Crimson Eyes ~ Sequel to: The Valkyrie, An Obi-Wan Story (completed)

Chapter 28: Change of Plans

I wasn't even listening. All I heard was a loud ringing tone in my head as my mind drifted off, to that one planet I was supposed to rule. The freedom there, the glorious feeling of the wind that would drift through my hair as I flew, the people that weren't as uptight as all the Republic officials I met here.

I was supposed to be free. To be able to fly whenever I wanted to, to use the magic that was roaring through my veins and to fight for what I believed in. Not being cooked up in some random medical facility far from anything important where there was no room big enough to be able to stretch my wings to their full length.

They could've at least discussed it with me instead of discarding me like some object they didn't need anymore. Even Obi Wan hadn't felt the need to inform me himself before placing me on a ship taking me to the middle of nowhere just days after the incident. He hadn't even felt the need to contact me since, despite the numerous calls and messages I had sent to him.

84 days. I sighed as scanned the operating area, pulling myself out of my head.

"Hey, Elide?" I stopped in the middle of the operation, glancing at the spot where the tumour was supposed to be. The assistant stopped her story, glancing at me warily. "Are you sure we got the right patient?"

"Yes, of course." She scoffed and then followed my line of sight. "He's got a tumour on the upper right corner, -" She seemed to hesitate. "Oh."

Our eyes met over the opened abdomen. "Did we do a scan before the surgery?"

"We thought it wouldn't be necessary, since his personal doctor already did." Elide's eyes were widened, her surprised smirk not visible under the mouth mask she was wearing. "It was genetic, after all. Everyone on his father's side got it, there's no chance he didn't inherit it."

"Right." I started closing the wound after making sure the tumour was nowhere to be found. "So, should I tell his father, or should you?" Smirking slightly, our eyes connected again.

Elide chuckled softly as she handed me the stitches. "Better keep it to yourself, doc." She watched as I sutured the wound together. "Or else we might find ourselves in need of spice again."

"Mmh." Scoffing softly when I finished, I pulled off my coat after having stepped away. "I'll write it in the report and talk to the patient about it. It's not our place, after all, to bring out the news."

"He'll no doubt want to silence you."

I shrugged before I headed towards the exit. "I can't say anything unless he wants me to. If he doesn't trust me enough not to, well, he can try."

~

With my fingers tangled in my hair, I looked at the pile of reports I was supposed to fill in. It was already 8 pm, and I was still in the operating wing of the station. There were some assistants there, some of whom I suspected to be doing nothing at all but still wanted to keep me company through all of it.

My concentration had been gone for some weeks now. I did what I had to do, but there was always that yearning for something more. To be able to do more than heal those that came to me, to be able to prevent them from getting hurt in the first place.

But what was unnerving me the most was this constant ringing in my head. It had started back on Coruscant but had gotten way worse the moment I had arrived here. At first I could always feel the crackling of the fire under my skin, a soothing feeling that let me know that I was alive. Yet here, that fire had diminished.

Together with the magic Arthas disappeared. It started with less appearances, followed by the ability to speak mere sentences before he wavered. At the end, I hadn't even spotted him for days. I didn't know whether I was glad or if it made me feel even more alone.