I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS: CLONE WARS. (Still wish I did)

Prompt by Midnightdawn.

Hope anyone who reads it, likes it all right. Thanks for taking the time! :)

Kix lay in disbelief, blinking at the bright overhead light. He was the medic. It was his job to be the one busily running about the room prepping for surgery. That was always him... except when he was the one lying in the medical bed, blood gushing from a gaping hole in his abdomen... while Coric rushed in a frenzied manner, prepping for surgery. SO that's what this felt like. He leaned back against the bed, breathing through the pain.

Kix gritted his teeth and looked at the other medic. "Sorry for the mess..." he groaned, trying for a smile. Instead, it turned into a pained grimace and he pressed his head back against the table.

Coric looked back and shook his head. He hurried over, injecting a painkiller and sedative directly into Kix' bloodstream. Coric cut away the under-shirt Kix had been wearing. Before he treated the wound, he assessed the severity and damage; airway, breathing, circulation, and exposure. His expression was blank and calm as he worked—professional. Still, the concern showed in his eyes... perhaps Kix only noticed because he had the same eyes, and more than once, he'd worn that same expression.

"Aw, Kix..." Coric muttered as he applied pressure to the wound using sterile pads, slowing the blood-flow.

Kix knew it was bad, if the senior medic was giving him THAT tone of voice. He tried to push past the pain and focus. If he stayed still and quite, it would help the other medic. It wasn't easy being on this side of treatment.

Coric called over one of the sub medics, calling for a blood transfusion. The man hurried off to get the correct blood type. (There was never a shortage, as they were clones. That was nice.) "Keep pressure here," he ordered, placing one of Kix's hands over the wound while he moved away to get a compression bandage.

Kix knew what he was supposed to do. He'd already done what he could before he'd been brought aboard. He'd made sure no vital organs were hit, slowed the bleeding, and remained still and calm. As he watched the other medic, things blurred. He knew it was only partially because of the sedative... and mostly caused by blood-loss. The world spun and he groaned quietly. For what seemed like a second, everything went black.

"Forceps..."

Kix eyes blinked open and the blurry image of the other clone hovered over him. The pain was dulled, but he knew what they were doing. After all, Coric was doing what he considered to be his job. Apparently, Coric was prepping the sutures. It was worse than he'd first thought. Or maybe he'd just been wishing it wasn't that bad... He didn't want to leave his brother's down on the planet without a medic. Still, he wasn't stupid enough to refuse evac. He'd known he needed immediate medical attention.

"He's..." empty space filled with white noise, "...shock."

Kix mentally groaned. He was in shock. He breathed out a long, shuddering breath. Coric could handle it... he had it under control. All Kix could feel at this point was mild pain, and a feeling of falling. (That he recognized as the sedative taking full affect.) He mumbled something, trying to get the other medic's attention. It didn't come out right the first time. "Get... someone back... to them."

"I've got it, Kix. I already send a medic planet-side."

Kix felt a shiver of relief. Of course he should've known Coric would've taken care of it. But still... he couldn't help but think of his brothers first. He'd been trained to think like that. "Sorry... Thanks..." he mumbled. Then blackness swallowed him into it's embrace.

Dark eyelashes fluttered slowly over amber eyes. Kix forced away the exhaustion and opened one eye at a time. The lights in the room were low, but still on. He inhaled slowly, chancing a look at himself. Yup. He pulled the edge of the shock-blanket up, and inspected the injury sight... or, at least, the massive white wrapping of bandages that covered the area.

"Kix!"

He flinched in surprise, groaning at the twinge of pain the sudden movement caused. He turned his head around 'til he could look over at the person belonging to the voice.

"You're awake!" Ahsoka sat literally on the edge of the plain white medical chair, eyes so wide they'd pop if they were any wider.

"Mhm..." Kix responded tiredly.

Ahsoka leaned forward and wrapped both her small hands around one of his.

He blinked at her, only just noticing she was covered in blood. Kix struggled to sit up, at first thinking she was injured.

"Whoa... No, no, no! Kix! No. Lie still," she put a hand on his chest and pushed him down. "I'm okay!" she added. Looking down at her blood-stained clothes, she grimaced, "Not mine; yours."

"Oh... 'm sorry, Commander."

"No need to apologize. Just glad you're okay." She smiled softly. "Coric wouldn't let me in 'til he finished... and I wasn't leaving 'til I made sure you were all right. So... are you all right?"

Kix laughed until it hurt—which was actually only about two seconds—then nodded. "Good as I can be, Commander."

Ahsoka studied his face, seeming to search for some sign he wasn't telling the truth. "You got shot!"

"Yeah, but I'm all right. I'll be back at my post in no time."

"No—I mean, yes—But I'm not trying to rush you back... I mean, that's not why I'm here. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I know," he smiled.

"You're okay then?"

"Mhm."

She looked skeptical even now.

"Hey, Kid... who's the medic, me or you?"

Ahsoka grinned. "Okay, you win," she conceded. A moment later, she was talking again. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you." He stopped. "On second thought... tell me 'bout the mission?" He figured, if the commander was up here, it was over. He must've been out longer than he'd first anticipated.

"A couple hours after you uh... left, we routed the Seppies—most of them, anyway. There are still a few, but my master said I could come check on you, because he had it under control. Anyway..."

Kix grinned while Ahsoka talked. It never ceased to amaze him just how much the young Jedi could talk. She seemed to have an endless supply of words and stories to go with them. Kix didn't have what most people called "family," but he figured, Ahsoka was what a sister would be like. In his mind, she was the 501st's adopted little sister. Everyone loved her, and it wasn't hard to see why.

"Kix...?"

"Hm?"

"You still with me?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, what'd I say?"

"The destroyer droids surrounded you, while Rex, Hardcase, and Jesse took them out from behind."

Ahsoka beamed. "Okay, good enough..." she continued with her story, glad to have a captive audience, as it were.

Kix wondered if Jedi were supposed to be like that. He'd never met any others like her. She was cheery, bright, and... well, a bit unorthodox. Ahsoka wasn't like the stiff, dusty, cold Jedi he'd met everywhere else. He liked her all the more for it.

"Then, I came back up here for the second time... and Coric wouldn't let me in!" she finished. "I had to wait a good twenty minutes before he did!"

"Twenty minutes, huh?"

"Y—wait! Are you teasing me? Your commanding officer?"

"Technically, I outrank all of you."

Ahsoka leaned her head back and laughed. "Fine. I'll give you that." With that, Ahsoka leaned back, sliding the chair against the wall. "Well, I've gotta go... file some reports. Just had to check on your first."

"Thanks, Commander."

Ahsoka smiled in response, then turned and left. The room fell into a calming silence, and Kix drifted back into peaceful darkness.

A/N Thank you to anyone who read all the way through! Y'all are awesome! *Grinning*

Hope you liked it! (It was SLIGHTLY AU) I would greatly appreciate reviews, if you've got a moment!