Chapter 22 Part of the Family
Boba floated blissfully in the soothing fluid of the bacta tank; he felt nothing except the distant pain in his abdomen and heard nothing save the mechanical sound of the breather that prevented him from drowning in the liquid bacta into which he was submerged. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered what had happened; but he was much too content to just drift and think about more pleasant things, his friendship with Zak, little Gemma, the Heights of Alderaan, his life, his new life there with Bail and….Lady Breha. Unbidden, some distasteful memories crept in, of Moran and the hunters, the attack on Master Kenobi, Micah's betrayal, his captivity…he pushed them away to allow the more agreeable ones to come forth once again. The exposure of corruption on Belarid, climbing the Heights with Bail, Coruscant and Alderaan, Lady Breha's warm heart; Moran's threats, a desperate attempt to help his…and there they were again, those unwelcome memories. Maybe he should clear his mind of all thoughts…who told him to do that? He could not remember and shook his head, a difficult feat in the viscous environment of the tank. Earlier childhood memories surfaced, his dad and Kamino, the spectacle of Geonosis, his father's…no, he did not want to think about that. He was not even sure if he liked his father anymore…his father was cold and ruthless, not like…not like Bail; he entertained the notion of Bail as his father…and he drifted to sleep.
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The janitorial droid, making a sweep of the recovery ward, detected an object near the last bed. Using its retrieval claw, it picked the object up and examined it.
"Hmm…interesting." It said as it turned the blue stone in its claw, "I am sure the patient will want this back."
It then deposited the stone in a holding compartment to present to the human doctor in charge of the patient last occupying the bed.
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Bail carried Gemma up to her room on the second level; Breha followed close behind and turned down the coverlet and sheet as Bail placed her in bed. Gemma gave a tiny sigh, rolled over on her side and drew her legs up to her chest as Breha drew the covers over her. Bail kissed the side of her head and Breha brushed the hair away from her face and kissed her cheek. The little one sighed again, "G'night." She murmured.
"Good night, sweetheart." Breha whispered in her ear.
Bail put his arm around his wife's shoulder and they watched Gemma sleep for a few minutes before they quietly left the room, closing the door behind them.
They returned to the entrance hall where Obi-Wan and Zak were engaged in quiet conversation.
"Zak and I are going back out to the cabin to retrieve those two hunters I left out there." Obi-Wan informed them.
"Master Kenobi, I believe we have already discussed this; I see no reason for you to go back out there tonight. We are all tired, it is very late and they can wait until morning." Bail argued.
"They are helpless prisoners, Chancellor; it is not right to leave them out there all night." Obi-Wan insisted.
"Well, if you wish to drag your apprentice out there in the middle of the night, that is your business, however, none of my vehicles are available at this time, so you will have to hike." Bail replied.
"It appears that you do not wish for us to go tonight." Obi-Wan said.
"Yes, it does appear that way." Bail answered.
"Forgive me, Chancellor, but isn't that a bit cruel?" Obi-Wan asked.
Bail gave a short laugh, "Cruel? Perhaps, but after what they have done to you and to my family; well, let us just say I am not feeling particularly sympathetic. The morning will be soon enough." He told him.
Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head, "I am unwilling to put my Padawan through anything more than he has already been through; and I, admittedly, am not up to a hike tonight." He conceded, "We will wait until morning."
"With all due respect, Master Kenobi; despite my ill feelings toward those men, even if I lent you one of my speeders, you are not up to doing anything further tonight." Bail replied.
Obi-Wan considered this for a moment, "You may be right, Chancellor." He forced himself to admit, "In the morning, then."
"Begging your pardon, Chancellor, I just wanted to let you know that we have taken Moran, that woman, Devan, and Micah's remains to the spaceport. There will be a transport arriving in the morning to take them to Coruscant." Commander Ged informed him as he entered the hall.
"Thank you, Commander; there will also be two others. Master Kenobi will lead an escort to retrieve them in the morning, so be sure the transport is held until they are brought there." Bail ordered.
"Yes sir, I have already arranged for a squad to leave as soon as Master Kenobi is ready." Ged replied.
"Very good, Commander; you should get some rest as well." Bail told him.
"Yes sir; good night." Ged answered and bowed out of the hall.
When he had gone, the four of them climbed the stairs; Bail and Breha parted company after saying their goodnights and headed for their own room.
Obi-Wan put a hand on Zak's shoulder, "I am very proud of you, Padawan. You did very well today." He said.
Zak shook his head, "I should have waited for you." He replied.
Obi-Wan sighed, "I thought we settled this earlier, Zak." He answered.
"I know; it's just that if I had waited then maybe…." Zak trailed off.
"Maybe not; but someone else might have gotten hurt or worse." Obi-Wan told him, "What did I tell you at the medical center?"
"That I shouldn't second guess myself after the fact." Zak answered.
"Exactly; now, I want you to stop dwelling on it. You did the right thing; how am I going to convince you of that?" Obi-Wan asked.
Zak looked down at the floor, "I don't know." He said quietly.
"Well, maybe Boba will when he wakes up. I don't think he regretted going in when you did." Obi-Wan replied.
Zak looked up at him, pondered for a moment and said, "I hadn't thought of that. Thank you, Master."
"Your welcome, Padawan. Now, get some rest, so that we can bring those other two back in the morning." Obi-Wan answered.
"Yes, Master." Zak replied, "Good night."
Obi-Wan smiled, "Good night, Zak." He said and watched Zak head down the hall toward his room before entering his own.
He stripped out of his clothing and practically fell into bed; then attempted to clear his mind of all thought so that he could sleep more readily.
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Zak stood before the window gazing out at the moonlit Heights wondering how Boba was doing. He knew that his master had been right to say that Boba would not regret what they had done. Still, what if he died? Then Zak would only have himself to blame for acting so… "Go to bed, Padawan." "I'm trying." "No, you're thinking; clear your mind and go to sleep." "Yes, Master."
Zak, sighed, changed into his sleep tunic and climbed into bed.
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Breha snuggled into the arms of her husband, "Will he be alright, do you think?" She asked.
Bail sighed and rubbed her arm, "He is very strong, Breha." He answered.
"Strong enough?" Breha asked.
"I hope so." Bail replied, "We will just have to wait until morning to see."
"He nearly died for me, Bail." She said.
"I know; he was very worried about you while he was hallucinating." Bail agreed.
"He was?" Breha wondered, turning in Bail's arms to look at him.
"Yes, I believe he thought the hunters had taken you." Bail told her and then smiled, "He thought that I was one of them and he said he would kill me if I hurt you."
"Do you think…will this soften him a little more?" Breha asked.
"I believe it already has." Bail answered.
"Then he must not die." Breha concluded.
Bail hugged his wife tightly, "No, he must not." He replied.
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The morning air was crisp and cold as Obi-Wan set off with his squad of Clones alone, leaving Zak to sleep in a little longer. He felt a tinge of regret for having left the hunters for the entire night; however, it was done and little could have been done about it at that point. When they reached the cabin, Obi-Wan led the way to where he had left the hunters.
"It's about time you got back here, Jedi; where have you been?" Kien complained.
"I told you I would come back when everything was over; well, now it's over." Obi-Wan replied.
"You're lucky we came back at all; I was for leaving you out here to rot after what your friend Moran did." Commander Ged added, "So if I were you, I'd best shut my mouth."
"But look what he did to me; I could have bled to death." Kien protested.
One of Ged's men, bent down and removed the gag from Orlan's mouth, "Shut up, Kien; I'm tired of hearing you whine about that." Orlan said when it was out.
Orlan's hands were untied and the cloth strips replaced with binders before his ankles were untied.
Another Clone squatted down behind Kien and began to unknot the cloth binding his hands, "Ouch! Geez, be careful, that hurts." Kien complained.
"You're lucky you still have your hand." The Clone told him, "There, put your hands in front of you; just remember how many of us there are and don't be stupid."
Kien brought his hands around and another Clone knelt down next to him, "Let's just have a look, shall we." He said as he began to unwrap the strip of cloth tied around Kien's hand.
"There, just look at what that bloodthirsty Jedi did to me." Kien announced when the bandage was removed to reveal the damaged fingers.
"Bloodthirsty? You have got to be kidding; you and your friend here were hunting people and you call him bloodthirsty?" Ged replied.
"Look here; these aren't even bleeding anymore. In fact, they don't look as if they bled much at all." The Clone said as he placed a bacta pad over the finger stumps and bandaged it.
"I told you, he's a whiner; he whined about that all night." Orlan said, "As if he had anything to complain about."
"You weren't the one who had fingers taken off; what did you have to complain about?" Kien asked.
"Oh I don't know; maybe the fact that I had lie on my belly all night with a gag in my mouth listening to you." Orlan answered.
"Alright, alright; the two of you will shut up now or I'll have both of you gagged." Ged warned, "Now, get up, Kien, and put your hands behind you back."
Kien stood up slowly and then started to make a run for it; Ged grabbed him by the arm, whirled him around and pointed a blaster in his face, "Go ahead, run; I would just love to end this right here." He threatened and then shoved him face first into the tree as another Clone pulled his hands behind his back and clamped the binders on.
Commander Ged stopped only long enough to drop Obi-Wan at the house before continuing with his prisoners to the spaceport.
"Well, I see Moran's friends managed to survive the night." Bail observed.
"Yes, they were not too pleased that I left them all night." Obi-Wan replied, half-smiling.
"You do not look very unhappy about that." Bail noticed.
"Well, it's not very Jedi-like of me, but I am having a great deal of difficulty feeling sorry for them…although I do rather pity Orlan; he had to listen to Kien complain all night." Obi-Wan answered.
"Since the ship coming from Coruscant is a prison transport; they will all be isolated so Orlan will not have to worry about that any longer." Bail replied with a laugh.
"Have you contacted the medical center this morning?" Obi-Wan asked.
"I did not have to; Haris contacted me before I had the chance. He is progressing well, Haris tells me, and has been removed from the bacta tank; he was sleeping when he checked on him." Bail answered.
"Well now; that is very good news. I suspect that Zak will probably want to visit him." Obi-Wan said.
"Yes, Breha is getting Gemma ready and then we are leaving for the center; you and Zak are more than welcome to come with us." Bail offered.
"Thank you, Chancellor; but I…" Obi-Wan began.
"You feel that Breha and I should spend time alone with him." Bail finished, "We will have plenty of time to do that when you and Zak return to Coruscant; Zak's time here is limited. Would it not be in his best interest to be able to see Boba before you take him home?"
Obi-Wan nodded, "Point taken." He conceded.
"You have not eaten yet, Master Kenobi; there is still food set out on the sideboard. You could have some breakfast while we are waiting for Breha and Gemma." Bail suggested.
"Where has my apprentice got to this morning?" Obi-Wan asked as they entered the house together.
"He was with our Bactrin, our gardener, the last time I saw him." Bail answered.
"Gardener? I had no idea he was interested in gardening." Obi-Wan replied.
"I do not know that he is; he mentioned something about Master Nu and having to learn about the native flora. Is he one of Zak's teachers?" Bail asked.
"Ah, that explains it; Master Nu is indeed one of his most diligent teachers. She is very insistent that Zak, or I should say, all of her students, keep up with their studies." Obi-Wan explained.
"Well, Breha would probably agree with her; one of her pet projects is making sure all younglings get a proper and extensive education." Bail replied.
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By the time Obi-Wan had finished his breakfast, Breha and Gemma were ready to leave and Zak had finished his interview with Bactrin.
"Did you get what you needed from him, Padawan?" Obi-Wan asked as they boarded Bail's private shuttle.
Zak sighed, "I hope so; part of Master Nu's assignment was that I list all the native edible plants on Alderaan. I'd hate to think what she would do if I missed any." He answered.
"Probably make you list all the poisonous ones." Obi-Wan speculated.
"Oh, she's already done that; it's the other part of my assignment." Zak informed him.
Obi-Wan covered his smile with his hand, "Oh." He replied trying to stifle a laugh.
"It's not funny, Master; you have no idea how she can get if you mess something up." Zak protested.
"Yes, I do; who do you think taught me?" Obi-Wan answered.
Clearly indignant, Zak said, "Then you should know that it's not funny."
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Dr. Averill was waiting for them as they disembarked from the shuttle, "Good morning, Chancellor." He said cordially using his proper title because they were in a public area.
"Good morning, Doctor; how is our patient doing?" Bail inquired.
"Well, under the circumstances, as well as can be expected." Haris told him, guardedly.
"Under the circumstances; you told me earlier that he was doing very well." Bail replied, "What has happened?"
"You must understand how badly injured he was, Chancellor; setbacks like this are to be expected." Haris answered.
"Setbacks? What has happened, Haris; where is he?" Bail questioned in sudden concern.
"He is resting in his room right now; it's nothing to be too concerned about." Haris informed him.
"What does that mean? Just tell me what has happened." Bail demanded.
"There has been some internal bleeding." Haris finally informed them.
"Breha put a hand to her mouth, "Oh, no!" She exclaimed.
"What? How, could that be? I thought that's why they spent so long working on him." Bail replied.
"We think this may have happened when he was struggling last night; we are not too concerned about it at this time, it is minor. If it becomes necessary, we will just put him back into the bacta tank." Averill explained.
"What happens now?" Bail asked.
"Right now, we are monitoring him closely, draining the blood that is seeping into his abdomen and giving him artificial plasma to make up for what he has lost." Averill answered.
"But that is not going to solve the problem, is it." Bail asked.
"It is too soon to tell. We are going to wait and see if the bleeding stops by just administering a coagulating agent; if it does not, then we could go back in to find and clamp off the bleeder or we can put him back in the tank, while continuing to drain his abdomen and supplementing for the blood loss." Averill replied.
"And which would you recommend?" Breha asked.
"Well, personally, I do not want to put him back into surgery; the odds are too great that when he came up from the anesthesia, we would have a repeat of last night. My recommendation is to put him back into the bacta tank after administering a small dose of coagulator to give the bacta a bit of a jump start." Haris answered. "But you must understand it may not be necessary."
"Well, if it becomes necessary, then your recommendation seems to be the safest course of action." Bail replied.
"Yes, I thought that's what you would say; and we may not have to do anything, I just wanted to let you know what might have to happen." Haris told them.
"How alert is he? Does he understand what has happened?" Breha asked.
"He is in and out; he seems to know who I am, but I doubt that he understands where he is and I do not believe he remembers what happened." Haris said as he led them down the hallway and stopped when he reached Boba's room. "Oh, I nearly forgot; the housekeeper droid found this under the bed in recovery last night after he was placed in the tank. Does this belong to any of you?" He held out the blue stone.
"Yes, it's mine; I gave it to him to hold last night when I saw him. He must have dropped it when he was fighting you last night." Zak answered as he took the stone.
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"Boba?" Bail called softly as he entered the room
Boba blinked and looked at Bail, trying to focus, "Bail?" He asked.
"Yes." Bail replied.
"What happened? Where am I?" Boba asked, trying to sit up so he could look around.
"You are in the medical center. Do you remember how you got here?" Bail asked.
Boba furrowed his brow in concentration, "I…I remember, going back to the house with Zak because we thought…we thought, NO; NO, NO, NO." He tried to sit up again.
"You thought we were in danger; is that it?" Bail asked.
"Yes, because Moran….I tried to stop him…" He looked stricken, "I tried….I'm sorry; I tried."
"Tried?" Bail asked.
"He aimed right at her; I…I was just too slow….I'm sorry." Boba said.
"Boba, you were only too slow to save yourself." Bail assured him.
"No, I saw the blood; it was all over her dress." Boba argued.
"Your blood, Boba; you were the one that was hit; not Breha." Bail replied.
"I was…." Boba began and then looked around at where he is, noticing for the first time the equipment he is hooked up to and the pain in his midsection. "What about Lady Breha? Is she alright?" He asked.
"I am right here, Boba." She said as she approached the bed and touched his arm, "And I'm just fine."
He tried to sit up yet again; however, this time, the growing ache from his injury forced him to lie back down, "Lady Breha?"
"Yes, now just be still." Breha told him.
"Gemma? What about Gemma?" He asked, struggling to sit up again.
"Gemma is alright as well; she is out in the hallway with Dr. Averill." Breha answered.
He looked around again and spotted Zak, standing next to Obi-Wan near the doorway, "This is not your fault, Zak." He assured him when he noticed the look on his face.
"I should have stopped you." Zak replied.
"Heh, heh…AH." He winced in pain, "Since when…have you ever…been able to stop…me when I wanted to…do something?" He asked, "It's pretty bad, isn't it."
"Bad enough; and you are still bleeding a little internally so you may have to go back into the bacta tank." Bail said.
"Is that where I was last night? I kind of felt like I was floating." Boba replied.
"Yes, that is where you were." Bail answered.
"How soon do I have to go back in?" Boba asked.
"You may not have to." Bail told him.
There was a short but awkward silence, "Listen, you don't have to stay, you know." Boba said, breaking the silence.
"Do you not want us to stay?" Bail said.
"Not if the only reason you're here is because you feel sorry for me." Boba answered.
"That is not it at all, Boba; we just wanted to let you know that our home is your home and that we would like you to…" Breha began.
"Become a part of your family; yeah, I've been thinking about that." Boba finished.
"And what is it that you think?" Bail asked.
"If you're so dead set on it, then who am I do deny you?" Boba replied after thinking about it for a few minutes.
"Is that a yes the, Boba?" Zak asked.
"Yeah, I guess it is." Boba answered.
Overcome with emotion, Breha could not speak so she took Boba's hand and squeezed it; without looking at her, Boba squeezed back.
There was a knock on the door and Averill entered the room, "I hate to break this up, but we need to do a quick check; it will only take a few minutes, so you can wait outside." He said.
"Yes, of course; we will be just out in the hallway, Son." Bail assured Boba as he patted him on the arm.
Boba grinned at him, "Son; I think I like that." He told him.
"Before I forget, I gave this to you last night, but you dropped it." Zak said, moving toward the bed and holding out the blue stone.
Boba's grin disappeared, "You don't want it anymore?" He asked.
"It's not like that; you gave this to me after I was hurt on Belarid. It's a sign of our friendship and when I leave to go back to Coruscant with Master Obi-Wan, I want you to think about that while you're getting better." Zak explained.
Boba smiled at him, "Oh; thanks, Zak." He answered.
Zak nodded and then turned to follow everyone out; he turned back when he reached the door, "By the way, Boba, no offense, but you're a mess." He said smiling mischievously.
"Heh, heh; funny." Boba replied.