Chapter 26

He Knows

Don's thoughts wandered. His mind was somewhere in between unconsciousness and pain. Numbers were being shouted before each slap of the whip against his body, but to Don's ears, they sounded like nonsense syllables. The ugly sounds stopped and his head was brutally forced up to face the camera. He opened his eyes, but vision didn't register in his brain until he heard a man's threatening voice. He knew that voice.

"His punishment is complete. Now we begin the punishment of his New Republic comrades who have abandoned him. Unless he exhibits superhuman strength, he will succumb before the end of this session. There is a lesson here. The New Republic does not protect its own, and so, it will not protect you."

A strange sound erupted from Don's mouth. What was it? Laughter? He had told Luke that he would kill Delvardus. Instead, the 'idiot' Delvardus was murdering him, Macho Man West. Through his haze of pain, the irony hit him and he couldn't stop laughing. He knew now that he must be insane with pain.

Delvardus did not take well to Don's attitude and whipped him quickly five times in a row. He had had enough of the stubborn man and was ready to be rid of him. Before he unleashed the twenty sixth lashing, a storm trooper rushed into the room and stood an attention with a report. "Superior General Delvardus, the Millenium Falcon has landed."

Delvardus couldn't believe his good fortune. Capturing the Falcon and its crew would place him at an advantage among the other war lords. He pointed to Don and said, "Break his legs and drop him. Send three squadrons of troopers to the Falcon. Allow Solo and his friends to leave the ship and find their way to this room. Then we will ensnare him. No one from his party is to leave this room alive." Delvardus turned to the camera. "To be recorded for the annals of the history of the Empire, the capture of Captain Solo and the Millenium Falcon." He bowed deeply. "I must prepare."

By the time the squadrons reached the Falcon, she was gone. Leia had been instructed to keep the Falcon in a low orbit with its shields on high power. If all went well, she would pick the men up at a second location. If it did not go well and they were not at the appointed position, they were to leave, but she and Judy had no intention of leaving without their men.

The group entered the building undetected with no need for Luke's force skills.

"This is too easy, Chewie. Something's not right," Han stated.

Chewie growled his agreement.

"Keep your eyes open."

Lando lead them directly to the basement room and they had yet to encounter resistance. Don lay in a twisted heap, his shin bones sticking out through the skin of his right leg, his left leg at an impossible angle. They grimaced at the smell of burnt flesh as Han kneeled beside Don. "Wrap him in the bacta sheet and take him, Chewie," Han stated. He moved further into the room as Luke and Chewie took care of Don and Lando guarded the doorway.

Don's eyes flew open. People… He tried to focus through the pain. He felt himself being wrapped like a mummy and he tried to get their attention. He knew these people… Luke… and… and who? He had something important to tell them. He couldn't form the words, but he had to tell them. 'TRAP!' Huge hairy arms picked him up and he groaned. 'Trap… that was it… they were walking into a trap.' He forced himself to concentrate and speak, but his voice was silent. "Tr – trap,' he whispered. He tried again, "Trap."

Chewie understood and barked at Lando to take Don to the meeting place. As he transferred Don to Lando's shoulder, he barked at Han to wait. Then Luke sensed the danger. "Han, in front of you!" he yelled.

Han fired his DL44, but it wasn't in time. A well placed blaster shot from a hidden Delvardus hit him in the chest and he was down.

"No!" Luke screamed as storm troopers emerged from nowhere and surged around them. Chewie was enraged and started tossing troopers aside like toothpicks. Luke deflected their shots with deadly accuracy right back at them. Delvardus had no idea that the Jedi's powers were as strong as they were and, always a survivor, he felt that it was time to cut his losses and run. He slipped away like a trash compactor eel.

Lando laid Don on the med bed. "His legs are broken, Judy. It's bad. And Han was shot by Delvardus. Chewie will bring him in." Lando touched her shoulder and ran to the cockpit.

As she unwrapped the bacta soaked sheet from Don's body she looked through the eyes of a doctor, not a lover. The broken ends of both his fibula and tibia had pierced through the skin on his right shin and his body was slashed… everywhere. She started an IV and splinted his left leg. His right leg would have to wait for surgery. She wrapped him again in the bacta sheet and then covered him with a warm blanket. That was all she could do for him until they reached the Jupiter. She barely had time to brush her lips to his when Chewie came roaring in with Han, Leia at his heels.

Lando and Luke manned the gun turrets as Chewie hurried to the cockpit and piloted the Falcon away from Thyferra. Leia hugged herself, holding in her anguish as Judy cut off Han's vest and shirt and cleaned the blaster burn. "Leia," he moaned. His eyes slit open.

"I'm here," Leia whispered as she caressed his forehead.

Han tried to talk. "Sor-…" He grimaced, "…-ry."

Leia bit her lip as Judy dipped a cloth in bacta and pressed it into his wound. Han moaned and lapsed into unconsciousness. She started his IV and wrapped him in a blanket.

Leia looked up at Judy. "Will they be all right?"

"They're stable for now, Leia," Judy said as she moved to Don's side.

Leia sat by Han and took his hand in hers. She brought it to her lips.

As Judy sat down next to Don, she slipped out of doctor mode and tears flowed down her cheeks. She wiped them away and tried to regain control, but a sob escaped her lips. Leia's heart went out to her. "Judy?"

"I'm… I'm sorry. You don't need a doctor who's falling apart," she replied.

"Is he going to be all right?"

"I think so."

"What else is wrong? Tell me."

"I… I never told him… that I love him."

"And you've loved him for a long time."

Judy nodded.

"But you were too stubborn to give in. I know the story, Judy…" Leia wiped away a tear that slid down her own cheek. "To steal a quote from Han… Don 'knows.' Even if you haven't said it in words… he knows."

Once they were back on the Jupiter, both men were brought to the medical bay and decisions had to be made. Han was placed on the examination table and his heart, thankfully, was sound. His right lung had been damaged, but Judy repaired what she could. He was ready for the bacta tank, but Don needed the tank just as badly. There was no sense in having the tank sit empty while she examined Don, so Han was put in and Maureen and Leia were assigned to monitor him.

While those decisions were being made, Lando and Chewie powered up the Millenium Falcon for the trip back to Arkania. John and Luke were to pilot the Jupiter and, once off planet, the Jupiter was slaved to the Falcon and the two ships entered hyperspace.

After Judy examined Don, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her father had come down to lend his support. Luke, after checking on Han, wandered in and stood back, as he didn't want to intrude on a family moment.

"What's his prognosis, Judy?" John asked.

"He's better than he looks. There's no brain damage from the neuronic whip. The slashes on his body won't get infected because the laser whip cauterized the wounds it made. His left leg is set, but right leg is badly damaged where the bones broke through the skin."

"Will there be scars?"

"If I'd been able to put him into the bacta tank right away… no. Now I'm not sure."

"What are you going to do about his leg?"

"I'll have to set it, but it might never be the same."

"You know, Judy, he might be better off if you amputate his leg below the knee and give him a prosthetic."

Movement on the table stopped the conversation. Don moaned and his eyes fluttered open. He couldn't focus through the pain, but saw the outline of two faces overhead. His eyes conveyed his fear.

Judy leaned down close to him. "Don, your leg is badly broken. We're going to give you a prosthetic."

Don shook his head from side to side. He tried to speak, but all that came out of his mouth was a groan. Luke walked up to the table and placed his hand on Don's forehead. "I can help." He channeled the Force and soothed Don's pain enough so that he could speak with some clarity.

"No… no prosthetic," Don murmured.

"Don, it will be stronger and better than your own leg. You might never heal properly," John stated.

"I'll take… that chance." His eyes pleaded with Judy. "Please?"

She stared at him. It was his leg, his decision. She nodded. "Don? I need to tell you something." She softened her professional demeanor and leaned close to him. "I love you. I've loved for a long time."

He gave her a semblance of a smile and said, "I know."