Fractured Minds

Fractured Minds

Chapter 3 - Injuries

Part 3/?

Word Count: 1,462

Warnings: Angst, characters in pain

Authors Note: Happy May the 4th, everyone! Just wanted to let y'all know that there may not be any new parts of Fractured Minds for a while.

Enjoy!

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Crosshair puts his right hand on Tech's shoulder reassuringly.

Crosshair: Omega's safe.

Tech: Where is she? Is she on the ship?

Crosshair: Look, she's just a few rooms down, she's fine, you don't need to worry-

Tech tries to get up, but the shooting pain in his ankle stops him in his tracks. Phee quickly stands up, holding him back from getting out of bed.

Tech: Ngh-!

Phee: Easy, brown eyes, easy.

Tech lays back on the bed, catching his breath.

Phee: Yeah, there we go.

Crosshair: Don't over-exert yourself. You've been out for a week, you're still recovering.

Tech: I have to go see her! I need to know that she is alright!

Crosshair: Tech-

Tech: Crosshair, I shot her!

Crosshair: I know!

Tech suddenly stops, looking at Crosshair surprised.

Tech: You... know?

Crosshair sighs, nodding his head.

Phee: He was the one who found you and the kid, brown eyes.

Tech: ...Omega... is she?

Crosshair: She's alive.

Tech sighs.

Tech: When can I go see her?

Phee: A couple days, brown eyes. For now, you gotta rest, and we gotta get the doc to come check up on you.

Tech looks at Phee, puzzled as to who she was referring to.

Tech: The doctor?

Phee: Oh, right, you haven't met Emerie yet.

Crosshair: I'll go get her.

Crosshair turns and walks out of the room. Tech notices something he hadn't before. Crosshair's left hand is gone. That was his fault, he remembers, he'd cut it off while he was under the Empire's control.

"Apologies will be made later," he tells himself. He turns back to Phee.

Tech: Phee, who is Emerie?

Phee chuckles a bit.

Phee: All I'm gonna say is: congrats Tech, you're a big brother.

A few rooms down...

Emerie tapped the datapad in her hand, updating her ongoing log on Omega's condition. She looked over at her sister. Still the same as she had been the day before.

Omega was laid down on the bed, eyes closed, bandages on her hands and shoulder, a heart monitor beeping right next to her.

Then Emerie looked over at Hunter. He had barely left Omega's side since the incident. Emerie will never forget the look of pure horror he had when he saw Omega being carried to the ship. Hunter will never forget the sense of pure dread that washed over him when he saw she had been shot.

He'd had nightmares about losing her, starting about a month after she had joined them, and most of them were not pretty. When she had been shot for the first time, a week or two after Kamino, she woke up just a couple hours after.

But it had been a week. A week since she had been shot and she still wasn't awake. Hunter held Omega's hand tight, but not so tight that it would hurt her. He brushed a stray blonde hair out of her face, one that he knows would have annoyed her if she was awake.

"Go! I'll catch up to you!" were the last things she had said to him. Those words rung in his ears ever since, because he knew she didn't mean it. She wasn't planning on making it back.

He felt the tears sting his eyes again, but he blinked them away. He had to stay strong. For her. Emerie looked over at him. She hesitated for a moment, before walking over to Hunter and putting a comforting hand on his back. He looked up at her.

Emerie: Don't worry, her vitals are stabilizing themselves, she will wake up soon.

Hunter sighs.

Hunter: Thanks, Emerie.

Emerie: No problem.

Hunter looks back at Omega. Emerie looks at Hunter worriedly, moving her hand up to his shoulder.

Emerie: You should go get some rest. Omega wouldn't want you sleep-depriving yourself while she's gone.

Hunter: No, it's fine, and she's not gone she's-

Emerie tightens her grip on Hunter's shoulder, looking down at him coldly.

Emerie: Hunter, you have not slept in two days. I will not hesitate to sedate you again.

Hunter looks up at her surprised, but then sighs. He stands up, letting go of Omega's hand. Emerie starts guiding him towards the door, her expression softening a little.

Hunter: Okay, fine. Just- keep watch over her, I don't want her to suddenly wake up and be alone in here, and if her condition starts deteriorating, please call me, and-

Emerie: Hunter. It's okay. I've got this. Go get some rest, you'll feel better in the morning.

Hunter hesitated for a moment before nodding understandingly. He made his way to the door, but stopped in the doorway. He looked back at Emerie and smiled at her.

Emerie: What?

Hunter: Nothing, it's just... you sounded just like her... just now.

Emerie: Well, we are clones of each other, so we obviously would have similar-

Hunter: I don't mean in that way, I mean... you both have the same way with words, and the same way to intimidate people into taking care of themselves, of course.

He chuckles.

Hunter: ...I don't know why we ever doubted that you were our sister.

Emerie is surprised by this sudden compliment, but turns away from him, looking back at her datapad.

Emerie: Goodnight, Hunter.

Hunter: Goodnight... little sister.

Hunter left the room. Emerie stood there frozen for a moment. The words "little sister" repeating in her mind. She smiled a little, but then she looked back up at her sister, who still laid there, her breathing steady and calm.

Emerie had read through Omega's medical records out of curiosity once, and they listed that she had been comatose before. It was when she got the chemical burn on her shoulder when she was 9, but she had only been asleep for a few days. This had been a week.

Emerie approached Omega's bedside. In truth, Emerie didn't know when or if Omega was going to wake up. Her vitals had been steadily increasing in the past week, but at a slow pace. At their current rate, Omega wouldn't wake up for months, if she even woke up. There was a low chance Omega would actually die this way, but Emerie didn't want to test the odds. She put her hand to Omega's forehead. No fever. That's good. No fever means no infection. She checked that off the list.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened. Crosshair stood in the doorway.

Crosshair: Hey Em.

Emerie turns to look at him.

Emerie: Crosshair.

Crosshair: Just came to tell you that Tech's awake.

Emerie: Oh, okay- I'll go check on him, see how he's doing.

Crosshair: I'll keep an eye on Omega.

Emerie: No need, I can call-

Crosshair: I'll keep an eye on Omega.

Emerie is silent for a moment, before nodding.

Emerie: O-Of course.

Emerie walks out of the room. Crosshair looks back at Omega. "She seems so... peaceful. Almost as peaceful as the day on the beach. God... was that really only a month ago?" He thought to himself. Everything had changed. Crosshair walks over and kneels down beside her.

Crosshair: Hey, it's just me, again.

When Emerie said that Omega could hear them, they all tried to get her to wake up. It failed, obviously. Now they'd sometimes have small one-sided conversations with her, mostly Hunter and Wrecker. Crosshair put his right hand on her hand.

Crosshair: Just so you don't forget, I did tell you so. I told you "if you went back to Tantiss, you probably wouldn't make it out in one piece."

Crosshair looked at the ends of her hair, browned and blackened from a blaster bolt giving her an "unwilling haircut" as Wrecker called it. Crosshair smiled a little, but only for a moment.

Crosshair: Well, I was right about someone not making it back in one piece.

He looked down at the stump where his left hand would connect to his arm. He frowned.

Crosshair: Y'know, we all miss you. I've been trying to keep up with the meditations while you're asleep. It's helped a lot, actually. Not like I need to worry about it anyway, since my left hand isn't shaking anymore. Get it? ... yeah, I know, bad joke.

Crosshair looked at her face. The dark circles around her eyes had lessened from the last time he'd visited. He pet her head a little.

Crosshair: You should probably wake up pretty soon, everyone's going crazy without you. Batcher's worried about you too.

Crosshair looked over at the Lurca hound, sleeping in the corner, leg twitching a little while she dreamt. Crosshair looked down, tears starting to form in his eyes again.

Crosshair: Please, Omega. Wake up. I can't do this without you. I can't do this alone. You can't leave me here alone.

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Chapter 1: Awake | Chapter 2: Escape