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Waking up after a stay in the bacta tank was, without any doubt, the worst.
The first time Thrawn woke up, it was with a sharp cough. It startled Eli, who had been sitting half-asleep beside his bed, and set the med droids into motion. They adjusted the drugs flowing through his system, until the pain was mild enough to ignore.
The second time he came to consciousness was a few hours later. He blurted out something in a language Eli couldn’t understand, before his eyelids grew too heavy for him to bear. It went on like this the next few times. He’d open his eyes, his hoarse voice mumbling in different languages, only some of which Eli knew.
“You were in a bacta tank,” he explained in Sy Bisti when Thrawn would wake up speaking it, “it’s going to be uncomfortable for a little while.” Whether Thrawn actually took to his words or if it was the simple act of hearing any voice that calmed him, Eli couldn’t tell.
When Thrawn woke up speaking in his native language, however, there wasn’t much Eli could do in the way of soothing. Ever so carefully, he touched his hand, stroking the delicate palm with his fingers.
It was in this position that one of the med droids found them. It circled around Thrawn for a bit, taking note of his various vitals.
“How long do you suppose it will be until he wakes up fully?” Eli asked, still not letting go of the Chiss’s hand.
“Between 3 to 5 Standard Imperial Days,” the droid replied matter-of-factly.
Eli nodded. He looked down at Thrawn. The man’s eyebrows had furrowed again, as they did before another bound of consciousness. Perhaps this time he’d be more coherent, the human hoped.