Chapter 10
The next thing Alex knew, he found a bright light being shone directly into his eyes. Grunting, he swung his arm up to shield his face, effectively knocking away the healer's hand holding the offending object.
Briefly he ignored the healer apprentice asking how many fingers she was holding up as he tried to figure out why he was flat on his back in the infirmary when the last he remembered he was helping teach a class of younglings.
"Master Arieh, you had us worried."
Alex looked up and noticed that the healer apprentice had gone and returned with An-Paj, who now stood looking down on him with mild concern and some curiosity.
Slowly Alex sat up, swinging his legs over the bed as he did so. "I don't remember what happened," he paused and frowned, rubbing his brow. "I seem to be making a habit of that." By his tone it was clear he disliked the thought.
"You collapsed in the training halls," An-Paj offered. "Witnesses said you were cradling your arm, and…," here the healer paused.
"And what?" Alex asked, flexing his arm as he began to remember a searing pain lacing around his wrist.
"You called for Meri?"
Alex looked up sharply, the name tugging at his insides queerly. "I don't remember that. I do remember feeling a strange pain in my arm."
Carefully Alex studied his arm, clenching and unclenching his fist, but no pain remained. It was almost as though he'd never had the strange episode. And calling for his apprentice? He hadn't seen her since the knighting ceremony. He couldn't deny feeling hurt that she had never shown any concern for him in the aftermath. It had taken weeks before he felt his equilibrium return and wondered how she could have escaped so unfazed. The breaking of the bond obviously hadn't affected her as much as he. Instead he had been told that she had gone off on a mission and wasn't likely to return for some time. He saw no reason that he would call her name.
"Does it still pain you?" An-Paj asked, watching curiously as Alex stared blankly at his arm.
"No, not at all. It's strange…very strange."
"Where was the pain and how would you describe it," the healer asked routinely.
"Here," Alex indicted his wrist. "It was a searing pain…and I grew cold all over, I remember. Numb almost." He shook his head, sending his black hair tumbling over his forehead. "It was…strange," he finished.
An-Paj felt an uneasiness stir at the knight's words, but he hid it. "How do you feel now?"
Alex looked up at the healer, his blue eyes clear. "I feel fine…as though nothing happened."
"Good, that's good," An-Paj murmured, though he wasn't entirely sure it was. "We couldn't find anything wrong with you, so you are free to go. However if anything else happens, and I do mean any little thing, let me know immediately."
"I will, thank you."
An-Paj watched as the knight collected his belongings and left the infirmary, his thoughts stirring all the while. Just how binding were Union bonds? he wondered. Could something happening to one, affect the other, even after the bond was supposedly broken?
His thoughts were still whirling when a senior apprentice approached him. "Master, there is an incoming transmission from Urukier…it's marked urgent, do you want to take it?"
It was then that An-Paj began to feel a twisting in his gut. "Yes, I'll take it in my office. Give me a few minutes," he instructed as he finished putting in Alex Arieh's latest mishap in his personal medical journal.
As he settled into the chair in front of the incoming transmission, An-Paj couldn't hold in a sigh of weariness. His shift had ended hours ago and he had been about to leave, looking forward to falling into bed with one of his six wives. However, Alex Arieh had been brought in then, unconscious and things had just escalated from there. Now the healer felt everything was about to take another bitter turn for the worse.
Please, by the light of the Force, let this not have to do with Meri, An-Paj silently begged as he pushed the 'accept' button for the transmission and waited for the image to appear. The thought, he knew, was hopeless. What were the chances someone not involved with Meri and also living on Urukier, would contact him? The senior apprentice knew An-Paj's interest in Meri and that Meri was on Urukier. It was the only reason he had troubled An-Paj with this transmission. Most transmissions were sifted and only the most important reached An-Paj. A rare occurrence.
The grainy image before him solidified to show an older man, his hair graying, with gentle blue-gray eyes that were full of exhaustion and concern.
"Am I speaking with a Jedi healer?" the man questioned, his tone imbued with his obvious weariness.
"Yes, I am head healer of the infirmary here at the Jedi Temple. Is there something I can do for you?" An-Paj's antenna's shifted slightly as he registered the surprise on the man's face. Apparently he hadn't expected to be directed to someone so important, nor had he expected someone of An-Paj's species, evident in the way he curiously, yet calmly took in the healer's appearance before speaking.
"Perhaps this Force of hers is with me," he almost murmured to himself before lifting his eyes and in the cool gray depths, An-Paj saw the man's determination.
"Master Healer, I need your help."