Get Well Soon

Many parts of the Falcon had broken before, but Han had always thought the doors were reliable. They slid open and shut when they were supposed to and never gave any surprises like the rest of the ship tended to do. Han must have walked through those doors at least a few thousand times without anything happening.

So why the hell did that one door malfunction when he happened to be passing through it? And why the hell did his leg get caught between the door and the frame?

He kept asking himself those questions as he lay in the hospital bed, staring at his leg wrapped up in a cast with his toes sticking out. It hung in a tight sling that felt like it was cutting off his circulation, but every time he tried moving it even a little it burst with pain.

And as if this weren't humiliating enough, the medical droids thought it was appropriate to put him in a flowered hospital gown.

He sighed as he picked up the holovid remote and started flipping through the channels. News, news, news, some sitcom, news, news, some singing contest show, news, some kids' show, news, some game show, news.

Fine, he'd watch the news - at least it was something to keep him occupied, but then he realized that the newscaster was talking about how Han Solo had gotten himself injured on his own ship.

He sighed again as he turned the holovid off and glanced at the chronometer. The medical droids wouldn't be serving dinner for another two hours. Maybe he could take a nap, but he'd already been sleeping for most of the morning. If he napped now he'd probably be awake for most of the night.

His legs were getting stiff, but any attempt to move his injured leg would result in bolts of pain shooting through his foot. Dammit, he thought. His leg muscles would probably wither away before he got out of the hospital.

Just then the door to his room slid open, causing Han to reflexively stifle a groan at the medical droids coming back to check on him. However, it wasn't a droid who entered the room.

"Hey Han!" called Luke as he dashed in, followed by Leia and Chewie. Once she was inside, Leia rushed over to the bed and gave her husband a long kiss on the lips, which helped him forget about his stiff legs for at least a moment.

[How are you feeling, cub?] Chewie asked, ruffling Han's hair with his giant paw.

"Bored as hell," said Han. "And stiff."

"Are the droids treating you well?" asked Luke.

"I dunno, define well," said Han. "If by well you mean poking the leg till it hurts like Mustafar every few hours, then yeah, they're treating me well."

Luke shrugged. "So long as you're getting better."

Han's mouth twisted. "Until I'm outta this damn cast, I ain't gonna know if I'm getting better."

"You are getting better," said Luke. "Trust me, I've been meditating and I haven't sensed you in any danger."

Han slightly rolled his eyes. "Thanks kid, that makes me feel loads better."

Luke grinned down at him. "I got you a card." He handed Han a holocard, which made Han flinch in pain since shifting his weight to take the card slightly jolted his leg.

Han opened the card and there was Luke's miniature holographic image playing a message. "Hey Han, buddy," the message said, waving his cyber hand, "I hope you're doing okay. I mean, I know it's not nice to have a broken leg, but hey, you get some time to yourself, right? I just hope you're not in too much pain and I hope your surgery goes well."

Why did the kid have to remind Han of the upcoming surgery?

"So anyway," Luke continued, "get well soon, and may the Force be with you."

The message ended and the real Luke was giving a rather boyish grin. "So, what do you think?"

"Thanks, kid," said Han, though his voice was less than enthusiastic as his mind went back to the surgery. He wasn't sure exactly what they were going to do to his leg, but it would most likely be incredibly painful when he woke up from the operation.

Luke looked like he was going to say something, but a familiar accented voice calling, "Master Han! Master Han!" kept him from doing so. In hobbled the droid Han could never get away from, followed closely by R2, who was beeping as if he was excited about something.

"Oh Master Han," 3PO exclaimed, "I do hope you will be fully functional before long. It must be terrible to be out of commission like this."

Han sighed. "Well, it could be worse. They could be talkin' about me on the HoloNet."

"Oh," said 3PO, "but people are talking about you on the HoloNet, Master Han. Quite a bit, actually."

"Sarcasm," Han muttered, though he knew by now that the droid had no idea what the word meant.

"But," 3PO continued, "I'm glad that you are at least able to make fun of yourself on the HoloNet."

"What?"

"Why Master Han," said 3PO, "I am referring to the picture you posted on the HoloNet, of course."

"What are you talkin' about?"

Luke, Leia, and Chewie exchanged awkward looks.

"Well?" said Han. "What's goin' on on the HoloNet?"

"It's nothing bad," said Leia.

"Then why the hell ain't you tellin' me?"

After a moment of exchanging more awkward looks with Luke and Chewie, Leia finally pulled out her datapad. "All right, there's this picture going around the HoloNet," she said as she punched in a database address. "Here it is."

Han's eyebrows shot up when he looked at the datapad screen. On it was a picture of Han, holding a sign that said "Can fly the Kessel Run in under twelve parsecs. Can't use a door."

"What . . . the . . . HELL?" Han exclaimed. "I never got that taken!"

"We know," said Leia. "But it's spreading all over the HoloNet anyway."

"Master Han, what are you talking about?" asked 3PO. "The picture is of you, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but it's fake," said Han with a sneer. "Someone crafted that picture and put it on the HoloNet!"

"But Master Han," said 3PO, "why ever would anyone do such a thing?"

Chewie roared that whoever did it would be facing some Wookiee wrath soon.

Luke's mouth twisted in an awkward expression. "Come on Han, it's not so bad."

"Not so bad?" Han shouted. "Someone's havin' a joke at my leg's expense and it's not so bad?"

"Well," said Leia, handing the datapad to her husband, "look at the comments."

After letting out an annoyed sigh, Han took the datapad and scrolled to the comments under the picture.

"Get well soon, General Solo!" was the first one, well that was generic.

"I'm glad Han can have fun with his injury," said the second comment.

"He's still a badass even with a broken ankle, or leg, or whatever's broken," said the third.

Han kept scrolling through the comments, gritting his teeth.

"Some people would just sit and mope, but not Han Solo."

"I love people with a sense of humor."

"You've gotta love how he can make fun of himself."

"Han Solo is always awesome even when he can't walk."

Okay, the comments were getting a little interesting.

"Han Solo is my hero."

"He's got guts."

"Love how he can laugh when he's in pain."

"It looks like the picture's doing your image a favor," said Luke as Han handed the datapad back to Leia.

"Still a fake," said Han.

"Well it's still a big hit."

Han leaned back and folded his arms. "Fine, I don't feel like goin' around the HoloNet and correcting everybody anyway."

[Do you want us to sign your cast, Han?] Chewie suddenly asked.

Han raised his eyebrow at the Wookiee. "Isn't that something kids do?"

Leia sat on the edge of the bed, inches away from Han's sling. "Oh come on honey, it's doesn't have to be just a kids' thing."

"I brought a marker," said Luke.

Han groaned. "Fine, fine, just do it."

Luke grinned as he uncapped the marker. "Anything in particular you want me to write?"

"Nope, just do what you want, I don't care."

Luke grin grew wide and cheeky as he scribbled something on Han's cast.

"What are you writing?" Han asked.

"You'll see," said Luke, still scribbling.

After what seemed like five good minutes of scribbling, Luke finally recapped the marker. "Okay, done."

Han twisted his head, leaning to the side, but his cast was angled in such a way that he could only see a few letters. "Well, what did you write?"

Leia leaned over to read Luke's message. "Hey buddy, I can't wait until you're better. Chewie's taking care of the Falcon for you and I THINK he got that door fixed, but you might want to make sure before you use it again. Anyway, you rest up and get better. May the Force be with you."

Han's eyebrow went up. "How the hell did he write all that on a cast?"

"He also drew a smiling face," said Leia.

Han groaned. "So you think I'm five, kid?"

Luke showed his palms in an innocent gesture. "Hey, you're the one who always calls me 'kid.'"

Chewie gave a Wookiee laugh as Luke handed him the marker. He didn't take as long to sign Han's cast as Luke, but like Luke, he was writing on the side of the cast where Han couldn't see it.

"Okay, what did you write?" Han asked as soon as Chewie capped the marker.

Leia squinted at the cast. "Sorry, I can't read Wookiee."

[I just wrote 'Get Well Soon, Han. Love Chewie,'] said Chewie.

Han shrugged. "Okay, that's good."

"Well, I guess it's my turn," Leia said as Chewie handed her the marker.

"Kay, but can you write it where I can actually see it?" asked Han.

Leia grinned at her husband, that wide teeth-showing grin that was known to make him melt. "All right." She stood up, walked over to the other side of Han's leg, and began writing on his cast, still grinning. "You'll like this."

Han twisted his head, reading Leia's words as she wrote them. "Hi Han, I love you. I've really missed you these past few days. The bed feels really empty without you. I hope you get better soon, honey. Love, Leia."

Han found himself grinning along with his wife as she finished her message. "You were right, sweetheart - I like that."

Leia leaned over and gently kissed the cast, causing Luke and Chewie to give the slightest of snickers.

"Hey, am I late for the get-well party?"

All heads turned to see Lando entering the room, that typical suave grin on his face.

"There's no get-well party," said Han with a slight groan.

"Really?" said Lando. "Well there should be." He walked up to Han and patted the cast, making the pilot flinch in pain. "You've got the most famous leg in the galaxy right now. We oughta be havin' a public get-well party."

"No thanks," said Han. "My leg's had enough public exposure with that dumb HoloNet picture."

"Oh," said Lando, "you mean that one of you holding up the sign sayin' you can't use a door?"

"Yes, that one," said Leia, raising an eyebrow at the gambler. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about who originally posted it, would you?"

Lando just whistled.

THE END