Blinded by the Dark | General Hux

V

Amelia forced her eyes to open, pulling her eyelids apart then swiftly closing them with a groan of pain that flowed through her head from the light. She tried again with a disgruntled sigh and tried to make the blurry white focus, blinking a few times. 

After swallowing a few times to rid the dull pain in her throat she turned her head, letting her eyes fall on two figures talking across the room with their backs to her. One turned to find her awake and walked over while the other, presumably a nurse or doctor, left them alone. 

The one who approached she recognised, distinguished by sleeked back red hair and a permanently stern look, though there was a hint of relief in his eyes as he sat by her side. 

"General Hux..." she said and he gave a nod, leaning forward to help her sit up when she struggled, hissing at the sharp jabbing in her side.

"Amelia...be careful. You mustn't exert yourself." 

"Thank you...ow..." She gripped onto his arm as she squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm guessing the battle didn't go quite to plan then." 

"For you perhaps, but we managed to irradicate them. We have you to thank for that, you did well despite your injury. These things happen. You'll be okay, it was merely a bad graze, a few centimetres across and we would have been in trouble." He helped her lean into the pillows then sat back himself, watching her stare up at the ceiling to try and piece together the events that had passed. 

"Where is Ren?" 

"He's fine. He will be returning shortly..."

"Good..." she whispered, closing her eyes thankfully. He was okay too, she hadn't accidentally gotten him killed or something in her incompetence. He was safe. But it suddenly came to her then why he wasn't the one with her. "You saved me...You rescued me, didn't you?"

"I came to your aid...as I would any other colleague," he muttered, looking down and she let slip a small smile, watching how he blinked a few times to mask his embarrassment, eyelashes fluttering against pale skin. "It was nothing..."

"Thank you..." she said sincerely and he looked up to meet her eyes, nodding. "I was scared and...I don't think I would be here now if not for you...and that other man whoever he was. Thank you, General." 

"That's quite alright. I have no doubt you would've done the same...Well, I hope you would've done the same."

She nodded, picking at the covers of her bed and sitting there for a while longer in silence. It wasn't as awkward as it could have been but not exactly the most enjoyable experience. 

"I should go." he eventually said. "I have...I've got reports and work and things to see to. I was just checking you were okay." 

They both turned to the door when it opened and Hux stood when that same dishevelled, dark-haired man walked in, the one from before who had also come to her on the battlefield, who had that energy about him, now changed into more casual clothes. Who he was she didn't know, but she did know that her master would certainly not be happy with her.

He immediately walked to her side when he saw she was up and she looked up at him in confusion. 

"Amelia...You're alright. He took care of you then, that's good." he breathed as if he'd run a long way. She was still apprehensive though as her mind continued to clear and put pieces together. 

"And...you are?" she muttered with a nervous laugh as this stranger's concern. She sat up a little more and looked at both of them: their obvious tension and distrust of one another rippling from them in waves. When the man looked back at her, the puzzle in her head finally clicked and she shook her head. "No...Oh, it's you...Master Ren."