Force Destiny

Memory

"She's waking up."

Rey opened her eyes, blinking at the bright lights. Machines beeped and whirred around her. The artificial air smelled like cleaning chemicals. Weakness gripped her muscles, but she was not in any pain. As her vision cleared, she realized she was in a bed in a small room with artificial lights, surrounded by machines. She sensed others in the room with her.

"Where...where..." she croaked weakly, swallowing to moisten her dry throat.

"Rey, you're safe." She knew that voice, and, apparently, he knew her, too. Her mind was heavy, thought processes leaden with sleep. Had she had more of her faculties, the words might have frightened her, but even her most instinctual impulses—to fight, to run, to understand—were silent. She didn't question, she simply existed. Until he spoke again. "Don't worry. You're in a medbay on Bespin. You just need to take it slow, okay? The med droid will be here soon...hopefully."

"A medbay?" The words slowly seeped through the deep fog. All at once she knew that she should care, but she couldn't form coherent enough thoughts to articulate the questions something was guiding her to remember to ask. She pressed against the fettering haze clouding her thoughts, but she couldn't remember anything. It didn't concern her as much as it did the thing inside her, persistent in guiding her thoughts away from the peaceful ignorance in which she existed. Her mind began sluggishly forming questions. Somehow, she knew her name was Rey. But had she known before he said it? She wasn't certain. How had she ended up in a medbay? Why was she there? What had she been doing before?

A spark.

That question— that was the question the thing inside her was guiding her to ask. If only she could find the words to ask him. She stiffly scanned her body for clues to...what? She didn't know. Her movements were enervated and clumsy.

"You have been out of it for a few days, so, whatever you do, be calm; don't panic," he recommended gently.

Another spark.

Fear returned with the desire to...run? Fight? Her thoughts were still too jumbled to form an appropriate plan of action.

"Don't panic?" She sat up abruptly, hitting her head on the transparent cocoon top of a medical pod. She was instantly light-headed and nauseous. But it jolted her further from the cloud weighing her consciousness. Thoughts flooded into her mind, overwhelming her.

It's too cold in here. I think I'm going to be sick. Where are my clothes? I need water. I'm scared. I know him. Why am I here? Blink, he's blurry. Am I hurt? Why is it still blurry? How do I get out of here? Why am I so tired? The lights are too bright. Nothing hurts. When was the last time I slept? That's right, I just woke up. My name is Rey. I am in a medbay. What was I doing before this? Why shouldn't I panic?

"Sorry, I tried to warn you; I did that, too," he chuckled, "At least you don't have the Bacta suit on anymore; you should have seen what I did with mine." He helped lift the lid of the pod and supported her as she slowly sat up. As her mind became less burdened, she had more confidence in articulating her thoughts. Rey turned toward her friend.

"Finn," she smiled lazily, blinking to clear her still blurry vision. He smiled when she mentioned his name.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you awake and hear you say my name. You scared us with that crazy stunt of yours. It took us so long to reach Bespin, but this is the only place that would help. We're lucky Lando met us halfway with his freighter stocked with Bacta suits. Rose just left to update him and Poe about how you're doing." She still could not remember what happened, and trepidation slowly built in her chest, but the mention of her friends' names was a relief. It meant whatever happened, they were all okay.