Post by Brett on Mar 30, 2012 23:24:18 GMT -1
The private hospital on Andara was considered a place of luxury in the galaxy for those with illnesses to which there was no cure, yet stepping over the threshold still felt as grim as the first time he had come here. Jedi Master Khar A'vron was a semi-regular visitor of the hospital, the staff dedicated to treating the one he came to visit knew him by name now, as did the people who sat at the front desk.
He was led to to the turbolift and taken up a dozen floors, he was silent as he walked down the hall and felt his steps laboured by guilt, he always hit this barrier when visiting the hospital. He didn't want to pass the doorway into the room, the hesitation was noted by the nurse and she offered him an understanding smile, saying nothing as she stepped aside to let him enter in his own time.
"How is he?" he asked, his hand having reached for the door controls.
"The same as always, he isn't deteriorating but..." she paused, looking down at her hands. "I don't think he'll last much longer, master Jedi."
Opening the door he stepped inside and then closed it behind him. The bed across the room was faced away and lifted into a more upright position, so that the occupant was able to look out of the window onto Andara. He hesitated again and drew in a breath, walking toward the bed he stopped to look down at the man laying in it, he didn't look up at Khar nor did he seem to acknowledge he was even there. He was clearly conscious as his eyes moved a bit, but he was otherwise fairly vacant in terms of response to the goings on around him.
"Hello father," he said gently, sitting down in the chair beside the man's bed. "How are you?"
He gave a hollow smile as his father met him with no response, yet he always spoke to him as though he could respond, hoping for the day he managed a moment of clarity. Jedi Master Cale A'vron had been one of the best, until he had taken a blow to the head during the fall of the Jedi Temple, the blow had damaged him in such a way that at first he was mostly okay but as time had gone on he began to show more and more signs of a condition similar to alzheimers until now he remembered nothing and regarded nothing.
This was Khar's secret and he would take it to the grave if he had to, because he didn't want anyone to see his father like this, not his younger sister and especially not the order. He leaned forward and spoke in a quiet voice, still talking in a way that suggested his father might still talk back.
"I know it's been a long time since I came," he said, rising and starting to change the flowers in the room himself and even straighten pictures. "A lot's happened since then. You remember I mentioned Leona? Well, we decided to get married. I know Jedi aren't meant to, but... well there's as many things the order gets right as they get wrong. You and mother knew that, didn't you?"
He turned back and sat back down, looking at him as he continued to stare blankly out of the window, even when Khar put a hand on his shoulder he only twitched a bit to acknowledge there was anything going on around him. Khar watched him for a while and then withdrew the hand, lowering his head and fighting off the strong emotions that threatened to overtake him, in reality he shouldn't come here at all because it was an attachment he shouldn't be afforded as a Jedi. But then, Khar was never the model Jedi.
"Father..." he began, "Silya is doing well. I know you don't remember us, but she's very happy and so am I. I hope that still means something to part of you, even if it's buried deep down."
Khar spent the rest of the day with his father, telling him the tales of his adventures as a Jedi, he told him about his padawan who was undergoing the trials for knighthood and his duel in the temple with the fallen Jedi Knight. He only tells him the tales that went well for him, he doesn't want to burden as failing mind with tales of loss, he always leaves those ones out. When the day is done he kisses his father on the head and leaves in a solemn silence as he always does, but pauses at the door to look back a moment.
"Khar?" His father lifted his head, looking at him for a moment.
"Father?!" he replied, looking back sharply and with a look of stunned awe.
"What're you doing here?" Cale asked, his eyes seeming weary but welcoming.
"Well, I'm here to see you... dad." His voice became lost as he held back something in his throat and building in the corners of his eyes.
"Isn't that nice..." Cale murmured, leaning back and the moment of clarity passing as he was lost again.
For a moment Khar couldn't move, he stepped out of the room and closed the door, nobody was waiting outside for him and so he felt it safe to let his emotions take over him now. He buried his face in his hands and wept quietly, leaning on the door he'd just left through and trying his hardest to stem the tears and collect himself before he went back through the hospital. Eventually, he managed to collect himself enough to walk the halls and the lobby, but he didn't greet any of the staff he knew as he normally would - he kept to himself and let himself draw hope from that brief moment of clarity.
He was led to to the turbolift and taken up a dozen floors, he was silent as he walked down the hall and felt his steps laboured by guilt, he always hit this barrier when visiting the hospital. He didn't want to pass the doorway into the room, the hesitation was noted by the nurse and she offered him an understanding smile, saying nothing as she stepped aside to let him enter in his own time.
"How is he?" he asked, his hand having reached for the door controls.
"The same as always, he isn't deteriorating but..." she paused, looking down at her hands. "I don't think he'll last much longer, master Jedi."
Opening the door he stepped inside and then closed it behind him. The bed across the room was faced away and lifted into a more upright position, so that the occupant was able to look out of the window onto Andara. He hesitated again and drew in a breath, walking toward the bed he stopped to look down at the man laying in it, he didn't look up at Khar nor did he seem to acknowledge he was even there. He was clearly conscious as his eyes moved a bit, but he was otherwise fairly vacant in terms of response to the goings on around him.
"Hello father," he said gently, sitting down in the chair beside the man's bed. "How are you?"
He gave a hollow smile as his father met him with no response, yet he always spoke to him as though he could respond, hoping for the day he managed a moment of clarity. Jedi Master Cale A'vron had been one of the best, until he had taken a blow to the head during the fall of the Jedi Temple, the blow had damaged him in such a way that at first he was mostly okay but as time had gone on he began to show more and more signs of a condition similar to alzheimers until now he remembered nothing and regarded nothing.
This was Khar's secret and he would take it to the grave if he had to, because he didn't want anyone to see his father like this, not his younger sister and especially not the order. He leaned forward and spoke in a quiet voice, still talking in a way that suggested his father might still talk back.
"I know it's been a long time since I came," he said, rising and starting to change the flowers in the room himself and even straighten pictures. "A lot's happened since then. You remember I mentioned Leona? Well, we decided to get married. I know Jedi aren't meant to, but... well there's as many things the order gets right as they get wrong. You and mother knew that, didn't you?"
He turned back and sat back down, looking at him as he continued to stare blankly out of the window, even when Khar put a hand on his shoulder he only twitched a bit to acknowledge there was anything going on around him. Khar watched him for a while and then withdrew the hand, lowering his head and fighting off the strong emotions that threatened to overtake him, in reality he shouldn't come here at all because it was an attachment he shouldn't be afforded as a Jedi. But then, Khar was never the model Jedi.
"Father..." he began, "Silya is doing well. I know you don't remember us, but she's very happy and so am I. I hope that still means something to part of you, even if it's buried deep down."
Khar spent the rest of the day with his father, telling him the tales of his adventures as a Jedi, he told him about his padawan who was undergoing the trials for knighthood and his duel in the temple with the fallen Jedi Knight. He only tells him the tales that went well for him, he doesn't want to burden as failing mind with tales of loss, he always leaves those ones out. When the day is done he kisses his father on the head and leaves in a solemn silence as he always does, but pauses at the door to look back a moment.
"Khar?" His father lifted his head, looking at him for a moment.
"Father?!" he replied, looking back sharply and with a look of stunned awe.
"What're you doing here?" Cale asked, his eyes seeming weary but welcoming.
"Well, I'm here to see you... dad." His voice became lost as he held back something in his throat and building in the corners of his eyes.
"Isn't that nice..." Cale murmured, leaning back and the moment of clarity passing as he was lost again.
For a moment Khar couldn't move, he stepped out of the room and closed the door, nobody was waiting outside for him and so he felt it safe to let his emotions take over him now. He buried his face in his hands and wept quietly, leaning on the door he'd just left through and trying his hardest to stem the tears and collect himself before he went back through the hospital. Eventually, he managed to collect himself enough to walk the halls and the lobby, but he didn't greet any of the staff he knew as he normally would - he kept to himself and let himself draw hope from that brief moment of clarity.