Chapter Text
Someone stuck their head into the operating room. Helix ignored them; he was elbow-deep in a trooper's guts, carefully checking if any section of the bowel had been ruptured when the massive block of coral had fallen on the poor guy, nearly cutting him in two. If they were very, very lucky, the trooper would be able to recover here on the ship. Injuries that took too long to heal…
The Kaminoans took care of them.
Sometimes those broken brothers came back to the front lines, and sometimes they didn't. Sometimes, they came back changed.
It was hard to tell which outcome was worse.
“Kid’s back,” the voice at the door reported. “Lifeline looked them over; no new injuries. He wanted me to let you know the kid got all the way down to the kitchens. A shiny named Mouse got pulled off KP duty to watch them.”
Helix’s hands stilled for just a fraction of a second, then he seamlessly continued his work. He wouldn't let his personal feelings put his patient in danger.
“Given they were in the kitchens, I'm assuming someone fed them?” he asked the unknown clone at his back. The man didn't dare enter the room fully; all of his medics knew better than to contaminate the sterile field and risk their brother's life.
“Mouse did, and gave the kid a bath, too. Apparently, the kid had been crawling around in the vents. Lifeline had them both go through decontam anyway, just in case.”
“What are the chances the shiny gave them something other than sugar?” Helix grumbled, not really expecting an answer. “Probably didn't even think to ask if Eden had any allergies before shoving food at them.”
“Corellian spiced protein bars, sir. The kid ate two before they fell asleep.”
Helix grunted. It could have been worse. “Tell…” He paused, thinking back to the name. “Tell Mouse that that kid better still be in that room when I'm done in here.”
“Copy that, sir.” The operating room doors hissed shut, and Helix gave his current surgical task his complete, undivided attention once again.
“If they go missing again, I'm throwing a shiny out the airlock,” the Chief Medical Officer muttered darkly into the quiet of the room.