Cody learns to love

20

  I got feedback that centered text was hard to read. I hope it's better now and I will edit all the chapters when I have time.

  In this chapter, I want to explore some other characters than just Cody's and Obi-Wan's families. Cody can't afford to be sick. Vokara just wants to wrap it up and close the office. And guess who finally gets to see the doctor?

  Vokara Che was once again spending the weekend in her office. Days off weren't for doctors, not when it was only her, her former apprentice, Bant, and the doubtful Kaminoan facility for three entire levels.

  "You really are staying here until night?" Bant asked. "Rest is important, Vokara, you said it yourself."

  "That's Doctor Che for you, young lady," Vokara chided, half as a joke. The worst thing was that Bant was right, she really did tell her that rest was important and to take the Saturday afternoon off. Bant was already on her way home. "And I won't close the office for as long as patients are waiting."

  "The office is supposed to be closed for the weekend, you can at least close sooner if you insist on working."

  "It's a duty of a doctor to help those who need it. Now go home, get some rest, and I will see you on Monday."

  Bant sighed but Vokara knew Bant knew that she could never win a discussion about health with her. "Don't forget to sleep. See you on Monday," Bant resigned and waved her a quick goodbye before rushing out of the office. She was a good doctor but at the same time, she was still young and full of life. Vokara had no doubt Bant would make use of the weekend. For her, there was a feverish and visibly dehydrated Nautolan waiting in the waiting room.

  "Mr. Ranomd!" she called for him to come over. At least the waiting room was relatively empty. Only the Nautolan, a Zabrak with a sprained ankle and a baby Togruta for her routine check. If she was lucky, she could close up in an hour.

  Vokara really was lucky. Not even 3 pm and she was already cleaning up. Then the door of the waiting room opened and Vokara was pretty much ready to choke whoever the idiot was. She walked out of her office at a fast pace. Then her face softened. "Kix, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

  "Doctor Che!" the boy's gaze lit up with a smile. He ignored her question. "Do you want to hear my theory about jellyfishes?"

  "Of course. Wait in the office for me and I will talk to your brother."

  Kix nodded enthusiastically and jogged to Vokara's office. Such a precious little one, he always brightened Vokara's day. He was the favorite patient she wasn't allowed to have.

  "Hello, doctor Che," the older Fett who came with Kix - she recognized it was Cody from the scar on his face, she had patched that up herself - greeted her.

  "Mr. Fett, what brings you here today?"

  "He has strep throat and he didn't want to come!" Kix called from where he was sitting in Vokara's office. "I dragged him here, doctor Che," he announced proudly.

  "Kix is exaggerating, my throat just feels a little sore."

  Vokara gave Cody a look. She knew a doctor avoiding bastard when she saw one. She also knew that to keep Cody on bed rest, she would have to sedate him and tie him to a bed. Her only hope was that he didn't actually have strep throat and only caught a cold or something. "You did right, Kix. Just like a true doctor."

  "I will be the best doctor in the world when I'm older," Kix vowed.

  "Of course you are," Vokara smiled. She never really liked children, never really saw why someone would want them. She has refused quite a few apprentices and only took on Bant because she was already an adult. But if the child was Kix, she supposed she could work with that. It was too soon but in three or four years, Kix would be old enough to become an apprentice of the Healers' guild. And if he still wanted to be a doctor, Vokara wouldn't hesitate to take him on as her apprentice. "Now why do you think Cody has strep throat?"

  "Because Fives and Echo have strep throat and it can be contagious. And sore throat is one of the symptoms."

  "And what are the other symptoms of strep throat?"

  "A fever."

  "Exactly. And when you are a doctor, you can look in people's mouth and you can tell they have strep throat when the inside of their neck is swollen. I will look at your brother now. Do you want to watch?"

  "Yes!" Kix yelled enthusiastically and normally Vokara would just scold any child shouting in her office but this was Kix, he was an exception. 

  "Come here then. Mr. Fett, you sit on the chair and open your mouth," Vokara ordered. Cody didn't seem happy with being a test subject for an eight years old but that was his problem. And he was going to thank Vokara later when Kix became a famous doctor and scientist and won the intergalactic prize for science for curing cancer. Vokara used a spatula to open Cody's mouth wider and gestured for Kix to take a look. "Does anything look red or swollen?"

  Kix leaned forward to get a better look. "No."

  "That means Cody doesn't have strep throat. His throat is probably just a little irritated," Vokara explained and Kix made a thoughtful - and adorable - expression as he took it in. "Now, Mr. Fett, I recommend you not to drink anything cold until you feel better and take it easy. Kix will see to it, right?"

  "I will take good care of him, doctor Che," Kix promised.

  "Just like a real doctor," Vokara ruffled Kix's hair and the boy beamed at her.

  "That's because of the t-shirt," Kix told her and Vokara didn't know what he was talking about until he pointed at the red sign on his sleeve. "This is like a medic's sign. Cody got me the t-shirt last week. It makes me more like a doctor."

  "You know, being a doctor isn't about what you wear. It's about your skills and your good intentions. You have all that inside."

  "Of course, doctor Che. But the sign still gets me closer," Kix insisted. "You still haven't heard my theory about jellyfishes," Kix remembered.

  "You can tell me now."

  "Okay! You know that jellyfishes don't have brain and they only let the current carry them? And they don't get sea sickness? So if someone ate a jellyfish before getting seasickness, he couldn't throw up because jellyfishes don't get seasick," Kix explained and it physically hurt Vokara to tell him his theory was wrong.

  "That's not how it works, Kix."

  "It's not?" Kix looked at her. He looked seconds from crying.

  "No, but there are other ways to prevent seasickness. Do you know what causes it?"

  Kix shook his head.

  "Hmm... Then why don't you do a research and you tell me what you found the next time you are here? It will be like a practice for medicine. You will have to do a lot of research there."

  Kix suddenly brightened and grinned. "Yeah! I will do the best research you've ever seen, doctor Che. I will even get sick so I can come sooner."

  "I would rather if you didn't do that. It's hard doing your job as a doctor when you are sick yourself, you know? You can just come along when Cody takes Boba for his regular check-up. That's on Wednesday, by the way."

  "But that's whole," Kix paused to count the days in his head. "Whole four days!"

  "The research will keep you busy. And I almost forgot," Vokara pulled a cookie out of the drawer of her table and handed it to Kix. She always kept some treats in there just in case Kix came. "You deserve a treat after being such a wonderful doctor."

  Kix took the cookie. "Thank you, healer Che! See you on Wednesday!" Kix waved at her before he let Cody drag him away. He just made working on weekends worth it, Vokara thought as she heard Kix's excited chatter fade away.