Note: This is an accompanying fic to one of my other stories, Too Late. It is not required to read that to understand this one. The two stories should supplement each other.
The life of a Healer wasn't an easy one, despite what others would think. Vokara looked around her Ward, pleased to see no newcomers or emergencies. It has been a long couple of days, and she desperately looked forward to some meditation and well-deserved sleep. It was long overdue.
She finished typing up her last report on the central datapad, shut it off, and stood, stretching her aching muscles. Bant came in about an hour ago to take the night shift, which meant that Vokara could go back to her quarters now. But her former apprentice was staring pensively at a wall, brows furrowed.
A part of her wanted to ask Bant what occupied her thoughts like this, but was it truly appropriate of her to ask? "Bant?" she asked softly, gently pulling her out of her thoughts.
Bant blinked and then looked up at her. "I'm sorry, were you saying something?" Bant asked.
It wasn't like Bant to drift off into her own mind; a Healer always needed to be fully alert when on duty, in case of a sudden emergency. Vokara began to wonder if she should stay, but she'd already spent well over a single rotation working in the Ward, and she needed to rest now.
Vokara shook her head in response.
Bant exhaled. "Sorry, Master; I'm just a little worried about Obi-Wan," she admitted.
To Bant, Obi-Wan was a childhood friend, but to the Order and the Republic, he was much more than that. He was hope. Vokara had watched him grow up from an uncertain, hesitant Padawan to a wise Jedi Master. He'd spent many, many hours in these Halls, but it's been almost a year since she saw him last. Obi-Wan and his former Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, had been on the front lines of the Clone Wars for that whole time, without pause.
"Is he alright?" she asked gently. Now that she was thinking about it, both Kenobi and Skywalker had not come in for their routine check-ups since they returned.
Bant shrugged a shoulder. "He's been very quiet lately, and I just…worry that something is going to happen. Anakin left Coruscant yesterday for some personal reason, and Obi-Wan is by himself now," she murmured.
"If it will ease your anxieties, I can stop by his quarters and check on him. It is on the way back to my apartment," Vokara suggested. And then she could schedule his and Skywalker's check-ups, since they both were on leave now.
Bant nodded. "Thank you, Master," she responded with a quiet smile.
With a goodbye, Vokara turned around and left the Halls.
It was nearing midnight by the time Vokara reached Obi-Wan's quarters. The Force felt quiet, almost too quiet. She shook her head. No, she's been working for too long and was probably imagining things.
She rang the buzzer and waited.
Nothing.
She briefly wondered if Obi-Wan was asleep, though that really didn't sound like him. He had terrible bouts of insomnia that steadily grew worse during the war and was naturally an extremely light sleeper.
There was a stirring of panic in the Force, barely noticeable. She sucked in a breath and knocked sharply on the door. "Obi-Wan!" she called, hopefully not loud enough to wake up anyone else who lived in this hall.
This time, she heard movement from within the quarters, and the door slid open, revealing Obi-Wan. The lights were dim behind him; it was difficult for her to see him properly.
"Master Che?" He frowned. "Has something happened?"
He was leaning slightly on the door and his breaths seemed to be mostly uneven, though they were quiet enough to not be noticed by anyone who wasn't a Healer. Vokara now understood why Bant was worried.
"You look terrible," Vokara said finally. She could see him better now; there were dark bruises under his eyes and his face was almost white. He also looked like he lost a great deal of weight.
Instead of claiming otherwise, Obi-Wan exhaled slowly. "Bant sent you, didn't she?" he asked instead, quieter. There was something in his eyes that she couldn't completely understand. His head was bowed, and his shoulders were now completely slumped against the door, almost for support.
"She did," Vokara answered. "She is worried about you, Obi-Wan."
"She shouldn't be," Obi-Wan answered, then shifted slightly. There was a slight tremble in his shields, and pain slipped out, pressing itself against her mind.
"You need to tell me what's wrong, Obi-Wan," she pressed. "I can help."
He smiled then, though it seemed to be one of those half-hearted smiles he used now more frequently than the bright ones she remembered from long ago. Her heart ached at the sight of it. Obi-Wan did not deserve any of this.
"I know you can," he murmured. There was a pause, a hesitation almost, but then his face hardened. "If that is all, I should get some sleep now. Ahsoka is returning from her solo mission tomorrow evening, and Anakin won't be here until later this week, I assume."
Vokara was going soft. Part of her wanted to agree to his terms and let him sleep. She knew, however, that she should argue, that she should tell Obi-Wan to get himself to the Halls right now. Well, he may be a Council Master, but in these matters, she outranked him.
"If you won't be persuaded, then I'll have to pull rank, Master Kenobi," she said, drawing herself upwards and hardening her voice just slightly.
Obi-Wan's eyes sharpened. Padawans and a lot of the younger Knights would have deferred to that gaze alone, but she wasn't anybody. She was a Healer, and she'd seen Obi-Wan try to wriggle out of Healers' visits before. This was familiar ground.
The Force held its breath, just for a moment, before he deflated and nodded. "Very well," he answered.
It was a victory, but it certainly didn't feel like one.
The Force cried out in agony, and her eyes flicked open. She decided to sleep at the Ward that night. Something told her that it would be necessary, and now it seemed it was. She sat up and raced out into the Ward.
Bant looked up at her from where she sat, then her eyes widened. She jumped out of her chair instantly.
Both Healers ran down the hall and entered one of the patient rooms. Vokara watched as Bant's eyes widened at the sight of Obi-Wan thrashing on the bed. The monitors that Vokara hooked him up to after he had fallen asleep were all wailing. The younger Healer raced to Obi-Wan's bedside and placed both hands on his chest. Bant closed her eyes and the Force shifted just slightly before Obi-Wan went still.
Before Vokara could say anything, his eyes fluttered open. His face was drenched in sweat, and his breathing was heavy and labored.
"Master?" he gasped, and Vokara took a few steps forward, ready to say something. His eyes were wide and glassy now. "Qui-Gon?"
Whatever words she was going to say completely erased from her mind, and she stood still, her heart sinking slowly into her stomach.
"Obi-Wan, it's Bant," Bant whispered, moving forward to put a hand on his forehead. She flinched. Obi-Wan trembled again, and Vokara glanced at the monitors. Despite Bant's use of the Force, Obi-Wan was unstable. Had they not realized what was happening just right now…he might not have made it.
No.
She had lost patients like this before, multiple times. This cannot be one of those times. Obi-Wan was a bright light in the Force; to lose him now, like this, would be damaging to the Order itself.
"We need to contact Skywalker again," she said finally, and Bant turned to face her. Her former apprentice's eyes were wider than she's ever seen them.
"I told him not to worry, Master. When I sent him the message, I said that Obi-Wan was going to be fine in a few days," Bant whispered.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan muttered, almost as though he heard them. "No, Anakin, don't…" He began to seize, and Bant acted instantly, carefully holding him so he wouldn't hurt himself.
Vokara thought of how Obi-Wan was when he arrived only hours earlier. He seemed tired and slightly irritable, but nothing more than that. But as the night progressed, he quickly got worse and worse. His fever had risen to a dangerous level and he had been delirious for over two hours.
"Get him stable, Bant. Skywalker needs to be here. He should never have left Coruscant in the first place," Vokara gritted, tightly gripping her commlink and leaving the room.
She took a few deep breaths before dialing the number. She had no idea what time it was on Naboo, but it didn't matter.
After a few moments, Skywalker picked up. "Master Che?"
He sounded nervous and a little bit surprised.
"Anakin, did you get the message we sent earlier?" she asked quickly. There wasn't time to waste now. This moment right here could be the difference.
"About Obi-Wan?"
There was a crash from the room, and Vokara knew she needed to help Bant attend to their patient. They needed to keep Obi-Wan alive until Skywalker could come and help stabilize him. There was no other choice.
"You need to come now, Skywalker," she said quickly, letting her panic bleed into her voice.
There was a rustling sound on the commlink, then his voice came through clearer than before. "I'll be there in three hours, Master Che," he said, sounding more worried now.
She swallowed. Would this be enough? "Hurry," she said, then turned off the commlink.
Three hours. She inhaled slowly and released a breath. She could do this.
Morning finally arrived, and sunlight streamed into the windows of the Ward. Despite that, there was chaos. On any other day, Vokara would never have allowed her Ward to get to this frenzied state but keeping Obi-Wan alive was becoming near impossible.
Vokara managed to get Bant to leave a few hours before, telling her that someone needed to give Skywalker proper landing clearance when he arrived at the Temple. That was merely an excuse. She didn't want Bant to see Obi-Wan like this. She didn't know what it would do to her.
After Bant left, Obi-Wan's condition declined even more, and Vokara had to wake up other Master Healers to help her. It seemed only to prolong the inevitable.
Almost on cue, the heart monitor let out a single wail. It was the fourth time he had gone into cardiac arrest. She cursed under her breath, stood up and placed both hands over Obi-Wan's chest, using the Force to will the heart to beat. It refused.
She wasn't alone, but it was her responsibility. Obi-Wan was her responsibility ever since the time he came here, aged 4, with a skinned knee. She was a junior Padawan then, but she knew right away that he was her responsibility.
"No," she grunted, and pressed hard on his chest. Chest compressions were a rarity now, but sometimes the heart needed a more physical force. She pushed down hard, supplementing it with the Force.
She sank herself into the rhythm, even as more and more Healers arrived. They were crowded around the bed, watching with wide and terrified eyes. She'd given so much to keep this man alive. She can't fail. She wouldn't fail.
"Obi-Wan, don't do this," she grunted, and pressed harder. His ribs seemed to give slightly under her weight, but that didn't matter right now. "Just wait until Skywalker gets here, please."
She could feel Skywalker's blinding presence now, racing through the Temple. But Obi-Wan was slipping further and further away; his Force presence was now dimmed almost to nothingness.
She could feel as Skywalker entered the Ward, as he began to run towards the room. He was standing just outside; all she had to do now was make sure that—
The Force let out an agonizing wail, and Obi-Wan's Force presence blinked out. She stopped.
Vokara looked down. His face was grey, but there was little trace of the agony he had been through during the night. The other Healers were bustling around her before, shouting, but they were now completely silent.
Skywalker was standing in the doorway, his pain now screaming out into the Force. She failed him. She failed Qui-Gon. She failed in her duty as a Healer. Vokara bowed her head and then spoke.
"Let him through."
The Force had once again taken from them; it was yet another loss that came too soon.