Hm, I didn't expect this part to last an entire chapter, but it ended up being that long. Huh. Funny how that works. I hope you guys like this chapter, because I had fun writing it haha :D
Thank you for your reviews, please keep reviewing as I love your feedback :D
Enjoy!
It was well into the morning whenever they returned to the Lars homestead.
Zelina was dizzy and lightheaded by the time she brought the speeder bike to a pause. Driving hard through the night with a shoulder injury through the night had not been good for her, but they needed to get back from the camp. They needed as far away from the Force-forsaken place as possible.
Anakin had sat behind Zelina for the entire trip, holding his mother's body close to him. Zelina hadn't said a word on the flurry of emotions that she could feel rolling off of him, ranging from pain and regret to fury and hate.
The others raced out of the homestead as Anakin got off of the bike, holding his mother's wrapped body close to him. Zelina put a gentle hand on his arm as he walked by her, letting it drop away as he pressed on. His stony glare caused the others to stop in tracks as he walked by, looking each one of them in the eyes for several hard moments. They all watched him disappear inside of the homestead without a word.
Zelina leaned forward on the bike, her fatigue and injury catching up to her as she buried her face in her hands. Her shoulder repeatedly flashed in pain and her breathing was shallow. Wearily, she glanced at her shoulder, taking in the blossom of blood that had stained through her black and grey clothes with little interest. She had known she was bleeding; the exact amount of blood loss was what was unknown to her. With a sigh, she angled her body so no one could see her wound yet.
She felt Padme's soft hand on her shoulder, but did not raiser her head. "What happened?"
Zelina shook her head ever so slightly. "We got there, she was alive. Before we could even leave…she died in his arms," she said shortly and tiredly. "She couldn't even finish telling him she loved him."
She heard Padme sigh, feeling her sympathy through the Force. "Do you think we should..?"
Zelina shook her head a little more noticeably. "No…not now. Right now he needs time alone…but then we most definitely should. I've never seen him like he was back there. He'll…he'll need us."
In her hands, Zelina grimaced, feeling nauseous as the world tilted around her. She only kept herself steady by staying firmly on the swoop bike. Padme seemed to realize that something was wrong.
"Zelina, are you okay?" Padme asked, putting her hands on both of Zelina's shoulders. Zelina moaned, shifting her left shoulder away from Padme as the pain suddenly intensified.
"Zelina!" Padme gasped, realizing that Zelina's clothes were stained with blood. "Oh my…Zelina, what happened? Can you stand?"
Zelina shook her head. "If I stand…I think I'm going to pass out…"
"We have to get you to stand…were you stabbed? Was it a blaster? What is it?"
"Bullet wound. I got shot…by a Tusken…An…Anakin doesn't know," Zelina groaned as Padme started to move her from the bike. "I…had to get us back…"
Padme turned to the Lars. "Help me with her, she's injured and she needs help," Padme plead.
Zelina kept her eyes closed as one of them—she guessed Owen—came and helped Padme lift her off of the swoop bike.
"I think I'm going to be sick…" Zelina murmured. "Careful, please…" Zelina mumbled. She knew Owen was doing his best, but he kept agitating her arm. She tried to walk with them, but her steps were drunken and she feared she might just be making it worse.
"Why didn't you tell Anakin you were hurt? Why didn't you treat this?" Padme asked her sharply.
"It…wasn't important at the time…and…didn't have…the stuff to…treat it right…" Zelina murmured.
"Beru, do you think you could get us some rags and warm water?" Owen grunted.
"I'll get the medpac," Cliegg rumbled.
"We've got a bed we can put her in."
"It's…always me…isn't it?" Zelina joked lightly. "The bullet…out…"
"She's right; we'll need to get the bullet out before we do anything," Owen told Padme.
"I've never…" Padme started uncertainly.
"I don't think any of us have."
"Hey," Zelina muttered. "The injured one…is still conscious…and can still…hear you…you're not…giving me a good reason to…trust you with my life…you know."
"Zelina hush, we're going to do the best we can. You need the treatment right now. We're going to have to work with what we've got."
"Fun…" Zelina groaned, clenching her teeth. "Well…this will be fun…to explain."
Zelina suddenly felt herself being laid out on a comfortable bed. Padme hastily pulled off one half of Zelina's robe before gingerly tugging off the rest. Zelina could image Padme flinching as Zelina's tabard and tunic was pushed aside to reveal the bleeding hole in Zelina's arm. Zelina hissed as they pushed her arm in a rather uncomfortable direction.
"Sorry," Padme muttered, slipping the clothes down her arm enough to stay out of their way. Zelina heard the other two arrive and finally opened her eyes.
They were all crowded around her on the bed. Well, everyone but Anakin, who was oblivious to what was going on and who knew where. Padme's face was scrunched in worry, and Cliegg stayed out of the way, a medpac in his lap. Beru and Owen stood side by side since Owen was taking some of the rags from Beru, soaking one and wadding the other one up as he spoke to her softly.
Zelina sighed. "This is going to…hurt. Try not to…damage anything…while you're…digging around for…the bullet."
Padme grimaced. "Do you have any idea how deep the bullet went?"
Zelina closed her eyes, searching through the force to locate the bullet. When she opened her eyes, she wasn't that happy with where it was, and she didn't feel like using the Force to pull it out either. She was going to have to let them dig it out. "It…almost went through…it's really deep."
She felt drowsy and just wanted to sleep, but something in the back of her mind told her that if she fell asleep things would only get worse.
"Stay with me Zelina," she heard Padme say.
"I'm here…" Zelina murmured, forcing her eyelids open again. Padme took the wet rag from Owen and started to clean up her shoulder, revealing the hole they would have to find the bullet in. Own held up the rag he had wadded up.
"You might want this to bite on when we start digging. We don't have any sedatives."
Zelina sighed again. "Give it here…"
Owen helped to situate it in her mouth as Cliegg came closer to oversee things and have provide the medpac the instant that it was needed. "Owen…hold her down. Padme; you're going to have to be the one to get the bullet. Beru, help Owen."
Zelina closed her eyes, not wanting to see what was coming. She sorely wished that she was near a good hospital, but instead they were by the Jundland Wastes. There wasn't any help for miles.
Try not…to tear any…nerves or muscle…and don't hit bone, Zelina thought desperately as she suddenly felt what she prayed wasn't tweezers start to dig into her shoulder, searching out the bullet. She tensed, then did her best to relax, not wanting to make it even harder for Padme to find the bullet. She clamped her jaw down on the rag, eyes squeezed shut as she struggled not to make a sound.
Oh Force it hurts, it hurts; kriff! Chuba!
Padme found the bullet, the tweezers hitting the end and digging it deeper into Zelina's shoulder on accident. Zelina let out a scream of agony, clamping back down on the rag while Owen and Beru held her tightly to the bed, doing their best to keep her from bucking and making it worse.
Padme, meanwhile, was doing her best to keep her hand steady as she poked around inside Zelina's shoulder to get a good grip on the bullet. It was so excruciating that Zelina gave another cry of pain, straining against Owen and Beru instinctively to get away from the pain. Maybe she would just leave the bullet in there…
There was the sound of footsteps rushing towards them, and suddenly Zelina heard an all-too-welcome voice, her eyes snapping open.
"What the kriff is going on?" Anakin exclaimed, standing frozen in the doorway as he took in the scene in front of him.
Anakin started Padme and she jumped, the tweezers striking bone in Zelina's arm. Zelina cried out in pain once more, eyes snapping shut.
"She was shot…we're trying to get the bullet out," Padme explained weakly. Zelina worked the rag out of her mouth. It wasn't doing her any good anymore.
"Before you ask…it was back…at the camp," she forced out. Padme had removed the tweezers, not wanting to hurt her any further.
"I can't get it," Padme said desperately.
Anakin crossed the room in several quick strides. "Here, let me…"
Everyone backed away like he asked, and Zelina blinked blearily at him as he leaned over her, checking her wound himself. She could sense him reaching out with the Force, trying to locate the bullet as he placed a gentle hand on her forehead.
"When?" he asked her, putting his other hand over the wound as he looked her right in the eyes.
"Before…you came out of the…hut," Zelina murmured. Her head was swimming, and her eyelids began to droop. It would be so much easier to just go to sleep…
"Stay with me Zelina," she heard Anakin say firmly. She could feel his hand slide from her forehead to her cheek, keeping her head up. "Don't go to sleep, stay with me."
His tone of voice was what brought her back. She was reminded of his voice as his mother had died in his arms; he had the same tone. She blinked up at him. If he wanted her to stay awake then she would, even if she didn't like it. And everything was just taking so much effort…how much blood had she lost?
She felt his hand running through her hair as he spoke again. "You know this is going to hurt Zelina but you've got to trust me, alright?"
"I trust you Anakin…you know I do."
"Try to relax…" she heard him murmur. In an attempt to do as he asked, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and focusing on his hand running through her hair in comfort.
A moment later she felt the bullet start to shift in her shoulder.
Zelina grit her teeth, trying her best to ignore the pain and focus on the rhythmic feeling of Anakin's hand through her hair. Anakin, it seemed, was using the Force to pull the bullet out of her shoulder.
"What are you—" Owen started to ask.
"Let him focus," Padme said sharply, cutting him off.
Anakin pulled the bullet further along a little too fast, and Zelina gave a cry of pain. The bullet's progress stopped and Zelina felt Anakin smooth her hair down and press a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Shh…It's alright Zelina, just a little longer and you'll be fine, I promise."
Anakin might have only meant the gesture to be comforting, but Zelina's breath caught in her throat and she gradually melted, suddenly feeling extremely light. She was absolutely sure that she had relaxed considerably now, and she took deep breathes, putting her mind elsewhere as she felt the bullet begin to move upward again at a steady and slow pace. Anakin was taking great care to not do any more damage as he coaxed the bullet out, never ceasing in his soothing gestures as he coaxed it out.
Zelina heard a gasp of surprise being stifled from Beru and Owen as she felt the bullet finally leave her shoulder. Anakin pressed his hand tightly to the wound to stop the bleeding, ceasing his soothing motions so he could catch the bullet with his other hand.
"Cliegg, I need that medpac," Anakin stated. Zelina could hear the chink as he set the bullet down nearby. "Stay awake Zelina," Anakin reminded her a moment later.
"I'm here…" she mumbled.
"Good, you stay here," Anakin said firmly. Moments later, Zelina felt a bacta pad being applied to her arm.
Of course, there's bacta pads in all standard medpacs, Zelina thought vaguely.
"You're going to be just fine Zelina…I promise…just stay awake a little longer, we need to make sure that you'll be okay before you rest…alright?" Anakin asked.
"Okay…" Zelina sighed.
"You were just shot in the shoulder, right? There's no other injuries?"
Zelina shook her head. "No…just the…shoulder."
Anakin was silent a little longer as he gently stroked her hair, and Zelina could sense him probing at her through the Force to be sure that she would be alright. Finally, he spoke again.
"You can go ahead and sleep now Zee…you'll be alright…"
"Thank you…Anakin…" Zelina breathed, blissfully slipping into the darkness of unconsciousness that had beckoning to her.
Anakin stared at Zelina as she swiftly fell asleep, gently tucking a strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear. The irrational fear that he would lose her slowly started to fade, but he still couldn't get it out of his head. If he would have lost Zelina as well as his mother…
Padme's hand on his shoulder reminded him that he was not alone with Zelina in the room. He jumped a little, turning his attention to her.
"She'll be alright," he said tiredly. He frowned when he noticed the red substance all over his hands. His confusion, however, only lasted for a moment before it dawned on him that it was Zelina's blood. He felt sick in his stomach, and he averted his gaze. He needed to get it off; he couldn't stand to have her blood on his hands.
"You should get some rest too Anakin," Padme said quietly.
He didn't answer her. He didn't want to. He didn't think he could possibly rest now. Instead of answering her, he kept his eyes trained on Zelina, watching her sleep. He frowned at her bloodied clothes.
Beru stepped forward, gathering Zelina's bloodied cloak and pulling the sheet over Zelina as she started to take off Zelina's other layers. "I'll wash her clothes," Beru stated.
"Thank you," Anakin told her with a weak smile. His attempt broke a moment later, and he sighed. "I'll be in the garage…" he said softly. It was one of the few places he knew he would be able to think.
And he had lot to think about.