From The Ashes//anidala

12

FROM THE ASHES

Chapter 12

Obiwan would not leave the hospital until Anakin's surgery was complete and the droids had told him he had come through it all right..He felt better knowing this medical center was not like that scandelous one on Naboo, this was the best one in Coruscant. It had healed his eyes when the other one had ruined their healing process. It had delivered Padme's babies and everyone made it through. Anakin should be all right, but Obiwan still worried. He snoozed in a chair all night, wanting to be there for Anakin when he came to. It was the next morning before he started to stir. He moaned and turned his head, then opened his eyes. He let his woozy head clear as he focused his eyes. The first thing he saw was Obiwan in the chair, and he was touched. "Obiwan, how long have you been there?"

Obiwan woke up, too, and was glad to see Anakin awake and coherent. "I never left you, my friend."

"You are a good and honorable man, Obiwan Kenobi. I am not worthy of you, but I will try to be."

"Anakin, whatever is bothering you can wait until you are better."

"I'm getting tired of having things wrong with me, Obiwan. Will I ever be a okay?"

"We're going to make sure of it, my brother."

The droids explained that Anakin's knee ligaments had been torn, and the ones that could not be repaired were replaced with synthetic duplicates. His knee was totally repaired and would function normally, but it had to heal from surgery internally as well as externally. Then he'd have weeks of therapy to endure.

"I have fake parts inside my leg?" Anakin said with a strange look on his face. "That's weird to think about. How long before I can walk on it?"

The droid told him he would be gotten out of bed and made to walk on crutches in a couple days, but it would be at least a week more before he could even try to step down on it. Then it should be healed enough to begin therapy. He should be walking carefully within a month, but it would take a little longer for it to be strong enough for normal use. For a Jedi, it would have to be even stronger, since he made many moves and jumps with his legs. The droids explained that many famous athletes throughout the galaxy had this same surgery, and they had returned to their games as good as new. This encouraged Anakin greatly, but he was still depressed for now, though he was dealing with it a lot better than blindness. He knew he was lying there helpless again, with nowhere to go when the time game to go 'home.'

Obiwan went back to report to Yoda all that had happened. Yoda was sure there had to be a cosmic reason for what had occured, and he would meditate on it. He ordered Obiwan to bring Anakin back to the temple for his convalescense, though he sensed this would bring strong opposition. Obiwan's new padawan would have to wait awhile for his training. Obiwan went past the apartment and saw Padme standing on the balcony as her parents departed with both babies. He watched as they flew away with them but not Padme. What did it mean? He didn't interfere, but stored this imformation away in his memory for future reference. He then returned to the med center to visit Anakin.

Obiwan entered Anakin's room and found him in much better spirits, sitting up, eating heartily. He turned to look at him with a real smile."Hello, master, thank you for coming back"

"Did you really think I wouldn't?"

"I wonder sometimes why you put up with me. Padme doesn't."

Obiwan put his head down, not knowing if he should relay the news to him yet. "How long are you going to be here?"

"I have, let's see, 5 or 6 more days." He counted in his head, looking up at the ceiling.

"Then what?"