***SEE DISCLAIMERS ON CHAPTER ONE***
~~ personal thought ** Force communication CAPS emphasis
(A/N "Ballea" means 'Sweet One' in Mon Calamarian, Bant's native language.)
*********************
Chapter 6: Try, Try Again
**********************
Once more, darkness envelops him.
No more running. Now, only pain.
On fire, please make it stop! Blue lights up his skin.
Try to scream but no sound comes.
That voice again, smooth and charming, "I brought you a friend, My Little Jedi . . . "
Master! No!
*********************
Anakin bolted up from his hypospray-induced slumber. Truthfully it was not ALL due to the medication. His little trick with Kenobi had taken a lot out of him.
The boy felt uncomfortable, as if he had experienced a bad dream, but he could remember no details now. Only shadows, pain, and a horrible foreboding.
He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and sat up slowly. Still in the healing center, but in a bed across from Master Obi Wan. The boy dangled his legs over the edge of the mattress and gazed at his fellow occupant.
Kenobi looked almost normal. His color was still a bit off, a smidgeon too pale. But his breathing was deep and even, his posture relaxed, and he seemed to be sleeping very soundly. Evidently Bant had washed his hair while they slept, as it lay across his shoulders in damp blackish strands.
The man looked more relaxed than Anakin had seen him in . . . Well . . . EVER.
Quietly the boy made his way over to the other bed and climbed in. Obi Wan remained oblivious. Snuggling down into the blankets, Anakin again placed his head under his friend's chin and lightly slipped his smaller hand under Obi Wan's larger one.
~~ Wow, he has a lot of callouses. Must be from all the saber training. ~~
Within moments, sleep reclaimed him.
******************
A few minutes later, Anakin sat up in the bed and stared at Kenobi with a blank expression. The Knight slumbered on, so soundly that the sleep had to have been either the result of a sedative or Force inducement.
Perfect.
Anakin glanced at the chrono on the far wall. It was 2nd hour. The whole Temple slept. Or, at least, most of them did.
The boy crept quietly, heading for the cabinet in which the tranquilizers were stored.
************************
Bant woke suddenly as a pain shot through her head. A disturbance in the Force strong enough to jolt her onto shaky feet ripped through her, and she was running down the hall, yelling for Orick, one thought repeating in her mind: ~~ Obi Wan! I'm coming! ~~
She wheeled into Kenobi's room, almost colliding with her assistant as he reached the room at the same instant. Palming open the door, she used the Force to bring the lights up to full.
Sprinting to her patient's bedside, the young healer's heart caught in her throat. Hoarsely she cried out, "Orick! The analyzer, now!" As she gave orders, Anakin sprang up from his place beside Obi Wan.
"What? What's going on!?" He was obviously confused and disoriented. He looked at Obi Wan and the color drained from his face. The man appeared to be sleeping . . . but Anakin knew he was not.
Bant grabbed him by the shoulders and said in a low dangerous tone, "What did you DO, boy? What did you GIVE him?!" His mouth opened and closed, no sound coming out. Bant shoved him away as Orick returned crying "Analyzer!" just as he tossed the device to her. A deft catch and the boy was all but forgotten.
Anakin burst into terrified tears as he watched the healer and her assistant converge on the still form in the bed. "I...I don't remember! Please, not again!" He curled up in the corner, face in his hands, weeping uncontrollably.
**Obi Wan! **
Nothing.
**Obi Wan!! **
The bond was empty. He was alone.
*************
Bant pressed the small machine to Obi Wan's arm. Within seconds it would give her a readout of any toxins in his system.
The brief moments seemed an eternity as she stared at her friend. His complexion was gray. The skin of his lips a matte, dusky blue. Orick opened Kenobi's right eye with a finger. It didn't dilate. He wasn't breathing.
A beep from the analyzer startled the Mon Calamarian. Bant digested the information and sprang into action. "Orick, get me twenty units of Haphedrine, and fifteen units of Coflex."
The Twilek ran out of the room to obtain the serums. Bant waited impatiently, running her hand down her friend's face. The skin was warm; she knew she had been awakened as he took a last labored breath. It had only been a couple of minutes. He would be ok. He HAD to be ok.
She spared a glance at the boy in the corner. He had quieted down into silent shuddering sobs. ~~ I should never have let him stay in here unsupervised. My stupidity has killed my Ballea. ~~
Orick stumbled back into the room and thrust the hyposprays into Bants hand. The healer quickly depressed both into the side of Kenobi's neck, then stepped back.
Obi Wan's eyes sprang open and he gulped in a huge lungful of air. His head lifted slightly off the bed, then sank back down as his eyes fluttered closed. He continued to breathe in large syncopated gulps. But his color was returning and his lips were less blue.
"Phylerol?" Orick questioned as he came to stand next to the Chief Healer.
Bant nodded, still gazing at her patient.
"How much?"
"A lot. Can't tell exactly, but somewhere in the neighborhood of three hundred units." She shook her head, imagining the massive overdose being administered to her best friend.
A low whistle from her assistant. "Force. That's enough to kill someone several times over."
"Yes. Yes it is." A small tear escaped her and she wiped it away distractedly. Obi Wan was breathing almost normally now, his eyes half open but not focused on anything. "Come, Orick, help me with him. We need to get him upright."
The two healers positioned themselves on either side of the bed and gently rolled Kenobi onto his back. They brought him upright with gentle tugs of his arms, trying to avoid touching the skin of his shoulders and disturbing the back injury. His head lolled backwards in a painful looking way as he was brought off the mattress. Finally the man was sitting straight, and Bant carefully cradled his skull to bring his forehead toward her. His eyelids were fluttering. His neck made small twitchy movements.
"Wow." Orick peered at Obi Wan as Bant sat in front of him on the side of the bed to steady his position. Orick looked at her. "He's fried, Boss."
Bant nodded. "Yes, he sure is." A glance toward the corner. "Anakin!"
The boy did not respond.
"Anakin! Come here, Master Kenobi needs your help."
Ani unfolded himself and struggled to his feet. Sniffling, he wiped his eyes and walked cautiously to the side of the bed.
"I need you to hold Master Kenobi's hands forward so he doesn't slide back. He can't sit up on his own and we can't adjust the bed to support him because it would put pressure on the back wound." Anakin moved to do this as she slid off the bed. "Orick, get me one of the adjustable meal tables and two pillows, please." The Twilek ran to do this as Bant began to take Obi Wan's vitals.
** M--Master? **
Still nothing, but the boy could feel the bond pulse between them. Maybe he could do what he had done before, and make his friend well again? He began to put himself in a trance and let his head drop to touch Obi Wan's shoulder,
Suddenly he was being shaken and groused at. Snapping back to reality, Anakin looked up to see an angry Bant railing at him. "Don't you even think about it. I don't know if you could actually do it or not, but if you did, you would just succeed in killing yourself. If you were able to absorb the drugs from his system, you'd be dead before your body hit the floor. If Kenobi were your size he'd be beyond help right now. So just do what you're told and cut the heroics." Agitated, the healer returned to her duties, measuring responses and recording them on a data pad.
Abashed, Anakin wept silently and held the arms of the man he had so recently tried to kill. Again.
****************************
Yoda felt the disturbance as the dramatic events in the Healing Center unfolded. With a sigh, he got out of bed and thumped with his stick toward the center of all this turmoil.
~~ Not even safe in the Healing Center, Kenobi is. ~~
Master Yoda had always had a soft spot for Obi Wan. The boy had come to the Temple very young, as an infant. He had been thoughtful and engaging even as a young child. The green Master chuckled as he remembered an indignant little Obi Wan, demanding, at four years old, that he was "big enough" to learn a rather advanced meditation.
"But I AM CALM!" the boy had screamed, stamping his feet, upon being told that profound serenity was needed to even attempt the exercise. Yoda and Mace still to this day used that phrase as an in-joke, both out of its absurdity and a shared affection for its originator.
As the boy grew, he became more reflective, a bit withdrawn, and too quick to anger. He had been a bit of a slow bloomer, and teased for his inferior height. His age mates equated small stature with weakness, and Kenobi had always had to overcompensate to overcome their prejudices. Unfortunately, his long training and serious nature resulted in his being a superior initiate in almost all areas, and his age mates withdrew all the more in their jealousy.
~~ Except for Bant, and Garen. And that clown Reeft. Thick as thieves, those four were. Are, still, in many ways. ~~
Obi Wan was a bit of a puzzle to Yoda. Supremely capable, frighteningly intelligent, undeniably talented with a 'saber, incredibly strong in the Unifying Force, and still so very insecure. An odd combination of traits. Kenobi did not seem afraid of failure - Indeed, he had failed at many things, many times, and always took it as a learning experience. He seemed insecure on a more fundamental level, as if he had fooled them all in some way. As if he should have been sent to AgriCorps instead of being taken as a Padawan Learner.
~~ And there, to Qui Gon, we arrive. Much of Kenobi's fears, trace back to Jinn, you can. ~~
Master Yoda stopped in his trek and shook his head, ears drooping. "A thump from my stick, you deserve, Qui Gon Jinn. How you are missed, my friend." He muttered to the air, and noted he was almost to the Center.
His large green eyes squinted at the distance as a figure strode toward the Center from the opposite direction. Instant recognition, and the small Master thumped on.
** Felt it, you did, my friend? **
A sigh. ** Yes, Master, I did. I suspect you sent it to me just to con me out of a good night's sleep. ** Mace replied sardonically.
The two friends met at the door of the Center.
** If sleep I cannot, then sleep YOU will not. Need your presence, for the boy, I do. Fear this instance will have hurt him more than the first. **
Mace palmed the door open and they walked toward Kenobi's room. "Why do you say that, Master?"
Yoda glanced up at his tall companion as he thumped along. "Closer, they have become. My intention that was, in keeping the boy here. Had hoped it would give him strength to resist whatever compels him."
Mace stopped in his tracks, flabbergasted. "You intentionally put Kenobi in that kind of danger? We should have locked the boy up."
"No" A stern tone, not often used by the jovial Yoda. "Strong he is. Overcome it, he can. Have a chance to do so, he must. In the Healing Center, chances of his success are infintessimal. Best place to take such risk, this is."
Mace frowned. "I don't agree with your methods. But I will hold my objections. For now."
The small green head nodded, ears perked. "Thank you, I do."
********************
The Councillors walked into room 1A to find some very agitated beings.
Anakin stood by the bedside, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, fidgeting. His face was anxious, and his head hung low. One hand flitted around his face as the boy chewed on his fingernails.
Bant and Orick were changing the bandage on Kenobi's back, and having a hard time of it due to the awkward angle. The two were bickering back and forth. "Grab this end, its falling off!" Bant's voice was exasperated.
"If I let go of this part, it will fall off too, then where will we be?" The assistant whined.
In the middle of it all sat Obi Wan. He had been pulled forward to rest on a dinner tray table that was softened by two pillows. His arms dangled limply at his sides, and his head was turned sideways facing Anakin. His eyes were glazed and foggy.
Mace and Windu entered quietly and peered at the patient.
Obi Wan's unfocused eyes shifted to their general direction. He squinted a bit more, and his gaze almost fixed on Mace. It seemed his eyes couldn't FIX on anything, just kind of stare in the vicinity of something.
The voice was low and dreamy as Obi Wan addressed Master Windu.
"Maaace . . . " He drawled, dragging the name out over a couple of seconds. "Hullo, Counshul . . . counshullar . . . " His arm flailed around a bit as he tried to reach out to Mace and failed. Miserably. The arm wriggled into stillness as he gave up. His almost-gaze fell on Yoda. "Hullo, Lil Fella . . . " The smile was wide and totally devoid of evil intent. At least Kenobi's arm stayed where it was.
Yoda's eyes bulged and Mace brought his hand up to cover his cheek.
Bant closed her eyes and counted to three. "Obi Wan. Shut. Up." She went back to the bandaging. "Hello Master Yoda, Master Windu. Come to join the party?"
Mace drew his astonished gaze from Kenobi and looked at Bant. "Party, Healer?"
She chuckled. "Well, in all honesty, WE aren't having a party, old Obi Wan is the only one here having a party, isn't that right, Ballea?"
Mace and Yoda shifted back to stare at Obi Wan as he smiled weakly. "Paaaaaarty" he moaned.
"I fail to see the humor in this situation, Healer Bant." The tone was serious and indignant.
"Master Windu . . . It's either joke or cry, if I don't do one or the other I am going to explode." A final tear of medical tape and she relaxed. "Ok. It's done. He's good for another four hours." She strode around the bed to address the Masters. As Orick gathered up the excess bandaging and returned it to the cabinet.
"His infection has not returned, and recent samples show no more Telliridae. The constant salva treatment worked on that. So there is some good news." She reached out and stroked Obi Wan's hair. He closed his eyes and smiled stupidly. "The bad news is that Kenobi was given enough Phylerol to kill a den full of Hutts. I gave him counter agents, and they kept him from dying." Her mouth turned down. "Well, no, that's not right. Technically he did die."
Mace and Yoda exchanged worried looks.
"But they revived him instantaneously. He was down for no more than three minutes. I can't test it now, but he could have permanent residual damage from this. For now all I can say is . . . " She stared down at her friend, who was currently having problems blinking correctly. "Well, for lack of a better term, as Orick would say, 'he's fried'."
Yoda and Windu turned to look at Orick. He squirmed a bit under their scrutiny. "Well . . . It's a technical term." He said with a shrug and a grin, before hightailing it out of the room.
Mace folded his hands across his chest and sighed.
Yoda hobbled over to Anakin. "Anakin?" He put his gnarled hand on the small quaking shoulder. With the Force he brought the chair over behind the boy and pushed him into it. The child sat down heavily and put his head in his hands. Yoda patted him on the back and returned to speak to Bant.
"You expect Kenobi to be in this state, how long?" Orick returned with a chair for the two councillors, and Yoda sat next to Anakin, facing the bed. After a few more cursory glances at Obi Wan, which earned him a strange giggle from the young Knight, Mace joined them.
"He'll be like this for . . . ten to twelve hours, is my best guess. Possibly longer. His body is under severe stress, he cannot use the Force to metabolize the toxin. The only choice I see is just to wait it out." Orick brought two more chairs and the healer and her assistant sat.
"Can't you just . . . " Mace gestured with his hand. "Let him sleep it off?" An uncomfortable glance toward Kenobi, who was looking in their direction, his soft voice carrying to them in incoherent mumbles.
Bant's expression grew serious. "No. HE MUST stay awake until he is back to normal. It is too dangerous for him to sleep, he could slip into a coma and we would not know. Besides, in a while the stimulants will overcome the Phylerol, and then I couldn't get him to sleep even if I wanted to." She turned her head and mumbled, "And boy will I ever want to."
Orick jumped in to explain. "Once the Phylerol is metabolized, the stimulants will put Master Kenobi into a somewhat . . . Manic . . . state. And we can't use more drugs to stabilize it, that would just be too dangerous in his condition. His body will purge it on its own eventually. We figure two or three more hours of this," Orick gestured toward Obi Wan, who had taken it upon himself to softly sing a Correlian drinking song, "Then another hour or two where he will be up and around, but still somewhat loopy. THEN five to eight hours of the manic phase. After which he will gradually return to his normal self. You know, even tanked up, his voice isn't bad!" The Twilek gestured toward Obi Wan, trying to alleviate the almost unbearable stress in the room.
Mace and Yoda nodded. "Loopy. Another 'technical term' this is?" The green eyes squinted with humor.
"Yes, Master," The Twilek blushed bright blue and smiled shakily.
Yoda turned his attention to Anakin, who had finally sat up straight and removed his head from his hands. His face was tear stained and puffy from anguish.
"Initiate Skywalker," Yoda began, not unkindly. "Tell us what happened you must. But first, know this: Your fault, this is not. I knew the danger, the blame, I take." Anakin wept quietly at the vindication, even though in his heart he did not accept it. "Tell us what you know, then some questions for you, I have."
Before Anakin could begin, Bant turned to Orick. "Orick, please go attend to our other patients, I need to be present for this. Reenan in 2B needs his bacta cast removed, and Fiore in 2C will need help with her rehab exercises. If you are done before we are, please man the desk."
Orick nodded to Bant, bowed to the Masters, and took his leave.
The three Jedi settled down in their chairs, and looked at Anakin expectantly as Obi Wan's eyes twinkled too brightly and his lilting tenor sang, "Oh the trees in the Vanderlow Valley, and the girl that was waiting there . . . "
**********************
~~ personal thought ** Force communication CAPS emphasis
(A/N "Ballea" means 'Sweet One' in Mon Calamarian, Bant's native language.)
*********************
Chapter 6: Try, Try Again
**********************
Once more, darkness envelops him.
No more running. Now, only pain.
On fire, please make it stop! Blue lights up his skin.
Try to scream but no sound comes.
That voice again, smooth and charming, "I brought you a friend, My Little Jedi . . . "
Master! No!
*********************
Anakin bolted up from his hypospray-induced slumber. Truthfully it was not ALL due to the medication. His little trick with Kenobi had taken a lot out of him.
The boy felt uncomfortable, as if he had experienced a bad dream, but he could remember no details now. Only shadows, pain, and a horrible foreboding.
He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and sat up slowly. Still in the healing center, but in a bed across from Master Obi Wan. The boy dangled his legs over the edge of the mattress and gazed at his fellow occupant.
Kenobi looked almost normal. His color was still a bit off, a smidgeon too pale. But his breathing was deep and even, his posture relaxed, and he seemed to be sleeping very soundly. Evidently Bant had washed his hair while they slept, as it lay across his shoulders in damp blackish strands.
The man looked more relaxed than Anakin had seen him in . . . Well . . . EVER.
Quietly the boy made his way over to the other bed and climbed in. Obi Wan remained oblivious. Snuggling down into the blankets, Anakin again placed his head under his friend's chin and lightly slipped his smaller hand under Obi Wan's larger one.
~~ Wow, he has a lot of callouses. Must be from all the saber training. ~~
Within moments, sleep reclaimed him.
******************
A few minutes later, Anakin sat up in the bed and stared at Kenobi with a blank expression. The Knight slumbered on, so soundly that the sleep had to have been either the result of a sedative or Force inducement.
Perfect.
Anakin glanced at the chrono on the far wall. It was 2nd hour. The whole Temple slept. Or, at least, most of them did.
The boy crept quietly, heading for the cabinet in which the tranquilizers were stored.
************************
Bant woke suddenly as a pain shot through her head. A disturbance in the Force strong enough to jolt her onto shaky feet ripped through her, and she was running down the hall, yelling for Orick, one thought repeating in her mind: ~~ Obi Wan! I'm coming! ~~
She wheeled into Kenobi's room, almost colliding with her assistant as he reached the room at the same instant. Palming open the door, she used the Force to bring the lights up to full.
Sprinting to her patient's bedside, the young healer's heart caught in her throat. Hoarsely she cried out, "Orick! The analyzer, now!" As she gave orders, Anakin sprang up from his place beside Obi Wan.
"What? What's going on!?" He was obviously confused and disoriented. He looked at Obi Wan and the color drained from his face. The man appeared to be sleeping . . . but Anakin knew he was not.
Bant grabbed him by the shoulders and said in a low dangerous tone, "What did you DO, boy? What did you GIVE him?!" His mouth opened and closed, no sound coming out. Bant shoved him away as Orick returned crying "Analyzer!" just as he tossed the device to her. A deft catch and the boy was all but forgotten.
Anakin burst into terrified tears as he watched the healer and her assistant converge on the still form in the bed. "I...I don't remember! Please, not again!" He curled up in the corner, face in his hands, weeping uncontrollably.
**Obi Wan! **
Nothing.
**Obi Wan!! **
The bond was empty. He was alone.
*************
Bant pressed the small machine to Obi Wan's arm. Within seconds it would give her a readout of any toxins in his system.
The brief moments seemed an eternity as she stared at her friend. His complexion was gray. The skin of his lips a matte, dusky blue. Orick opened Kenobi's right eye with a finger. It didn't dilate. He wasn't breathing.
A beep from the analyzer startled the Mon Calamarian. Bant digested the information and sprang into action. "Orick, get me twenty units of Haphedrine, and fifteen units of Coflex."
The Twilek ran out of the room to obtain the serums. Bant waited impatiently, running her hand down her friend's face. The skin was warm; she knew she had been awakened as he took a last labored breath. It had only been a couple of minutes. He would be ok. He HAD to be ok.
She spared a glance at the boy in the corner. He had quieted down into silent shuddering sobs. ~~ I should never have let him stay in here unsupervised. My stupidity has killed my Ballea. ~~
Orick stumbled back into the room and thrust the hyposprays into Bants hand. The healer quickly depressed both into the side of Kenobi's neck, then stepped back.
Obi Wan's eyes sprang open and he gulped in a huge lungful of air. His head lifted slightly off the bed, then sank back down as his eyes fluttered closed. He continued to breathe in large syncopated gulps. But his color was returning and his lips were less blue.
"Phylerol?" Orick questioned as he came to stand next to the Chief Healer.
Bant nodded, still gazing at her patient.
"How much?"
"A lot. Can't tell exactly, but somewhere in the neighborhood of three hundred units." She shook her head, imagining the massive overdose being administered to her best friend.
A low whistle from her assistant. "Force. That's enough to kill someone several times over."
"Yes. Yes it is." A small tear escaped her and she wiped it away distractedly. Obi Wan was breathing almost normally now, his eyes half open but not focused on anything. "Come, Orick, help me with him. We need to get him upright."
The two healers positioned themselves on either side of the bed and gently rolled Kenobi onto his back. They brought him upright with gentle tugs of his arms, trying to avoid touching the skin of his shoulders and disturbing the back injury. His head lolled backwards in a painful looking way as he was brought off the mattress. Finally the man was sitting straight, and Bant carefully cradled his skull to bring his forehead toward her. His eyelids were fluttering. His neck made small twitchy movements.
"Wow." Orick peered at Obi Wan as Bant sat in front of him on the side of the bed to steady his position. Orick looked at her. "He's fried, Boss."
Bant nodded. "Yes, he sure is." A glance toward the corner. "Anakin!"
The boy did not respond.
"Anakin! Come here, Master Kenobi needs your help."
Ani unfolded himself and struggled to his feet. Sniffling, he wiped his eyes and walked cautiously to the side of the bed.
"I need you to hold Master Kenobi's hands forward so he doesn't slide back. He can't sit up on his own and we can't adjust the bed to support him because it would put pressure on the back wound." Anakin moved to do this as she slid off the bed. "Orick, get me one of the adjustable meal tables and two pillows, please." The Twilek ran to do this as Bant began to take Obi Wan's vitals.
** M--Master? **
Still nothing, but the boy could feel the bond pulse between them. Maybe he could do what he had done before, and make his friend well again? He began to put himself in a trance and let his head drop to touch Obi Wan's shoulder,
Suddenly he was being shaken and groused at. Snapping back to reality, Anakin looked up to see an angry Bant railing at him. "Don't you even think about it. I don't know if you could actually do it or not, but if you did, you would just succeed in killing yourself. If you were able to absorb the drugs from his system, you'd be dead before your body hit the floor. If Kenobi were your size he'd be beyond help right now. So just do what you're told and cut the heroics." Agitated, the healer returned to her duties, measuring responses and recording them on a data pad.
Abashed, Anakin wept silently and held the arms of the man he had so recently tried to kill. Again.
****************************
Yoda felt the disturbance as the dramatic events in the Healing Center unfolded. With a sigh, he got out of bed and thumped with his stick toward the center of all this turmoil.
~~ Not even safe in the Healing Center, Kenobi is. ~~
Master Yoda had always had a soft spot for Obi Wan. The boy had come to the Temple very young, as an infant. He had been thoughtful and engaging even as a young child. The green Master chuckled as he remembered an indignant little Obi Wan, demanding, at four years old, that he was "big enough" to learn a rather advanced meditation.
"But I AM CALM!" the boy had screamed, stamping his feet, upon being told that profound serenity was needed to even attempt the exercise. Yoda and Mace still to this day used that phrase as an in-joke, both out of its absurdity and a shared affection for its originator.
As the boy grew, he became more reflective, a bit withdrawn, and too quick to anger. He had been a bit of a slow bloomer, and teased for his inferior height. His age mates equated small stature with weakness, and Kenobi had always had to overcompensate to overcome their prejudices. Unfortunately, his long training and serious nature resulted in his being a superior initiate in almost all areas, and his age mates withdrew all the more in their jealousy.
~~ Except for Bant, and Garen. And that clown Reeft. Thick as thieves, those four were. Are, still, in many ways. ~~
Obi Wan was a bit of a puzzle to Yoda. Supremely capable, frighteningly intelligent, undeniably talented with a 'saber, incredibly strong in the Unifying Force, and still so very insecure. An odd combination of traits. Kenobi did not seem afraid of failure - Indeed, he had failed at many things, many times, and always took it as a learning experience. He seemed insecure on a more fundamental level, as if he had fooled them all in some way. As if he should have been sent to AgriCorps instead of being taken as a Padawan Learner.
~~ And there, to Qui Gon, we arrive. Much of Kenobi's fears, trace back to Jinn, you can. ~~
Master Yoda stopped in his trek and shook his head, ears drooping. "A thump from my stick, you deserve, Qui Gon Jinn. How you are missed, my friend." He muttered to the air, and noted he was almost to the Center.
His large green eyes squinted at the distance as a figure strode toward the Center from the opposite direction. Instant recognition, and the small Master thumped on.
** Felt it, you did, my friend? **
A sigh. ** Yes, Master, I did. I suspect you sent it to me just to con me out of a good night's sleep. ** Mace replied sardonically.
The two friends met at the door of the Center.
** If sleep I cannot, then sleep YOU will not. Need your presence, for the boy, I do. Fear this instance will have hurt him more than the first. **
Mace palmed the door open and they walked toward Kenobi's room. "Why do you say that, Master?"
Yoda glanced up at his tall companion as he thumped along. "Closer, they have become. My intention that was, in keeping the boy here. Had hoped it would give him strength to resist whatever compels him."
Mace stopped in his tracks, flabbergasted. "You intentionally put Kenobi in that kind of danger? We should have locked the boy up."
"No" A stern tone, not often used by the jovial Yoda. "Strong he is. Overcome it, he can. Have a chance to do so, he must. In the Healing Center, chances of his success are infintessimal. Best place to take such risk, this is."
Mace frowned. "I don't agree with your methods. But I will hold my objections. For now."
The small green head nodded, ears perked. "Thank you, I do."
********************
The Councillors walked into room 1A to find some very agitated beings.
Anakin stood by the bedside, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, fidgeting. His face was anxious, and his head hung low. One hand flitted around his face as the boy chewed on his fingernails.
Bant and Orick were changing the bandage on Kenobi's back, and having a hard time of it due to the awkward angle. The two were bickering back and forth. "Grab this end, its falling off!" Bant's voice was exasperated.
"If I let go of this part, it will fall off too, then where will we be?" The assistant whined.
In the middle of it all sat Obi Wan. He had been pulled forward to rest on a dinner tray table that was softened by two pillows. His arms dangled limply at his sides, and his head was turned sideways facing Anakin. His eyes were glazed and foggy.
Mace and Windu entered quietly and peered at the patient.
Obi Wan's unfocused eyes shifted to their general direction. He squinted a bit more, and his gaze almost fixed on Mace. It seemed his eyes couldn't FIX on anything, just kind of stare in the vicinity of something.
The voice was low and dreamy as Obi Wan addressed Master Windu.
"Maaace . . . " He drawled, dragging the name out over a couple of seconds. "Hullo, Counshul . . . counshullar . . . " His arm flailed around a bit as he tried to reach out to Mace and failed. Miserably. The arm wriggled into stillness as he gave up. His almost-gaze fell on Yoda. "Hullo, Lil Fella . . . " The smile was wide and totally devoid of evil intent. At least Kenobi's arm stayed where it was.
Yoda's eyes bulged and Mace brought his hand up to cover his cheek.
Bant closed her eyes and counted to three. "Obi Wan. Shut. Up." She went back to the bandaging. "Hello Master Yoda, Master Windu. Come to join the party?"
Mace drew his astonished gaze from Kenobi and looked at Bant. "Party, Healer?"
She chuckled. "Well, in all honesty, WE aren't having a party, old Obi Wan is the only one here having a party, isn't that right, Ballea?"
Mace and Yoda shifted back to stare at Obi Wan as he smiled weakly. "Paaaaaarty" he moaned.
"I fail to see the humor in this situation, Healer Bant." The tone was serious and indignant.
"Master Windu . . . It's either joke or cry, if I don't do one or the other I am going to explode." A final tear of medical tape and she relaxed. "Ok. It's done. He's good for another four hours." She strode around the bed to address the Masters. As Orick gathered up the excess bandaging and returned it to the cabinet.
"His infection has not returned, and recent samples show no more Telliridae. The constant salva treatment worked on that. So there is some good news." She reached out and stroked Obi Wan's hair. He closed his eyes and smiled stupidly. "The bad news is that Kenobi was given enough Phylerol to kill a den full of Hutts. I gave him counter agents, and they kept him from dying." Her mouth turned down. "Well, no, that's not right. Technically he did die."
Mace and Yoda exchanged worried looks.
"But they revived him instantaneously. He was down for no more than three minutes. I can't test it now, but he could have permanent residual damage from this. For now all I can say is . . . " She stared down at her friend, who was currently having problems blinking correctly. "Well, for lack of a better term, as Orick would say, 'he's fried'."
Yoda and Windu turned to look at Orick. He squirmed a bit under their scrutiny. "Well . . . It's a technical term." He said with a shrug and a grin, before hightailing it out of the room.
Mace folded his hands across his chest and sighed.
Yoda hobbled over to Anakin. "Anakin?" He put his gnarled hand on the small quaking shoulder. With the Force he brought the chair over behind the boy and pushed him into it. The child sat down heavily and put his head in his hands. Yoda patted him on the back and returned to speak to Bant.
"You expect Kenobi to be in this state, how long?" Orick returned with a chair for the two councillors, and Yoda sat next to Anakin, facing the bed. After a few more cursory glances at Obi Wan, which earned him a strange giggle from the young Knight, Mace joined them.
"He'll be like this for . . . ten to twelve hours, is my best guess. Possibly longer. His body is under severe stress, he cannot use the Force to metabolize the toxin. The only choice I see is just to wait it out." Orick brought two more chairs and the healer and her assistant sat.
"Can't you just . . . " Mace gestured with his hand. "Let him sleep it off?" An uncomfortable glance toward Kenobi, who was looking in their direction, his soft voice carrying to them in incoherent mumbles.
Bant's expression grew serious. "No. HE MUST stay awake until he is back to normal. It is too dangerous for him to sleep, he could slip into a coma and we would not know. Besides, in a while the stimulants will overcome the Phylerol, and then I couldn't get him to sleep even if I wanted to." She turned her head and mumbled, "And boy will I ever want to."
Orick jumped in to explain. "Once the Phylerol is metabolized, the stimulants will put Master Kenobi into a somewhat . . . Manic . . . state. And we can't use more drugs to stabilize it, that would just be too dangerous in his condition. His body will purge it on its own eventually. We figure two or three more hours of this," Orick gestured toward Obi Wan, who had taken it upon himself to softly sing a Correlian drinking song, "Then another hour or two where he will be up and around, but still somewhat loopy. THEN five to eight hours of the manic phase. After which he will gradually return to his normal self. You know, even tanked up, his voice isn't bad!" The Twilek gestured toward Obi Wan, trying to alleviate the almost unbearable stress in the room.
Mace and Yoda nodded. "Loopy. Another 'technical term' this is?" The green eyes squinted with humor.
"Yes, Master," The Twilek blushed bright blue and smiled shakily.
Yoda turned his attention to Anakin, who had finally sat up straight and removed his head from his hands. His face was tear stained and puffy from anguish.
"Initiate Skywalker," Yoda began, not unkindly. "Tell us what happened you must. But first, know this: Your fault, this is not. I knew the danger, the blame, I take." Anakin wept quietly at the vindication, even though in his heart he did not accept it. "Tell us what you know, then some questions for you, I have."
Before Anakin could begin, Bant turned to Orick. "Orick, please go attend to our other patients, I need to be present for this. Reenan in 2B needs his bacta cast removed, and Fiore in 2C will need help with her rehab exercises. If you are done before we are, please man the desk."
Orick nodded to Bant, bowed to the Masters, and took his leave.
The three Jedi settled down in their chairs, and looked at Anakin expectantly as Obi Wan's eyes twinkled too brightly and his lilting tenor sang, "Oh the trees in the Vanderlow Valley, and the girl that was waiting there . . . "
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