Chapter 13
At last there were images—foggy and gray, but snapshots came upon him in the form of an elusive dream. It was the first consciousness Qui-gon Jinn could remember in what seemed like his entire life. In this partial awake ness he began to realize he had no feeling in his body.
Just before the notion of opening his heavy eyes came to him, Obi-wan's small body flashed in his mind. The boy lay sobbing, contorted in pain, screaming "Qui-gon." Qui-gon's instinct to move thrashed through him, and the war with himself began. His body, reaction delayed, quaked at his attempt to sit up, and numbness melted into indescribable pain.
Paroxysms held Qui-gon down as if the concrete slab was still pinning him. Opening his throat to scream, the pain only worsened. He couldn't get his eyes to move. Perany, who was sitting close by, could only watch in disbelief for a moment. Then, shouting for Tyndale, tried to hold down the Jedi's broken legs, because his violent shaking looked as though it would cause the bones to break the skin. Tyndale arrived by his elder's side, sickened by the smothered scream coming from the injured body.
"He's having some sort of seizer," Perany guessed, "from the head injuries I imagine." All Qui-gon saw was white—white pain all around, in everything. But Obi- wan's picture was still swimming in his head, scaring him with the love of a father. Delusional, as numbness Qui-gon now welcomed retook his limbs, he tried to call to Obi-wan and take the child's pain unto himself. Tyndale heard Qui-gon say the name in an exhale. He glanced at Perany.
The two senators watched as the Jedi's breathing hollowed out and he returned to the death-like coma. Panting, they separately acknowledged the severity of the situation. Anything more like that and their last hope would be dead.
"Who's Obi-wan?" Tyndale questioned. Perany shook his head.
"Maybe it's his son."
The council whispered in relieved tones among one another as Mace Windu smiled at little Obi-wan. The boy stood before them beaming even though his eyes still watered. Yoda sensed that Obi-wan was in almost complete contact with the small bond he had with Qui-gon—a bond Qui-gon had been unable to acknowledge yet pain still crept through it. Mace too was glad to find that the bond on Qui-gon's end had been nudged into existence once more. Yoda tried to intervene slightly, knowing at any moment Qui-gon could pass along something uncontrollable.
It was too late. Obi-wan was on the tile, shivering in all directions, whimpering in agony. The council collectively tried to block the bond, take what they could from the child to ease his suffering. But soon Obi-wan was unconscious in Mace's arms and his seizer over. Mace turned to Yoda in shock and ran from the room. Someone whispered, "He's gone..."
At last there were images—foggy and gray, but snapshots came upon him in the form of an elusive dream. It was the first consciousness Qui-gon Jinn could remember in what seemed like his entire life. In this partial awake ness he began to realize he had no feeling in his body.
Just before the notion of opening his heavy eyes came to him, Obi-wan's small body flashed in his mind. The boy lay sobbing, contorted in pain, screaming "Qui-gon." Qui-gon's instinct to move thrashed through him, and the war with himself began. His body, reaction delayed, quaked at his attempt to sit up, and numbness melted into indescribable pain.
Paroxysms held Qui-gon down as if the concrete slab was still pinning him. Opening his throat to scream, the pain only worsened. He couldn't get his eyes to move. Perany, who was sitting close by, could only watch in disbelief for a moment. Then, shouting for Tyndale, tried to hold down the Jedi's broken legs, because his violent shaking looked as though it would cause the bones to break the skin. Tyndale arrived by his elder's side, sickened by the smothered scream coming from the injured body.
"He's having some sort of seizer," Perany guessed, "from the head injuries I imagine." All Qui-gon saw was white—white pain all around, in everything. But Obi- wan's picture was still swimming in his head, scaring him with the love of a father. Delusional, as numbness Qui-gon now welcomed retook his limbs, he tried to call to Obi-wan and take the child's pain unto himself. Tyndale heard Qui-gon say the name in an exhale. He glanced at Perany.
The two senators watched as the Jedi's breathing hollowed out and he returned to the death-like coma. Panting, they separately acknowledged the severity of the situation. Anything more like that and their last hope would be dead.
"Who's Obi-wan?" Tyndale questioned. Perany shook his head.
"Maybe it's his son."
The council whispered in relieved tones among one another as Mace Windu smiled at little Obi-wan. The boy stood before them beaming even though his eyes still watered. Yoda sensed that Obi-wan was in almost complete contact with the small bond he had with Qui-gon—a bond Qui-gon had been unable to acknowledge yet pain still crept through it. Mace too was glad to find that the bond on Qui-gon's end had been nudged into existence once more. Yoda tried to intervene slightly, knowing at any moment Qui-gon could pass along something uncontrollable.
It was too late. Obi-wan was on the tile, shivering in all directions, whimpering in agony. The council collectively tried to block the bond, take what they could from the child to ease his suffering. But soon Obi-wan was unconscious in Mace's arms and his seizer over. Mace turned to Yoda in shock and ran from the room. Someone whispered, "He's gone..."