Pain.
She felt pain.
It wasn't like being shot, or stabbed, or grazed with a lightsaber. It was a different kind of pain. It was a pain that ran through every single part of her body. Her nerves. Her skin. Her eyes, even her toes. It all hurt. It wasn't a dull aching throb, it wasn't a small pin prickling sensation. It wasn't even the stab of a hundred needles. Instead if felt as though someone had dumped fuel upon her and set it alight. It felt as though a thousand ants were crawling through her skin and biting her on every centimeter of her body. It felt like the entire world, her entire existence, was naught but pain.
Rose wanted to scream. She wanted to yell, thrash, flail and do everything she could possibly do, yet her body would not respond. Her lips opened and she found naught coming forth. Her eyes tried to open, and she could not even force that. Her entire body seemed to fight her, scream at her, and cause her pain. It was pure and utter agony, it was pain incarnate.
Force. The prayer went through her mind. Let me die.
Please let me die.
The thought rang through her head again and again.
Please.
Please.
Please let me die.
Agony tore through her, and Rose found herself questioning reality. Was this real? Was this happening? Was she really in such agony and was she surviving it? It felt like a dream, a horrible terrible nightmare that one could not wake from. Her ears burned, taking in the sounds around her. Distantly she heard conversation, she heard the steady beep, beep, beep of a heartbeat monitor, she even heard the swooping of a hover bike passing distantly by followed by sirens.
Horror dawned on her.
It was real. It was all real. The pain lanced through her again and again, not coming in waves or throbs, but a constant aching hurt that carried throughout her entire body. She tried again to scream, screech, grab for attention or try to do anything to regain some semblance of control, yet she found nothing. She could feel the agony of tears rolling down her cheeks, aching paths of lava carving into her sensitive skin. Rose didn't want to live this, she didn't even know why she was.
Once more she tried to move, she tried to peel her eyes open, she tried to do anything. Her fingers twitched, and as she did a new suffering found her. It crashed in on her, burning from her fingers, up her arm, and through her entire torso. The movement felt as though every cell in her body was being assaulted by something, beaten and broken, burned and frozen at the same time.
Her eyes snapped open, a breath pulling into her torso as her body was suddenly jolted into an odd consciousness.
"Miss Kuhn!"
A voice rang out, her eyes dashing towards it even as she tried to cry out.
"She's awake! Get the doctor, immediately!"
Out of the corner of her eye she watched as a figure left, another quickly approaching her, touching her. The sensation of fingers pressing against her arm brought the same agony from before, pain and hurt that caused her to sharply breath in.
Rose caught sight of her own arm, a pale almost translucent white, black veins sticking through her skin and stabbing out towards the air. She tried to look at the rest of herself examine herself, and saw that the exposed parts of her body were much the same. She looked like death itself, as though a plague had befallen her and dug its claws deep into her body. All fat and muscle had dissipated from her body, and she was naught but skin and bones.
Tears flowed down her face, causing pain as she tried to speak. "Wh-"
It was all she could manage, the dryness of her throat and the pain being too much to continue. Her body shook again and she looked pleadingly towards the nurse at her side. The woman made soothing noises, petting Rose's faded red hair in encouragement and comfort until finally, the figure of a doctor appear.
The man looked aged, odd really, as though he had seen something he should not have. His eyes were a deep piercing green, his beard was thick and his shoulders were broad. There was an odd familiarity to him, a strange sensation of knowing. Rose looked at him, still caught in her own little world of pain but eager to hear him speak. Hope clung to her, hope that this man could fix her.
"Miss Kuhn, my name is Doctor Vilkus."
She didn't recognize the name, but his lips thinned.
"Can you understand me?"
Rose tried to answer, tried to speak, but couldn't. Instead her eyes darted quickly, moving up and down, trying to signal to this man that she could understand, that she heard him. He nodded, watching her carefully and approaching.
"Okay. You're in Coruscant's Titan Hospital, a facility founded by your father. You've fallen ill Misses Kuhn, very ill. Do you understand?"
Again she tried to speak, she tried to acknowledge. She pushed herself, pressing forward and forcing herself to move. The smallest of nods came forth, an inclination of her head that reached until half an inch. Agony roared through her neck, and her face flashed as if someone had seared it with an iron. Tears streamed down her face and a look of panic touched the doctors eyes.
"Don't move Misses Kuhn, just look up for yes, down for no."
Rose did so, acknowledging, trying to understand.
"I know you must be confused, but we've contacted your sister."
Lily was the only family that Rose had left, and now she would know that she had failed. With that thought everything came crashing back. How she had failed on Hoth. How she had fallen ill. How she had tried to solve the problem herself, and how she had even failed in that and called Vrag. It struck her suddenly. The Sith had taken her here, the Sith had brought her to the Hospital...This doctor...was he a Sith?
"We've identified what the illness is that you're carrying...or rather...what's causing these symptoms."
Confusion ran through her eyes.
Rose didn't understand. What was causing the pathogen? Surely it was just a disease? A virus? Would it not be as simple as that? Panic rose within her.
"You do not have an infection, bacterial or viral. You don't have a pathogen or plague. For the first few days we weren't sure exactly what was causing your symptoms, then we were told of your recent trip to Hoth...what you were sent there to find."
Something in the tomb? It had to be.
"The Darkside often has odd eff-..."
Rose stopped listening, her heart sank, her entire being seemed to shrink. For a moment the pain was forgotten, agony pushed aside by utter despair. It wasn't a disease. It wasn't some sickness, it was an effect of the darkside. It was a simple curse created by the Ancient Sith, an illness designed as a deterrent against those who would sneak about their tombs.
She didn't have to think for long, she didn't have to ponder about how she got it. The cut upon her finger. She had touched one of the ancient blades within the tomb, and when she had sliced herself the plague had infected her. Rose doubted they knew what it was exactly, she doubted they would ever know. There would be no saving her, no making her better.
She felt utter despair, yet she knew this was her own fault. She had been stupid, foolish and filled with hubris. Tears rolled down her cheeks again, reminding her of the pain that bound her to her body, the doctors voice coming back to her ears.
"...-no known cure."
She felt pain.
It wasn't like being shot, or stabbed, or grazed with a lightsaber. It was a different kind of pain. It was a pain that ran through every single part of her body. Her nerves. Her skin. Her eyes, even her toes. It all hurt. It wasn't a dull aching throb, it wasn't a small pin prickling sensation. It wasn't even the stab of a hundred needles. Instead if felt as though someone had dumped fuel upon her and set it alight. It felt as though a thousand ants were crawling through her skin and biting her on every centimeter of her body. It felt like the entire world, her entire existence, was naught but pain.
Rose wanted to scream. She wanted to yell, thrash, flail and do everything she could possibly do, yet her body would not respond. Her lips opened and she found naught coming forth. Her eyes tried to open, and she could not even force that. Her entire body seemed to fight her, scream at her, and cause her pain. It was pure and utter agony, it was pain incarnate.
Force. The prayer went through her mind. Let me die.
Please let me die.
The thought rang through her head again and again.
Please.
Please.
Please let me die.
Agony tore through her, and Rose found herself questioning reality. Was this real? Was this happening? Was she really in such agony and was she surviving it? It felt like a dream, a horrible terrible nightmare that one could not wake from. Her ears burned, taking in the sounds around her. Distantly she heard conversation, she heard the steady beep, beep, beep of a heartbeat monitor, she even heard the swooping of a hover bike passing distantly by followed by sirens.
Horror dawned on her.
It was real. It was all real. The pain lanced through her again and again, not coming in waves or throbs, but a constant aching hurt that carried throughout her entire body. She tried again to scream, screech, grab for attention or try to do anything to regain some semblance of control, yet she found nothing. She could feel the agony of tears rolling down her cheeks, aching paths of lava carving into her sensitive skin. Rose didn't want to live this, she didn't even know why she was.
Once more she tried to move, she tried to peel her eyes open, she tried to do anything. Her fingers twitched, and as she did a new suffering found her. It crashed in on her, burning from her fingers, up her arm, and through her entire torso. The movement felt as though every cell in her body was being assaulted by something, beaten and broken, burned and frozen at the same time.
Her eyes snapped open, a breath pulling into her torso as her body was suddenly jolted into an odd consciousness.
"Miss Kuhn!"
A voice rang out, her eyes dashing towards it even as she tried to cry out.
"She's awake! Get the doctor, immediately!"
Out of the corner of her eye she watched as a figure left, another quickly approaching her, touching her. The sensation of fingers pressing against her arm brought the same agony from before, pain and hurt that caused her to sharply breath in.
Rose caught sight of her own arm, a pale almost translucent white, black veins sticking through her skin and stabbing out towards the air. She tried to look at the rest of herself examine herself, and saw that the exposed parts of her body were much the same. She looked like death itself, as though a plague had befallen her and dug its claws deep into her body. All fat and muscle had dissipated from her body, and she was naught but skin and bones.
Tears flowed down her face, causing pain as she tried to speak. "Wh-"
It was all she could manage, the dryness of her throat and the pain being too much to continue. Her body shook again and she looked pleadingly towards the nurse at her side. The woman made soothing noises, petting Rose's faded red hair in encouragement and comfort until finally, the figure of a doctor appear.
The man looked aged, odd really, as though he had seen something he should not have. His eyes were a deep piercing green, his beard was thick and his shoulders were broad. There was an odd familiarity to him, a strange sensation of knowing. Rose looked at him, still caught in her own little world of pain but eager to hear him speak. Hope clung to her, hope that this man could fix her.
"Miss Kuhn, my name is Doctor Vilkus."
She didn't recognize the name, but his lips thinned.
"Can you understand me?"
Rose tried to answer, tried to speak, but couldn't. Instead her eyes darted quickly, moving up and down, trying to signal to this man that she could understand, that she heard him. He nodded, watching her carefully and approaching.
"Okay. You're in Coruscant's Titan Hospital, a facility founded by your father. You've fallen ill Misses Kuhn, very ill. Do you understand?"
Again she tried to speak, she tried to acknowledge. She pushed herself, pressing forward and forcing herself to move. The smallest of nods came forth, an inclination of her head that reached until half an inch. Agony roared through her neck, and her face flashed as if someone had seared it with an iron. Tears streamed down her face and a look of panic touched the doctors eyes.
"Don't move Misses Kuhn, just look up for yes, down for no."
Rose did so, acknowledging, trying to understand.
"I know you must be confused, but we've contacted your sister."
Lily was the only family that Rose had left, and now she would know that she had failed. With that thought everything came crashing back. How she had failed on Hoth. How she had fallen ill. How she had tried to solve the problem herself, and how she had even failed in that and called Vrag. It struck her suddenly. The Sith had taken her here, the Sith had brought her to the Hospital...This doctor...was he a Sith?
"We've identified what the illness is that you're carrying...or rather...what's causing these symptoms."
Confusion ran through her eyes.
Rose didn't understand. What was causing the pathogen? Surely it was just a disease? A virus? Would it not be as simple as that? Panic rose within her.
"You do not have an infection, bacterial or viral. You don't have a pathogen or plague. For the first few days we weren't sure exactly what was causing your symptoms, then we were told of your recent trip to Hoth...what you were sent there to find."
Something in the tomb? It had to be.
"The Darkside often has odd eff-..."
Rose stopped listening, her heart sank, her entire being seemed to shrink. For a moment the pain was forgotten, agony pushed aside by utter despair. It wasn't a disease. It wasn't some sickness, it was an effect of the darkside. It was a simple curse created by the Ancient Sith, an illness designed as a deterrent against those who would sneak about their tombs.
She didn't have to think for long, she didn't have to ponder about how she got it. The cut upon her finger. She had touched one of the ancient blades within the tomb, and when she had sliced herself the plague had infected her. Rose doubted they knew what it was exactly, she doubted they would ever know. There would be no saving her, no making her better.
She felt utter despair, yet she knew this was her own fault. She had been stupid, foolish and filled with hubris. Tears rolled down her cheeks again, reminding her of the pain that bound her to her body, the doctors voice coming back to her ears.
"...-no known cure."