A/N: Note for the previous chapter. I'm very aware that Sinker and Boost are from the 104th, not the 212th, but for the life of me, I couldn't find out who is in the 212th besides Cody, Waxer and Boil.
Also, huge thanks to InkSplots for letting me borrow Shatter!
And finally, apologies for how long it's taken me to get this chapter out. I hope there will only be one more to wrap this piece up.
They say Anakin is only sleeping because the painkillers are strong. Obi-Wan nods, but he knows they slipped sedatives into the Knight's bloodstream to keep him calm in the medbay.
Obi-Wan can't blame the medics for being cautious. Anakin is exceptionally good at escaping medbays, but that isn't the reason behind his sedation this time- although keeping him in the bed is better for his wounded leg than trying to sneak away.
The reason they put Anakin to sleep is because his student is on the bed next to his, and she currently can't breathe without a ventilator.
Obi-Wan moves his gaze to Ahsoka's prone form. He should've dragged her to the medbay himself- knowing she's just as stubborn as her Master- but he was more occupied with Anakin's condition to figure out that his walking-and-talking Padawan had received life-threatening injuries.
His eyes trace the wires that weave over her body- wincing at the large needle inserted in the crook of her elbow that feeds her a third blood transfusion. The medics operated for two hours to fix the internal damage to her chest, and by the time they were done, Ahsoka had lost over a third of her blood. Considering her size, this was panic inducing for the elder Jedi.
Twelve broken ribs. Three on one side and nine on the other. Obi-Wan's surprised she didn't collapse sooner. It was impossible to feel any pain radiating off her Force-signature, and he blames Anakin entirely for that because he taught her how to shield so well.
That shielding technique almost cost Ahsoka her life.
The broken ribs splintered against her lungs, causing one to collapse and the other to work at less than half of its capacity. Until they heal, Ahsoka's stuck on a ventilator. Seconds from death, the medics had told him when they realised how gravely injured she was.
Footsteps behind him- slow and even- pull Obi-Wan out of his thoughts, "Cody."
"General." The Commander steps into line beside him, falling into parade rest after removing his helmet. "The Council want a report-" a short pause- "I can watch them."
"Thank you." It takes some will to pull his eyes away from the two younger Jedi, but Obi-Wan knows they're in capable hands, and Cody will call him the moment something happens to either of them.
He just hopes they both wake up.
At this point- after being subject to severe injuries for the best part of a year and a half- Anakin knows what it feels like for a sedative to be wearing off. It's like floating to the surface of a lake, and all his limbs feel weightless and like lead at the same time. His head's foggy- throat dry from the lack of water passing his lips.
Seventy-three hours, he decides, using his internal chrono to calculate how long he's been dead to the world. That's long enough- he'll be waking up soon.
Before he becomes aware of his surroundings, Anakin focuses on himself. Being a Jedi at war, he doesn't often have the chance to evaluate his health from the inside out- and that's probably where a lot of his problems have come from.
He can feel gauze on his skin- near his leg. If there's a wound there, it's still numb- all the way to his toes. He wonders what did it this time. He already has a record of breaking his femur three times- Rex will kill him if he's broken it again.
In the crook of his elbow is a needle- a painless feeling of his skin being poked. On his other elbow, he can feel the residing stickiness of tape. A blood transfusion if he's been in this situation enough times to know.
His head aches a bit, but that's nothing new. Kix gives him regular medicine for migraines- which Anakin initially tried to hide until Ahsoka ratted him out to the medic- saying he was throwing up all the time and refused to enter any brightly lit rooms.
Speaking of Ahsoka, Anakin reaches out into the Force. His bond with his Padawan is ever-present- much to his relief- and her end of the bond emits nothing but peaceful slumber. Hopefully, Obi-Wan gave her a sleep suggestion, as the girl never gets any rest when Anakin's hurt.
It's a while later until he becomes aware of the quietly beeping machines around him. He's in a medbay alright- judging by the smell of antiseptic which assaults his nostrils and doesn't improve his throbbing head.
There are some people talking quietly- clone voices. He only recognises one, but he can't pinpoint exactly who it is. He doesn't feel threatened- or that there's any danger nearby- which is always a positive.
It takes another few hours until Anakin feels like he can open his eyes. Even then, it's a challenge, and he has to tightly close them again when his retinas are scolded by the bright lights of the medbay.
"General Skywalker," a gruff voice- Cody, no doubt- "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a speeder," Anakin mutters, slowly opening his eyes and letting them adjust. He squints at the blurry Commander, "I didn't get hit by a speeder, right?"
The clone chuckles deep in his chest- more of his features coming into focus, "No, sir. Crash landing."
Anakin lets out a soft moan- Obi-Wan can't be too pleased. Another clone steps forwards- Shatter, if he remembers the 212th medic correctly, "You had a pretty large piece of metal lodged in your thigh, General. You required multiple blood transfusions and suffered a major concussion."
He hums in response to the report. It's not the worst he's had, but it's definitely bad enough to put him out of action for a bit. Kix will be thrilled with that. He glances- sluggishly- at Cody once more, "Obi-Wan?"
"In a meeting with the Council," the officer supplies, "I'll call him in a minute to let him know you're awake."
Anakin lays his head against the pillow and lightly closes his eyes. There's something gnawing at the back of his mind- like the feeling when he knows a screw is loose on his starfighter. Has he forgotten something? Hopefully, Ahsoka will remind him if-
His eyes snap open, and he sees Cody and Shatter eyeing him nervously. Panic crawls up his throat, "Where's Ahsoka?"
Cody's jaw tenses, and slowly, both clones glance to Anakin's right. He leans up onto the rail of his bed, eyes desperately searching for his Padawan who should be curled up in the chair beside his bed- wearing her Grandmaster's robe and refusing to eat or get cleaned up until he opens his eyes.
She isn't on a chair.
Ahsoka is laying in the bed beside him- body tucked under a white sheet to her shoulders. Anakin feels his heart race at a million beats per minute when he sees a tube is lodged in her throat.
"What happened?" He nearly shouts- seconds from jumping out of his own bed and rushing to her side. How did he not know she was hurt?
Cody puts a restraining hand on his shoulder- subtly pushing him back to the mattress. Anakin refuses to let his eyes leave Ahsoka's form as Shatter goes over to her bed to check the needle in the crook of her elbow. "We aren't sure exactly what happened, sir. She was fine until eight hours after we rescued you two off that desert planet. Then, her lung collapsed."
"Collapsed?" Anakin asks, worry for his Padawan soaring higher than ever before. Collapsed lungs are serious- like any injury in a vital organ- and all he can picture is her heaving for breath with the medics desperately trying to help. It makes him shiver under several thick blankets. "Did- did you lose her at all?"
"No," Cody says in a no-nonsense tone, shaking his head, "General Kenobi was on scene faster than the medics. He managed to keep her breathing until the guys could do their work."
That doesn't necessarily make Anakin feel better, although he's glad his Master could help. As soon as Obi-Wan gets there, he'll be interrogating him about every second that he was unconscious. Having Ahsoka hurt is one thing, but having her seriously hurt when he's unconscious is another.
"When will she wake up?" He asks- not liking how still she is.
Shatter blows out a breath, "Probably not until we reach Coruscant and sometime afterwards. Her body suffered a lot of trauma from going so long without medical treatment- it needs to heal, and it'll heal faster if she remains on the ventilator."
Obi-Wan sits with Anakin all night. He drinks tea, whilst the younger Jedi nurses a meal replacement shake with the hope of having something solid for breakfast in the morning.
They talk about the war, and the clones, and the Senate, but mostly, they just watch over Ahsoka in silence. Anakin fears the girl might perish if he looks away for too long, and Obi-Wan shares that fear to a lesser extent.
Those types of severe injuries on someone so small can have devastating consequences. He had a very hard comm call with Vokara Che and Shatter after seeing to Anakin, and the Jedi Healer was mostly concerned about the shape that Ahsoka's lungs would be in after having so many ribs splinter against them.
Shatter's not a bad surgeon, but he isn't used to operating on young, female Togrutas, and he's more suited for blaster wounds and broken limbs- not organ damage.
"Master Che is prepared for our arrival tomorrow," Obi-Wan says softly, having the willpower to look away from the resting Togruta, "I've been told that she's given Ahsoka the bed closest to the window."
Anakin doesn't reply, unblinking. He only looks up at the sound of soft footsteps. Obi-Wan smiles at his most senior medic, "Evening, Shatter."
"Sir," the medic bows his head politely- acting much more formal than usual, "Just doing my rounds."
"No problem," Obi-Wan nods graciously, "Carry on."
Shatter moves around the room. Besides Anakin and Ahsoka, all the beds are empty, but there are still stock checks to do. The Jedi hold their conversation whilst the medic does his job- the Knight watching Ahsoka like a hawk.
"You know," Obi-Wan starts gently, "your leg will heal faster if you try to get some rest."
Anakin frowns, "I'll rest when she opens her eyes."
Obi-Wan sighs, giving up. He knows they can always sedate him if the medics are concerned, or Vokara may be able to talk Anakin into getting some sleep with the promise of waking him if anything's wrong with Ahsoka.
In a way, Obi-Wan understands what his brother is going through. He remembers being a young Padawan when Qui-Gon got severely injured for the first time during a riot. He ended up in a coma for several days, and Obi-Wan refused to leave his side. That was when Vokara was studying to become a Healer- and hadn't quite mastered the authoritative 'if you're not injured, get out of my medbay' order.
"Any pain, General?" Shatter asks when he ends up at his bedside.
"A little," Anakin winces, and Obi-Wan widens his eyes. It isn't every day that Anakin Skywalker admits he's in pain and accepts help from medics- especially when it isn't the medics he's used to seeing.
"I'll increase your morphine," Shatter promises, already tapping buttons on the machine connected to the cannula in Anakin's hand. "Let me know if it doesn't hit it."
"Thanks," Anakin mutters, subconsciously itching the edge of the bandage around his thigh. Wordlessly, Obi-Wan moves his hand away before Shatter corrects him.
The medic moves to Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan feels the temperature in the room drop by a few degrees. When Shatter frowns at the monitor, Anakin can't help himself from speaking out, "Is everything alright?"
Shatter glances over, "The Commander's slightly warmer than I'd like." He looks at Obi-Wan, "I'm going to run some tests."
Obi-Wan nods, resisting the urge to put a hand on Anakin's shoulder as he sits upright. A raised temperature- although not good- is to be expected. It's a miracle that Ahsoka hasn't already developed pneumonia or some other type of infection.
"It was the door to the cockpit." Anakin says quietly, looking down at his injured leg as Shatter starts drawing blood samples from Ahsoka's arm, "I remember; she was crawling through- to get water- and it slammed shut."
Shatter grimaces, and Obi-Wan has to swallow hard. "I tried to stop it with the Force, but I could only hold it open long enough for her to climb through."
Obi-Wan puts a hand over his- trying to stop his fingers from trembling. He projects safe and it's okay to his former student across their bond, but Anakin's doesn't respond.
He just watches his Padawan.