(Star Wars) To Love A Slave

Chapter Thirty-Seven - Pick Your Poison

The troopers came back to the medical wing and took the twins back to the master suite, leaving Anakin alone with his wife. He ended up slipping into bed beside Padme, craddling her to his chest. Since their conversation, neither one of them had really said anything. Their silence was only broken by the clones and Atzin, who had just walked in.

"Emperor, Empress..." He bowed his head slightly, looking at them with a curious expression. "Is everything alright?"

"You tell me, Doctor." Padme huffed, turning around so her back was to her husband's chest. "You're the only one who will tell me the truth around here..."

"Force, you're being so childish, Padme." Anakin sat up, turning his back to her. "I was hoping that Foster might actually have a different report and when he didn't, I didn't want you to freak out."

"Uh, your highnesses?" Atzin tried to gain their attention.

"Freak out? You didn't want me to freak out?" She turned to face him, glaring at the back of his head. "So instead of telling me the truth about MY health, you felt it was necessary for you to lie? What if the roles were reversed? You'd want me to tell you the truth about your health, wouldn't you?"

"It's not the same, damn it!" Anakin stood up and whipped around, getting eye to eye with her.

"Oh really? So you wouldn't get pissed if I kept something like that from you?"

"Emperor Vader, sir? Empress?" The old man felt himself begin to shrink back.

"Oh no, I wouldn't be pissed. I'd be livid! It's not the same though!"

"How is it not the same?"

Never before had Anakin been so angry, let alone with her. It seemed as though she knew exactly how to push his buttons to the point where he thought he'd explode.

"There are some things in this world that you do NOT need to know, Padme. I lied to protect you and by force, if you kept something this bad from me, I don't know how I'd react. I'll be back in a little while with the twins." He got up and walked to the doorway, stopping to look back at her.

"Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

As soon as she was sure he was out of earshot, Padme let out a frustrated groan and threw herself back onto the bed. "The nerve of him!"

Atzin stepped forward, taking his place at the foot of her hospital bed. "Milady, is there anything you require?"

Her brown eyes widened, a feeling of shock and embarrassment washing over her. "Doctor, I'm so... terribly sorry you had to see that. I can assure you that things like that never happen well, at least not normally..."

"It is not my place to judge, Milady and even if it was, I wouldn't." A soft chuckle escaped him as a warm smile glided onto his lips, walking around to the side of her bed. "I still remember a few of my own quarrels I had with my wife, Pearl. May the Force be with her, I know she's in a better place..."

Padme reached up and laid a hand on his forearm. "I'm sorry for your loss, Atzin. I'm sure she was a wonderful woman."

"A firecracker would be the better term but anyways, let's talk about the lady in question, shall we?" He scrolled through the holopad, his smile slowly dropping.

"I have two options for you, Milady. Your poisoned status has worsened dramatically due to the stress episode that Media Snake put you through." He glanced down at her with a subtle smirk on his face. "Forgive me, your highness but my views of the media are the same as your husbands." Atzin cleared his throat before reading off the chart.

"We were able to identify the root poison before the machines broke down and it appears to be Kaminoan. The only cure would come from that planet as well but unfortunately, the machine died right as we were about to get the name of the poison. It appears as though someone set off a small bomb or something inside..."

"How peculiar..." Padme trailed off but soon cleared her throat. "With that being said, what do you suppose happen now concerning my treatment?"

Atzin shut off his holopad and grabbed a stool. Upon pulling it over and taking a seat, he looked up at her with a sympathetic expression. "You have two options milady. You can either call off the treatments and let the poison take its course or you can start a therapy session. Similar to the chemo-radiation treatments for cancer, you'll be given IV-bags filled with a similar concoction."

"So what your saying is that no matter which route I take, I'm pretty much going to have the same end result?"

"It pains me to confirm this, Your Highness."

"...I'm going to die..."