Healing Hurts (Anakin Skywalker)

Chapter 14

 Anakin kept to his word. Within around 30 minutes, he returned to the room with an exasperated Kix at his side. Anakin had a hoverchair at his side, with the leg extension for it in his hands.

Kix turned to Havena and shook his head. "I don't like this," he said. "Your heart rate still isn't stable - only while you sleep. And that's not to mention your ankle. You really don't need to be getting up and leaving the med bay."

"Kix, I told you I was fine before I went to sleep. This is normal for me-"

"A heart rate hitting the 150s while you're at rest is not normal, Havena. Not in any way."

Havena crossed her arms. "Yeah, well. Tell that to my doctors back home. They said it's normal for anxiety. Well, not that I was anxious. But still. I want to see space! Please, Kix? I promise not to kick the bucket."

The clone pinched his nose and sighed. "Then your healers were medically incompetent. Why does this mean so much to you, anyway?"

Anakin shifted his weight onto his other side and watched the unfolding scene intently. He had a vague idea of the reason, but he'd never exactly heard it from Havena herself. Well, he hadn't heard it from her as an adult. Honestly, part of him had wondered if she'd given up wanting to see the cold, vast darkness just outside the ship. But judging from her reaction... probably not.

Havena sighed. How could she explain it without sounding stupid? Or making her people sound stupid? In this reality, space travel was as common as driving a car. But back home? So many could only dream of being chosen to see it up close and personal like that. At one point in her life, she'd desperately wanted to be an astronaut. But then she grew up, and she started getting sick. She couldn't be an astronaut - they would not take her at that point. She was more of a liability than an asset to the space agencies.

"My planet is not as technologically advanced as your galaxy is," she settled on. "We only recently got a man to the moon. We have a space station in orbit, but its so dangerous to go there that only a few selected applicants can even make it to training. I've always wanted to see the stars up close and personal, but I got sick and there was no way I'd qualify. I never... I never thought it would be possible for me."

Kix grew quiet, and shared a subtle look with Anakin. Then he turned to Havena again and slowly began to disconnect her IV from the pump. He gave the girl a defeated expression and threw her blanket back off of her legs.

"I know it's in a cast, but please don't put any weight on that ankle. And come back here the second you're done. No more, no less. Got it?"

"I'll have her back safe and sound in no time, Kix."

Havena slowly slid off of the bed and landed on her good leg. She wobbled when her leg hit the ground, but Kix and Anakin quickly reached over to steady her. She held on to them both as she twisted herself around and sat down in the hoverchair behind her.

"Thank you, Kix!" She smiled at the clone for perhaps the first time since she'd woken up on the massive ship. Then she turned to Anakin and nodded toward the door enthusiastically. "Let's go, let's go, let's go! We're burning daylight here! Well... starlight? Whatever-"

Anakin held back a smirk and sighed. "Alright, alright. Come on before you have a heart attack or whatever it is Kix is worried about."

And that was that. Anakin grabbed the handle on the back of the seat and gently pushed it forward. Havena drew in a subtle breath with her eyes focused on the door that grew closer and closer. It was now or never, she figured. Either she was going to find out that she was just crazy or on some elaborate prank show, or she was going to realize the hard way that what she was experiencing was reality whether she liked it or not. And she was finally going to see the stars.