CONSTELLATIONS | Poe Dameron

CHAPTER XII

A few days had passed on Devaron. Dr. Sanu and I had ruled out quite a few diagnoses and together were able to manage the pain of the patients. We now had fifteen in the medical wing. It was later in the evening, and most of the sick were asleep after their evening salve application. Most of the nurses had gone back to their quarters, except for the few on night shift.

I was stationed in the elderly gentleman's room. I had come to call him Mr. Veroan and I took it upon myself to keep a close eye on him. He was the furthest along in the illness, and while we had somewhat halted the progression, I was still worried about him. He had told me yesterday that he couldn't bare the weight of the blanket on his chest any longer because it felt like it was suffocating him. Last night, he was the victim of my awful nightmares, and I vowed to find out what this was and a cure for it before he got any worse.

I had my feet propped up on a second chair as I read through a book of ancient illnesses. My eyes were tired and dry from the day, and I had a hard time keeping the words from blending together on the page. I let out a soft groan into my mask, throwing my head back so I was looking up at the ceiling.

"Book's that bad, huh?" A quiet voice came from the doorway, causing me to shoot up in my chair. Poe was leaned against the frame, his arms crossed over his chest with one foot crossed over the other. He was a sight for literal sore eyes. While glancing over him, it dawned on me that he wasn't wearing a mask.

"Poe!" I whisper-yelled at him. "You shouldn't be here." I grabbed a mask out of a drawer and walked over to him, handing it over. "Put this on, the last thing I need is you getting sick." I softly closed Mr. Veroan's door and made my way to Dr. Sanu's office, beckoning Poe to follow. I had set up a small desk in the corner of the room to work from, and I threw my book down on it.

"What are you doing here?" I asked the man.

"I came to see how everything was going. I feel like I haven't seen you in a couple of days. General Organa sent a transmission to BB-8 earlier and was asking how we were." He made his way over to the plush chair near the bookcases along the far wall.

"That's because you haven't. I feel like we are so close to figuring this thing out... If I'm not in my room, I'm here." I said with a shrug, joining him in the matching chair by his. "There is a piece of the puzzle that we are missing. I've resorted to looking at old diseases that we assumed were eliminated, but to no avail." I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed before putting my head in my hands, leaned over my knees. I felt a warm hand on my back, and twisted my head to look over at the pilot. He was leaning towards me, softly rubbing my back.

"You're doing everything you can. Having you here is keeping everyone's spirits up, even those who are sick. They know you will help them. You are so dedicated and passionate about helping others- it's amazing to witness. You'll figure this out, doc." The look he was giving me and the kind words made tears begin to form in the corners of my eyes. I was exhausted and discouraged, and I guess it was more obvious than I had thought.

"What if I can't, Poe? What if it gets worse and this was all for nothing?" A tear escaped my eye as I looked forward, dwelling on the worse case scenario for the Devaronians. Poe appeared kneeling in front of me. He reached out and brushed the tear away with his thumb before pulling me into his chest.

I was too depleted to be embarrassed by this rare show of weakness and how intimate our position seemed. I let him hold me, rubbing small circles on my back, trying his best to soothe me. I listened to the steady beat of his heart, using it to keep me grounded. He took a deep breath and released it before holding me away from him with a soft smile on his face. "Come on, doc. Let's go get some fresh air. Not that the air around here is that fresh feeling." He made an annoyed face.