"I want that ventilator on override!"
"O2 falling."
"EKG over 100 and rising."
"Get me that injection, now!"
"RR stats irregular."
"O2 still falling."
"She's panicking. Where's that sedative?!"
"Clear the room."
Kyp suddenly found himself being dragged from the room by a well-meaning orderly.
"I want the O2 pressure doubled now!"
"EKG, 120."
Kyp pressed his hand against the glass pane between him and the center of activity, the girl who only moments before had been eerily quiet.
"What's going on?"
Kyp turned, expecting to see either Han Solo or Mara Jade Skywalker come plowing through the med center door.
He never thought that the older smuggler would be beaten by his petite wife.
Han's age was finally catching up to him.
Leia's eyes were wide and alert as she took in her surroundings.
Han stumbled in after her, his chest heaving from the run.
Leia was barely breathing hard.
"What happened, Kyp?" she asked him her voice and face amazingly calm for the worry channeling through the Force.
"I wish I knew." Kyp stepped back from the window to allow her to see. "She was starting to wake up, and then all the alarms started going off."
"Mom! Dad!"
Kyp took advantage of the Solo's sudden preoccupiedness as Jacen came in, and turned back to Jaina.
The medics were still rushing about at a dizzying speed, shouting orders and calling out vital stats.
Jaina had gone still again, mostly from the heavy sedative Kyp had seen the head medic inject into Jaina's arm.
Amid all the flurry, she looked small and vulnerable.
"Hey, kid." Han's voice jerked him out of his reverie. "Did you call Luke?"
Kyp shook his head. "I figured it would be better to wait and find out what was going on first."
Jacen nodded approvingly.
Han frowned in thought. "I don't know about that, kid, but it's a good idea on one side; the last thing we need around here is Mara's hormones."
"Solo, you wouldn't know hormones if they smacked you upside the head." Mara stalked in, scowling furiously.
Han ducked as she tried to do just that.
Luke and Tahiri followed closely, each wearing an expression of extreme concern.
"Do you know what's going on?" Tahiri went to Jacen after a brief glance at Mara.
Jacen shook his head. "I'm just as clueless as you are."
"How is she?" Luke's voice was characteristically quiet as he subconsciously moved between his wife and brother-in-law.
Han shook his head slowly, his eyes on Jaina. "Ask him." He jerked his head at Kyp.
"Kyp?!" Mara stared at the younger Jedi Master.
"She was fine." Kyp was quiet. "I don't understand what happened."
"Hell's stars, you don't." Mara shot back. "What did you do to her?" she stepped forward, reaching for her lightsaber threateningly.
"Mara." Luke restrained her gently, talking softly into her ear.
Kyp didn't know what the Jedi Master was saying, but the distrustful glare slowly faded out of Mara's eyes.
"General Solo? May I speak to you and your wife?" the head medic came out into the main lobby, shutting the door to Jaina's room behind her.
Han nodded shortly. "Can't you just tell our whole family?" he swept hi hand through the air to indicate the other five people in the room.
The medic hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Why don't we go into the larger sitting area."
Waiting room. Han grimaced to himself. Where they tell you the bad news, and then you wait.
The medic waited as they sat down.
"I don't want you to be alarmed by the situation that just occurred."
They never do, even if by rights, you should be at a full-blown panic. Han's mind was running on its own.
"We've had a slight setback—nothing to be too worried about—but we had to go ahead and put her back on the ventilator."
Han wasn't sure if the medic's words were supposed to add to his confusion, or if it was just him.
"Because of the nature of neuro reconstruction, patient's reentering consciousness often have semi-violent reactions."
"That's normal?" Tahiri was frowning.
"Unfortunately, yes. Not normal so much as common. Or at least," she amended, "not completely uncommon. The reconstructed areas tend to be extremely sensitive, even volatile at times. If anything about the patient's surroundings seems threatening or even different, their mind reacts instinctively, and it can sometimes send them into a panic attack."
"That's what happened to Jaina?" Luke asked.
The medic nodded. "It appears that way. We've given her a sedative to calm her down, but that should wear off quickly."
"And if the same thing happens again?" Jacen wanted to know.
"That's unlikely. Usually, one sedation period is enough time for the brain to adjust. I haven't ever seen a neuro patient react like that a second time."
Jacen nodded.
"It might help if a member of her family went in and talked to her while the sedative wore off. Don't let your worry show; just talk softly to her, and it should create an environment that she's comfortable with."
Leia looked at Jacen and nodded.
"I'll go in." he said quietly. "How long before the medication wears off?"
The medic thought for a moment. "No more than half an hour."
Jacen nodded and stood, heading for the room where his sister was.
The room was quiet when he opened the door, the audio on the vital monitor having been turned off.
"Hey, sis." He sat down. "You gave us a pretty good scare a minute ago." He smiled. "Don't worry, we forgive you. Just hurry up and wake up."
There was a brief flicker of her eyelids.
"It's ok. It's just me. Jacen." He had to grin at that. As if she didn't know the minute he walked into the room who he was.
"Ok, so I can be a dumb idiot sometimes." He admitted. "You already knew that."
Her fingers shifted.
"Yeah, when the medic said half an hour, I figured she was dealing with non-Jedi patients. Meaning you should be awake in…" he glanced at his chronometer, "about five minutes."
He looked around the room. "What's threatening about this room, Jaya?" he sniffed the air. "Oh. Yeah, you're right. That food doesn't smell too great."
Jaina mumbled something too low for him to hear.
"Hmm?" Jacen leaned in to hear it.
Jaina was silent.
"Ok, sis, I'll bet that was an insult, but I'll let it slide. By the way, Si said to tell you she beat you." He frowned lightly. "Whatever that means."
Jaina rolled over slowly, gripping the sheets with white-knuckled intensity.
"Honest, Jaya, it's just me." He smiled again.
Jaina began mumbling again, louder this time.
Jacen forced down the alarm creeping up on him. "Jaya."
Jaina's eyes were open.
"You're awake." Jacen grinned, leaning forward to hug her.
Jaina's eyes widened and she rolled away from him.
Jacen hoped the hurt and confusion he was feeling wasn't showing. "Jaina, what's wrong?"
Jaina's lips moved, but no sound came out.
"Heehhh…" She seemed to struggle with the words
Jacen frowned. "What, Jaina?"
Frustration and pure, unadulterated terror slammed into him through the twin bond.
She swallowed hard, her throat visibly constricting. She tried once again to form the words. When they finally came out, it was all Jacen could do to even understand them.
"Who are you?"
.
"Not one!" Han turned and slammed his fist into the wall behind him. "She doesn't recognize one of us."
"Han." Leia's voice was pained.
"Heck, she doesn't even remember her own name!" he whirled, looking for something breakable to throw across the room.
"Han, please. Stop."
He did, but it was more from the fact that his knuckles were bruised and bleeding, than his wife's pleading voice.
"What happened?" he demanded, desperately hoping his wife would have some answers.
"I think we would all like to know that." Leia's voice was soft.
Luke pushed the door open softly just then, his face a mask of sorrow and concern.
"I'm going to take Mara home. Comm me if there's any change."
"Skywalker, you must have some pretty inflated views of your own strength if you think you're taking me anywhere." Mara pushed by him, her stoic expression barely hiding the weariness she was feeling.
Luke looked at her. "Mar, you promised."
"Hell's stars, Luke, even I break my promises sometimes!" she cried, her frustration finally coming through the façade.
Luke sighed. "I know."
"If you will all please sit down, I will try to answer your questions." The medic breezed into the room.
"Thank you," Han retorted, "but I prefer to take the bad news standing up."
"Med center policy." The medic snapped. "Sit down. You'll think more rationally."
Han muttered something darkly, but sat down.
"Thank you." The medic said blandly. "Ask any questions you have- one at a time-" she shot a look at Han, "and I'll try my best to answer."
"What happened?" Luke blurted out, uncharacteristically abruptly.
The medic hesitated for a moment, as if organizing her thoughts. "First, let me go over some basic points about neuro reconstruction. One, it's never even guaranteed to work."
"Then why is it so often used?" Han demanded.
Somehow, the medic managed not to glare. "Because it usually does work. Modern science has made is considerable easier to reconstruct damaged parts of the cerebrum, but it's still not child's play."
"You said 'usually'." Mara noted. "Are you saying it doesn't always?"
The medic paused for a moment. "I'll be brutally honest. Neuro reconstruction almost always entails some minor memory loss, or a slight personality change."
"No wonder Mara changed her mind about Luke." Han took a stab at humor.
It failed miserably, considering all the dark looks that he received.
"However," the medic went on, "I haven't ever seen a reaction like this."
"Never?" Leia echoed.
The medic shook her head. "I've read about somewhat similar cases, but… not in any recent history. In the genesis of reconstruction, it was a little more common. Now, with modern methods, it rarely happens."
"Why is that?" Luke questioned.
The medic shrugged. "We've gotten better at it. There's a threshold of survival rate, sure. But it's pretty high."
"Ok. Now that you've effectively covered the collective behinds of all medical personnel this side of Chandrila," Mara was sarcastic, "how 'bout explaining why it didn't work for Jaina?"
The medic sighed. "To be perfectly blunt with you, I have no galactic idea. You see, the threshold is caused by a vicious cycle of sorts. Brain damage is usually caused by either a point of impact, or in this case, hypoxia. Once enough damage is sustained, the brain no longer has the faculty to command breathing, causing further damage, and so on."
"I don't understand how that's relevant to Jaina." Jacen spoke for the first time, frowning.
"The point is," the medic turned to face him, "your sister was beyond that threshold."