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Obi-Wan was waiting, arms crossed, when the gunship doors opened in the hangar of the star destroyer. He raised an eyebrow and headed towards them as Ahsoka led the way out of the ship, casting a nervous glance behind her where Rex was helping Anakin to follow best he could, while Aayla talked quietly to Bly with a frown on her face.
"There you are. Took you long enou-- Are those bandages?" Obi-Wan cut himself off, realising the state of his former Padawan with worry.
Anakin grimaced, an arm clutched to the side where most of the pain was radiating from. He tried to take his other arm from Rex's grip, but his legs immediately threatened to give out, prompting Obi-Wan to hurry the last few paces to his side and reach out to help steady him.
"What happened?" The older Jedi asked, glancing from a panting Anakin to a skittish Ahsoka and to Aayla who pursed her lips, avoiding the Master's gaze. She had been a Padawan with Anakin, after all, and though it wasn't exactly her fault their little adventure had turned out like this, she still released a bit of guilt to the Force now confronted by not only a terrified Padawan but also a worried Master, concern from their friend consistently bleeding through.
"Move," came a voice, identical to many others but still recognisable to Anakin, who groaned as he raised his gaze to meet his medic's unimpressed look when he got through the few troopers milling around the hangar.
Kix heaved a sigh at the sight and stared him dead in the eye as he let his medpack slip off his shoulder to his hand and dropped it to the floor with a dull thump. Ahsoka blinked.
"General," the medic greeted flatly, then addressing mostly Rex, "Sit him down."
"Here?" Anakin said hoarsely as Rex - and, amusing, Obi-Wan, without a word - obediently lowered him to the hangar floor.
Kix knelt, pulling his medpack closer without looking up, "Yes, here, So you don't make anything worse before I actually get to triage and see what we're dealing with." As he talked, he pulled a scanner from the bag and without preamble, flashed it at Anakin. Examining the results, he continued in a flat voice still without looking up, "Like collapse from a punctured lung for starters and causing a pneumothorax emergency."
Obi-Wan looked sharply at Anakin, clearly doing his own diagnostics through the Force while leaving his hand on the younger Jedi's shoulder, minuet changes in his facial expression telling that he also wasn't fond of what he was finding.
Behind Obi-Wan, Anakin caught sight of Ahsoka hovering, worry and unsurity flashing across her face as she fought to stay present and remember her training. With one hand, the mechanical one which was the only part of his body that wasn't aching currently, he waved in her direction for attention.
"Ahsoka--" The single word made him cough, wheezing when the movement speared more pain across his chest, but he forced himself to look up again, changing his address, "Aayla, can you take her-" But fell into coughs again, breathing very quickly becoming more difficult faster than it had in the past two days.
Thankfully, Aayla gave a sharp nod and motioned to Ahsoka. "Come on, little one, let's report to the Council."
Ahsoka blinked and looked at the other Jedi as if just remembering there were other people around. "N-No, I have to stay and..." She trailed off, looking helplessly back at the situation. Not even sure herself what she needed to do anymore.
Gently, Aayla put one hand on one of the young girl's shoulders, using a touch of strength to turn her around so she would stop staring.
"You've done what you need to, Padawan. Your Master is safe and he's in good hands. We need to leave them to it."
Ahsoka let out an involuntary sniff and glanced back once more, eyes wide as she watched Kix using trauma scissors to take off not only the bandages but also her Master's robe to see the damage beneath, Anakin having squeezed his eyes shut and breathing harshly through the pain.
Obi-Wan, sensing her unease, looked up and met her eyes. "It's alright, Ahsoka. I've got him," he said quietly, giving a fleeting smile. Ahsoka nodded jerkily and tore herself away to be led by Aayla towards the Bridge.
His smile quickly vanished as he turned his attention back to Anakin, concerned frown taking its place. As the medic finished shearing away the outer layers, Obi-Wan made a sharp intake of breath - the tapestry of bruising clearly showed something was wrong on the inside as well as peppered burns and a few gashes, by this time sealed by dried blood with depth uncertain.
Rex muttered a foreign swear under his breath where he was supporting Anakin's other side. Kix grimaced.
"Alright, I'm thinking surgery," he said grimly, a very light touch to the worst of the marks eliciting a hiss from Anakin, who had to heave in a breath afterwards. Kix took one look at his face and immediately twisted to promptly pull an oxygen mask from the medbag, which he swiftly secured around Anakin's face, reaching back into the bag again without taking his eyes off his General's pale face.
Taking out a finger monitor, he quickly clipped it onto the Jedi's left hand, where it immediately beeped in alarm.
"What's that?" Rex asked, voice neutral but concern easy to feel despite still wearing his helmet. Obi-Wan slightly tightened his grip on his former Padawan's shoulder, glancing from the monitor to Anakin's expression of painful concentration as he focused on taking air in despite knowing it wasn't staying.
Kix continued rummaging in his bag as he explained shortly, "Blood oxygen much too low, but I already guessed that." He straightened back up with a needle in his hand and peered up at his General's face again. "Still with us, Sir?" He asked in a softer tone.
Anakin nodded once, slowly, opening his eyes slightly to help the reply. Kix twitched a smile and reached for his flesh hand.
"Good. Just keep breathing, alright? If you pass out now I'm going to have to secure an airway, and with stats that low I'd also be grabbing a crash kit," he said conversationally as he slipped the needle catheter into a vein, casually securing it. He regarded his patient. "Actually, I'm going to go ahead with adrenaline anyway. The others should be here in a minute but I'd like to completely avoid a code if we can. Do you think you can stay conscious if I administer a painkiller aswell?" He asked, already pulling out a case of drugs and waiting expectantly.
Anakin swallowed a gasp before huffing what could be a cynical chuckle. "Prob'ly," he wheezed, but with a grim smile that told the others he was still with it.
Obi-Wan frowned as Kix busied himself with the medicines. "Are you in a lot of pain?" He asked quietly. Anakin glanced at him out of the corner of one eye and shrugged best he could. Obi-Wan pursed his lips. "That's not an answer, Anakin," he pointed out, but didn't push.
"Have you been feeling like this the whole time, Sir?" Rex spoke up suddenly, concern clear even through the helmet. Anakin grimaced and shrugged again. Rex's unimpressed stare was clear despite not being able to see his expression. "I'll take that as a yes, but there were other things to do," he said bluntly.
"Things like...?" Obi-Wan prompted, now talking over Anakin to his Captain.
Rex shifted slightly. "Separatist base and taking out a bioweapon," he said grimly. His tone was slightly relieved as if he was glad to rat his General out on the latest stunts as he continued, "And that was after coming round after most of a day after the explosion on General Secura's ship."
"Head trauma as well then," Kix said without looking up from typing on a datapad, "I'll look into that when he's stable."
"Thank you, Rex, Kix," Obi-Wan said politely. Rex nodded his helmet in acknowledgement and Kix hummed absently as he continued entering details, checking the details from the machine and inputting its data with a frown.
There was a small commotion from the other end of the hangar, and a group of troopers with and without armour hurried towards them with a stretcher and other equipment. Kix sighed in relief. "Finally," he muttered, glancing from the backup to Anakin. "Good timing. I didn't want to go in blind but if your lips had gone any more blue I'd be getting a puncture needle out," he informed him matter-of-factly.
Anakin peered at his medic. "Thanks," he muttered with a wheeze, "I don't need... any more holes..."
"That you don't," Rex agreed in a murmur, staring back blandly when Anakin tried to glare at him.
As the rest of the medical team reached them, Obi-Wan patted his former apprentice's shoulder and slowly stood up. "I suppose I'll leave you to it, then," he said with a small smile. "Better see what your Padawan is up to," he added with a tease, "Make sure she hasn't learned any bad decisions from this little escapade."
Anakin huffed again, but sent a feeling of gratefulness through their bond to show his appreciation. Obi-Wan quietly fed warmth and healing back.
"Thank you, General Kenobi," Kix addressed him after quickly talking to the other medics. "I suspect it'll be straight into surgery, so I'll let you know when you two can come and see him."
Obi-Wan nodded. "Thank you," he said humbly. He waited until they had bundled the young Jedi onto a stretcher and were ready to go. "I'll see you later, Anakin," he called softly. A slight raise of the gloved right hand was all he needed to know the boy would be alright again, soon.
So he stood and watched, concerned but not afraid, as the group left with their patient. Then he turned to Rex.
"So. Would you like to inform me of what exactly happened down there?"
Rex took off his helmet and raised his chin. "Yes, Sir. Every detail."
Obi-Wan smiled. "Excellent. Then let's go and find the others and debrief together. After you, Captain Rex."
