Three men stood somber, staring through transparisteel. One was garbed in elaborate finery. Two were leaning on canes.
A fourth man stood on the other side of the transparisteel. He was holding a baby.
Holding a new life, and watching as another life was slowly fading.
One didn't have to be a Jedi Master to see what was happening. One didn't have to be a perceptive Senator, skilled at reading people. One didn't even have to be a brilliant physician.
It was plain to see.
"If only she would have held on until the treatment was complete," Bail said.
House stared at his reflection through the transparisteel, feeling, for the first time in a long time, something like failure.
Something shifted, and the doctor looked down. Next to and below his reflection was the image of a tiny green alien, with pointy ears. A much older creature on a much older cane.
"Fail, you did not," Master Yoda said. "To death, the Senator had already resigned herself. Her life, prolong you did…long enough so that her children could survive."
"You could have gotten the twins out before her body shut down completely," House said. "They probably would've been okay."
"No," Yoda said, squinting his eyes. "Right you were. Killed them, the trauma would. Saw it, I did."
House raised his head and rested his gaze on Obi-Wan and the baby he held in his arms. "It doesn't matter. The case is solved. I should be heading back home now."
Bail Organa smiled and again enveloped the not-quite-willing doctor's hand in a vigorous shake. "I'll be making a substantial donation to the Aldera University Teaching Hospital. Your help in our time of need will not soon be forgotten."
House nodded, managing a half-smile.
The doctor limped out of the Polis Massan complex, heading toward the outstretched docking platform of his shuttle. He started at the sound of a voice from behind him.
"Hope you have given," Master Yoda admonished him. "Many more lives have you saved than just two. For this, happy you should be."
"I'll throw a party when I get home," House called to him, not breaking stride.
"Mmmm," Yoda mused to himself, watching as the doctor ascended the ramp. "Never happy will you be. But grateful am I. That, enough is."
