Everything would be easier, if the events would be in his favor! But most of the time, the events turned against him and he needed to learn another lesson in patience and trust.
Qui-Gon sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the wall. He could not believe that this really happened! It was worse enough that their mission were not permitted by the Jedi-Council and events did not unfold as he wanted.
Qui-Gon went to New Apsolon to save the love of his life: Tahl.
On New Apsolon he rescued her for the second time of their lives. The first time was on Melida/Daan, where she was hurt and needed medical care. Now she was poisoned by an Absolute and tortured. Her vital functions were extremely low and Qui-Gon was scared that she would die. The experience on Melida/Daan was nothing against this moment. And now he could do nothing to help her.
They were back on Coruscant and he brought her to the Med center. Now, many medi-droids took care of her health, but nothing seemed to work. She was unconscious, but more like a specific form of coma. Her breathing was normal, but she didn't woke up.
But Tahl's poisoning was not the worst problem. Something happened on New Apsolon that Qui-Gon deeply regretted. While he was searching for Tahl he left his Padawan Obi-Wan in a little settlement with only one female doctor. His leg was hit by a huge rock and he couldn't move it without any pain. But Qui-Gon needed to hurry, so he left his Padawan behind with the believe that he was safe.
When he came back, with a weak Tahl in his arms, he entered the settlement and found his student in a bad condition. The wound on Obi-Wan's leg was inflamed and his body temperature was very high. He felt like burning fire. When he realized the situation, he contacted the Jedi-Council and ordered a space ship with a huge medical station. He carried Obi-Wan and Tahl into the ship and did the first aid.
During the whole trip, Tahl was still unconscious and now the same in the med center. Obi-Wan was conscious during the trip and Qui-Gon tried to get his fever down with wet clothes, but he could see how his student felt into blackness with every second of a day. When they arrived on Coruscant, he felt unconscious too.
" His body is too weak" said the healer. " I hope that he'll wake up soon. Otherwise the fever will force him to die."
Qui-Gons heart stopped beating after this information, but he needed to be strong for both of them.
He ordered that both lingered in one room. The situation was hard enough and he didn't wanted to decide in which room he wanted to stay.
Now he had to wait and hope.
He sat a whole day in this room. The healers gave him some instruction to take care on his own, when the healers weren't there.
He still could do nothing for Tahl. They gave her a breathing mask and an infusion, but told him that he needed to wait.
Obi-Wan's temperature raised really fast. Qui-Gon removed his tunic and get a wet cloth and a bowl of water. With that he caressed his students face carefully in a try to lower his temperature. It seemed to work really good. Obi-Wan's skin color turned back to normal, but he was still sweating and dreaming. He had different dream stages: One stage, he slept peacefully and seemed like dead and the other stage, he slept restless, while shaking his head from one side to the other and murmuring some unclear words and sentences. Only Qui-Gon's presence seemed to reassure him.
" He can hear you and he can feel you" told him one of the healers. " He is only not able to respond!"
During the second dream stage or the so called fever dream, he stayed with his student, hold his hand or caressed his cheeks and forehead. Always when Qui-Gon started these motions he stopped moving and seemed to listen to him. Sometimes Qui-Gon told him a story from the past or made some jokes.
That was all he could do for Obi-Wan. His students task was to wake up.
He turned his gaze into Tahls direction.
His love for both were so deep and the imagination of one of them dead burned his heart down. He couldn't stand that pain. He couldn't lose one of them or even both. He felt a single tear on his cheek and wiped it away, but he couldn't stop crying. The situation overwhelmed him.
The door opened and Mace Windu entered the room.
" Everything alright, Qui-Gon?" asked the Council-Member.
" They're still unconscious and supposed to die" responded Qui-Gon. " But everything is alright!"
" I'm sorry, Qui-Gon. I know how difficult it is."
" They said that it depends on the night, if Obi-Wan will wake up or die!"
Mace hesitated. " Obi-Wan is a strong boy! He will be alive!"
" I hope that you're right, Mace!"
" Do you want me to stay with you until the morning?" asked Mace and placed a comforting hand on Qui-Gons shoulder.
Qui-Gon lifted his head and nodded. Mace understood him without any word, get a chair and sat down next to him.
At this moment came the healer into the room.
" What can we do?"asked Mace Windu strained.
The healer felt Tahls body temperature and controlled the medical devices. " Her vital functions are not stable. We need to get an inside into her body to check on her internal organs. When they're hurt we need to act quickly to save her. I'm unsure about her condition." He pressed a red button on the wall. " We need some healers in room 21 to get Master Tahl into the labor." He turned around to Qui-Gon again. " We'll take her with us. You can stay here with the boy, we will give you all information if we'll find out something important!"
" Thank you" replied Qui-Gon. " And how is my student?"
" Hard to say" said the healer and felt Obi-Wans forehead. " The fever is still there, but not dangerous for his life. I would say it is his weak body in cooperation with his hallucinating mind. He can not really fight against the infection without a clear mind. Maybe you can guide him through the force, but if this doesn't work, we need to expect the worst. As I said last time, it depends on tonight. I'll come back every two hours and over the night in shorter intervals. If you notice something different, please call me immediately."
Qui-Gon nodded and the healer left the room.
" I'll stay with you" reassured Mace. " You'll be not alone this night. This will be tough. Maybe we can alternate with our watch. We both need sleep. I'll take the first watch."
Qui-Gon looked at him hesitantly. Mace knew his thoughts very well. He wanted to stay awake if Obi-Wan would wake up, but he also knew that Qui-Gon needed sleep to regain his strenght to help Obi-Wan and Tahl, when they need him. In this situation he would not help them with staying awake, but he could not say that to Qui-Gon. In this moment, he wouldn't understand.
" I'll wake you up, when something happens, ok?" asked Mace instead.
Qui-Gon looked at Obi-Wan and nodded slowly. He slipped his chair closer to his bed, grabbed one of Obi-Wans hands and rested his head against the chair and closed his eyes.
Mace grabbed his chair and took it closer to Obi-Wan too, but without disturbing Qui-Gon. To interpret the breathing sound of Qui-Gon, he must already be asleep.
Mace, fully awake, grabbed Obi-Wans other hand and watched the young face. " Obi-Wan?If you can hear me, than please, try to fight for us. You must stay alive! Qui-Gon needs you, Tahl needs you and we need you. I know you're a strong boy and that you can do it. Fight against the fog in your mind…." He hesitated some seconds. "...Maybe I can help you to handle the hallucinations. I need access to your mind to call you through the force. So please, if you can hear me...Drop your mental shields!"
Mace closed his eyes and reached through the force, but hit some strong mental shields in Obi-Wans mind. He decided to stay there and call Obi-Wan through the force with comforting waves.
After some minutes he thought that it wouldn't work, but then he felt the shields tremble and he continued his action. Obi-Wans mind seemed to reply to his force waves. Suddenly, he broke through the shields and had fully access of Obi-Wans mind. Usually, he would hear his thoughts, but all he could sense were some unclear words and foggy images. Images from the accident, but they were wrong. This must be the hallucinations. Bizarre creatures walked through his thoughts without any sense and confused the young student. But Mace couldn't find Obi-Wan himself.
Obi-Wan!
He called him through the force, but carefully to not awake Qui-Gon with it. But Obi-Wan didn't replied. He tried it multiple times without a respond. He decided to leave, when he felt a soft shiver through the force. Like a weak call for help. Not many Jedi-Master would have sensed it, but Mace did and he followed the feeling through the fog. The shiver changed stronger and then Mace could hear some grammatically right thoughts of Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan? Can you hear me?
The force answered with a weak wave of pain. Mace send a wave of comfort through the force to reassure him. I'll guide you through the fog, Obi-Wan. You need to follow me, but you need to do this on your own. I can't help you with that. Take your time, but don't stop. Fight, Obi-Wan!
With that he left Obi-Wans mind and left behind a trail through his mind. Obi-Wan needed to follow it. This was all Mace could do for him. Now it was up to Obi-Wan.