Mace sighed silently and took the wet cloth to wipe the boys forehead. He talked to the boy during it, avoiding to awake his Master.
Two hours passed without any changes. Obi-Wan slept peacefully and Qui-Gon didn't move at all. Mace checked the time and decided that he needed to wake up Qui-Gon, because he already felt really tired and he didn't wanted to fell asleep without Qui-Gon fully awake. Without motivation, he stood up and walked over to Qui-Gon, but he hesitated. He didn't wanted to wake him up. Qui-Gon was not indifferent to him and he enjoyed it that his friend slept that well for some hours but he also knew that he would fall asleep during the following minutes and it was really important to wake Qui-Gon before this will happen.
He grabbed Qui-Gon's shoulder and shook it lightly. The Jedi-Master groaned and opened his eyes slowly. His gaze was clouded and he seemed to search for something or someone. Mace gave him the time to be aware of the current time and place. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at Mace. " Did something happen?", he asked with a tired undertone.
" Nothing" replied Mace. " He's still asleep, but we still have time until the morning and maybe they are soon finish with Tahl, but I need to sleep now, my friend!"
Qui-Gon nodded and sat upright. When Mace took his seat again and closed his eyes, Qui-Gon stood up and opened the window to get fresh air. Afterwards he grabbed Obi-Wan's blanket and slided it up under his chin to keep him warm.
Suddenly, the door opened silently and a healer entered the room. Qui-Gon put a finger on his mouth to show him to be silent. Mace was already asleep.
The healer got closer to him and whispered: " Tahl will be here in some minutes. We removed her internal organs and replaced them with healthy organs, but she is still very weak, but now she is safe. She can't die anymore!"
Qui-Gon breathed out and rubbed his face. This was a delightful news and he was happy that Tahl would be fine.
" I'll check her tomorrow as well as your padawan" added the healer and checked his students vital functions for a last time. " Everything's fine! We should wait till tomorrow. If something happen, please call me or my colleague!"
Qui-Gon nodded again and the healer left the room. He let the door open and another healer came ito the room with Tahls bed and replaced it on the other side of the room. Qui-Gon walked over to her and grabbed her hand. She still seemed to be asleep, but now it weren't her organs, but her own will to live and he needed to wait. As well as he needed to wait for his student to wake up. He couldn't do anything to help both, so he decided to doze a little bit.
The next time he woke up, it was light in the room. He realized that his body layed uncomfortably over the chair and his head was supported by his arm. His back and arms were hurting and he needed to stretch his muscles to avoid further pain.
Mace, in the chair on the opposite side of the room, was still asleep and snored softly. Tahls eyes were still closed, but her face was now peaceful without any expression of pain. Obi-Wan looked the same, he didn't changed.
Qui-Gon sighed desperately about the course of this task. At the end of the mission, he was convinced that neither Tahl nor Obi-Wan would die and he knew that both were strong enough to fight for their life. But now, he realized that they were still human and that they could not fight every fight against every enemy. Especially against their own body or mind. Qui-Gon had to accept that he needed to live with the consequences of this. Even if Obi-Wan or Tahl died or not, he needed to survive. The Council never would him kill himself, nevertheless he needed to control his mind on his own. The Council could not help him with that decision.
The Jedi-Master sat there for some minutes without moving, until a healer arrived. It was a casual activity of the healers to control their patients every morning and Qui-Gon didn't realize them every time. Mace was startled on his chair and rubbed his face.
" Some positive news?" asked Mace curious.
The healer walked over to Tahl and controlled the function of the medical devices. " Her vital values are stable. It looks like she is asleep, but I believe she is just healing herself. Maybe it'll last some more days for her to wake up. Tomorrow we will do some tests with her about her body functions and her brain functions. Her internal organs are still working good after we removed her old, destroyed organs and replaced some new. Her body accepted it and seems to work great. Give her some time to heal and we will see what we can do."
Qui-Gon nodded satisfied of her health status. Medically, Tahl would be ok.
" And what is with the boy?" he asked silently.
He didn't liked the look on the healers face, when he turned around to Qui-Gon. He looked at the Jedi-Master and then at his student. " Did he move?"
" No, he didn't" replied Qui-Gon sadly. He knew what kind of response would follow.
" So, we can't do anything for him" said the healer. " We can wait one more hour, but then we need to stop the machinery. We still have other patients, who need our help more urgently."
Qui-Gon wanted to contradict but he decided that it would make no sense. The healer was right. Obi-Wan was lost to his own mind and they saw no opportunity to save him. He was aware that they saw no chance for his student and they only gave him an hour time to say farewell to him.
" Do you need some time alone?" asked Mace Windu. He knew the same what Qui-Gon knew and he gave him some time.
Mace Windu realized that Obi-Wan may lost the fight against his mind, although he tried to help him. When Qui-Gon nodded, Mace walked over to Obi-Wan and rested his hand on his forehead. For Qui-Gon it seemed that he said goodbye but he also sent a message into Obi-Wans mind to instruct him that it was now time to wake up. Maybe the last time to do it.
He released Obi-Wan and closed the door behind him.
Qui-Gon didn't waste much time, grabbed Obi-Wans hand and sat down on his bed.
" I'm so sorry, Obi-Wan" he murmured, " I failed you! I couldn't rescue you! I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."
He bowed his head on his students chest to hide his tears but he could not stop the sounds that came out of his mouth. His sobbing was the only sound into this room but he didn't care. Now he needed to cry for his lost student.
" You can't tell me that you are crying?" whispered a soft voice, which sounded broken. Qui-Gon stopped sobbing and lifted his head to see his students eyes focusing him.
" Obi-Wan?", he asked hesitantly. " You're alive?"
" It seems like" was the weak response and Qui-Gon wrapped his strong arms about the small body.
" I thought you were death!", Qui-Gon whispered with tears in his eyes.
" Somebody helped me through the cloud of thoughts" murmured his student against his shoulder.
Beyond his happiness about his living student, Qui-Gon felt that Obi-Wan was still too weak and that he needed more rest.
" I'm so sorry for bothering you" whispered Obi-Wan, when Qui-Gon guided the body back under the blanket.
" You didn't bother me, Obi-Wan" answered Qui-Gon softly and stroked his Padawans forehead. He sent him soft waves of sleep suggestion and observed that Obi-Wan lost the fight against his heavy eyes. He continued murmuring to Qui-Gon, who tried to reassure him until Obi-Wan was asleep again. Qui-Gon wiped his tears away. The worst was over! Obi-Wan woke up and was still alive. Now he needed to rest a lot to recover.
He layed the blanket over his student and stood up. Mace Windu was sitting before the room and waited for Qui-Gon to call him. When his friend opened the door, he startled for the second time on that morning.
" Qui-Gon, what happened?" He looked shocked.
" Obi-Wan woke up" was Qui-Gons short response, when he turned around and entered the room again. Mace follow him with his eyes, confused of Qui-Gons changed mood.
" Are you alright, my friend?" he asked again and follow him.
" Mace, call the healers, please!"
Mace didn't asked why, he only followed his instructions and pressed a red button onto the wall. It didn't last long, when two familiar healers entered the room and gave them a questioning look.
" He woke up", Qui-Gon started, when one of the healers walked over to his students without listen to him and checked the machinery.
" He's right!"
" What?" asked Mace and the other healer at the same time.
" His vital functions changed and his breathing is more lightly." He faced the others in the room. " He is safe now!"
Qui-Gon took a deep breath and sat down on a chair.
" What shall we do now?" asked Mace instead of him because he realized that Qui-Gon wasn't able to say something.
" Now we need time, but I'm quite sure that Master Qui-Gon can take his students to his quarters this evening" replied the healer and removed the machinery from Obi-Wan.
" Tahl may need some more days into the infirmary, but Obi-Wan finished most of the healing process" he continued. " I'll give you some medicine for his leg to heal completely and you need to control his sleep. He need very much sleep to recover and if everything goes wrong, you need to call me immediately."
Qui-Gon was too overwhelmed to give a full answer, instead he nodded. The healer recognized that Qui-Gon was not able to reply, so he gave him some time to collect his thoughts.
" I'll check on him later for a last time, then you can bring him into his bedroom!"