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Rest

Chapter 18

The hours dragged on. Padme tried to preoccupy her mind with positive thoughts – at least Anakin was safe from the war and stable. And he was on Naboo with her, and once he recovered they could go back to the Lake House and have their child with them and all would be fine…

But these really were not easy thoughts to entertain, especially when she had just saw Anakin's cadaverous physique in the bacta tank. She couldn't lie to herself. He would be half mechanical by the time they got the prosthetics attached to him, and that was without the possibility he would never breathe without assistance again from the lung damage. He'd be so limited, with such a long, painful recovery…

Another few contractions overtook her through the hours, not lasting particularly long, but slowly growing in intensity and frequency. Padme stood up to walk it off, went to the bathroom more than once, and did her best to seem like she was fine to both Obi-Wan and her sister.

However, Sola noticed Padme acting strangely, and not in the same way she was upset from finding out Anakin was severely injured. When Padme almost jumped up to pace around the hallway again, Sola was direct in asking her, "Padme, are you having contractions?"

"No, no, Sola. Just uncomfortable," her sister responded suspiciously quickly, shaking her head. Padme linked her hands together under her middle supporting her large belly. As she walked away from Sola, another contraction took place, and Padme grimaced in pain. "Deep breaths," she told herself.

Obi-Wan considered asking about Padme's pregnancy, but then thought better of it in these moments. He was certain all would be revealed to him soon, anyway.

Finally, a group of medical droids hovered past the motley crew into Anakin's room. The last one stopped to inform Obi-Wan they would be working on Anakin now.

Obi-Wan, Sola, and Padme entered the room. They watched as the liquid from the bacta tank was slowly drained, and Anakin was suspended and then lowered onto a sterilized hospital table.

"How is his breathing? Will he regain consciousness now?" Obi-Wan inquired to a droid.

"We are checking his lungs for viability. Scan in progress." The droid took a moment to monitor Anakin's lungs and chest, while the other meddroids made themselves busy by taking measurements of the remainder of Anakin's limbs, rinsing and drying his skin, and scanning for other abnormalities and injuries.

"Scan complete. Lungs at 85% viability. We will remove the breathing tube to increase chances of full lung recovery." The droid went to Anakin's head, latched itself to the band holding the breathing tube in place, and slowly removed the ventilator from Anakin's mouth. The trio of onlookers watched with bated breath, waiting to see if Anakin, too, would begin to breathe on his own.

With the tube completely removed, Anakin's chest rose and fell independently, albeit with some visual strain. "Adding oxygen supply," spoke the meddroid, and a line of clear tube was fed around Anakin's face, supporting oxygen through to his nose.

"Will he wake up?" sought Padme, following up Obi-Wan's question.

Another meddroid approached them. "He will regain some consciousness due to the removal from the bacta tank. We are starting new pain medication which should send him to a state of semi-consciousness soon. Burns involve exceptionally painful recovery; he will do better under a general anesthetic."

The meddroids measuring Anakin's limbs for the prosthetics seemed to be moving away now, and Anakin was breathing easier with the oxygen supply. Padme walked closer to him and stood next to where his head rested on the table; she desperately wanted to hold him, hold his flesh hand again, but instead she caressed the skin above his eyebrow and moved a rogue hair out of his eye. Even like this, he was so handsome. Finding him like this was too much, and yet again, she began to cry.

"Anakin, Ani. Come back to me, I love you." She sobbed, and another contraction hit her, this time much more intense than the last, and lasting almost a full minute. She bit her lip to hold back the pain, and cried harder.

Obi-Wan watched with curiousity. He almost certainly understood now of Padme's child's parentage...

The face of the body on the table started to stir. Anakin very slowly began to open his eyes. With heavy eyelids, he gazed straight up, around, and focused in on Padme's face.

Padme gasped, "Anakin! I'm here, I'm here. I love you."

A very scratchy throat made out the sounds, "Pa… d….. me."

"Yes, Anakin, I'm here," she touched his face, the only part of his skin she was certain she would not hurt through physical contact. She wept, "Anakin. You're here with me on Naboo, in the Theed hospital. The war is over," she lightly smiled through her tears and sniffled. "I won't leave you, I promise."

Anakin breathed out heavily, sounding relieved. As if remembering something, he turned his head to get a better look at Padme.

"Anakin don't move, you'll hurt…" Just as his eyes focused on her still-pregnant belly, the most painful contraction yet hit Padme, cramping her muscles from her upper thighs around her pelvis, abdomen, and lower back. Padme cried out in pain, and felt a trickling of liquid start down her legs. Anakin went to lift his head up, but found his muscles catatonic. The change in medication was beginning to do its work.

"No, no no no, no," Padme cried in anguish.

Obi-Wan and Sola were at Padme in seconds. "Padme, what's wrong?" questioned Obi-Wan, holding onto her arm to provide support. Sola held Padme's other arm and noticed the wetness soaking into Padme's clothes. She asserted, "Padme, you're going into labour. We need to bring you to a healer now, and go to the birthing ward."

Anakin fought it as best as he could; he needed to be with Padme, but the medication was too strong. It took over, and he drifted back into unconsciousness.

"No, no Sola I can't, I can't leave him here," Padme pleaded, looking to Anakin's now closed eyes.

"Yes, you can, Padme. You need too. Let's find where you need to be."

"No, Sola, no, I can't leave him," she sobbed.

"You have to Padme. Obi-Wan will be with him." The Jedi master nodded in response. "Please Padme, let's go."

Padme hesitated, but then another contraction hit her, this one even more intense and lasting. She half-moaned, half-cried in pain. Sola grabbed a spare hover chair from the room, helped Padme into it, and guided her out of the room.

-break-

Padme was quickly emitted into a room on the birthing floor. She was trying to get changed into a hospital gown, and her sister was trying to motivate her to maintain a level head, "Padme, you can do this, it's going to be alright."

Padme had the front of the gown on and was trying to get the ties to meet around the back. "Let me help you," began Sola, and she moved to help her sister out.

"Aghhhhh," cried Padme, doubling over, one hand under her belly, and biting the knuckles of her other hand to prevent herself from shouting out. The pain was unlike anything she'd ever experienced before.

Sola felt helpless. "Padme, just let me know what I can do."

"Just…" Padme's face twisted in anguish. She shook her head, not knowing what would help.

Sola rubbed Padme's back soothingly. "You can do this Padme." She finished tying up the back of the gown. "Are you comfortable standing? Or do you want to lay in the bed? Let me know."

"I'll just, I'll just walk a bit Sola. It's okay between them right now…" Padme muttered.

"Okay."

They were barely walking around the hall for another few minutes when Padme had another contraction.

"Ughhhhhh. Ahhhh!" Padme shouted in pain, breathing heavily, and grasping onto Sola's arm for support. "No, no I need to lay down. There's too much pressure…"

"Okay Padme. Breathe through this one, then we'll go back to the room."

"Ughhh." Padme's face was flushed, fighting the pain for the minutes it lasted. They managed back into the room, and Sola helped Padme get comfortable in the bed.

"Padme, I don't want to leave you alone, but is it okay if I go call Darred and our parents? Let them know what's happening?"

"Yes," Padme nodded, then laid her head back on a pillow.

"I promise I'll be brief, in case you need me."

"It's ok Sola, just go."

-break -

Sola returned to the room after contacting their family members. "Mom and Dad will come by a little later. Darred's staying at home with the girls."

Padme nodded, "Sola, I… thank you. For being so good to me."

Sola smirked, "Did they give you something while I was gone? You sound a little out of it," she teased.

Padme laughed through her bodily discomfort, "I mean it Sola. I…" Padme grimaced as another contraction began, and the pain only continued to increase. "Ahhh," she whimpered. Sola held her sister's hand, and Padme squeezed it with a death grip.

Halfway through the contraction, a meddroid entered the room, ready to monitor Padme's health and progress and to prepare for the birth. Padme's gown was lifted, and the droid brought two monitors to attach around Padme's middle, one for contractions and the other to monitor fetal heart rate.

Seeing her sister's exposed middle for the first time, Sola stated with awe, "Padme, you're huge."

Padme, recovered from the last contraction, rolled her eyes dramatically at her sister, "Thanks Sola."

The meddroid seemed to be finicking at a length of time with the fetal heart rate monitor, moving it oddly from one side of her belly to the other.

"No really, Padme. I was never that big carrying Ryoo or Pooja. Are you having twins?" questioned Sola, half-jokingly, but with a furrowed brow.

"No…" began Padme.

"You know they run in our family. Grandma Thule was a twin."

"Sola. Not helping." Padme was growing tired of her sister's teasing.

The meddroid stopped with the fetal heart rate monitor set in place. It left the room and returned with a second one and began to attach it on the other side of her middle. Two sounds of whirring heart beats played from the monitors, one slightly faster than the other. Upon realizing what this could mean, Padme felt like her own heart was going to stop…

The meddroid turned to Padme, "I attached a second fetal heart rate monitor for the second baby. We will continue to monitor your contractions."

"…second baby?" questioned a shaken Padme.

The droid delayed in processing to answer the question correctly, "You are expecting twins."

"…oh," she said in a small voice.

Sola squeezed Padme's hand in reassurance. "Padme! How did you not know? I mean that's wonderful. How exciting!"

Padme didn't look so sure. She felt her head spinning similarly to before, when she almost passed out. She leaned back on the hospital bed to let her head rest.

But another contraction brought her back into the present. Head still spinning, she felt like everything was happening at once. The meddroid moved her to check how far dilated she was.

"Nearly 6cm dilation," spoke the mellow, robotic voice.

"Not too long now, Padme," reassured her sister.

All Padme could do was nod in return. She tried to close her eyes and breathe herself through the following contractions.

"Do you want an epidural?" asked the meddroid.

Padme spoke immediately, "Yes."

She was rolled onto her side for the medication to be administered. Moments later, Padme began to relax a slight amount as the numbing took over.

-break -

Jobal and Ruwee arrived at the hospital a few hours after. Jobal entered the room quietly while Padme was in the throes of another contraction, and her face turned white at seeing her daughter in such a state. She stepped back out of the room, as she was not one with a stomach for such things. After checking that Padme would be okay with her leaving, Sola stepped out of the room, too, to talk with their parents about what was happening.

"Mom, Dad. I think it's best if you wait in the lobby. I'll come get you after…"

Jobal nodded. Ruwee agreed and jokingly spoke, "Affirmative."

Sola lowered her voice, "I didn't tell you over the comlink, but we saw Anakin."

"He's here? In the hospital?" questioned Ruwee. Jobal looked surprised.

"Yes, but not with us. He's on the second floor, healing in the bacta ward. He was injured from that duel they're broadcasting about, the one that happened on Mustafar… Padme was completely shaken to see him so… damaged…" explained Sola.

Her parents nodded in understanding. They heard Padme call out from the room. "Well Sola, we'll go to wait in the lobby now—"

Sola cut her father off. "Oh, and another surprise. Padme is having twins."

Jobal's mouth dropped open in delighted surprise. "What?"

Sola responded with a smile, "Yeah. See you two in a bit. I'll come get you when the babies get here."

"Okay dear," responded her father. Jobal playfully squeezed Ruwee's arm, and they walked to the lobby.

-break -

It was few hours later. Sola was doing her best to encourage Padme through the entire process. Padme was nearly read to push, and it seemed as though things were really moving forward. The contractions were relentless and distressing, and Padme grew restless. She felt like she could no longer tell the difference between what was and what wasn't a contraction; it was all exceedingly uncomfortable.

"I don't think I can do this, Sola," she moaned, consumed both by the effects of her labour and the idea of needing to birth two babies rather than one. Her last interactions with Anakin again flashed through her mind, and tears welled in her eyes yet again.

"You can Padme. Deep breaths."

The meddroid went to monitor her cervix again. "Checking dilation. Just over nine centimetres."

"Just think, Padme, your babies will be here soon."

"That's not helping," cried Padme. She seized up in discomfort as another wave of contractions hit. Although she had the epidural, she could still feel things shifting and moving. She began to wonder if the medication was really working or not.

The meddroid spoke, "Preparing the bed for delivery positioning."

Another meddroid entered the room and introduced itself as a Geeaych-Seven medical droid, which would be lead assisting in the birth.

Padme was overwhelmed with nerves. She could see her belly move with each contraction now, and the meddroid checked her dilation again. It confirmed ten centimetres; she was ready to push.