor animal. He’s sure the tooka’s not going to like what’s going to come next.
“So Master Skywalker, I need you to hold firmly to the tooka, especially his hind legs. Master Kenobi, it would be of great help it you could also distract him with some treats, and while we are at it, could you please pay close attention to his teeth to see if there’s any problems? I’d like to examine them myself but I’m not sure if he will allow my hands to be anywhere near his muzzle.”
“Of course,” replied Anakin and Obi-Wan simultaneously. Obi-Wan took out some jerky from Anakin’s pocket and handed it to the tooka, “come on little buddy, don’t you want some yummy jerky?” The tooka eyed him skeptically, his tiny nose twitching. After a moment of hesitation, he finally seemed to decide that food was after all, food, even it’s from a suspicious individual like Obi-Wan. While he’s busy munching on the jerky, Barriss lifted his tail, and with the speed and the precision only belonged to a Jedi, inserted the thermometer directly into the target.
The tooka yelped in dismay, trying his best to wiggle out of Anakin’s hold. “Almost there, almost there,” Anakin tried to comfort him, his fingers threading through the tooka’s messy fur. “Just a few more seconds—“ the thermometer finally beeped, “—it’s done. Good boy!”
The tooka stared back at him. Maybe Anakin’s anthropomorphizing the animal, but he thought he saw reproach in those clear blue eyes.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with his teeth,” reported back Obi-Wan.
“Great. I’m no dentist anyway. Next we need to collect a blood sample. However, there’s something else I need to confess…” said Barriss, chewing on her lower lip nervously, “while I’ve done the procedure on countless sentients now, I’m not sure how it’s done on a tooka.”
“And that’s what the HoloNet is for,” contributed Ahsoka with another great idea.
They spent the next 20 minutes browsing through WookieeHow articles, r/SpaceVet on Roddiant and educational videos on YodaTube.
“Now I have a vague idea, though I’m still not very comfortable dealing with the jugular or medial saphenous vein,” announced Barriss. “I think I’ll just do the cephalic one then.”
“Wise choice,” commented Obi-Wan, “saves you the trouble of shaving the area.”
“I know right?” chuckled Barriss, “though now I’m picturing tookas with fur on their lower legs and paws all of a sudden.”
“That’s ridiculous,” scoffed Ahsoka, her eyes rolling, “why would a tooka look like that?”
“I don’t know. I’m just saying,” shrugged Barriss. “The galaxy’s a big place, though. And who knows? Maybe there’re some other breeds of cats that have legs fully covered in fur on some backwater planets we haven’t discovered yet? Besides, you have to admit it’s a cute picture.”
“Maybe, but I still think those tiny legs and claws are what make a cat so distinctively cute.”
“Agree to disagree then. Anyway, back to business. I’ll apply local anesthesia and wait a few minutes for it to kick in. The tasks I need Master Kenobi and Master Skywalker to perform remain the same, except this time I’ll also need Ahsoka’s help. Since I’m using smaller syringes so the tooka’s cephalic vein doesn’t collapse, someone has to replace them for me when they’re full. Any questions?” Barriss looked around the room. “No? Good. Let’s get back to work then.”
The anesthesia went smoothly, yet as soon as Barriss pulled out a butterfly needle all hell broke loose. The tooka stiffened and puffed out abruptly, then he thrashed violently against Anakin, his tiny sharp claws cutting through Anakin’s clothes and skin as easily as vibroblades. The brutality and viciousness of the tooka’s attacks so disproportionate to its puny body brought Anakin back to the painful memories of the Nexu in the Geonosian arena on that fateful day.
“He’s terrified of the needle! That crime lord must have tortured him with it!” amidst the chaos, Obi-Wan yelled.
“But we have to get a blood sample! I can’t diagnose without it!” yelled back Barriss, her voice barely audible as the tooka’s anguish wails were mixing with Anakin’s cries of pain in the background as if they were in a slaughterhouse.
“Ouch! I can’t believe that we have the technology to travel across the galaxy, but somehow still haven’t invented an easier way to draw blood without a needle! Wait! Stoooop—ahhhhhhh!” Furious that Anakin would still not let go even after taking multiple hits, the tooka, in his most desperate attempt, sunk his razor-sharp teeth into the flesh of Anakin’s left arm. “Obi-Wan, don’t just stand there and look! Come and help me!”
It took two of the Order’s strongest Jedi and their most valiant efforts to finally subdued the raging animal. With shaky hands, Barriss attempted to do the venipuncture and succeeded on her third try. After a few seconds the tooka meowed in surprise and then ceased struggling, his body deflating, and he eyed the needle in what Anakin read as something akin to confusion, as if wondering why he still hasn’t felt the pain.
“I told you little one, you are safe here. We’ll never harm you,” Anakin smiled at the animal reassuringly, but he soon grimaced as he accidentally pulled at his wounds, “ouch! That really hurts. You surely are hell of a fighter for someone this small.”
The tooka lowered his head, looking at anywhere but Anakin, his large pointy ears twitching. Once Barriss’ done with the procedure and he has been released, he scurried to a corner and curled up there into a ball.
“Those wounds look quite deep, Master Skywalker. I’d suggest a wound cleaning and disinfection, then a bacta soak. Maybe also a rabies shot—“ Barriss’ words were interrupted by a meow of protest, “—hey! You were a rescued tooka! Better safe than sorry! Anyway where was I? Oh, and a tetanus shot if you haven’t had it in 5 years. I’ll take these blood samples to the lab. It probably will take a while before the results come back. I was going to suggest you to give the tooka a bath in the meantime so we could address his wounds and probably sneak him in the exam room for X-Ray and CT scan when Dr Nema’s occupied, but you are definitely too injured to do that. Besides, it must be a very eventful day for our little buddy here. We really don’t want to stress him out too much. It’s best for us to leave all these things tomorrow.”
At that moment, the intercom rang: “Skywalker? Windu here. We received multiple reports that loud screams were heard from your room. What’s going on here?”
“Turns out even when Dr Nema didn’t report your previous encounter to the Council, they’ll know about your furry little friend soon enough,” commented Obi-Wan, then he grinned, “or should I say, the tooka’s out of the bag?”
Anakin groaned: “Now is not the time for jokes, Obi-Wan, though we could use your help to persuade the Council to allow him to stay.”
“Why do I always have to clean up your mess?” complained Obi-Wan, his hand raising up to massage his temples.
“Barriss needs to do the lab works. I need a visit to the medical bay—it’s not like Dr Nema can throw me out this time—oh, and Ahsoka’s coming with me too. She’s also wounded earlier—“
“—These were just some shallow scratches, master! I’m not delicate!”
“You still need the rabies shot,” insisted Anakin.
”He has a point, Ahsoka,” Barriss added helpfully. “There’s also the possibility that you’ll develop cat scratch fever if you leave your wounds untreated.”
“Fine!” Ahsoka crossed her arms and made a bitch face.
“So in conclusion, you are our only hope Obi-Wan,” smirked Anakin, “besides, you are the Negotiator . This is simply your expertise.”
“Why do I get the feeling you’re going to be the death of me?” grumbled Obi-Wan, sighing heavily.