Galennic [#Wattys2017]

21

Pre-warning. If you are planning to read the next two chapters, please consider having a tissue box nearby.

Warning: THIS CHAPTER IS VERY SAD BUT ALSO KIND OF FLUFFY

I don't own anything.
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Orson woke up with a sharp breath intake. Everything around him was too loud, yet still incoherent. His blinked a few times to straighten his fuzzy vision. Where was he? What happened? Why was he in this sterile room in a sterile bed and a sterile thing stick on his arm? What the heck was all this beeping stuff? No, why was he in a hospital?

His hands shook as he pulled himself to a sitting position. Every bit of his body hurt and he felt like he had broken his back or something. He also had a splitting headache. Orson pressed his temples to try and alleviate the pain. It didn't work so he laid back down. He shifted his head back and forth, studying his surroundings as he tried to remember what happened.

His eyes fell on a giant red crystal to the side of the room. Orson couldn't help but smile a little as he thought about how he and Lyra rigged up a stand for him to use the crystal's powers. He also remembered the cute little kid Galen was talking to when he had touched the crystal. He couldn't wait to marry Galen. Hell, why not marry the guy right now? As soon as they recovered from the Ilum Incident, he was going to propose to Galen and-

Then it hit him. He shot straight up. "G-GALEN!!" He screamed, his voice shaking as he did so.

The scream alerted a nurse who came bolting in. She placed her hands on his shoulders. "Lay down, lay down," she whispered.

"Where ith he?" Orson demanded, shoving off the nurse's hands. "Wh-Where'th Galen?" He frowned at the odd speaking pattern he seemed to have acquired.

The nurse managed to push him down, telling him to rest, but Orson only fought back harder. He wanted to get out! He wanted to see Galen! The next time she tried to push him down, he bit the nurse's wrist. She called for another nurse, who appeared in the doorway almost immediately. "Get his parents in here!" She ordered him. The other nurse nodded and rushed off.

Orson didn't want to see his parents. He wanted to see Galen. He was confused and scared. What was going on? He could only remember the chandelier falling. That was his last memory of the incident.

Just a couple minutes later, Erikzen and Yasmine came rushing in to the room. "Orson!" His mother gasped. She ran over and hugged her fearful son. "Oh my Force, you gave me a heart attack when I heard what happened. I should have never let you go!"

"Wh-what happened?" Orson stammered. "What ith g-g-going on? Why am-am I talking th-tho w-weird?!" Orson tried to spit out whatever might be lodged in his throat. No use.

His father hugged him and his mother. Then he said "I'm not going to lie and I'm not going to try and bring this on easily, Orson. You had some brain damage. You were hit in the side of the head and your speech abilities were compromised."

Orson refused to believe it. Why? Why?? Why did this have to happen!!?? But more importantly, "I w-want Galen."

"Galen?" His mother frowned. "Who?"

"He was the man in charge of the expedition," said his father. "Remember? You sighed the documents for Orson to go with him."

His mother nodded. She looked at the nurse for an answer, who admitted they didn't know where Galen was. "He was transferred from here," said the nurse. "That's all I heard. I don't know where."

"I WANNA KNOW!!" Orson yelled. The nurse ran off and fetched a doctor.

While she was gone, Orson tried to remember what had happened. He could still see him and Lyra playing Lego goldfish by that felt like a lifetime ago. Then there was the giant red crystal... he wondered where that was right now. Then there was Lyra confessing about her affair with Galen... wait was that before the red crystal? Then Galen gave a motivational speech, no that came before they played goldfish... right? He remembered snuggling Galen, Galen about to say 'I love you' for the second time in their relationship... no, was that before? Orson realized he couldn't remember the order of events and it frustrated the hell out of him.

The doctor appeared and Orson wasted no time in asking. "Where ith G-Ga-Galen!?"

"Orson! Be polite!" Yasmine scolded.

His father placed his hand on her shoulder. "Yasmine, please. He just woke up with his last memories being ice falling on him. Give him some slack."

The doctor said "He was transferred to Coruscant Hospital. They'll take care of him."

"And L-Lyra? Oraki? T-Talith? Miyah? Th-th-Thinno?" Orson swore he was never going to speak again after this day.

The doctor looked sympathetic. "Lyra is in Bespin Hospital. The others... they're dead..."

Orson felt like his world just shattered. Here, the greatest term of young adult scientists, who had set out to change the world, were gone. More than half were dead...
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The first day Galen got off, Orson often wondered if he should go say hello to him. He stood up multiple times from his desk with the confidence to see Galen, only to lose it all in two seconds and plant himself back in his seat. He couldn't. He couldn't do it. It frustrated him.

When he did get up and pass Galen's room on his way to the bathroom, Galen was talking to someone. Orson tried to listen but he couldn't make out what was being said. He decided to come back later.

At the end of the day, Orson realized he didn't have that much time left before he could proudly state that he hadn't seen Galen for 24 hours. He mustered up the courage to visit before he retired to his quarters. Orson went to the door and knocked. No one answered so he tried again. No answer. Orson typed in the passcode and went in.

Galen had fallen asleep on his desk. In front of him were six holodisks, two datapads, a functioning writing pen, and at least a dozen data chips all stuffed into a little box for storage.

Orson picked up Galen and carried him to bed. He set the older man down and looked at him using only the dim light from the opened door. Galen looked so peaceful resting. He seemed to have lost at least twenty years when he was relaxed.

Orson reached up and brushed a few stray hairs away from Galen's eyes. He wanted to kiss Galen so much. He missed Galen. He missed the old times. He missed it all. Why did everything go so wrong? Why did their friendship have to take the wrong path? Everything was so great... up until he found out that Galen's love interests were on Lyra.

Galen shifted and rolled to his side so his hand was lightly touching Orson's. Orson felt his heart leap. He took another moment to admire Galen before he decided to leave. As he started to leave, he felt Galen give a light tug on his cuff. Galen wasn't awake but he had definitely reached our for Orson. So Orson stayed for another hour until Galen finally released him.
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I am sorry if I shattered your heart and then tried to make up for it with Galennic fluffiness. (Actually I'm not really sorry. (Yes I am (nope)))

Please review!