jedi_librettist | He Was Starting To Foam In the Heat...

“Another reason I didn’t expect to see you here,” she snarked. She laid the back of her hand against Ben’s forehead. “You think he has a fever? The boy is burning up.”

She turned and called for a droid to prepare a cool bath. “Help me get his shirt and trousers off.”

He did not let out a snarky comment in response, as much as he may have wanted to. Leia had been on at him for antagonising the doctors; it wasn't appreciated, she said.

"...Take them off?" Bail groaned - it had taken him after to get the damn shirt on. And with those marks... But the doctor wanted it off, so he moved forward to help.

She gave him a dry look. “Yes, take them off. It’ll be a lot harder after they’re drenched from cooling him down.”

Ben, unfortunately, was still sufficiently aware to pick up that someone was undressing him. He made a quiet noise of protest and fought half-heartedly.

"...Fine."

He gave a look back at the doctor as if to say 'see' when Ben started to fight. "Doc says we gotta do it," he said, trying to make his voice clear.

Ben shook his head, shivering and trying to move away from them. He pushed Bail’s hands away and muttered more persistently but his words were too slurred to understand.

The doctor sighed and walked over to a cabinet. She got out a syringe and came back to the bunk. “I don’t like to do this,” she explained as she slid the needle into his skin. “But his fighting will just delay him getting the treatment he needs. He doesn’t seem to even know where he is.”

Bail turned to the doctor and then back to Ben. He didn't want to do it but...

"Fine. Go."

Ben twisted away when he felt the prick of the needle but it was too late. Perhaps the most telling thing was that he didn’t use the Force to fight back, not even as he slid into merciful unconsciousness.

The doctor hissed when they finally got his shirt and pants off. The man’s body was a mass of scars and metal. Her eyes narrowed but she said nothing, simply motioning for Solo to help her carry him to the waiting bath.

Which he did, all the while wanting on the rant that would surely come about his brother's... markings. Not that he had the answers to thrm.

The doctor didn’t say anything until after they got Ben into the cool water. She stayed up by his head, making sure he didn’t slip under the surface. Then she turned to the elder twin.

“What happened to him?”

"He hasn't told me details." That was true, only vague statements. "He was being sold as a slave."

The doctor nodded. “In that case, he should have been to see me as soon as he got back.”

She frowned as she looked down at her patient. She remembered so clearly when the twins were born. They had been so tiny, so innocent. She had always known that wherever the young twin had ended up, he would come back changed if he lived to come home. It’s why she’d been so angry with Bail when he decided to enter the pits. The Solos has already lost one son. It had seemed like the elder twin was in a rush to make sure they lost both. And now they were both home but both had changed so much from the boys she had known.

“I suppose this is just as well, then. I’ll do an extensive check up while he’s here. No doubt, this is just the least of the damage.”

"He doesn't want to see anyone," was the muttered reply. It was taking them long enough to try to get Ben to go to the mess hall and eat with other people - he was still keeping to the private rooms.

The doctor frowned. “Well, that will have to change. He looks like he’s barely been eating.”

She sighed heavily. “I would wager he’s been sick for while now. A fever this high rarely happens suddenly.”

"I'm trying everything I can," Bail groaned, "he just won't eat more than a few mouthfuls at a time."

He wasn't surprised, though he supposed he should have been. Ben was keeping too much to himself now.

“Judging from the state of his body, he may not be able to eat more than that at once.” She sighed. She hadn’t seen anyone in a state close to this since the twins were born. “He will have to make up for that with more frequent meals.”

"Again, been trying that and he just won't eat." There was frustration in his voice, though it wasn't really directed at anyone. Just more at the situation in general than anything else. If he could get Ben to eat more, he would be glad. He just... didn't see it happening. Unfortunately.

The doctor sighed. “Then we may have to admit him. I’d rather not. That’s something I prefer to leave for only the most dire cases. But if he simply will not eat, there may be no other choice.”

He stared, incredulous. "You think admitting him will get him to eat?"

The doctor sighed. “Not like that. We’ll probably have to feed him through a tube until his stomach expands and he gets an appetite again.”

Ani creeped into the bathroom, following their voices. There was nothing to do in that room and he wanted his Dada. The doctor was supposed to fix him, right?

"Oh, that's really going to help things." The sarcastic reply slipped out before he could stop it and he didn't care enough to take it back. Far as he saw it? Force feeding Ben was only going to make him worse in the long run because he was a stubborn asshole like the rest of the family. There was only really one question left.

"Who's explaining it to Leia?"

The doctor gave him a glare. “It might be the only thing that keeps him from starving to death. A body can only go without food for so long before it gives out. It will supplement what he can eat until he has an appetite again.”

She sighed. “I will tell her. I want to admit him until he recovers from this fever anyway. It will make it easier to monitor in case it gets too high again.”

"And there's no chance he'll just go back to his habits when you take him off the tube?" It seemed like a good question to be asking, all things considered.

“There’s always a chance,” she admitted somberly. “It all depends on why he’s not eating. You and Leia will have to deal with that.”

"If I knew why he wasn't eating, I figure I'd be able to get him to eat," was the only comment. "It's just... whatever he went through."

“Have you tried actually talking to him about it?” the doctor asked, rolling her eyes.

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