#and cody is pretending to be deaf and blind | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lifblogs · 3 years

Text

Whumpay 2021: Day 6 - "Can you hear me?"

Can You Hear Me?

read on ao3 2210 words star wars, the clone wars, anakin skywalker whump, obi-wan kenobi whump, graphic depictions of violence, gore, explosions, surgeries, medical care, burns, concussions, lung injury, ear injury, temporarily deaf

Jedi General Anakin Skywalker’s day was going quite well until the bomb went off. At first, he hadn’t known what had happened. It’d been like an invisible hand had thrown him, quickly followed by a wave of heat, and he was tumbling through the air.

The landing didn’t hurt nearly as much as the other injuries he’d already sustained. The rock scraped him up, and heat licked at his skin, burning the right side of his body. But it was nothing compared to the way his head pounded, and his ears ached inside. Blood dribbled down from them, reaching his jaw and neck. He had a vague notion of wanting to rip them off. Maybe that would stop the pain.

It felt like someone had inflated his chest, his throat, and he could barely breathe.

And his head, oh kriffing hell, his head!

Anakin was awash with aching agony, swollen in it, and layered above it was the burning. He knew he needed help, but was anyone near him? Had anyone been near him when the bomb had gone off? And were his men okay?

His ears were ringing relentlessly. For some reason he tried to get up, but that resulted in him collapsing.

Suddenly, he was surrounded by his men, but with blurred vision, and his head spinning, he could barely make them out. Just saw the white and blue of their armor.

Anakin drifted into black.

~~~

Obi-Wan paced back and forth outside of the medical bay on the Resolute. He knew he should probably be back onboard the Negotiator since he had to report to the Council, and had a debrief to run.

But he couldn’t just leave Anakin!

Kix had started work on Anakin right away while still on-planet. It had been gruesome, horrid work, and despite all the horrors of war that Obi-Wan had been forced to see over the past couple of years, he’d been sick. Cody had run to check on him then, and had helped hold him up.

Obi-Wan had fought his commander, wanting to be by Anakin’s side, wanting to hold his flesh hand that had been positioned above his head.

But Cody held him fast. “Don’t look, sir. Please, it’s better if you don’t.”

Perhaps he was right. What Obi-Wan had seen had been enough. A long, tube-like needle had been inserted into Anakin’s arm and he’d seen it move under his skin, making its way up and up… And then Kix had had some men cut off his clothing, leaving him bare from the waist up. Obi-Wan had been able to see burns, and what might’ve been swelling all through Anakin’s chest.

But he had turned his head even as Cody held him fast, seeing as Kix sliced between two of Anakin’s ribs, and had been handed a tube.

Oh hell.

He was forced to fly back to the battleships in a different gunship than Anakin. He would’ve gotten in the way. All the while, he could feel his former Padawan through the Force, feel his suffering even in his unconscious state.

All this was in Obi-Wan’s mind as he continued to pace.

What were they doing in there? More surgeries? Applying bacta? Obi-Wan had to admit that despite his medical field training and the technology available to him, he didn’t know much about what they were doing to Anakin to help him. He didn’t even know what was wrong with him. He’d just seen the injuries, but he knew some were internal.

He was worried about his ears as well, had seen all the blood that had come from them.

His comms blinked on his arm, and after a deep, exhausted sigh, he answered it. “Master Kenobi here.”

“Master,” Mace Windu addressed him through the comms, “the Council has been awaiting your report. You’re late.”

“My apologies, Master. Anakin was injured.”

“Will he be alright?”

Obi-Wan was surprised by Master Windu asking that seeing as he’d never really liked Anakin, but he supposed, to lose a Jedi, one of their members, it would be a great loss.

“We can only hope. I’ll report from the Resolute. Tell the Council I’ll be just a few minutes.”

“Of course.”

The line went quiet, and after glancing back at the doors to the medical bay once more, stomach churning, Obi-Wan made for the central communications room near the observation deck.

~~~

It wasn’t till after giving his report that Obi-Wan realized how filthy he was, so he found a fresher to shower in. He didn’t have fresh robes to change into afterwards, but he would have to make do.

When he left the compartment, Ahsoka was running towards him.

“Master, Kix and the medical droids say we can go see Skyguy.”

The two of them took off down the passageway together, not bothering to pretend to be the poised Jedi they were supposed to be.

~~~

They stayed by Anakin’s bedside. The right side of him was patched up in bacta soaked bandages. His left arm was still above his head as it had been earlier when Kix had… No, Obi-Wan couldn’t even think of it.

But he did, remembering the tube being placed in Anakin’s side. He swallowed roughly, feeling weak and shaky all of a sudden.

There were some kind of small wads of bandages in Anakin’s ears, and other parts of him were patched up. His neck was supported by a brace, and he was breathing through an oxygen mask. An intravenous tube and syringe was held in place in his left arm with an adhesive. Obi-Wan glanced at the bag of liquid hanging above his bunk, wondering what kind of medicines were mixed in with the water they were giving him.

Ahsoka tried to reach out for Anakin, but then pulled her hand back, realizing he was probably too injured to be touched. Obi-Wan wanted to hold his hand, and, realizing it was doable, he did the right thing, and took Ahsoka’s hand, putting it in Anakin’s.

There was no reaction from his former Padawan, but Ahsoka gave a slight nod of thanks all the same.

“Hey, Skyguy. Wake up soon, okay? We need you.”

Obi-Wan said nothing, not sure he felt comfortable sharing the deep truth of his attachment to Anakin in front of Ahsoka. But he stayed with him.

He’d taken a few minutes to look over the diagnostics report, and once again, he felt sick to his stomach.

Anakin had perforated eardrums, a concussion, burns, and had had pulmonary barotrauma. Obi-Wan began to suspect that Anakin would not wake this day.

So, with a heavy heart, he went back to the Negotiator, bidding Ahsoka farewell, and telling an unconscious Anakin that he would be back as soon as he could.

~~~

Obi-Wan was on the battlefield when he learned through the comms that Anakin was awake.

He tried to finish the battle in a blind rush, not quite sure how to focus. His distraction earned him a glancing blow with a blaster bolt on his left shoulder. But he was able to keep fighting, and the 212th did its job spectacularly.

The battle ended with only minimal casualties and Obi-Wan demanded he be brought to the Resolute, not at all caring for his own injury. He was probably bruised in a few places seeing as he’d gotten banged up a bit as well, but still, he didn’t care. And his shoulder would be fine. It was just a scratch.

Once aboard the Resolute, ignoring pleas from Kix to get checked out, he rushed to the medical bay, straight to Anakin.

Ahsoka was already with him, covered in sweat and dirt from her own fighting. Obi-Wan gave a wave that Anakin weakly returned. Obi-Wan was surprised by Ahsoka’ grim expression that he noticed when he drew closer. She was uneasy, the Force wavering around her. And around Anakin there was a darkness, like a wall of some sort. It was thin though, and Obi-Wan prodded at it. To his surprise that earned him a pained look from Anakin that quickly turned into a glare.

He was baffled, and had opened his mouth to say something, when Ahsoka rudely grabbed his wrist and pulled him aside.

“Ahsoka!” he admonished.

“Master, there’s something you need to know.”

Obi-Wan, forgetting about the blaster injury, tried to cross his arms. He grimaced as pain flared through him, and he settled for putting one hand on his chin.

“Yes, what is it?” he asked, not at all happy that he was being held up from speaking with Anakin.

“Kix ran some tests earlier, and… Well, Anakin can’t hear.”

Obi-Wan turned to his former Padawan and frowned. Anakin just turned one side of his mouth down, probably sensing what they were talking about.

“I thought his eardrums had been operated on.”

“They were, but it’ll take some time before they’re fully healed.”

“So he will eventually be able to hear again?”

Ahsoka nodded. “Kix thinks so.”

Obi-Wan’s mouth set into a grim line.

So Anakin would be out of commission awhile longer. But worse than that, Obi-Wan couldn’t just go over and say hello to him.

“Thank you for telling me,” he said.

Ahsoka left, and Obi-Wan went to Anakin’s side. He offered him a reassuring smile.

“Sorry I can’t hear you,” Anakin said, his voice too loud.

Obi-Wan just grasped his hand and shook his head, a sign to not worry. He sent him a comforting pulse through the Force, and it retreated into the wall around Anakin, weakening it. His current deafness was probably what was causing the wall and darkness. Obi-Wan couldn’t blame him. Still, he didn’t like it.

Obi-Wan called over a droid and had it bring him a datapad so he could communicate with Anakin.

How are you feeling? he typed.

“Besides the ears, you mean?” Anakin asked, voice still too loud.

Obi-Wan nodded.

“Everything hurts, and I’m surprised I’m not dead. Am I dead?”

No, Anakin. You’re quite alive, thank the Force. And Kix. He worked quickly. He might be the only reason you’re able to speak with me right now.

Anakin’s eyes were wide at this, and then he tried to shift, but grunted in pain.

“I’ll have to thank him.”

His eyes roved over him, and then they fixed on his injured shoulder. Obi-Wan tried to hide it with his hand, but that just had pain going up into his neck, and wrapping around to his shoulder blade. It went down to his biceps, as well. Force, maybe he should’ve gotten this taken care of already. It could scar.

“Master, you’re hurt!”

“It’s nothing,” Obi-Wan said aloud, and then realized his mistake.

Anakin looked on with confusion, and then frustration.

Obi-Wan tried to take the datapad and write to him on it, but he smeared his own blood on the screen.

“Get that taken care of,” Anakin told him.

“But—”

“No buts.”

Obi-Wan gave a small smile, realizing he’d spoken out loud once more, but Anakin knew him well enough to properly respond. Of course he knew what he was going to say.

As an answer, he nodded his head, squeezed Anakin’s hand, and then let a medical droid take him away.

~~~

Four battleships from the Separatist fleet had split off and were heading towards Geonosis. The 501st and 212th had been sent to intercept them. Word was that General Grievous was on the flagship.

R2-D2 beeped at Anakin excitedly as he flew his fighter towards oncoming vulture droids. It was just like the little astromech to get all excited about having Anakin back in the fight.

“Yeah, I missed you too, Artoo.”

Over the comms, he heard Obi-Wan’s voice. “Anakin. Come in, Anakin. Can you hear me?”

Anakin grinned. “Reading you loud and clear, Master.”

And oh, how good it was to hear Obi-Wan’s voice, to be back out in the fight. It had taken long soaks in bacta tanks and much more treatment for him to be battle ready again. Now, with only minimal pain from his burn scars, he was ready to get back into the thick of things.

“It’s good to have you back,” his former master told him, and Anakin could picture the wide smile on his face.

“Good to be back. Now let’s turn Grievous into spare parts.”

“Patience, Anakin.”

Anakin engaged a vulture droid, spinning to avoid blaster fire. Artoo gave a shrill screech.

“I’ve been patient enough,” he said. Then he tuned in the comms for some of his men. “Blue Leader, follow me on the left. Hit those vulture droids with all you got.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t be reckless!” Obi-Wan admonished.

“Hey, I didn’t get my hearing back just so you could insult me.”

“No, you got it back so you could make my life a living hell.”

“And proud of it, Master.”

Explosions flared all around him as vulture droids were destroyed, and the blackness of space was lit up with green and red blaster fire. Everything was too loud in Anakin’s newly-healed ears as they got into the thick of battle, but at least he could hear again. He hoped to not have another incident with a bomb for quite some time. And right now as he fired on the enemy, his day was going splendidly.

14 notes · View notes