It wasn't the first time Kanan had been woken out of a dead sleep and had to sprint into action, it was an unfortunate side effect of the lifestyle he led. It wasn't a long sprint, ending up at the door to Ezra and Zeb's room. He paused for a moment, hesitating, then realized he'd grabbed up his mask without thinking about it. He fit it on before opening the door, taking in the scene in front of him.
Ezra was half out of the bed, tangled in the blankets and eyes impossibly wide. A quick touch confirmed what he suspected, Zeb was only stunned and already starting to move to pick himself up and Kanan left him alone to approach Ezra. His padawan seemed to be trying to decide between struggling up to check on Zeb and trying to shrink back away and Kanan moving towards him decided it, and he tried to scoot back and away, not getting very far.
"I didn't, I mean he… and I.. I didn't mean it!" Ezra flinched as Kanan held his hands up, motioning for him to calm down.
"Easy, Ezra, look at me. You're fine, you didn't do anything wrong." He crouched down, not quite touching him. He could hear everyone else arriving to see what was going on behind him, but he didn't turn to look.
"Well would be nice if you didn't nearly throw me through the wall." Zeb grumbled, rubbing the back of his head.
"I didn't…?" Ezra sounded confused, but he was slowly relaxing and Kanan took the opportunity to touch his forehead, wincing at the heat. "He's ok?"
"I'm fine. Take more than a shove to hurt me." Zeb shook himself off, looking at the gathered crowd "What's everyone staring at anyway?"
Chopper made a rude sound and Hera took charge. "Everyone back to bed, emergency over."
Kanan stayed where he was, hand on Ezra's forehead watching how his eyelids drooped now that the adrenalin rush was over, making a decision. "I think Ezra should stay with me. I can keep something like that from happening again."
"Good, I can get my bed back." Zeb was moving stiffly, more bruised by his encounter with the wall than he wanted to let on. Kanan started to correct him that he hadn't planned on moving Ezra again and then thought better of it. Ezra was his responsibility and he coaxed him up to his feet.
"Come on, I've got a few ideas to get that fever down." Kanan steered him out to the hall, down towards his room. He didn't want to just haul him around like a sack of fruit if he didn't have to, more for Ezra's dignity than his own.
"Maybe you should just take me back to Lothal." Ezra dragged his feet, finally slumping onto Kanan's bunk. "I wouldn't be risking infecting everyone else or causing any more problems."
"If that's what you really want we'll discuss it, after the mission." Kanan hoped it wouldn't come up, the last thing he wanted to do was just drop him off alone.
"I can take care of myself you know." Ezra still wouldn't meet his eyes, staring at the floor like there was some deeper meaning in the scruffs.
"I know you can, this isn't about that. Just because you can do something alone doesn't mean you have to." He waited to see if Ezra would respond, and then when he didn't say anything continued on. "I know you care about everyone here and would do anything to protect them. Is it really so hard to believe we'd all do the same for you?" That got him a startled glance up, Ezra searching his face.
"I know that."
"But there's a huge difference between knowing and believing. Look, I know this is a horrible time for a lecture. Just trust me that I want to help?" He waited for the slight nod, giving Ezra a gentle smile. "Good, I'll be back with something to hopefully lower your fever so you can get some sleep."
It took some work to haul the gel packs up and into the room. They were for stabilizing temperature sensitive materials during transport, able to absorb a great deal of heat. They could be used to keep materials warm, or they could be chilled down. Normally they just stayed in the cargo hold, too heavy and awkward to be useful for much, but if it helped it was worth hauling them up, dragging them through the door to his room.
Ezra just looked a little confused when Kanan brought it over to the bunk, setting it down. "Scoot just a moment." He laid it down on the bunk and then nudged Ezra to lay down on it. Ezra flinched, resisting a moment.
"It's cold."
"I know, hopefully it'll bring your fever down." Kanan kept a steady hand on his back until Ezra gave up and laid down on the gel pack. It was softer than the bunk itself and if it wasn't for the way they cold seemed to sink into his bones it would have been fairly nice. Kanan grabbed the second pack to drape over his back, effectively pinning him down.
Ezra toughed it out as long as he could, not wanting to complain, but he was shivering so hard his teeth rattled and he couldn't help the small whimper that escaped.
Almost immediately he felt one of Kanan's hands take his, squeezing it reassuringly, the other feeling over his forehead. "I know, this is horrible."
"C-can't you do like back on planet?" Ezra squeezed back, clinging to the contact as he tried to talk without his teeth chattering too hard.
"No, I'm sorry. If I could I would, believe me." Kanan brushed his hair back away from his face, then touched the back of his neck. "It feels like it's working."
"It b-better." Ezra ducked his head away from Kanan to cough harshly. He hated feeling like he couldn't take a full breath.
Kanan left him alone long enough to get a cup of water, setting it nearby. When he judged that the gel had worked for long enough he tugged the top one off, letting it slide to the floor and tugging Ezra up off of the other. Ezra clung helplessly, tucking his face against Kanan's shoulder and trying to will the shivering to ease off.
"Here, try to drink this." Kanan shifted Ezra a little more into his lap so he could hold him, bringing the cup up to his lips. Ezra's teeth chattered against the rim but he managed to swallow most of it, only spilling a little.
Slowly the shivering eased off and Ezra stayed sagged against Kanan's chest. This close he could hear the little wheezy hitch on each inhale, but there was nothing he could do to ease that. Not yet at any rate.
"Try to get back to sleep if you can." Kanan shifted the other gelpack to the floor, they'd stay cold enough if he needed to use them again. He helped Ezra ease down onto the bunk, starting to get up to take the top.
"What if I have another nightmare?" Ezra caught at his hand before he could pull away.
"I'll be right here, we'll deal with it." Kanan reached out to stroke his thumb over Ezra's jawline, tracing the outline of a dark red splotch. "The first week Zeb was on board I went in to wake him up. I grabbed his arm to shake him awake, and got punched in the face. Turns out he's a little touchy about being grabbed in his sleep. "
That got a smile out of Ezra. "Doesn't surprise me."
"Surprised me. Broke my nose, and I had two black eyes for weeks. No one's going to blame you for that. Now try to sleep." Kanan waited until Ezra let go of his hand before straightening up to climb up to the top bunk.
"G'night Kanan."