A/N: I don't really have anything to say here. Enjoy the chapter?
Tuesday, 11:05pm; Jedi Temple.
The rest of the trip was the closest thing to hell Obi-Wan had ever experienced.
They didn't notice the purple bruising around Anakin's stomach until halfway back to Coruscant. By that point it was too late to help the bleeding, the best thing they could do was speed to Coruscant as fast as the ship would take them.
Obi-Wan felt guilty the rest of the way. He'd been so focused on the exterior wounds that he'd forgotten that some weren't even visible.
Why Anakin was bleeding internally was anyone's guess, but Obi-Wan felt completely out of his league. It might have been from the blaster wound, or some other thing they were yet to find out. Broken ribs. A fractured bone might've nicked an artery. But, unlike other people Obi-Wan had seen suffer from similar problems, Anakin hadn't been screaming in pain, hadn't been coughing up blood. He lay deathly still on the makeshift bed, not reacting at all when Obi-Wan touched him. That was what worried Obi-Wan the most, the fact that there was next to no sign that Anakin was even alive. Just the mournful beeping of the vital machine and the steady rise and fall of Anakin's chest.
Obi-Wan had paced the ship, needing a release from the restless energy which was yet to dissipate. A terror ran through his bones, overriding all of his previous relief at having Anakin safe. Because Anakin wasn't safe, not yet at least. He would be when he got to the Temple. He had to be. Obi-Wan didn't know what he'd do with himself if Anakin didn't make it.
It had seemed to be going alright, despite the fact that Anakin could've been literally dying in front of their eyes, until about half an hour away from Coruscant. That's when he awoke, and suddenly Obi-Wan had a lot more than just worrying to deal with.
It was quick, Obi-Wan had been watching Anakin, his eyes tracing his chest to make sure he was still breathing. Then Anakin shot up straight, an inch away from banging his head on the wall. Obi-Wan had almost dropped his pot of caf, jumping up himself. Anakin looked around wildly, scrambling to untangle himself from the robe Obi-Wan had laid back around his shoulders.
Obi-Wan raised his hands in a placating gesture, but Anakin seemed not to notice him. He continued to thrash around to get untangled from the cloth. Obi-Wan didn't want to touch him, he knew that with what Anakin had been through it would likely not be well received. But Anakin was doing more harm to himself then good, forcing his body to move when he shouldn't even really be conscious.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan began, moving so he was sat next to Anakin, his hands still held up, "It's me."
There was a glint of recognition in Anakin's eye, but he didn't stop moving. If anything his attempts escalated. Obi-Wan bit his lip, considering his choices. But he didn't really have many to choose from.
Lifting his arm, he slowly reached out to place it on Anakin's arm (the good one, not the one covered with half healed cuts which made Obi-Wan want to throttle someone). It had about the reaction he expected. Anakin jerked back, pressing himself as far as he could against the wall. Obi-Wan sighed.
"Anakin, it's me." He said, the worry becoming more evident in his tone. What if Anakin didn't recognise him? What if he'd forgotten him? What if -
"Master." Anakin breathed. His voice was filled with badly concealed pain, and his breath sounded harsh and rattling.
"You need to calm down Young One." Obi-Wan said quietly. "You'll do yourself a worse injury."
Anakin squeezed his eyes shut tightly, at the same time Quinlan walked into the room. His eyes widened slightly at seeing Anakin awake, but he handled it well, not showing his surprise to the teenager.
"Anakin. Hi." He greeted. They'd met a few times before, when Quinlan had received a rare break from a mission or Obi-Wan had dragged Anakin to a democratic event.
Anakin, after overcoming the initial shock of seeing someone else, relaxed more. Obi-Wan was just glad that he was recognising them, not looking like he wanted to run at any moment. But he was still trembling, though he tried to hide it by grabbing Obi-Wan's robe and pulling it around his shoulders.
"Anakin, do you feel okay?" Obi-Wan asked. He knew that the truthful answer was no way in kriffing hell, but he needed to know from Anakin. Even though the teenager was more likely to lie than not. Obi-Wan's assumption was proved correct when Anakin nodded. Trust his Padawan to be difficult.
"Anakin, please. You are badly injured, we need to know if you will make it back to Coruscant." He said softly. Anakin looked at him, his eyes already starting to droop.
Obi-Wan couldn't blame him for starting to slip away from wakefulness, he couldn't begin to imagine the pain he was in. It just wasn't very helpful to him. Sighing, he checked the monitor instead. Anakin's heart rate had increased, but not too high. Which was good, because the combined blood loss of the week meant that Anakin was low, and neither Quinlan nor Obi-Wan had the required blood type to give him a transfusion. If only he'd used more civilised methods, whoever had taken Anakin, then they wouldn't be in a situation where Obi-Wan was worrying if they'd even make it back to Coruscant.
Obi-Wan was just finishing up with checking his Padawan's vitals when he heard coughing behind him. The raspy breathing startled him, and he turned to Anakin quickly.
"Anakin," he said, as the coughs didn't subside, "breathe."
He knew it was a pointless thing to say to someone who was struggling to even intake any air, but Obi-Wan couldn't think of anything else to say. Anakin tried to comply, taking a few rattly breaths in, but those too soon descended back into coughing. Anakin hunched over, hand covering his mouth. Obi-Wan moved to sit beside him and put a hand on his back. Anakin didn't flinch away, either from being too weak to or finally accepting that Obi-Wan wasn't going to harm him.
When Anakin finally stopped for a moment, his breathing harsh, he sat up. Obi-Wan was relieved for a moment, glad that the coughing had subsided for now. But that vanished when he noticed the faint red tint on Anakin's lips. Looking down, he gently took Anakin's wrist, of the hand he had been coughing into, and turned it so the palm was face up.
"Quin. We have a slight problem." He called to the cockpit. Anakin started to cough again, and this time it sounded as if it might never stop. Obi-Wan waited for Quinlan to come in rubbing Anakin's back in the hopes it would offer some weak comfort.
"Yeah? What?" Quinlan asked, hurrying into the room.
Obi-Wan opened his mouth to explain, but he didn't have to.
"Kriff." Quinlan cursed, seeing the ruby red blood on Anakin's hand. He waited for a pause in the coughing. "We've got about twenty three minutes left until we get there. You think he can hold on?"
Obi-Wan grimaced.
"He'll have to." He replied. Quinlan nodded and went back to the pilot's chair, he needed to make sure that they were ready for landing. Obi-Wan wrapped his robe around Anakin's trembling shoulders, as his Padawan had a small break from the coughing. Anakin leaned back, breathing heavily, eyes closed. Obi-Wan wished that the galaxy would give Anakin some peace, even just for a moment, so that he could sleep for the rest of the trip. But the galaxy was not so kind, and soon Anakin was once again choking on his own blood.
This was the thing Obi-Wan had been worried about the most. Internal bleeding was bad enough on it's own, once someone started coughing up blood it was beginning to be too late. And they still had a whole twenty minutes until Anakin could get proper medical care. Obi-Wan had tried a few minimal Force healing trances at the beginning of the trip, which had seemed to just about work in keeping Anakin asleep, but he was incapable of anything much more than a small wound. Anakin was suffering with so much worse.
Putting his arm fully around Anakin's shoulder, he offered what little reassurance he could. There was little else he could do. After all, how can you tell a teenager that they're dying? The combined injuries and the blaster wound were too much for anyone to handle really. If it was anyone else, they might've been dead already.
Obi-Wan pushed those thoughts away from his mind quickly, feeling sick. Anakin was stronger than that. He would survive. He would get better, then he'd be fine. They'd have to deal with things along the way, bumps in the road, but in the end Anakin would be okay. Then Obi-Wan could track down whoever did this and make him pay for what he did.
Anakin let out a small moan, and Obi-Wan realised he had unconsciously tightened his grip around Anakin's shoulders.
"Sorry." He said, and relaxed it. Anakin stopped coughing for another moment and looked up at him.
"S'kay" He slurred. Obi-Wan took that to mean 'It's okay', and smiled at Anakin. It was the first thing he'd heard him properly say (apart from 'Obi-Wan') since they'd rescued him.
"How do you feel?" He asked. Anakin looked down.
"Not great." He admitted. Obi-Wan sighed. Finally. It took him half dying to admit it.
"We'll be back in Coruscant soon. You just need to hang on for another while." He said. Anakin nodded slowly, then started coughing again, his shoulders shaking as he hunched over.
They repeated this again and again several times before Anakin finally passed out again, the exhaustion getting to him. Just a cycle of coughing, then moments where they both though it might stop, only for it to come back worse than before. Obi-Wan was partly relieved when Anakin's head began to lean onto his shoulder, as it meant that he was finally going to stop choking up blood. Quinlan came in to find Anakin resting against Obi-Wan, his lips still faintly red with blood
"Oh kriff. He does not look good." Quinlan said, stopping in his tracks as he caught a glimpse of Anakin.
"How soon?" Obi-Wan asked. They needed to be in Coruscant yesterday.
"We're entering the atmosphere now. I just needed to alert Master Che so she'll have everything ready." Quinlan explained. Obi-Wan nodded, and Quinlan continued to where he was going.
Once Quinlan had finished with his message, he came back to Obi-Wan.
"She says she'll have a stretcher ready once we get there." He said. Obi-Wan felt some of the worry slip away; Master Che was the most accomplish Healer he'd ever known. "She also told me that we need to make sure he's able to walk out, as she can't bring it up."
Obi-Wan rubbed his forehead with his free arm. That was a problem.
"Given that he just passed out on my arm, I don't think that'll work." Obi-Wan replied. "It's fine, I'll carry him down."
"Are you -"
"Quin, really, it's only a few hundred feet. I carried him several kilometers up that path." Obi-Wan answered.
Quinlan glared at him.
"Don't overexert yourself." He said, then walked purposefully back into the cockpit. Obi-Wan grinned after him, but it slipped from his face as he looked down at Anakin, and saw the weak rising and falling of his chest. He estimated that they had about four minutes before they landed, which meant he should probably get ready. He tried to shift Anakin off of his arm without waking him, but it was impossible. In he end he carefully shook him awake. He was met with wet coughing, and Obi-Wan winced as he saw even more blood. Anakin had lost so much already.
"Okay, Young One. We just need to get you out and over to Master Che in the Halls of Healing." Obi-Wan said, talking as much to himself as to Anakin. Setting himself simple goals to stop the terror gnawing at his insides. He waited for the coughing to stop. But this time it didn't. Anakin stayed, curled up, blood leaking through his fingers.
"Quinlan!" Obi-Wan yelled. "Ah. Kark. Quinlan, we need to get there now!"
He bent onto his knees and looked up at Anakin, cursing quietly to himself. Not good. This is definitely not good.
He recalled something Master Qui-Gon had told him on their mission to Mandalore. Once the person is unable to stop coughing, it's usually too late. No. That won't happen to Anakin. It can't.
"Anakin, I'm going to lift you up. It's only a short way. Hang on." He said, speaking calm words of reassurance which he didn't believe himself. They seemed false even when he said them, but Anakin just nodded, unable to speak.
Obi-Wan felt a gentle thud under his knees which signified that they had landed. Finally. He couldn't take much more of watching this. Standing up, he carefully put his arm under Anakin's legs, the other came up to support his back and head.
"Quinlan, run ahead. Tell Master Che what we're dealing with." Obi-Wan ordered. Quinlan must've heard the desperation in his tone, or realised the direness of their situation, because for once he left without comment or argument, leaving Obi-Wan alone with Anakin.
"Okay. I'm going to take you down the ramp. Then we'll get Master Che to help you." He said, speaking without thinking as he gently carried the still coughing Anakin down the ramp. It was a lot harder to hold a moving, jerking Padawan than one who was hanging limply in his arms, and several times Obi-Wan had to stop and readjust Anakin. But each moment wasted was a moment where more blood was lost, more life slipped slowly away from Anakin.
They had been given permission to land right into the hanger, rather than at the edge, and at the one near the Halls of Healing. Quinlan had messaged Windu to explain the situation to him, but with the recent discovery of Anakin's internal bleeding and the whole 'choking on blood' thing, Obi-Wan doubted if he knew the full story. But even so, the closer they were to the Halls of Healing, the less likely it was that Anakin would suffer more. Obi-Wan was walking as fast as he could away from the ship, but it was getting hard to concentrate with the fact Anakin was dying in his arms. Dying. After all he'd been through, Anakin was dying in his Master's arms.
The thought was too much for Obi-Wan to bear, it made him sick to his stomach. He pushed it away, far away. Anakin would be fine.
But what if it's too late?
Anakin let out an almighty cough, followed by a moan.
"It's fine Anakin. You're fine. You'll be okay Young One." Obi-Wan soothed.
"Hurts." Was all Anakin said in return. Obi-Wan couldn't help the prickling in his eyes as he felt tears start to form, though he quickly blinked them away.
"I know. But you'll be fine soon." He answered.
He finally made it out of the hangar bay, into a corridor. It was mainly empty, there were a few Knights and Masters hanging around, but otherwise Obi-Wan had a clear path. Some of the Knights looked at him with alarm written on their faces, but the Masters nodded understandingly, and made sure the path was clear for them. Anakin tried to stifle his coughing, much to Obi-Wan's annoyance as that probably did the opposite of help, but failed miserably.
He was just rounding a corner when he saw them, Quinlan standing and motioning urgently to a woman, surrounded by two Healers. Quinlan looked like he was trying to explain things, but stopped when he saw Obi-Wan and pointed at them. The woman turned and Obi-Wan recognised Master Che, the overly strict (and sometimes downright terrifying) Healer. She strode towards him purposefully, waving the floating stretcher behind her to follow.
Obi-Wan began to formulate an explanation, but she was quick on the uptake, one look at Anakin and her expression turned grim.
"Put him on here." She ordered sharply, pointing to the stretcher. "Healer Desa, run to the Halls and make sure they know we're coming." She said, this time to one of the young girls beside her. The girl nodded, and ran speedily off to the Halls.
The four of them, the two Healers plus the two Jedi, with Anakin still coughing on the stretcher, began walking up the corridor. But Master Che didn't stop checking over Anakin, even when that meant she was walking backwards.
"Kenobi, lift his head up. We need to keep his airways as clear as we can."
Obi-Wan did as requested, tilting Anakin up then turning him onto his side. "Give me a brief overview. Vos said only you knew the full extent of the damage."
Extent of the damage.
Obi-Wan thought quickly, trying to remember everything.
"He has a blaster wound in his torso and side, as well as systematic cuts down his arm. We noticed some purple bruising on his stomach, internal bleeding," he began, feeling sick as he realised quite how bad it was, "there's a partly healed gash on his forehead, and his leg looks like it was broken and reset, but then walked on without care -"
"Pass me that would you Vos?" Master Che interrupted, pointing to something Obi-Wan couldn't see. Quinlan did, and Obi-Wan caught a glance of something that looked like a syringe.
His mouth went dry. It wasn't often that the Healers resorted to physical methods of healing, they usually used the Force.
"What is that?" He asked.
"A simple sedative. I'd like to put him in a good healing trance, but we'll need to operate the second we get there. And bacta too, it's probable he'll need submersion for up to forty hours."
Obi-Wan realised that she was no longer talking to him but to herself. But everything she said made him feel ever more scared. There was so much they had to do. So much they had to do just to keep Anakin alive.
They rounded another corner, and Obi-Wan saw a large group of people waiting outside the Halls. The second they saw the stretcher they swarmed around it, pulling it after them into the room. Obi-Wan made to follow, but felt a hand on his shoulder.
"We should let them work." Quinlan said. Master Che turned from where she was about to follow Anakin, and gave Obi-Wan a reassuring smile. A rare thing for the woman.
"Kenobi. Your Padawan has been through a lot of trauma. But I promise we'll do our best to help him." She said. Obi-Wan nodded.
"There's a room nearby where you can wait, if you want."
"Yes. I'll stay. Thank you." Obi-Wan said.
Quinlan pulled him away and guided him to a room filled with empty chairs. Obi-Wan spent the next few hours staring blankly at the blood on his hands.
A/N: I'm no medical expert, so this won't be fully accurate. But I did a bit of research, so it should be semi-realistic. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.