By the time Aviina clicked the cauterizer off Din had passed out. She saw this as both a blessing and a curse as he both needed rest and reprieve from the pain, but her worry made her check his pulse every two to three minutes.
The wound was ugly and would no doubt scar, but now that it was closed he could heal. Her stomach dropped as she poured over her handy work and pressed her hands into Din's skin, realizing he was hot to the touch. She hadn't cleaned it quick enough and now a fever was setting in. He needed Bacta, and after searching his belt and her bag she determined that they were screwed.
Though it was still pitch black outside, the first dredges of the morning were beginning to blanket Tuella as shopkeepers made their way to their shops past the window of her room. She pushed herself up from the bed beside Din, gritting her teeth as her muscles protested, and crossed to her canvas bag. She had been awake for nearly fourteen hours, and while that on its own wasn't entirely troublesome, the fact that she'd killed four men (one of whom she thought was her friend), been beaten and nearly choked to death, and all but carried a man nearly twice her size back to safety made it very difficult to keep her eyes open.
Exhaustion tugged at her joints as she gathered her canvas bag, slung it over her shoulder, and trudged out the door. Once she was sure the door was sealed behind her she ambled down the hallway. She was uncharacteristically grateful for the fluorescent lighting as it aided in her feat of not falling dead asleep on her feet.
When she emerged in the lobby, it was not empty like it had been when she'd dragged Din through. The man who'd checked her in earlier was standing behind the desk with an older woman with a massive amount of curly red hair with a few curls of gray throughout. Aviina assumed this was Carla, the woman the man had yelled for earlier. As Aviina approached, the man cast her a glance but then stared back at her in shock. Noticing her companion's sudden surprise she too turned to look at Aviina, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth.
"What in the Maker's name happened to you?" the man said when Aviina leaned against the desk— half to look casual and unbothered by the swelling, cuts, and bruises that covered her face and neck, and half to provide minimal relief to her aching body.
"It's not as bad as it looks," Aviina tried to muster a smile but it hurt too bad so her face ended up contorting into a wince.
"It looks horrible," Carla said, reaching out to hover her fingertips above Aviina's throat. She blushed in embarrassment when Aviina shrunk away from the contact.
"Do you know where I can buy some E-Bacta?" The longer it took to secure the antibiotic, the less of a chance it had to beat Din's fever. Not to mention she was on a time crunch: tonight would be the night she had to meet her bounty and she hoped she would get to sleep before then.
"There's a stall next door. They should have some," The man answered.
Aviina's heart soared at the proximity to the inn. She thanked the awestruck pair before she wobbled out of the lobby.
Now that she was outside, Aviina could see that just over the horizon, the black of night was giving away to a soft purple color as the small, inconsequential sun was making its way to Tuella. With it, a sense of hope found Aviina. That hope brought the strength she needed to meander the ten or so feet from the inn's front door to the wallless shop next to it.
Several tables were set up in the sand and adorned with trinkets, droid parts, spools of fabric, tools— pretty much anything that the owner thought he could sell. The setup wasn't unlike that of a Jawa's. One of the tables was tucked back into the corner and shaded by a makeshift tent made out of three long pipes driven into the sand and a triangular piece of fabric strung between them. Aviina thought this must be to protect the shopkeep from the sun because while the hours the sun had in Tuella were few, the heat was brutal.
