XXIV Wildly Unpredictable
"This is so extreme," Hux looked at me like I was a mad woman. He was probably right.
"I mean, we could amputate it. It's probably more efficient," Ben was looking at my leg thoughtfully. It was kind of creepy, having everyone standing around me, lying on hospital bed soaked crimson with my blood, staring at my leg which was not looking in the best condition. Who am I kidding, it looked pretty nasty. Be glad you weren't there, I'm telling you- it was nasty. And painful. Very painful. At this point I was surprised to be alive, there was so much blood.
"What? No! Think of how inconvenienced I would be!"
"You'd be safe and out of trouble as well," my brother chuckled.
"You should be glad I can't stand up right now," I was feeling dizzy despite being hooked up to a machine giving me blood. Which was a waste because my leg was still bleeding. "I swear, if you amputate me I am going to defect to the resistance, kidnap Rey and blow up your entire fleet. Potential for a robot leg or no,"
"Oh come on, I'm joking,"
"Get on with it," I dropped my head onto the pillows. It was too much effort to look at them.
"Aelin, we're not cauterising it,"
"I thought we were. You said-"
"That was to shut you up,"
"I hate you," I mumbled. Even thinking was too much effort.
"Supreme leader we have to do something!" Hux's miserable voice was the last thing I heard before everything went black.
~~~
My leg was on fire. Fire, fire, fire. At least it felt like it, I wasn't sure. Fire, fire, fire. That was all I could think about. Fire. I was already sick of the word. Don't play with fire kids. I snorted. My leg was on fire and that was all I could think of. Don't play with fire, kids. In fact, don't play with fire at all. Have I mentioned the time with the flame-thrower? No, I guess not. Fire. I used to think it was pretty. Beautiful. It's golden glow, wild unpredictability, the way the embers danced in the night sky. We used to have the best bonfires, me and dad. When I was a kid, then, he drifted away. Left me, like everyone else. I tried to be a good daughter. A normal daughter. Guess the Skywalker heritage got me, too. Guess it got all of us. To my brother it's like some kind of, I don't know, gift, but to me? It's a curse. Fire. That's a good analogy of my family. Wildly unpredictable. Wildly unpredictable and my grandpa literally got burned in it. My leg was still on fire. But not. I figured the flames would have consumed the rest of me if I had actually been on fire. I'm going to count my injuries since I joined the First Order and compare them to my injuries from before. Not including that one time- I can't think about.
Injuries since joining the First Order:
- One broken rib
- One leg, which is currently in fire
- Several burns from equipment
- Countless cuts and grazes
- Probably something else which I can't think of. My head hurts, cut me some slack.
Injuries from before:
-The occasional scratch or burn
- That one time with the flame-thrower
- That one time when I- stop. I can't think about that. Ever. Not again. Get back to the list.
- The hole in my heart that was left when they left me.
- The betrayal of- no. I said no. We are not thinking about that.
There, my wonderful mental list. Before: 1, After: 0. An alarm blared. Loudly. This never happened before. Before: 2, After: -3. The alarm was consistent. And annoying. Very annoying. I groaned and sat up, rubbing my eyes. Pain shot up from my leg. "Can't I lie here in pain, and reminisce about the past in peace?" I looked angrily at the ceiling. The was a soft snigger from the stormtrooper in the corner. "Shut up, you," I pulled out the chords in my arm. Ow. Now I was like one of those fools in books who always pull out their medication. I stood up and immediately sat back down. That hurt.
"Ma'am, the supreme leader instructed me not to allow you to leave this room,"
"Forget him,"
"With all due respect, he is my boss. I can't,"
"Metaphorically speaking," I couldn't be bothered to deal with them right now. I marched out of the room, biting back the pain.
~~~
"What's going on?" I entered the bridge to be greeted with the sight of officers furiously typing away, an angry brother and an angry Armitage.
"Oh, you're awake," Armitage looked up from the tablet he was glued to.
"What are you doing here? I told-"
"Since when do I listen to them? Now listen to me, what's going on?"
Ben scratched the back of his neck and sighed. "You're not going to like it..."
"Tell me,"
"Rey's escaped and... she stole your ship,"
"She WHAT?!" I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. "That little- she's going to pay for this," I moved towards the door limping as fast as I could.
"Aelin, I know you want-"
"I'm going. That-she, she stole my ship! I don't care if it's been less than a day than I escaped from the rebel base, I. Am. Going. To. Get. My. Ship. Back,"
"Fine. I can't stop you. But, if your going to attack the rebels and probably try and kill her- much to my better judgement- we might as well launch a full scale attack. We should end this war. For good,"
YOU ARE READING
The Mechanic
Fanfiction"I thought you thought that you were doing the right thing," "I am," "Then why are you painting yourself as a bad guy?" "Because that's what most of the galaxy thinks," "So? Just because they think it doesn't mean you have to. So how do you know I s...
