She woke up.
For the first time in what seemed like weeks Rose woke up. She felt weak, weaker than she had ever felt before. Her head ached slightly, her body hurt, but not the hurt that had been clinging to her, a good dull throbbing ache. She felt worn out, tired, and more than anything else...okay. The pain was gone, the sense of dread, of fear, it was no longer there. For a moment her mind simply wandered, thinking as her senses slowly returned to her.
Her eyelids folded open, her bright blue eyes searching the room. She caught a look at herself within the mirror and her lips parted in a soft gasp that she heard along with the ringing in her ears.
She was surprised at herself. The last time she had seen her body she had been pale, almost translucently so. Her veins had been black, her hair had lost its color, and blood had been slowly streaming from her eyes. Yet now...now she was okay. Her hair had returned to its bright red, her skin had color and her veins were no longer showing.
A smile touched her lips.
Was she better? Had the plague passed? Her head shook form side to side and her arms began to move. For the first time Rose felt how skinny she was, how much weight she had lost. Her fingers drifted across her ribs, feeling each one. Lips thinned as he gently began to stir in the bed, taking note of how heavy her body felt.
Then it hit her.
A sudden crashing sense of something missing.
Her eyes shot open, her hands fixed themselves in place, and her mind tried to tear outwards. Desperately she clawed towards something, anything. She tried to sense, to feel, to do something...but she found nothing.
Rose's hand shot forward, her palm open and directed towards the wall. She expected a wave, a blast of concussive energy, yet nothing happened. Panic erupted from her throat, tears welled in her eyes. “No. No, no, no.”
She repeated the word over and over again, not noticing the dryness of her throat or the rasp that now tore through her voice. She said the word over and over again as she ran through different exercises, desperately trying to summon that element of herself that had always been there, the force.
Yet try after try, attempt after attempt, nothing happened.
Tears began to stream down her face, panicked sobs tore through her. Hands grasped at the railings, and quickly she pushed herself out of bed, standing, frail and skeletal, barely supporting herself against the side of the bed. What had happened? Why was she awake? Where was the force?
The world felt empty.
The people around her seemed dead, though they were alive and walking. The world felt as though it were smaller, and the air felt thinner. Everything was less vibrant, less clear, somehow...wrong. It was all wrong. She couldn't sense anything, she couldn't feel anything. What had happened? She tried to remember, tried to desperately think. She remembered Lily. She remembered the doctors, she reme-
"That's not a cure. That's a curse."
Her lips thinned and suddenly she stopped. Her head slowly turned towards the door. It was them. They had done this to her. The Doctors, the nurses. All of them. They had...they had taken the force from her. Tears rolled down her face, quickly wiped away by fingers. Anger rose within her chest, indignation, despair. A cocktail of emotion that brewed and came together in an instant.
She walked, stumbling slowly out the door and into the hospital proper. A coat hung by the door, and she grasped it, slinging it over her shoulders to hide the hospital gown. Nurses and doctors passed her, giving her eying looks. A few tried to speak to her, but she waved them off, stumbling forward and towards a nearby door.
She had to get out. Had to leave.
Rose moved quickly, using the walls to support herself. Before long she had reached the door, stepping barefoot against the mat as someone called out to her. It was the voice of the woman sitting at the front desk. The chirp of her tone and the happy notes that rang with it seemed a lie.
“Miss, are you okay?”
Rose stopped for half a second, then headed out the door and into Coruscant.
For the first time in what seemed like weeks Rose woke up. She felt weak, weaker than she had ever felt before. Her head ached slightly, her body hurt, but not the hurt that had been clinging to her, a good dull throbbing ache. She felt worn out, tired, and more than anything else...okay. The pain was gone, the sense of dread, of fear, it was no longer there. For a moment her mind simply wandered, thinking as her senses slowly returned to her.
Her eyelids folded open, her bright blue eyes searching the room. She caught a look at herself within the mirror and her lips parted in a soft gasp that she heard along with the ringing in her ears.
She was surprised at herself. The last time she had seen her body she had been pale, almost translucently so. Her veins had been black, her hair had lost its color, and blood had been slowly streaming from her eyes. Yet now...now she was okay. Her hair had returned to its bright red, her skin had color and her veins were no longer showing.
A smile touched her lips.
Was she better? Had the plague passed? Her head shook form side to side and her arms began to move. For the first time Rose felt how skinny she was, how much weight she had lost. Her fingers drifted across her ribs, feeling each one. Lips thinned as he gently began to stir in the bed, taking note of how heavy her body felt.
Then it hit her.
A sudden crashing sense of something missing.
Her eyes shot open, her hands fixed themselves in place, and her mind tried to tear outwards. Desperately she clawed towards something, anything. She tried to sense, to feel, to do something...but she found nothing.
Rose's hand shot forward, her palm open and directed towards the wall. She expected a wave, a blast of concussive energy, yet nothing happened. Panic erupted from her throat, tears welled in her eyes. “No. No, no, no.”
She repeated the word over and over again, not noticing the dryness of her throat or the rasp that now tore through her voice. She said the word over and over again as she ran through different exercises, desperately trying to summon that element of herself that had always been there, the force.
Yet try after try, attempt after attempt, nothing happened.
Tears began to stream down her face, panicked sobs tore through her. Hands grasped at the railings, and quickly she pushed herself out of bed, standing, frail and skeletal, barely supporting herself against the side of the bed. What had happened? Why was she awake? Where was the force?
The world felt empty.
The people around her seemed dead, though they were alive and walking. The world felt as though it were smaller, and the air felt thinner. Everything was less vibrant, less clear, somehow...wrong. It was all wrong. She couldn't sense anything, she couldn't feel anything. What had happened? She tried to remember, tried to desperately think. She remembered Lily. She remembered the doctors, she reme-
"That's not a cure. That's a curse."
Her lips thinned and suddenly she stopped. Her head slowly turned towards the door. It was them. They had done this to her. The Doctors, the nurses. All of them. They had...they had taken the force from her. Tears rolled down her face, quickly wiped away by fingers. Anger rose within her chest, indignation, despair. A cocktail of emotion that brewed and came together in an instant.
She walked, stumbling slowly out the door and into the hospital proper. A coat hung by the door, and she grasped it, slinging it over her shoulders to hide the hospital gown. Nurses and doctors passed her, giving her eying looks. A few tried to speak to her, but she waved them off, stumbling forward and towards a nearby door.
She had to get out. Had to leave.
Rose moved quickly, using the walls to support herself. Before long she had reached the door, stepping barefoot against the mat as someone called out to her. It was the voice of the woman sitting at the front desk. The chirp of her tone and the happy notes that rang with it seemed a lie.
“Miss, are you okay?”
Rose stopped for half a second, then headed out the door and into Coruscant.
