"Obi-Wan!" Ahsoka hears Anakin say over the rushing in her montrals, urgency in his voice. She blinks up at her Master, sees the tendons in his neck straining.
His hands are moulded around her neck and jaw, keeping her in a vice-like grip. Still, she wants to see if Master Kenobi is okay- as the sniper was aiming for him- so she lifts her head, only for Anakin's grip to tighten. "Stay still for me, Ahsoka."
"Master..." She manages to say through chattering teeth, "I'm scared..."
"I've got you." She can hear the reassurance in his voice, but it sounds forced. "Obi-Wan, snap out of it! Ahsoka needs help!"
There's nothing but silence for a few seconds, and she's about to cry out for her Grandmaster, when she feels a hand on her left knee. Gasping, Ahsoka tries to pull the limb towards her body, which only sends an excruciating pain through her entire leg.
Stay still, young one.
She whimpers, biting her lip to stop herself from screaming. She scrambles for her Master's presence in her mind to ground her, and Anakin responds, wrapping her up in a blanket of warmth and security. It doesn't make the pain go away, but it makes it tolerable- barely.
"Hang in there, Snips." Anakin breathes, like he's warning her.
They press something against her left shin, and any hope of remaining still for her Master vanishes. Ahsoka screams and arches her back- despite the agony it causes- as Obi-Wan presses on the wound.
Her screams turn into choked cries as the pain steals the breath from her lungs. Anakin floods their Force bond with peace and security, but it does nothing to help her cope with the pain. Tears gather in the corners of her eyes and start streaming down her cheeks.
Never, in her entire life and military career, has she been in this much pain.
She's been shot multiple times in the stomach at once, suffered bad concussions, and even had to get a lung drained in the field, but this is a whole new level of suffering.
"You need to stay still, Ahsoka." Anakin says, using the same stern tone he used after her failure on Ryloth. "Stay still and it won't be so painful."
Her chest heaves as she tries to calm herself. There's still a horrible pressure on her shin, but she tries to focus on her Master's voice like she does during a thunderstorm. He hasn't gotten her killed in this war so far, so she trusts he won't let her die like this.
"Deep breaths, there you go." Anakin praises Ahsoka as she struggles for air in her state of panic and pain. "You're going to be fine, I'm right here."
He looks up at Obi-Wan who removed his outer tunic to apply pressure to the wound on her leg to slow the bleeding. Hearing Ahsoka cry hurts Anakin to his core, but it's a necessary evil.
With the other hand, Obi-Wan orders an evac through his commlink, but his eyes look glazed over. Anakin frowns: it isn't like Obi-Wan to lose his head in circumstances like this. He's usually the calm and collected one.
He taps his Master's Force-signature, gets hit by a wave of panic and dread.
"Anakin..." Ahsoka calls his name before he can question Obi-Wan. Her breaths are short and laboured, "My back... it h-hurts..." He takes it as a small victory that she can feel her back.
"I know it does." He's had one spinal injury in his life, and even though it was minor, it felt like a gundark was prancing over his back. "The medics will be here soon. They'll have pain relief, okay?"
She tries to nod, but he doesn't let her. Any more movement to her back or neck may cause permanent paralysis, and he doesn't want Ahsoka to spend the rest of her life relying on people to aid her to the fresher.
"A Coruscant Guard squadron is on its way." Obi-Wan's voice is hoarse. "They're alerting the Temple."
Anakin nods gravely, then forces a smile as he looks down at Ahsoka, "Hear that, Snips? You'll be submerged in the empathetic and good-humoured personality of Master Che in no time!"
His attempt at a joke to ease the seriousness of the situation fails. Ahsoka's in too much pain to think straight, and Obi-Wan's completely focused on maintaining the pressure on her leg.
There's a crowd of civilian spectators forming, but Anakin can ignore them. In the distance, police speeders are pulling up. They'll want an incident report, but right now, Ahsoka needs all of his attention. He feels something wet on his fingers wrapped around the back of her head, and he inwardly curses.
A blaster wound, badly broken leg, spinal injury and now a head trauma. At least Ahsoka hasn't lost consciousness and is breathing somewhat normally. That sniper is going to pay for doing this to his Padawan.
"Master, what happened?" Anakin demands, "Ahsoka was meant to be on the street level, not on the rooftop."
Obi-Wan's mouth feels dry as he speaks, "I... I don't know why she jumped up."
It's a lie; he knows why Ahsoka appeared in front of him. She saw him about to step out into Hardeen's line of fire; she tried to save him. The pain in his chest intensifies, and his jaw starts to ache. It's got to be the vital suppressor.
Anakin scans him suspiciously, "Are you wearing a bulletproof vest?"
Obi-Wan stiffens, not even realising he revealed the vest when he removed his tunic to stem Ahsoka's bleeding.
The vest was supposed to save his life when Hardeen shot him. He sucks in a sharp breath; Ahsoka's seriously lucky the bolt missed her chest.
He's too guilty to admit to Anakin that the attack was planned. How can he admit that whilst Ahsoka lays between them, drowning beneath layers of pain? Should he lie and tell Anakin the truth later? He won't like that either, but maybe Obi-Wan can recruit Senator Amidala to help break the news, or even the Chancellor. Yes, that might work.
Before he can say anything, he hears a LAAT overhead, and the Coruscant Guard arrives. Three medics start working on Ahsoka, rapidly speaking to each other in medical terms which Obi-Wan can barely understand. One takes over his job, splinting Ahsoka's leg for ease of transportation.
It will be operated on for sure, and he won't be surprised if Ahsoka's off the field for a long time.
Those types of injuries...
Another flare of pain shoots through his chest.
Anakin doesn't let go of Ahsoka's head and neck until a medic puts a brace on her. The Padawan whimpers, reaching out for her mentor. Anakin takes her hand, obviously trying to hold himself back from interfering as they move her onto a spinal board. Obi-Wan feels his own fists clench when she cries out in pain.
He's never seen her cry before.
"She needs morphine!" Anakin demands in his most authoritative tone. A medic scrambles to inject Ahsoka with the powerful painkiller.
Obi-Wan remembers when Ahsoka was first been shot on the battlefield- nearly two years ago. Every medic had worked silently around the aggravated Knight who wanted her to put in a bacta tank for a minor scratch on her thigh.
Right now, Anakin's worry is well justified.
"Try to take deep breaths, Commander Tano." A medic instructs, putting a mask over Ahsoka's face. Her eyes are wide- terrified- as she looks at all the different people around her. "The painkillers will kick in soon."
"General Kenobi." He turns to Thorn- one of the Coruscant Guard Commanders. "Which direction did the sniper escape in?"
"The Council will deal with it." He says, brushing the man off as he steps onto the gunship after Anakin. He knows Commander Fox is aware of what the plan was tonight, but the rest of the clones are oblivious.
The Council's plan is to arrest Hardeen, and they'll still do it. Hardeen needs to be dealt with for what he had done to Ahsoka.
Still, surely the Council should also get sentenced for orchestrating this?
Are you really any better than the criminals you are trying to stop, wise one?
Obi-Wan tunes into the conversation the medics are having around them, none of them paying attention to the fact that their young and petrified patient is conscious and can hear every word.
"Severe blood loss." The senior medic says, pushing a needle into the inside of Ahsoka's elbow without an ounce of compassion when she pulls away. He just grips her arm harder. "Prep a defib in case she flatlines."
This news makes Ahsoka scream out for Anakin, sobbing so hard that the sound hurts Obi-Wan's ears. The Knight takes a knee beside the gurney, stroking his student's sweaty forehead and murmuring words too quiet for Obi-Wan to hear.
Anakin's words quieten Ahsoka, but Obi-Wan can still hear her crying over and over, "I'm going to die; I'm going to die…"
A flash of pain jolts through Obi-Wan's chest, and he has to hold onto the side of the gunship to stop his knees from buckling as the shuttle flees the scene, sirens blaring to get them to the Temple as quickly as possible.
Anakin attempts to reassure her, murmuring, "Don't say that, Snips; you're going to be fine. Relax, breathe. It's all okay."
"Tachycardia," one medic says, pressing two fingers under the brace on Ahsoka's neck to take her pulse, "use a tourniquet to stem the bleeding."
Anakin lifts his head and meets Obi-Wan's gaze, both Generals knowing exactly what it means when a tourniquet must be used. The medics don't wait for permission- trained to do whatever it takes to save lives- and wrap the tourniquet tightly around Ahsoka's left thigh.
Obi-Wan feels like his heart is having a seizure.
Ahsoka tries to pull Anakin closer to her, and Obi-Wan can tell the Knight's supporting her through the Force.
He wonders why he hasn't done the same.
He's too guilty.
"Sir, are you alright?"
Obi-Wan turns to the clone addressing him- a shiny, by the look of things. His mouth feels so dry that talking is like chewing on sandpaper, "Fine, thank you, trooper. Commander Tano's the one who isn't."
The shiny glances over at Ahsoka, "A sniper, eh? Must have shot her leg several times."
Obi-Wan doesn't have the strength to correct him. The trooper cocks his head at him, "You sure you weren't injured too, General? You look a little pale."
He forces a smile, "I appreciate your concern, but it's unnecessary. I'm fine, I assure you."
The clone almost sighs, "If you say so, sir."
The gunship wobbles a little, and Obi-Wan puts out a hand before the poor shiny falls over. The medics try to stabilise the gurney as best as they can, but a string of curses escape both Ahsoka as she's jolted.
"Easy, easy." Anakin murmurs to his student who is sobbing in pain, "Just the side winds; it's alright."
"Fly like a pilot please, Shredder," Thorn whines into his comm, and then the gunship steadies.
"You're new, aren't you?" Obi-Wan asks the shiny, not letting go of his arm until he's upright again.
The shiny lets out a nervous laugh, "Is it obvious, sir?"
Obi-Wan smiles, but he isn't amused. "A little."
"I'm Pick." The clone introduces himself, and Obi-Wan feel his eyebrows raise. Very rarely will a clone tell a superior their name without being asked. "This, uh," Pick nods at the gurney in the centre of the gunship, "it's not what I expected to be doing on my first night shift. I never thought I'd meet the iconic trio like this, especially Commander Tano."
He only hums in response, his attention completely on Ahsoka. Anakin's still crouched, holding Ahsoka's uninjured arm and speaking quickly, probably trying to reassure her. Obi-Wan notices Thorn is holding Anakin's shoulder, keeping the Knight steady.
Force, his chest hurts.