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One of the few positives of growing up on Kamino is that the medical history of Cody’s brothers was largely the same. Broken bones and hairline fractures happened during training. Minor bumps and scrapes happened because of so many children running around without enough adults to manage them. Ninety percent of the clones had the flu six years ago when Jango Fett brought back a sick Boba, who then infected one clone. The disease spread like wildfire.
He remembered in his fevered state that the Kaminoans were baffled by that since the clones had received all necessary vaccinations.
The medical history of Cody and his brother’s being mostly the same meant that reading his new Commanding Officer’s medical file was fascinating. Cody wasn’t entirely certain how this man was still alive. If this was what the typical natborn life looked like, Cody wondered how civilization made it this far.
Obi-Wan Kenobi was thirty-five years old and this would be his third war. The first war he was in, he was thirteen. From Cody’s understanding, for a typical humanoid, thirteen would be the clone equivalent to six and a half. From that war, Obi-Wan became severely malnourished, broke several bones that healed poorly, and had his eardrums burst in both ears from being too close to a bomb going off. Treatment included resetting bones, tympanoplasty surgeries in both ears that resulted in minor hearing loss, and intense therapy for a year.
Cody agreed with this treatment. He would like to meet this “Healer Che” that kept appearing in this file. He continued to read.
Kenobi’s second war was on Mandalore, which surprised Cody. It was no secret that Mandalore and the Jedi had a combative history. The file reported malnourishment again, but also blaster wounds. These left scars due to inadequate health care on the run.
A knock on the door made Cody look up to see Kix. “Riveting read?” Kix said, leaning against the door.
Cody smiled faintly. “Interesting, certainly. I’m wondering how this man is still alive. I haven’t even read his Padawan’s file yet.”
“Luckily for you, I’m in charge of Commander Skywalker, and I finished reading his file this morning,” Kix said. “You can read it once we’re on the Negotiator. We will have plenty of downtime for you to catch up. Let’s go, Chief.”
***
As soon as Cody was in his new Medical Bay, he took inventory. He knew that everything was supposed to be there, but he wanted to be certain. Kix was at the other end, managing medics grumbling about how this was the second time they were doing this.
“Better safe than sorry,” said a smooth voice, and all turned to look at the newcomer. Everyone stood and saluted.
“General Kenobi, sir!” Cody said, and the rest chorused after him.
“At ease, men. I only came for the check-up I was ordered to do,” General Kenobi said, smiling at them. “May I have an introduction to my medical team? It would only be fair, as you already know my name is Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
Cody stepped forward. “Yes, sir. I am Chief Medical Officer Cody, this is Medical Officer Kix, my second,” Cody pointed to Kix, “Medical Officer Hold, my third,” Cody pointed at Hold, standing near one of the sinks, “ And the four Medics that were complaining are Hash, Rash, Bash, and Mash. Their batch decided to rhyme their names to be funny.”
“No we didn’t!” Rash complained. “We did it because it sounded cool.”
General Kenobi chucked. “I look forward to getting to know you all. Please forgive me if it takes me a little while to learn all of your names. There are three thousand of you on this ship and it might take me a while. Now CMO Cody, correct?” Cody nodded once. “Where might we conduct this check-up?”
Cody led General Kenobi to one of the patient rooms, gave him an exam gown, and then stepped out to wait while General Kenobi changed. There was a knock on the door, and Cody took that as his cue to enter.
“Thank you for agreeing to this check-up, General Kenobi,” Cody started. “This will be like any first-time patient meeting you have with other doctors. While I have read your medical file, and Healer Che was detailed in her notes, I wanted to talk with you about your health. Is there anything you feel that I should be aware of?”
“Not that I can think of, if you have read my file. You know that I was in two wars before this?” Cody nodded. “Then that should detail my injuries. I still have minor hearing loss in both ears, I have chronic pain in my left knee from my time on Melidaan, and my right arm is slightly weaker than my left from being broken several times,” Kenobi said.
“Good to know. I will make note of it. I saw that you are allergic to Hoi broth. Are there any other allergens you have, food or medicinal?” Cody asked.
“No.”
“Okay, thank you. I will make sure that Hoi broth is not added into our rations.” Cody finished typing his notes into the file. “I’m going to do some general tests now. First I am going to check your ears, eyes, and mouth, and then we will do some simple tests on your arm and leg that you mentioned. After that, we will be done. Is that alright with you?”
“Yes,” Kenobi replied, sitting up straighter.
“Good.” Cody began his check-up, just as he said. He noted the scarring of the eardrums in his notes, and then moved on to checking Kenobi’s right arm. His touch was gentle, checking the range in motion of his wrist, then his elbow. He then moved to the other arm, just to compare, and noted the differences. After that, Cody checked Kenobi’s knee. Kenobi sucked in a breath, and Cody looked up quickly. “Did that hurt?” he asked, quickly removing his hands.
“No, no,” Kenobi chuckled. “Your hands were just a little cold. You are very gentle - gentler than most.”
Cody brought his hands back to Kenobi’s knee. It was slightly more swollen than the right knee, and the range of motion was significantly reduced. “Do you take any medication for your knee or use a cane?”
“Not usually. I take generic pain medications when it is really bothering me, otherwise I usually filter it out with the Force.” Kenobi’s tone was mild, as if being in constant pain was expected.
Cody frowned. “What do you mean by filtering with the Force?”
“It’s a technique that allows Force-users to push through ailments of many kinds,” Kenobi explained, but it didn’t really explain much of anything.
“Could you send me anything that explains this technique?” Cody asked. “I would like to read up on the processes and results of this technique.”
“Certainly,” said Kenobi.
“Thank you. I am going to prescribe you something to reduce the swelling in your knee. It should help your range in motion and decrease your pain levels,” Cody said briskly. “You should take one dose a day with food, as needed, when you notice the swelling start. I will have Mash deliver it to your rooms when we get it done.”
“Thank you. May I call you Cody?” Kenobi said sincerely. Cody nodded. “Thank you, Cody. Is there anything else we need to do?”
“No, sir. I will leave to let you get changed,” Cody said, and stepped out of the room with his datapad. He went straight to the medicine cabinet to begin making Kenobi’s prescription, and, hopefully, his new General would send him resources about this “Force filtering” technique.
***
Obi-Wan Kenobi dressed and left Med Bay quickly. He liked Cody. He was no-nonsense, and incredibly gentle with his hands. It had been a long time since he had a healer, doctor, or medic be that gentle with his injuries before. Not even Healer Che had been able to handle his knee without causing pain.
Maybe, for once, Obi-Wan would actually visit his appointments without dread, if he got Cody every time.
Obi-Wan shook his head slightly. He was tired from the day already, and it wasn’t even halfway over. He had to find Anakin and make sure his Padawan wasn’t getting into any trouble. He had left him with a squad in the training room, led by a blond clone he was sure was named Rex. Anakin seemed enamored already, which Obi-Wan was relieved by. Anakin had such a hard time making friends, and with the war now happening, Obi-Wan was worried Anakin would feel isolated. It was important to make connections, and developmentally, the clones and Anakin were nearly the same.
Obi-Wan turned down a hallway to where he remembered the lift being. This ship was absolutely massive, and the gray interior was soul-sucking. Maybe he could convince the Council to requisition some paint. That would liven it up, and make the overall ship less confusing.
Something for later.
***
There was a sharp pain in Obi-Wan’s side. He pushed through it, blocking another blaster bolt and sending it back to the droids.
“Master!” Anakin yelled.
Obi-Wan didn’t dare to look back. There were too many droids to risk it. Black spots appeared. Was that something new? They flickered. Oh. He was about to pass out. That wasn’t good.
He took a step back. Anakin would get here soon. Then he could rest. Anakin had yelled his name. He had to be close.
His vision flickered again.
***
Obi-Wan woke up warm. A bandage was wrapped tight around his stomach, holding two bacta patches to either end of his wound.
“You’re awake,” Cody said, and Obi-Wan looked to his right.
“Hi,” he croaked. Cody gave him a cup of ice chips. “Thanks,” he said, and immediately began sucking on a piece of ice.
“Commander Skywalker came in about eight hours ago with you in his arms, screaming about how you were pierced with shrapnel. I had to kick him out because he kept getting in the way and you were bleeding out. It’s a miracle you survived. The Commander pulled out your shrapnel. I assigned him basic medical training that he must complete before going back into the field. His actions nearly killed you.” Cody’s tone was professional, if clipped, but Obi-Wan could feel the current of fear and anger that his CMO usually kept locked away.
“Thank you for patching me up, Cody,” Obi-Wan said.
Cody nodded, refilled Obi-Wan’s ice cup, and made for the door. “I’ll be back in an hour to check your wound. It should be healed by then.” And he left.
***
Cody looked down at his patient. Kenobi was grimacing, somehow the only break in his composure despite his left hand mangled with several broken fingers. “How did you manage this?” Cody asked, tone disapproving.
“It’s not like I did it on purpose, my dear,” Kenobi replied, looking owlishly back up at him.
My dear. That was new. Cody tucked that thought away for later.
Cody scowled at Kenobi. “That isn’t what I asked,” Cody said instead. He grabbed the supplies he would need to clean the hand, bandage it, and set the bones. Then he grabbed a drip line with fluids and pain medication.
“I hardly think that’s necessary,” Kenobi began, but then stopped at one hard look from Cody.
“Mash!” Cody barked.
“Yes, Cody?” said the medic when he arrived.
“Administer the fluids and pain reliever to the General here while I prep to fix his hand.
“Will do,” Mash said, and then turned to the General. “Hello, General, how are you doing today? I see that it can’t be very good with your hand all messed up like that, but don’t worry. Cody here will fix you up in no time. I’m just going to get you set up so that you can feel better quickly and Cody here can get to work. You get him all worried, you know, with the amount of injuries you come in here with,” Mash rambled, wiping Kenobi’s elbow with alcohol and then fluidly slipping the needle into a vein.
Cody could scream. Mash would be paying for that slip of information later. He would sort all of the medication alphabetically, and then numerically, and then Cody would make him do it again.
Kenobi smiled warmly at Cody.
Okay. Mash was off the hook. This time.
***
Obi-Wan groaned. His whole body ached. He opened his eyes, blinded by darkness for a few seconds until they adjusted to the low lighting. “Boil?” he called out. He hoped the Marshall Commander was okay. He heard a groan and moved toward it. “Waxer, Wooley, Cody?” he called out.
Obi-Wan looked around again. Rock and rubble was everywhere. He seemed to have fallen into a cave.
“General?” he heard, and he turned around to see a giant pile of rock. The movement made him dizzy.
“Boil?” he called back.
“Yes! I have Waxer and Wooley with me. Is Cody with you?” Boil called back.
“Obi-Wan looked around, and saw a figure slowly getting up. “Yes! Can you contact the Negotiator about getting us a lift out of here?”
“On it, General!” Boil called back.
Obi-Wan limped over to where Cody was now sitting. His knee was now hurting him. “Cody?” Obi-Wan said softly.
“Here, General. Are you okay?” Cody said.
“Yes, just a little dizzy and my knee is now bothering me,” Obi-Wan said, a smile tugging at his face. Cody was so focused and dedicated to his care. “How are you?”
“I’ll be okay, sir. Minor concussion that Kix will attend to as soon as we get back. It sounds like you have one, too.” Cody turned his flashlight on and began looking around.
“Probably,” Obi-Wan agreed. He bent down to sit next to Cody, hissing when his knee twinged. Cody looked at him quickly.
“Be careful, sir,” Cody said.
“I always am, my dear,” Obi-Wan smiled.
Cody snorted. “Your medical file would say otherwise.”
***
Obi-Wan stared down at Cody, feeling odd at the role reversal. It was always him in the medical bed, not Cody. It was always him with the injuries, not Cody. Cody was supposed to be the strong, steady one, who always knew how to fix it.
Obi-Wan didn’t know what he would do if Cody didn’t wake up.
Mash quietly changed Cody’s dressings. And wasn’t that strange? Mash was usually a chatterbox, a bright beacon in a room full of injuries and pain and death. Obi-Wan closed his eyes.
“He will be okay, Mash,” Obi-Wan said. Mash looked at him. “Cody is strong, and his presence in the Force hasn’t wavered yet.” Obi-Wan said it to comfort Mash as much as to remind himself of this fact. “It might be a while, he did take a lot of blaster bolts, but he will wake up again.”
“I hope so too, sir,” Mash said quietly, choking up.
“I’ll finish changing the bandages, you go take a break,” Obi-Wan said. “Cody taught me how to do it, remember?”
“Yes, sir,” Mash said, eyes going watery.
“Go be with your batchmates,” Obi-Wan said, and Mash left.
Obi-Wan changed Cody’s bandages. He was as gentle as he could be, trying to repay the kindness that Cody had shown him. Then sat down next to Cody, and waited.
***
Cody woke up and his entire body hurt. He groaned softly and opened his eyes. The room was bright, and he could hear a light snore next to him. Cody looked over and there was Obi-Wan, holding his hand, fast asleep.
Cody smiled. He knew his General, Obi-Wan, would have his back. Cody squeezed the hand holding his, and Obi-Wan stirred.
“Hello, my dear,” Cody croaked.
“Cody!” Obi-Wan said, a smile stretching across his face. “You’re awake!” He leaned closer. “We were so worried you wouldn’t.” He squeezed Cody’s hand again. “I was so worried you wouldn’t,” he said confidentially.
“I’m awake,” Cody confirmed and carefully, oh so carefully, leaned forward to press his forehead against Obi-Wan’s.