Jedi Crash, part 2/4. May the 4th be with you all. :)

Burns

Ahsoka sighed, sore and tired. She wanted to curl into a ball on the soft tall grass and sleep for a week. She'd been up all night trying to find the people on the planet where they'd crashed while simultaneously worrying about her master. On top of that, they'd lost two troops in the effort, and she still felt bad about it. Master Secura seemed to be taking it better, and it left Ahsoka feeling a little inadequate, but she'd started learning to be patient with herself. Maybe someday she wouldn't be bothered by their deaths either… but the more she thought about it, the less she liked the idea. It seemed to cheapen their lives somehow. She guess it was just the issue of attachment - maybe Master Secura was bothered by it, but she knew that for the greater good they had to keep going, and she had to keep focused. Ahsoka supposed that was the right way to look at it, and she herself had been slowly learning that lesson over the course of this ordeal. Maybe next Anakin got hurt she wouldn't be so panicked.

Ahsoka gulped. She hoped there wouldn't be a next time.

The good news was that they had found the locals and had gotten Anakin help. He had just been placed in the healer's tent. Ahsoka knew he was safe now, but she still felt the need to check on him. He'd looked awful after a second glance, and she was nervous about it. The medical droid had never gotten a chance to treat his burns, and the blisters on his face looked very painful.

Entering the tent, Ahsoka grimaced as she saw Anakin's face. Wag To, the healer, was pulling some cloth out and reaching into a long tube.

"The pods will help with the healing process," he explained to her master as he took green, gooey looking pods and let them soak into the dressings. They smelled strong but not unpleasant. Wag To placed one cloth over Anakin's face, the other over his chest. Ahsoka squinted, a little confused at the treatment measures but too tired to really question the healer. He said he would get Anakin better, and she believed him.

"What about the blisters?" she eventually asked, unable to stop herself. "Shouldn't you clean them out or something?"

Wag To smiled. "No, you don't pop those. That could make them get infected."

Oh. Good thing she didn't try that earlier, then. She had been sorely tempted to. She'd seen Anakin pick mindlessly at scabs before until they bled, and Master Obi-Wan would get on his case for it. She supposed this was the same thing.

"Do the burns feel hot?" she asked Anakin. Then she directed her attention to Wag To. "Can I soak some water into the bandage too?"

"You don't put water on a burn unless it's still actively burning," Wag To explained. "Burnt skin loses heat really easily, and you can make someone very cold by leaving it wet. It can also cause infection. The herbs will take care of it."

"Ahsoka."

Jumping, Ahsoka turned to Anakin, who moaned and tried to move the bandage. Grabbing her master's hands, she said, "Master, don't! The pods are helping."

"It's over my face," he said irritably, his voice muffled.

"You have burns on your face," Ahsoka explained loudly. "They have to heal."

Anakin groaned and shifted, but he said nothing else.

Remembering something, Ahsoka said, "You probably also have a concussion, but I guess we can't do a brain scan."

She heard her master sigh. "I'm fine, Snips."

"You could have died! You're not fine." She said, almost growing frantic and surprised that he would brush this off. More to reassure herself than anyone, she added, "But you'll be ok."

Anakin sighed again, but this time his breath caught and his entire body jumped at the maneuver. The Force flared for an instant and then settled uneasily. Ahsoka recalled the strange procedure the medical droid had done, that it had stabilized him, but she didn't know what to say or do about it. She wasn't even sure if it was pertinent to what was happening now, though she did remember he'd been having trouble breathing before the procedure. She looked at Wag To hopefully, waiting to see how he would resolve it.

Wag To gave her a reassuring smile. "He'll be alright. He just needs rest."

Ahsoka stared at him for a moment, something making her stomach churn. She looked back at Anakin, but he'd seemed to ease into unconsciousness. She guessed Wag To was right. She wasn't a healer, so she didn't know any better. Sighing, Ahsoka left the tent. The sun was starting to kiss the horizon, and she was exhausted. It was finally over. She could rest now.

Glancing back at the tent one last time, she thought about her master. Burns. Concussion. Whatever that thing was the droid did. What a mess. She was glad it was over. Then she smiled. Ha! Now it's my turn to make him do strict bedrest.

Wait. Wasn't she supposed to wake him every few hours? Or did Rex do that yesterday? Or… what if something bad happened because they hadn't done that?

Hang on. Anakin had said it was necessary to wake someone with a concussion within the first twenty-four hours to make sure the brain injury didn't get worse. He still seemed pretty alert and oriented now, and it had been almost two days by this point. If it was going to get worse, it would have already done so, right? She supposed so. Besides, Wag To would notice. He'd know what to do. She'd never seen the medics or droids use herbs before, but that didn't mean there wasn't merit to it. He seemed confident, so she was too.

It was time to get some sleep. And then after, she would get to tease her master mercilessly. At least, once he finally seemed to be on the mend. She was still just on edge enough to take it too seriously for jokes. She couldn't wait to reach the point where he was okay, though, and then she could get him a hoverchair and laugh all the way to the Resolute. That would treat the concussion. She supposed the burns would just have to heal themselves with the aid of the herbs, and probably some salve when they got back to the ship. So he really did just need rest.

Sighing in relief, Ahsoka walked to the outskirts of the village to where she saw Master Secura. She smiled to herself as she thought of the little treatment plan she'd just come up with – she really was learning how to take care of medical issues. At this rate she'd be a healer herself before the war was over.

It was starting to make sense how her master knew so much about injuries – he seemed to be the expert at getting them.

Ahsoka giggled to herself as a certain Jedi's tiredly resigned face appeared in her mind. Poor Master Obi-Wan. She was starting to understand his behavior more every day.