Chapter 14 - A binding union

Cris frowned. "You don't know your name?"

Rey's head was throbbing. "That's not my name," she said, as a sharp pain shot through her chest. "It's my title," Rey groaned. Only one person would have told her that name. "Where's Kylo Ren?" she asked.

"Your husband?" she inquired.

Husband? What have I forgotten? "Yes, where is he?" Rey irritably replied.

"He just stepped out to see the doctor," Cris informed her.

Everything was beginning to hurt. Rey tried to reach out with the force but was struggling to connect with him. Her heart rate began to elevate. "I can't sense him," Rey said as she sat up straight, pushing through the pain.

"He's not here, is he?" she proclaimed. I heard his voice though. He needs me.

She was struggling to feel the force flowing through her. Her head was spinning. "What have you done to me?" Rey bellowed. She ripped out the IV cannula in the back of her hand. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins. I need to get out of here.

Cris reached out to Rey. "If you just..."

Rey shoved her away with assistance from the force and threw off the blanket. Cris stumbled backwards. Rey made it to the door and pulled it open. Her legs were already beginning to falter.

5 Minutes earlier...

Kylo made his way down the hall to meet with the doctor, following the signs to his office.

Once inside the open door, Dr. Stephens extended his hand to Kylo. "Welcome, my lord," he greeted.

Kylo firmly grasped Dr. Stephens's hand and shook it. "The nurse mentioned that we needed to discuss my wife's recovery," Kylo said.

"Yes. Would you like to take a seat?" Dr. Stephens gestured toward a chair in front of his desk. Kylo nodded and sat down. Dr. Stephens closed the door and took his seat as well.

"I'd like to start by assuring you that your wife should make a full recovery. Once she wakes up, we'll move her to a private wing as requested," he explained. "She will only need to stay overnight. After she has completed a bacta tank treatment in the morning, you can take her home."

Kylo pondered the information. "What about the internal damage? Her external cuts may heal, but what about her lungs or her heart?" he asked.

"That will take much longer to heal. Her heart is perfectly fine. It was only her lung that was punctured by her rib," he clarified. "She must remain on bed rest for the next 3 days at least. She needs to take it easy. She could be sore for weeks," Dr. Stephens read her chart again. "I did want to mention that although she doesn't appear to be allergic to any medication, she does burn through it at an alarming rate. We had to dose her like she was twice her body weight. It's something you should know in case she ever requires surgery again," he explained.

Kylo nodded. "What's her blood type? I will need to know that too," he queried.

"A positive," the doctor replied.

Same as mine. ""Is there anything else?" Kylo inquired.

"There were a few curious things about her scan results. Although she didn't sustain damage to her lower abdomen, it appears that she..."

Kylo stopped listening and shot to his feet. He could sense Rey's distress. "I need to go," he grunted. Kylo tore out of Dr. Stephens' office swiftly and marched down to Rey's room. The door was already open, and Rey crashed into his chest. Before she could fall back, he grabbed her.

Rey's gaze met a broad ebony chest and leather black gloves enveloping her upper arms. She reached for his forearms, looking up to meet his familiar brown eyes with little amber flakes. Ben. "You're really here," she breathed. "I couldn't sense you," she whispered. Pain radiated through her limbs and her legs buckled.

Kylo caught her weight and scooped her up. "I'm here. Now back to bed with you," he commanded. "The doctor said you need to remain on bed rest." He gently placed her back on the gurney. Kylo turned his head and noticed that Cris had her back pressed against the wall. She was watching the scene and appeared a little intimidated by Rey.

He glanced at Rey and smirked. "I leave the room for 2 minutes and you're already terrorising the staff." He looked back at Cris. "I apologize on her behalf."

Cris nodded and inched her way to the door to join Dr. Stephens, who had followed him. Kylo inspected Rey, who was still staring at him in disbelief that he was actually in the room with her. He tucked her back into bed and turned back to the bewildered staff. "As you were saying, Dr. Stephens."

The doctor cleared his throat. "Mrs. Ren, we're relieved that you're awake," he said. "I was just informing your husband of your test results."

She smirked. My husband. "Proceed."

Before the doctor began talking again, Kylo opened a gauze packet and started wiping the blood off the back of Rey's hand.

"Although you should recover from the accident, we have discovered an issue," he explained. "There is no easy way to say this, but there is a problem with your fertility."

Kylo paused taking care of her hand, and squeezed her fingers. Rey looked down at her hand and then inspected his face.

"My fertility?" she asked. She was watching Kylo's face fall. She had no idea what fertility meant. "Is something wrong with me?"

Kylo focused on Rey. "It's going to be okay. We'll face this together," he said, absently patting the back of her hand.

They both looked at the doctor. "The scans show significant damage to your uterus," the doctor explained. "I'm very sorry, but you won't be able to get pregnant."

Kylo could sense the sadness washing over Rey. "Leave us," he ordered firmly. "We need a moment."

"Of course," Dr. Stephens replied. The nurse and doctor team left them quickly.

Tears started falling down Rey's face as she realised she couldn't get pregnant. Kylo threw his leg over the bed to shift himself behind her and his hands clasped over her stomach. He collected a small circular band-aid and smoothed it over her broken skin from the cannula.

He held her for a couple of minutes before saying anything. "I still love you even though you can't have children," he said.

"I'm so sorry," she sniffed. "I know how much you wanted a family."

"I've got you for that. You're my family," he whispered, holding her gently. A comfortable silence fell between them. Rey released a shuttered breath and began to relax. "We do have options," he offered.

"We could consider surrogacy or adoption," he suggested. "I promise that when you're ready to become a mother, I'll make it happen."

She smiled. "You do always keep your promises to me, don't you? Like when you promised to become my husband," she responded.

He snorted. "Technically, that still hasn't happened yet."

"Oh, good. At least I didn't forget our secret wedding while I was sleeping," she replied. "Let me guess. You were being vague and left our relationship open to interpretation."

"Something like that," he chuckled. "Is that a problem?"

She groaned from the vibrations through her back. "No," she sighed. "But you're not the only one. I may have led Captain Parlux to believe that we're already married too."

"Did you now?" he raised his eyebrows. "We might have to hurry up and make it official then."

She tried to remain still. Moving was hurting her. "Do you have any ideas?" she asked.

"While you were sleeping, I already came up with a solution," he explained. "We can get married right now, just you and me."

"How is that possible?" she inquired.

"A Jedi can marry us," he confidently replied.

"But I'm not a real Jedi," she responded.

"No, you're not, but Ben Solo is," he countered.

"Hang on." She got excited by the revelation. "You're a Jedi?" she asked.

He wanted to laugh, but he knew it would hurt her. "I had completed my last trial before the temple was destroyed, so technically I am," he joked, adding the last bit. "But don't go telling anyone."

"So, I'm going to be married to a Jedi?" she asked. "A real Jedi?"

"No, you'll be married to an Emperor. You'll be married by a Jedi. The paperwork will say that Kylo Ren is married to Rey Solo,' he confirmed. "The officiant is Ben Solo. Not many people in the galaxy know that Ben Solo and Kylo Ren are the same person."

She smiled. "You've really thought this through."

He sighed. "I had nearly four hours to think about it."

An idea sprung in Rey's mind. '"Do you have to put today's date as the wedding?" she inquired. "Or could you put a previous one?"

He mulled it over. "I could put any date. What day were you thinking of?"

"How about the day we formed our bond?" She bit her lip. "I might have given Captain Parlux the impression that we've already been married for that long."

"Do you realise how strange that sounds? That we met and got married on the same day." He chuckled. "The very same day you gave me my scar."

"Consider it a wedding present," she declared.

He raised an eyebrow. "You do understand how dysfunctional that is," he offered. "A husband and wife fighting on opposite sides of a war."

"Is it any more dysfunctional than a mother and son?" She countered.

"I suppose not. It does sound like something that belongs in our family." He tilted his head. "It would solve the issue of what we would do if anyone found out."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"We could play it off that I forced you when you were held on Starkiller," Kylo explained. "We could make it seem like I was holding Ben Solo hostage and that I made him marry us, and then I killed him."

"That does sound like something that Kylo Ren would do." She paused for a moment. "But that doesn't solve the problem of how I'm listed as Rey Solo on the certificate."

"That's easy," he confidently replied. "Ben wrote down his last name to make it official. He gave you his blessing to use his name."

"So, we're going to do this?" she sounded hopeful. "For real?"

"You're already wearing white, so why not?" He replied.

Rey went to giggle and felt a sharp pain again. "Don't make me laugh," she groaned. "It hurts too much. So, how do we begin?"

"You might want to face me," he whispered.

"Oh," she shifted slowly in between his legs, and he assisted her. He clasped both of her hands when she was facing him.

"I'll go first and then you can copy," he said. He took a deep breath. "Rey Solo, I choose to walk this path with you from this day forward as your husband, your bond mate, and your best friend," he paused, "Now you."

"Kylo Ren, I choose to walk this path with you from this day forward as your wife, your bondmate, and your best friend," she altered the words slightly.

Kylo took another breath considering his next sentence. "I promise to accept you as both light and dark, for better or worse."

"I promise to accept you as both light and dark for better or worse," she smiled.

He beamed back. "I will be faithful, honest, and loyal only to you."

"I will be faithful, honest, and loyal only to you," she repeated.

"I will support you unconditionally in this life and the next," he stated.

"I will support you unconditionally in this life and the next," she echoed.

"As Ben Solo, I now pronounce us husband and wife," he declared. "Time to kiss the bride."

Rey stifled a giggle and leaned forward at the same time as Kylo. Their lips gently touched and Rey winced.

He swiftly pulled back. "You okay?"

Rey was releasing a shuttered breath. "It hurts to lean forward," she said.

"Sweetheart, it hurts for you to breathe. I'll get you some pain relief," he replied and started climbing off the bed.

She pouted. "Don't go."

"I'll be quick," he assured her. He unclipped his lightsaber and handed it to her. "Will that make you feel better? What's mine is now yours."

She smiled. "A little, but I prefer you." She looked down at the lightsaber and back at him. "So, is that it? Are we married now?"

"Almost," he replied. "I will have the paperwork drawn up, and we can sign it before the day is out."

"Don't we exchange rings too?" she asked.

"I'll make sure I have some organised and we can put them on chains. We can't go around publicising our marriage," he said. "Unless... you don't want to go back to the Resistance."

"I need to go back," she declared. "It would take too long for one of our soldiers to infiltrate the Resistance and get the security clearance I have. You know that."

"I know," he sighed. "I don't have to like the idea of you going back, but I'll support it."

"Speaking of the Resistance, I better get in contact with them before they send a search party," she gasped painfully.

"I already handled that. The Finalizer was moved into Naboo's airspace to prevent them from coming for you," he reassured her.

"They aren't all there though," she clarified. "Chewie took the Falcon and went back to his home planet."

"I better get you a comm then. We can send the signal to the stormtrooper transport and use the comm-relay to transmit directly to the Resistance," he explained. "I'm going to need the codes, though, when I return."

"What's mine is yours," she playfully responded.

"Well, Mrs. Solo," he smiled. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Try not to terrorise anyone while I'm gone."

"I don't think I can promise that," she smirked. "I am Lady Ren, after all."