Appreciate
His long strides carried him quickly through the sanitary white halls of the hospital. His Padawan lay somewhere down the winding, labyrinthine hallways.
They had been pursuing their quarry and had split up to find him. Joran had taken the left corridor, Qui-Gon the right. He nearly had the suspect in his grasp when there was a terrible rumble as if something had exploded. Concentrating on his mission, Master Dooku noticed the blast but did not let it distract him. He had seized the man and taken him into custody as authorities arrived.
Only after he had seen to the prisoner's handling did he find out that there was in fact a detonation inside the factory, and, more than he had expected, that Qui-Gon had been much too close to its origin and thus badly injured.
Joran had yet to see the extent of the damage. He had been informed that his apprentice was stable but would need surgery. For that at least, he was thankful, but he wished to know why the incident had happened at all.
A quick gait brought him to the room he sought. He paused a moment to brace himself; the healer had described Qui-Gon's wounds to him and he did not want to react unkindly. Qui-Gon was a sensitive being, and Joran would not want to upset him when he was injured.
He entered the room. Qui-Gon lay on the sleepcouch resting. From the doorway, he did not appear harmed. Joran stepped into the glaringly bland room and moved around to the side of the bed. No emotion crossed his passive face as he saw the damage to his student.
Dooku studied the young facade. The damage was ugly. The left side of his face and his left shoulder were deeply charred. Without a stern constitution of mind, the sight of such serious wounds would have been disturbing. If Qui-Gon were not a Jedi, it did not seem likely he would have survived.
Qui-Gon glanced up at him. His relief at seeing his Master unharmed was clear in his eyes. If his appearance had startled Joran at all, Qui-Gon did not see it.
"Master, I'm all right." Qui-Gon started to sit up, but Joran held him down, carefully pressing against his chest.
"You look far from all right. Do not even consider getting off that sleepcouch until after your surgery."
"But I feel fine!"
"That is not the point, my young student. You have been badly injured, and you will allow the healers to take proper care of you. Am I understood?"
Qui-Gon flinched as a wave of pain passed through his shoulder and head. "Yes, Master."
Dooku nodded. "Good. I will be waiting outside. You should rest until they take you to the operating room." Qui-Gon obediently lay back and closed his eyes.
Joran sighed as he moved to the waiting room. He would need to keep a steady, alert eye on that boy; Force knew what sort of adventure he could find if he escaped from his sickroom.
No more than a few minutes later, a sedated, or at least sleeping, Qui-Gon was wheeled from the room down the hall toward the operating room. Joran thought now would be a good time for some meditation; he needed to think on the mission and ways to prevent the missteps his student had taken. Fortunately, the hospital seating was cushioned, so he could comfortably contemplate from just where he was.
Some hours later, he was still entranced in his reflections when his mended Padawan was transferred back into his assigned room. The movement did not escape Joran's notice. He stood and stepped into the sterile recovery room. Qui-Gon was asleep, gauze covering his wound, and the healer was examining his chart.
The Master stepped up to him. "What is my apprentice's condition?" The round, stocky healer gazed up at him. "The burns were deep, but there will be no permanent damage. However, there could be scarring." The little man glanced down at Qui-Gon's information, then to the Padawan, then back up at the stately Master. "However, I've heard you Jedi are unnaturally robust, so perhaps it will not be so much."
Joran gave him a tight smile. He was not much of a healer, but he was sure the Force would be effective in clearing up any leftovers of the unfortunate incident. "Thank you. I will be in the waiting room until he awakens." The little healer nodded and Joran returned to his previous exercise.
About an hour later, the Master slipped from the intense mental task to see Qui-Gon sneaking quietly back to his sickroom.
"Qui-Gon."
The Padawan froze in the doorway and watched Master Dooku approach. "I'm sorry, Master, but I saw you were meditating... or sleeping, and I didn't want to bother you. I just wanted some food. I was really hungry." He held up his snack cake as evidence of where he had gone.
"You were not to be moving about until cleared by the healer. Now, back to your sleepcouch."
"Yes, Master." Joran watched his student climb back in his resting place and peel open the wrapper of his food. Qui-Gon looked up and smiled at his Master as he chewed. Joran nodded and returned to his seat in the outer room.
This time, he thought to himself, he was ready for the apprentice's escapades.
It was no surprise when a few moments later, Padawan Jinn crept out of his room and passed the Master who appeared to be deep in meditation again. However, Joran was not, and as his student slipped into the hall, he stood to follow.
Down the hallway, Qui-Gon made his way without looking back. Joran noted to himself that he would need to schedule in lessons on the finer points of stealth and how not to be followed.
Qui-Gon certainly seemed to know where he was going as he led his slightly perplexed Master halfway across the building. Trailing stealthily behind, Joran was at a loss for why his Padawan had entered the maternity ward.
Peering around the corner, he saw Qui-Gon stop in front of the nursery where a group of babies were tucked in their bassinets. He put his hands on the glass and leaned close to look in the window.
As Master Dooku, abandoning his hiding place, walked to the apprentice, Qui-Gon was smiling and wiggling his fingers. The handful of tots that was awake beyond the transparent barrier giggled happily.
"It's an entire ward of pure, distilled life."
The Padawan's words gave Dooku pause. "What do you mean, Padawan?"
The student's sharp sapphire eyes turned to him, some strange mystery in them. "I mean not everyone comes here to get repaired." He glanced back at the young ones, now all sleeping.
Joran looked now at Qui-Gon's own young face, really examining the bandage on it. It completely covered his left cheek, jaw, forehead, and ear. The damage that had been done was hidden, but Qui-Gon still looked unlike himself, a hideous hybrid of the person he was and the beige dressing.
He could not help to think that Qui-Gon had once been one of those tiny forms. Now he had been through so much, yet somehow he retained such innocence that he could smile just from seeing another do so. Then there was also the part of him that could be so deep and say such things as he had just. He did not understand it.
Qui-Gon yawned. "I'm tired."
"Come along, Qui-Gon. Time to rest, finally." Maybe someday he would figure the workings of his Padawan's mind and his heart.