Chapter Eight

When Luke next awoke, he felt as if his insides were on fire. He groaned in pain, and something told him he’d pushed himself too much the last time he’d been conscious. He remembered the pain behind his eyes, but now it seemed to have traveled throughout his entire body.

He tried to reach down into the Force to adjust the level, but pain seared through him and he hissed in agony. He felt a presence beside him, and then he felt cool hands on his face.

Luke groaned again, trying to reach for Lisa, who he knew was applying some kind of cold cloths to his skin.

“Don’t move, Luke,” she said, her voice sounding like it was coming from underwater. He felt her hand on his, which calmed him a bit. “You have a fever now. 2-1B is administering antibiotics.”

He cried out when the hypodermic pierced his skin. It was as if everything was magnified. The only thing that didn’t hurt was the feeling of Lisa’s hands holding his.

“He must lie still,” said the voice of 2-1B, sounding far away. “I am sorry.”

“I’ll manage. Thanks, 2-1B.”

“Inform me of any changes.”

Luke felt Lisa move beside him. He tried lifting his head so she could cradle him better, but she placed a hand on his forehead to stop him.

“Don’t move,” she said again. “Not even your head.”

He whimpered, tears streaming from his closed eyes. She projected soothing feelings through the link, and he felt one of her hands comb through his hair while the other wiped away the tears. It wasn’t her arms around him like he wanted, but at least she was nearby.

Luke wanted to speak – to ask why he wasn’t allowed to move, why she wasn’t holding him, why he was in so much more pain now than he had been since the start of his recovery – but all he could do was groan in pain.

Beside him, he felt Lisa move and her forehead touch his. Through the haze of pain and fever, he heard her say, You aggravated your fractures. 2-1B says if you move, you’ll make them worse. So you have to stay as still as possible. The fever just kind of came out of nowhere.

Luke groaned, this time more in frustration than pain. He’d thought he’d been doing so well.

Well, no nodding or shaking your head now. Use your words or our telepathy.

But what about the planet? he groaned. Our students…our school? This time I didn’t see anything. What if –

Shh, she cut him off. You’re doing too much, and it seems like the Force knows that. Rest now. Real rest. Don’t push yourself and don’t try to force the visions. If they appear, great – observe like you were doing. Don’t try to influence anything. Take a nap within your nap if you need to. That riverbank seems cozy.

A very weak sense of amusement broke through the pain for a half second before he groaned again. He felt Lisa’s warm lips press against the corner of his mouth.

Go back to sleep, she said gently, and Luke didn’t know how, but he eventually managed to get past the pain and into the solace of sleep.

Back *~*~* Chapter Seven *~*~* Chapter Nine