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Cody checked his comm and sighed. No updates on extraction. Situation wasn't looking good. He sent in his own update and laid down with Quinlan, resting his head on Quinlan's chest to listen to his heartbeat. This was going to be the only way he got any sleep; reassurance that his partner was still alive.
It had all started when he got a call to extract Quinlan when things started going south. Quinlan wasn't actually undercover, just conducting an investigation and not saying he was a Jedi.
But it was basically a gang war he was investigating, and he had gotten caught in the crossfire. He called for help, and Cody responded, but by the time he arrived, it was a bit too late.
Cody had been able to grab him, but they had not been able to get off the planet. They had found an abandoned house to bunker down in until someone could come extract them from the planet completely.
Unfortunately, Quinlan had gotten himself injured, and on day two of waiting, a few of his wounds started showing signs of being infected.
It was two days after that, and things were not looking good for Quinlan. He needed help. He was running a fever and there was no sign of improvement, no matter what Cody did.
All he could do was try to get Quinlan to eat, keep reporting any changes and cuddle. So that was what he did, though it didn't feel like enough.
Cody drifted off to sleep, the sound of Quinlan's heart soothing.
He woke up hours later when Quinlan started thrashing around in a nightmare.
"Hey, hey, Quin, it's okay, I'm here with you, you're not alone." Cody had his hand on Quinlan's shoulder, not wanting to do more until he was sure Quinlan was awake and aware.
"Cody? Obi's commander...? Why're'ou calling me Quin?"
Well. That was a terrible sign. Cody hugged him anyways. "What do you remember?"
"Uh... looking for Ziro? Wait no that's not right... Thinking about assassinating Dooku? No... The Chancellor!"
"That was a year ago, Quin. Is that what your nightmare was about?"
Quinlan blinked at him in confusion then nodded. "You're alive... thought..."
"I know. But I'm here. And you're here. Can you try for more rest? You're... you're really sick."
"Don't go."
"I won't," Cody promised. "I'll stay right here. Do you need anything before we both try to get more sleep?"
"...water?"
Cody kissed his temple and got a water bottle.
Quinlan drank gratefully then shivered. "Don't go."
"I'm not going anywhere." Cody reassured him and pulled him close. "I'm not dead, I'm alive. I won't leave you. We're just waiting for extraction."
"Okay..." Quinlan's eyes started closing, then they shot open to make sure Cody was still there.
"I'm still here, you can hear my heartbeat, yeah?"
Quinlan moved his head slowly, wincing at the occasional spike of pain. As soon as he could hear Cody's heartbeat, he relaxed.
"Now get some sleep." Cody gently ran his fingers through Quinlan's hair. "I won't go anywhere, I promise. I love you."
"Love you too," Quinlan mumbled sleepily as he fell back asleep.
Cody checked his temperature before pulling the blankets up. Still much too high. Hardly any sign of improvement. He typed up a quick update about how confused and disoriented Quinlan seemed when he woke up from his nightmare before sending it on.
Then he settled in to try to get some sleep himself. With Quinlan right there, it was unlikely he would miss anything.
He woke up to his comm buzzing three hours later. He groggily grabbed it and checked. He let out a sigh of relief once he was able to process what it said.
They would be arriving in eight hours, and a medic team would be with them, coming right to the safe house while others ensured no one would interfere. It was a bigger operation than they had wanted but Quinlan needed urgent medical care. It had finally been approved.
Cody smiled and looked down at Quinlan, still fast asleep with his ear over Cody's heart. Unless Quinlan got drastically worse over the next eight hours, he was going to survive the infection.
Speaking of... Cody checked the time and sighed. Even if it was earlier than he had planned on being awake, it was time to change the bandages out. He started doing so gently. As soon as he saw the wounds he winced. They were worse. Red all around the site with streaks.
He took pictures and sent in the update before finishing up the usual care. Then he checked the messages. He agreed to the recommendations for medications if he could find them in the kit, and gave them to Quinlan with some water and broth. Quinlan didn't fully wake up, even for the broth.
The extraction team was going to do their best to get there sooner than eight hours, he knew. But he had to plan on eight hours.
Cody made sure everything was ready to go, just in case, and then he waited, eyes on Quinlan the entire time. He didn't want to miss anything if he could help it. But that was a huge risk. Quinlan was in danger of dying if he wasn't careful. The infection had gotten so bad.
Quinlan tossed and turned a bit with a feverish nightmare. Cody brought him close and soothed him by putting Quinlan's head to his chest so he could hear the heartbeat and cuddle at the same time.
Cody was relieved that seemed to help. He wasn't sure what else to do.
Finally, five hours later, during which time Quinlan did not wake up, help arrived.
Cody watched the medics start taking care of Quinlan and followed them out, to the ship.
He let Obi-Wan drag him to shower and eat, knowing that the medics would be busy for a while anyways.
By the time he got to the medbay hours later, they had done all they could.
Quinlan was alive. He would live. They were certain he would. He just had to finish fighting off the infection with the strongest antibiotics they had.
Cody relaxed as soon as he saw Quinlan. He already looked a bit better, now that he had gotten the help he needed rather than Cody's desperate attempts at first aid.
He double checked with the nearby medics before crawling into the bed with Quinlan and holding him. He had come far too close to losing his partner.
And now he could relax.
.
Quinlan woke groggily, sore and out of sorts. His head felt off and he felt so exhausted even if he was ready to be awake. He tried to shift but there was a weight on his chest.
He opened his eyes. Ah, the medbay. And Cody, head on his chest.
Quinlan smiled and weakly put his hand on Cody's head. Always nice to wake up to his partner at his side.
Cody jumped and turned his head. "You're awake!"
"Yeah," Quinlan said hoarsely. "Feel like I got trampled though."
"You nearly died... We got here yesterday. You had a few really bad infections." Cody kissed his cheek then settled in after making sure the medics knew Quinlan had woken up.
"Oh... Why was your head on my chest?"
"Listening to your heartbeat, reassuring myself that you're still here."
"Oh... I'm sorry to scare you, Codes."
"It's okay, Quin. Not much we could have done in that situation. I'm just glad we got you out in time."
"Me too... Thanks for sticking with me."
"Always."