Immobilized and incapacitated, her vision blurred with the intense pain. She wasn't able to scream, but the tears streaming back to her ears from the corners of her eyes seemed to get the point across. The men in white hovering around her pushed in another injector further down her arm, watching her curiously. Her gaze darted around wildly, and even though her entire arm began to shake from the trauma, they continued to shove the injector into the bone mercilessly. They wanted her marrow, her raw DNA, from the most painful place possible, so another injector bored deep into her leg --

Gasping for breath as she shot straight up in bed, Mand was only able to register that someone had his arms around her, holding her tightly, once she realized that she had been startled out of another vivid memory. Recognizing the room about her as the Jedi Temple med wing, she relaxed the slightest bit, but still had to calm her breathing. Not caring who was embracing her and thankful for the comfort, she hugged him back, willing her racing heartbeat to slow.

"It's okay, Mand," Veon Banarecc's gentle voice whispered to her, "you're safe."

Immensely relieved to hear the former king's words and to have him at her side, she tightened her hold briefly. As her breathing normalized, he released her, carefully cradling her head with one hand as she lowered herself back down to the bed. He looked on her as a father would, hovering over her and searching her face worriedly. He may as well have formally adopted her, as much as he had cared for her over the past few years. Though he looked much worse for wear than she, having endured severe stress and grief in the aftermath of the Dalon Palace collapse and his subsequent exile, his eyes were tired yet still deeply compassionate.

"Are you alright?"

Nodding as she gave him a fatigued smile, she brought up a hand and rubbed her face, still trying to remove the images from her memory. With her hand over her eyes, she spoke weakly with a light comedic air, hoping to ease his anxiety.

"Have I told you how much I loathe this planet?"

Veon didn't seem to pick up on her tone, though, remaining concerned. He gently lifted her hand from her face, holding it between his. "You weren't sleeping well. I wasn't even sure if you were asleep at all. Nightmares?"

Mand sighed, looking away from him briefly. "Yes and no. They're...memories of my disappearance." Still not even sure herself what exactly she was seeing, she struggled to put an explanation into words. "It's strange, though. I know that what I've seen did happen to me, I know it's me in the middle of these...recollections, but I must have immediately suppressed them - this is the first time that I've consciously remembered what happened. I think I always knew, but not so...vividly."

Veon squeezed her hand. "You've been under a lot of tension and anxiety lately. Being back here where those...memories all began probably hasn't helped matters. But I'm sure they'll pass with time." Pausing to look down the length of her body, his gaze stopped at her stomach, and he returned to meet her eyes. "I heard what happened. How are you feeling?"

Briefly unsure what he meant, she shook her head to clear her mind. "I' m--I'm good, I'm fine. Just a little sore, but they took care of me. They want to keep me here for a while to make sure they did a good job, I guess." She gave him a weak smile, but again, he didn't look convinced.

"Veon," she said pointedly, holding his gaze, "I'm okay."

Eventually his expression relaxed as he nodded, accepting her assertion. He still held her hand, though, watching her closely as she continued.

"But I know you didn't come here just to see me," she said with an amiable grin. Again Veon nodded, glancing behind himself at a doorway out of Mand's view.

"A few of us made the trip to see Koril when we heard he'd be here. We haven't been able to see him yet, though."

Mand furrowed her brows. "He must be having some trouble, then. I was worried about the trip from Agamar, how long it was going to be and how unequipped we were..."

"He is going to be okay, though, right?"

As much as Mand wanted to say yes to lighten Veon's sullen expression, she at the same time didn't want to give him false hope. Koril faced an extremely long recovery, made all that more difficult by his depression. Sighing quietly, she squeezed Veon's hand.

"He has a lot to get through, but...we won't give up on him."

Veon shook his head strongly. "Wasn't planning on it." After a silent understanding passed between them, he released a long breath, seemingly anxious to move on to other, more positive topics, though his voice remained low. "How's his son?"

Finally able to, Mand smiled broadly, fondly thinking of the newborn. "He's doing well. He was...a little premature, which caused some complications with his delivery, but he's very strong, and he is one cute little kid."

With a light laugh, Veon smiled, too, picking up on her genuine affection. "Well, with parents like his, he's bound to be a heart-stopper. I can't wait to meet him."

Tired of laying down, Mand sighed as she slowly sat up, smiling her thanks as Veon steadied her with a hand on her back. Her soreness was nearly gone, thankfully, so moving wasn't painful, but she called on the Force to ease the stiffness in her muscles.

"Hopefully they won't keep me here much longer. I wanted to get back to Elena by now. She's been handling Derek well so far, but I'm sure she's a little busy and distracted here."

Deciding she was better able to move, Mand swung her legs around over the bed's edge and stood, and not surprising her, Veon was instantly at her side. Again, she smiled, trying to dissolve his concern, but before she could continue, a young excited voice behind her stopped her.

"Mand!"

Mand's smile widened as she turned to see Ri Banarecc running into the room with a bright smile on her face. The six-year-old Princess wrapped her arms around Mand just as she knelt down to her level, and Mand hugged her back just as tightly. She saw that Ri had left her uncle Joshua Redgrave's side to meet her, and he gave her a friendly nod as he stepped inside and conversed quietly with Veon, his brother-in-law. Ri still kept her tight hold of Mand, though, so she scooped her up and stood with her, looking her over.

"Goodness, Ri," Mand joked, "I'm not going to be able to do this much longer if you get any taller!"

Ri laughed. "Nope nope! You don't have to watch me anymore, either! I'm six now, I don't need a nanny."

Mand raised a teasing eyebrow at her. "Oh really? So I'm out of a job, then? What am I going to do, sit around and watch flowers grow?" With a mischievous grin, Mand began tickling Ri around her stomach, and she was only just able to keep her arms around the squirming girl as they both laughed. After making Ri nearly breathless with laughter, Mand bent over and set her back down on the ground, giving her a playful stare as she stood and looked back to Veon and Joshua who both looked troubled.

"Mand," Veon began solemnly, "they're saying we should get to the med center to visit Koril. He's not faring well."

Mand furrowed her brows, allowing her expression to fall. Surely he had all those doctors that met them on the Celestia working on him as best they could --

A dozen masked medics all gripped her arms and legs firmly, further immobilizing her as she felt another injector piercing her through the heart. The pain radiated through her chest as they forced a searing hot liquid inside it, and she began to choke as she felt her heart slow and eventually stop beating. Somehow she remained conscious, though, still completely aware of everything going on around her. The medics spoke in low, alien languages, ones she had never heard before, but they were calm, even as they casually observed her cardiac arrest that would've caused a frenzy among any normal doctors. Her chest still burned, but she began to realize that she had stopped breathing, as well. Her mind still worked...but how...?

Suddenly blind, Mand felt and heard herself gasping and coughing roughly, tightly gripping a fistful of her own shirt over her heart. As her breathing calmed, she realized she was lying on the floor on her back, but even though the pain in her chest dissipated, her head pounded fiercely in its place and her vision still hadn't recovered. She had begun to panic, but a warm hand gently supporting her neck calmed her.

"Easy, Mand," Veon's voice soothed her once again. "Joshua's gone to get one of your Healers."

Blinking several times, she tried once more to force her eyes to work, but they still refused to function. She could hardly keep the fear out of her voice. "What happened?"

Veon sounded faintly anxious, as well. "You collapsed, and your head hit the floor rather hard... Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Only interested in getting her vision back, she lied. "No." Just as she began to ask a question of her own, a small sob beside her froze her words, wrenching her stomach into an icy knot. Standing just in front of her, Ri had witnessed it all.

"Ri, sweetheart," she said softly as she reached up a hand to the girl knelt beside her, lightly brushing her hair from her face and tears from her cheeks. "I'll be okay. I'm sorry I scared you." Though her voice still shook, she had done her best to sound reassuring. Unable to see her reaction, though, Mand waited patiently for a pained moment. A few remaining choked sobs escaped Ri, but she calmed somewhat, tightly gripping Mand's hand.

The young girl didn't need any more trauma in her life. She had lost her mother and half-sister at a difficult age, and after a year of maturing and learning how to process death, Mand was sure that nothing scared Ri more than losing someone else she loved. Though these flashbacks were quickly taking hold of her, Mand declared to herself that they had done their worst. Resolute in her decision, she squeezed Ri's hand and drew in a slow breath, determined to repair her throbbing head as best she could.

Though more than thirty Paneau were milling about in the hall outside Koril's room in the med center, Elena only recognized four of them. Kander Gedall, a member of the Gedall Royal Family, stood closest to the door, conversing quietly with Davik Ordeel, another Royal. Elena had met both Kander and Davik months ago, just after learning about the five other Royal Families besides the Banareccs. They had been generous, concerned friends throughout all of Koril's recent troubles, and their presence was comforting among the sea of unfamiliar yet still worried faces.

Another familiar friend had remained close by her side through the tense crowd. Commander Brent Jax, Koril's best friend, had hardly left her sight since arriving, holding his quiet three-year-old daughter Pallas in his arms. He hadn't said much, and neither had Elena, but they understood and respected each other's anxiety.

Despite the attention and treatment Koril was getting in the Coruscant medical center, his condition was still deteriorating, baffling even the doctors tending to him. Elena knew that he had been severely weakened by the four months he had spent under the Huxnel's debilitating virus, but he had also been mentally defeated, and it seemed that he had completely given up. Though she couldn't prove it, and she actually feared knowing the truth, she suspected that he had pulled out his own IVs in despair, and he had yet to wake up from his bout with dehydration, a fever, and an ensuing seizure. She was still slowly losing him, but this time, she had to keep her emotions in check. There were too many people around for her to look the way she felt.

With Captain Aurin Jax leading Kollie and Raen behind her with Derek, and Brent carrying Pallas beside her, Elena met the two Edgepoints posted outside Koril's door. Mennil Leikam and Mal Illio nodded cordially to her and the others, stepping aside to allow them inside. She glanced to the side at Kander and Davik, giving them a weak smile as they watched her carefully. Though she did her best to seem calm, she released a shaky breath as she walked in, weary from constant worry. Aptly detecting her feelings, Brent put a light hand on her shoulder, and she relaxed slightly, thankful for the company.

A pair of nurses and Dr. Onalo remained at Koril's side, fixated on the monitors above him. Another three Edgepoints, Jod Brader, Saross Wip, and Kress Tael kept watch inside the room, and they stood at attention upon seeing Elena, though their faces were worn and solemn. As she approached, the nurses looked up at her and stepped back from him, making one last round of checks before they moved again, further out of her way. She took her usual place beside Koril, holding his hand as she looked him over. They had fitted him with a breath mask since she had last seen him, and his skin was once again pale. His heartbeat, reported by a soft beep, was worryingly slow, as though even his heart was beginning to give out. With a shaky hand, she ran her fingers through his hair, having to make a conscious effort to keep her expression neutral as she looked up to the doctor expectantly.

"We've been having difficulty stabilizing his heart rate," Dr. Onalo began quietly, glancing at the others behind Elena, as well. "The sudden high fever may have damaged the heart itself. There's only so much we can do about repairing it, but it is possible that it could recover on its own over time."

Looking back down at Koril, Elena had to remind herself to breathe. She again felt Brent's hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently to convey support. She turned slightly to him and nodded, but she immediately looked back up at the doctor, leveling a determined gaze at her.

"I want to invite a Jedi Healer here, then. They may be able to help reverse the damage."

To her surprise, Dr. Onalo nodded. "I think that would be beneficial." With a small smile, she glanced behind herself at her nurses and continued. "I'll see what arrangements I can make." Leaving one nurse behind, Dr. Onalo left quietly with the other, and feeling the weight of the report, Elena sank onto a nearby chair, letting her head hang forward.

So his heart was failing. Hers felt as though it would slow and give out, too, but Derek's soft cries behind her forced her out of her anguish. She stood and quickly stepped over to Raen, carefully scooping him from the young woman's arms to comfort him. His cries became louder, though, as she rocked him, so she instead turned to the Force to calm the two-week-old boy as she returned to her seat beside Koril.

It's okay, love, it's okay... She kissed him gently on the forehead, stroking his soft black hair with her thumb to calm him further. Though she struggled to quell her own fears for his sake, he finally quieted, returning to making his usual tired grunts before he fell asleep again. He was used to her messages through the Force, since she talked to him so often, and his young mind had even learned to give a tiny response back.

Though it made her smile to feel it, it saddened her at the same time; her connection with Derek was stronger than her connection with Koril. She had at one time hoped to strengthen Koril's Force abilities before their son's birth, intent on giving him the chance to share in the bond she had forged with Derek as he grew within her, but she hadn't even begun before Koril had been taken away. She still faced losing him, and she felt her stomach twist in fear with the thought that he may not even hold his newborn son in his arms before he died.

"M'lady," Captain Jax's low voice came from behind her, bringing her attention back up to Koril. Though she hadn't sensed a change in him, his eyes slowly opened halfway and he looked about the room briefly before returning his gaze to the ceiling.

As Elena stood, Raen was already beside her, prepared to take Derek from her. Checking that his blanket was tucked tightly around him, Elena reluctantly handed him to her again before returning to Koril, her breath frozen in her chest. She grasped his hand tightly as she leaned over him and brushed his hair back from his forehead, searching his black eyes.

For a long moment, their eyes locked together without a word or a sound from either. Even his weak, shallow breathing was quiet until she finally heard him speak, though it was muffled by the breath mask. Knowing she needed to hear him, she glanced furtively at the nurse beside her as she gently removed it, setting it beside his head to replace it later. Thankfully the nurse didn't protest, and as Elena returned to Koril once more, she held her breath as he prepared to speak again, his voice hardly as loud as a whisper.

"Elena, please...let me go."

Stunned, Elena had to force the words from her mouth as her emotions began to get the better of her, making her voice shake. "No...no, Koril, don't talk like that. You're going to be fine, you just...hit a little setback. You're dehydrated, you're not thinking straight, but you're going to be okay."

Still weak, he continued after a shallow breath as though he hadn't heard anything she had said. "I'm not...strong enough..."

Feeling her heart sinking further, she released his hand and reached up to his face, caressing his cheek as he closed his eyes. As much as she tried to keep her voice strong for him, she could hear her anxiety creeping in. "You don't have to be. Koril, these doctors are going to help you, but you have to let them. They told me you refused medication..." As he looked back up at her with half-open eyes, she searched them worriedly, her expression not belying her fear. Still, he went on, sounding weaker as the tense seconds passed.

"I can't fight anymore... I am so...tired..."

She drew in a shaky breath, having to blink back tears. "I know you are," she whispered as she felt his head falling against her hand. "I know. But you can't give up now, not after how far you've come. You beat that virus, Koril, it's gone. You can only get better from here, but you have to let us fight for you. You have so many friends here wanting to help you, wanting to do anything they can for you." She swallowed hard only to find her throat completely dry. "We need you," she continued softly, and as she drew in a breath to finish her plea, a single tear fell down her cheek as she recalled when he had said the same to her.

"I need you..."

Though his eyes were focused on her, they were distant and cold, even beyond the solid black the virus had left behind. It seemed as though the man she loved was already gone, replaced by an empty shell that was begging for its release. The Koril she knew and agreed to marry wouldn't have given up, and even if he had, she wouldn't let him.

"Please," he asked one last time, breathless, "...let me go."

But Elena shook her head with determination, her expression hard. "No, I refuse. I won't."

Pulled back under by the conversation's exertion, Koril's eyes closed as his head fell further to the side then stilled against her palm. She brushed her fingers against his cheek before she sat back, resting her elbows on the edge of the bed beside him as she held her head in her hands, her entire body shaking with silent sobs.

Once again sensitive to her mood, Derek resumed crying, instantly changing her focus. She stood and turned to Raen who was still nearby, lifting the boy into her arms though she still shook with an occasional sob. Both Raen and Capt. Jax stepped towards her in concern, but she shook her head, dismissing their worry as she returned to her seat beside Koril.

Though it took her a while to calm her son, he eventually slowed his cries to faint moans. As she continued to rock him, she looked up at Koril, momentarily watching him sleep. She heard the others closing in and standing behind her, but her eyes didn't leave Koril. Inspired by her earlier thoughts, she stood and stepped closer to him, gently moving his arm away from his side a little. She leaned over, and holding Koril's arm in place, she carefully set Derek down in the crook of his arm, lightly wrapping his hand around the infant. After softly kissing them both on their foreheads, she sat back down, holding Koril's hand in place over Derek as she rested her head on his shoulder, sharing with him what energy she could spare.