White Holes [Cassian Andor x OC]

V

With blank eyes the Doctor hung her lab coat upon a hook by the door. She removed the medical mask that covered her face and exhaled feeling exhausted. She looked at the clock above her head which hung on the dull wall of the medical ward

"Time of death?" One of the other doctors asked.

"10:17 she read." She began removing her surgical gloves. Her eyes briefly lingered on the soldier who had just passed. She didn't make it. She had simply become another number, a toll from the war.

Lya had become accustomed to it. Death was a part of the world in which she lived in. It wasn't rare to lose a soul on an odd day, sometimes even illness was beyond medical skill.

She left the room and returned to her small office Lux and Adair, her apprentices, followed behind her with somber expressions.

"Another goner," the doctor mumbled, her features collapsed in an upsetting frown. "Got anything else for me tonight?" She ran an anxious hand through her permanently messy hair.

This had been the 3rd loss of the day, it had been a particularly harsh day. An X-Wing caught on fire barely managed to crash back on Yavin 4, four where injured, three didn't make it.

Both apprentices exchanged a look before shaking their heads.

"Don't look so glum now," Lya began as she walked around her desk and began leafing through some loose papers on her desk. "Death is a part of life. A part of our cause. As dark as it is, it is important that we respect it and those whom she calls." Adair's thin lips stretched into a frown and he looked down at the ground.

"How do you do it?" asked Lux, both of her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Lya wondered if it had been too much for them. It was important to desensitize them to death. Lya shook her head slowly, "Not much one can do, just remember and honor our passed ones and get ahead. Life goes on with and without them, without us."

Both apprentices remained grim to the tender subject. She knew they had both lost loved ones to the cause. It was rare for an anyone not to have suffered a casualty in this war. The Doctor looked at her medical agenda and realized that her other patients of the day were all in observation. Other doctors were on call tonight.

She actually had some time off.

"How about this?" Lya suggested as she began removing her white lab coat. "How about we go to the Cantina? Lighten up a bit?" She offered with a small smile.

It wasn't returned by either.

It was late in the evening by the time that they arrived to the Cantina. Both Lux and Adair weren't looking any more cheerier. Lux's gray eyes were glued to the table, she had barely touched her drink. Adair remained stoic his elbows resting on the table, his eyes blank.

Lya looked down at the water she was drinking before allowing an exhausted sigh to escape her lips. The loud music wasn't helping either.

"Oi!" She stood and snapped her fingers rudely catching the attention of one of the irked bartenders. "Brandy?" She said raising both of her arched eyebrows. Demanding for the strong beverage to be served to them.

A few moments later...

Almost collapsing over the table the Doctor leant over and attempted to be louder than the band's lively music. There were two empty bottles of Jogan Fruit Brandy.

"Listen!" She raised her voice "Do you feel better now?" She drunkenly slurred. Her violet eyes were filled with concern for her students.

Adair held on to his head he toyed with his thick curls as he attempted to keep his head leveled. Lux, however, remained in her dazed state. Her eyes showed only sadness despite the many drinks the Doctor had forced on her.