Chapter Two

I awoke feeling anemic and week in a room that looked like a hospital. I heard a muffled voice that sounded like a medical droid in the next room. With what strength I had I turned my head and could see it through the glass talking to Yoda.

"She's lost a lot of blood," it said, "She hasn't stopped bleeding since the birth. Some blood is normal after childbirth, but not like this."

"Dying, is she?" Yoda inquired in his inverted grammar.

"She needs a transfusion quickly, or she will be. Even then, we can't be sure. But she's putting up quite a fight."

The droid waddled mechanically away from Yoda and entered my room followed by a second droid. They were marked differently (maybe one was a nurse and one was a doctor?) Yellow Mark started linking up some chords and tubes to a machine that...I don't know what the machine was supposed to have been doing. It was only then that I realized that I was hooked up to chords and tubes. I could tell that one was monitoring my heartbeat, which was uneven, another my blood pressure, which was low. My lands, how was I even conscious? I was slipping in and out, I think.

Blue Mark was prepping the bag of blood for my transfusion. Before I realized it, Yellow Mark was rubbing my arm with something. Then I saw the needle. I wanted to vomit, but I didn't. I've never liked needles. I felt the needle pierce the skin, and to my own surprise I cried out. It was more from the shock of the sudden entry then from pain. Actually, it didn't hurt at all. I felt numb. Everything was numb.

I started thinking about so many pointless things. Would it feel like to have blood inside me that wasn't mine? Why does Yoda talk that way? Would Anakin be mad that I named our son Luke? He hated that name.

Anakin.

Hate.

Luke.

My children!

All of a sudden I felt like a horrible mother. I had spent all that time before arguing with Obi Wan over Anakin that I never even thought about Luke and Leah.

"O..." I tried to call for Obi Wan, but my voice wouldn't work. I tried again. "O...bi..."

I didn't have to struggle with my voice any longer, because as I tried a third time to say his name, he came almost running through the doorway.

"It's all right, Padmé," he assured me, "I'm here for you."

Once again I struggled with my words and managed to form two. "Luke. Leah."

"They're fine. They're beautiful and healthy."

Hearing those words calmed me and let me relax. It was easier to speak now, but I still had to make an effort. "Where?"

"They're still aboard the ship. Would you like to see them?"

"First rest. Need rest. Tiered."

Obi Wan smiled weakly. "I understand. Do you want me to stay with you?"

"Obi Wan?" called Yoda from the doorway. "Speak with you, I must."

"I'm sorry, Padmé."

I would have asked him to stay had Yoda not taken him away from me.

I guess everyone was taking everything away from me lately.

I didn't go straight to sleep when Obi Wan left. I listened to their voices for a moment, though I couldn't tell what they were talking about. But I was content with that. I probably didn't want to know.

I was at peace with myself there in that hospital-type room. I knew that my children were safe. It didn't matter what happened to me now. But that didn't mean that I wanted to die. Not yet. Not until I did what needed to be done. My mind was made up. There was no changing it and no going back. I pictured Anakin's face as I drifted off to sleep, but the dream I would have of him would not be enough.

I knew I had to see him one last time.