A/N: What does Ezra have, is there a cure, will Ezra survive…?
The crew had never been in such a disheartening situation. Yes, each had their fair share of being shot, captured, electrocuted, and each had caught the flu at least once; but to see their youngest member in such agony was just awful.
Ezra was laying in the medical bay with every spare blanket the crew could find. The boy was so pale except for his cheeks that were painted red from the fever. Ezra had to lay at an elevated level in order to breath. Hera was by his side, making sure the cool cloth on his forehead was changed ever so often and wiped off the black gunk from his lips when he coughed. Hera seemed to be the only one that could bear to watch over the ill child, Despite Ezra looking like he was in such much pain.
The others, all distraught by their youngest member's ailment, sat in the common room as Sabine was on her data pad looking for an answer to what their tiny Ezra had. Kanan was just looking at his undrunk caf while Zeb sat next to Sabine with guilt weighing on his chest.
"Huh, I should have said something last night." Zeb voiced in frustration with himself.
"It wouldn't have changed anything," Kanan assured his friend.
"Kanan's right," Sabine agreed as she still looked at her screen, "we don't know what he has anyways, the kid would still be like this. All you could have done was be with him."
Zeb, despite being reassured, still did not seem comforted.
Hera entered the room, looking troubled.
"How is he?" Kanan asked in fatherly concern.
Hera told them frustrated, "His fever is almost forty Celsius (hundred-three Fahrenheit), he won't stop coughing, even when he's asleep. Chopper's watching him for a bit. I just don't understand what could be wrong with him?"
Sabine then smiled as she beamed at the screen,
"I've got it," Sabine proclaimed, "Hypothermic Streptococcal. Or as it is commonly known as 'Hoth Throat'."
"Hoth Throat?" Zeb questioned.
"It's a bacterial infection," Sabine began to explain, "Apparently it can only survive in freezing cold environment, and most cases of the disease are from Hoth. As it spreads it spreads its cold extremities to people, which is why Ezra is so cold."
"So the black gunk is…?" Hera asked
Sabine looked at the screen and made a twisted face in disgust, "frost bitten pus."
"EWW!" shuttered the older three of the room.
Sabine continued, "Apparently the cold bacteria build up and infected Ezra's tonsils in his throat, leading to the frozen pus to lace his tonsils and throat. It's actually a good thing he's coughing it up, apparently if he doesn't he could choke on it, but if he coughs up too much it can spread the infection to the rest of his body."
The three were silent, they had hoped it wouldn't get worse, well now they knew better.
Kanan though was aggravated. "How did the kid get Hoth Throat. It should have been in the regiment of galactical vaccinations from when he was younger." Kanan pointed out, having remembered those very vaccines when he joined the Temple.
Sabine then widened her eyes in alarmed panic. "No he wouldn't of," Sabine stated before she threw her head back and covered her eyes in frustration, "Karabast, I should have known!" Sabine sounded furious with herself.
"Woah Sabine," Hera comforted as she helped her to sit back up, "What are you talking about? Galactical vaccines are mandatory once a child turns five."
"Not since the Empire took over." Sabine revealed before she continued to divulge what she knew, "When they took over, the stopped enforcing vaccinations. You either buy them if you have the money or you join the Empire's forces to get them.
The crew was silent. Ezra couldn't have been vaccinated, his father only had a desk job and knowing the Empire the vaccines probably cost a lot. They unintentionally exposed Ezra to the disease by bringing him to pick up the supplies.
Kanan pushed the past aside to focus on the present, "How long does it last for? A few days, week? Kanan was hoping it would not be a long ordeal
Sabine looked at her screen and twinged when she saw the answer, "It can last for three weeks to almost over a month."
"Okay, no way we're letting Ezra suffer like this for a month." Hera stated, "What is there for treatment?"
Sabine again looked at her screen and smiled relieved, "Good news: there is an antibiotic we can give him that will clear him within a week."
Zeb smiled at the statement, "Great, we can pick some up at the market in Duthol.
Sabine though lost her smile as she read the rest of the information, "Not likely,"
Kanan's face went blank as he face-palmed himself, "The Empire has the antibiotic, don't they?"
Sabine nodded her head in sad confirmation, "In the event a cadet is already contaminated." Sabine though got out her holo-map, "But there is an Imperial base west of here. They're bound to have some in their medical unit. We just need to sneak in and get some." Sabine pointed out
Before they could go over a plan though Chopper cam in twirling his head and beeping angrily,
"What do you mean the rat got away?" Hera asked, angry that Chopper called Ezra a rat, and that Ezra was no in bed.
Just then the crew heard an echoed cough come from the closet. Upon opening it, they found a bundled up Ezra coming out of the vent.
"Ezra!" exclaimed with worry as Hera picked him up from the vent, "What are you doing? You should be in bed." Hera nagged with worry as she tightened the blanket around Ezra.
"But you weren't there." Ezra told her as his eyes began to water.
"Hun, I was right here." Hera told him, though it didn't help.
"But I woke up, and you weren't there, and I got scared you-," Before Ezra could continue his tearful explanation, began another coughing fit, followed by more gunk coming down his chin. As the rest of the crew watched in sorrowful pity, Hera held her ill boy and assured him he was okay.
When he was done he uttered desperately, "Please don't leave me."
Hera's heart clenched at his plea, and smiled sympathetically.
"Come on," Hera told him as she carried him back to the med-bay.
The others for reassurance followed. They all saw Hera sitting on the bed with her back to the wall and laid Ezra down so he was using her leg as a pillow.
"There we go Hun, comfy?" Hera asked sweetly.
"You aren't going anywhere, right?" Ezra asked for reassurance
Hera just smiled as she ran her hands through his hair, "I'm not going anywhere, I promise." As Hera guaranteed Ezra, he began to drift off again.
The three Specters and droid quietly left the two in order for them to have a relaxing environment.
"The sooner we get the stuff the better." Zeb stated.
"So let's go over the plan." Sabine said. "What are you thinking of Kanan?"
Kanan made up his mind, "I think I should stay behind on this one."
"What?" Both Zeb and Sabine asked shocked.
"You guys saw the kid, he seems persistent to keep Hera by his side, and she's going to need help."
Kanan then took a deep breath, "I can't believe I am saying this, especially after last time, but I think it would be best if you two went on this mission by yourselves.
Zeb and Sabine just looked at each other in horrified.
"Um Kanan, do I need to remind you about last time?" Zeb pointed out, still recalling how the two inadvertently blew up the largest Damn on the other side of Lothal.
"No you don't," Kanan stated as he still remembered the close call they all had. "But Sabine can sneak into the base with ease and you can be the lookout for her."
The Lasat and Mandalorian just looked at each other unsurely.
"Please," Kanan asked, "for him." Kanan indicated as he pointed to where Ezra was.
Both, unable to deny the sick child, just let out a content sigh.
"Come one Zeb, let's get out gear." Sabine ordered. They were in for a long night.
The two had waited till night fell to begin their mission. Sabine and Zeb made their journey on foot; the speeders were too loud for this mission.
Sabine got the holomap out as they walked, "Okay the base is standard, mostly only used for scouting parties and Imperial training." Sabine then showed the inner design, "They most likely have their med center right in the middle of the base."
"So I help you over the wall, you get in, grab the antibiotic and get out." Zeb clarified.
Sabine nodded her head before she added, "We can't draw any extra attention. So we got to keep quiet and quick."
Zeb noticed Sabine seemed a little upset, "What's wrong with you?" Zeb asked
"Nothing." Sabine tried to brush off, but she soon found the lasats twitched his ears in disapproval and crossing his arms.
Sabine consented, "It's just, seeing Ezra like that back there, it was so weird. I'm so used to the kid being so energetic and happy."
"But now he is sick and frail, and you're not used to seeing that," Zeb offered.
"It's not just that," Sabine admitted before she asked him, "Wasn't it kind of odd how Ezra was clingy to Hera?"
Zeb thought of it for a bit, "Not really," Zeb answered, "Kids of all species want a mom when they are ill or scared; and Ezra right now is both so he clung to her."
Zeb noticed Sabine turned her head the other way.
"Was your mom…?"
"She was a fierce warrior of Death Watch, when I was sick or hurt she would tell me to suck it up," Sabine could tell Zeb didn't like what he heard so she reassured him, "She was never mean or anything, she just had a no bull shit attitude, it's just how she was. Hera though, she act's a lot like a mom should."
Zeb agreed "Yeah. Hera has always had that 'motherly knack'. I think having you and Ezra is like having her own kids."
Sabine was silent a bit, a little baffled, "You think Hera sees me as one of her own."
Zeb then laughed at Sabine's doubt, "Sabine, she always talks about how lucky we are to have you, how talented you are as an artist, and she always calls you 'her girl' when you aren't in the room. I think she worries you might be embarrassed by it though."
Sabine smiled at Zeb's words. Sabine had to admit she could be a little hard at times, but it was nice that Hera saw past Sabine's mandalorian heritage, and saw her for her.
She smiled at Zeb, "Thank for telling me Zeb, you're a good brother to me."
"Woah missy, I'm too old to be a brother, I'm more of an uncle figure." Zeb offered.
Sabine thought of it for a moment, "How about an Uncle Brother figure; you're the best of both roles."
Zeb nodded his head in agreement, "Deal."
That was when they got the view of the base.
"You ready?" Zeb asked
"No, but we got to do this." Sabine told Zeb.
The two got ready to get the medicine with any means necessary.
Kanan was on standby in the kitchen. With his comlink at his side, he was waiting for not only word from Specter's four and five, but was also waiting for Hera to order Ezra another cup of tea or glass of juice. Kanan couldn't help but feel so disgruntled.
Kanan knew he made the right call to stay behind to help Hera; and though he didn't tell Zeb and Sabine, he didn't want to be too far from the kid when he was sick. But he couldn't help but feel almost jealous of Hera. It was weird to Kanan; yes, Ezra had only been with them for several months now, but in that time Ezra and him had bonded. Kanan had gotten used to the idea of Ezra going to him when he was scared or upset. The man had even questioned if he had done anything to make Ezra resent him.
"Kanan, can you come here please, and can you bring some more juice and tea?" Hera asked Kanan on the comlink
"Coming," Kanan confirmed as he grabbed the beverages.
Once in the med bay, he saw how fidgety Hera was.
"You okay?" Kanan asked in concern.
"Yeah I just got to pee," Hera confirmed, as she got up gently to not wake Ezra.
"He likes it when you rub his back when he coughs and prefers the juice after the tea." Hera instructed, "I won't be long."
"Why don't you go take a nap or get some caf. You look frazzled." Kanan told her with concern.
Hera smiled at the worry, "That's sweet you're concerned, but I'll worry about myself when Ezra feels better." With that Hera left the room for a moment.
After about several seconds, Ezra woke up a little dazed.
"Kanan?" he muttered as he looked around, "Where's Hera?" the boy sounded scared.
Kanan smiled as he ran his fingers through the kid's hair, "She had to step out a for a bit, but she will be right back buddy." He promised Ezra.
"Oh," Ezra sounded disappointed, "Is she mad at me?"
Kanan was shocked, "Why would you think that?"
Ezra weakly shrugged his shoulders, "Because I've been making her stay with me."
Kanan laughed a little at the idea, "Kid, you can never make Hera do something she doesn't want to do," Kanan pointed out, "She wants to be with you. She's really worried about you."
This though seemed to make Ezra sadder as he hid more in his thick blankets before another coughing fit began.
"Come on buddy," Kanan helped Ezra sit up to sip the tea to ease the poor kids throat.
"Thank you," Ezra replied. Ezra then apologized, "I don't mean to make her worry. It's just…"
Kanan could tell the poor kid was apprehensive with his thoughts.
"Hey, you don't have to say anything; but it's not cause you're mad at me right?" Kanan just had to know.
Ezra in surprised coughed up some more gunk, but not as badly as before.
"No, I'm not mad at you, you're awesome," Ezra assured, "It's just I like Hera being here because… she's a good mom." Ezra revealed with hesitation.
Kanan smiled a bit before his padawan continued, "I mean, I know she isn't my mom, but she is a mom to me. Hera always makes sure I'm okay, she is always teaching me stuff, and she comforts me.
"Whenever I got sick when I was younger, mom did exactly what Hera is doing; being there with me. It's not like I can ever replace my mom; but with Hera it's like I have two. Also I like it when she pets my head, it's nice."
Kanan laughed a bit at the last part. But upon seeing Ezra look nervous, he clarified.
"Kid, Hera would be thrilled if you told her that." Kanan told him.
"But what if she doesn't view me like-,"
"A son?" Kanan finished, "Kid that is crazy, Hera love you. I bet she would love it if you told her how you felt. But you do it when you're ready okay?"
Ezra smiled with content as he leaned back on the pillows.
"Will Hera be back soon? I miss her." Ezra asked as his eyes began to droop.
Kanan stood up as he pulled the blanket over the kid, "I'll go get her, but you stay in bed, okay?"
Kanan got no answer as Ezra had fallen asleep. Kanan smiled as he got a cool rag to place on the kid's hot forehead.
Kanan was about to check on Hera when he left the room, only to find Hera right at the door way; and by the smile and tears of joy's in her eyes, Kanan could tell she had heard.
Hera, trying to maintain her composure, wiped her tears away and smiled at Kanan,
"Thank you love." Hera kissed Kanan on his cheek and went back to her ill child.
From the entrance, Kanan smiled at Hera as she sat next to Ezra as she gently patted his head; causing the child to smile contently in his sleep.
Sabine and Zeb analyzed the base. I was exactly as Sabine theorized; a standard base for imperial training. Two men were on outer patrol.
Once the coast was clear, they made their way to the base wall. Zeb was easily able to lift Sabine up the wall so she could get over. Once that was done, Zeb retreated to their designated hideout to observe any problems.
Sabine was able to evade the troopers patrol the yard. With the shroud of darkness, Sabine was able to sneak into the base. Once inside, the madalorian hacked into the unsupervised mainframe and uploaded a map of the base. Just like Sabine expected, the med center was at the middle of the base. Knowing she couldn't just walk down the hall, she climbed up into the vents to make her way to the destination.
"You know with some space this is kind of fun. No wonder Ezra always plays in the vents." Sabine thought to herself.
Finally, Sabine got to the med center. With no one inside, Sabine made her way to the med cabinet; where she picked the lock with ease (Ezra taught her that). Sabine only had to scan for a moment to find the antibiotic.
"Specter Five to Specter Four, I got it." Sabine told Zeb in the comlink with pride, "Prepare to meet me at the wall."
"Be careful," Zeb cautioned, "you still need to get out without blowing anything up."
"Aw, you're no fun," Sabine joked as she got back into the vent.
As Zeb waited for Sabine he noticed an oncoming vehicle. With his binoculars he got a closer look, and he kicked himself when he saw who the man was.
"Kallus," Zeb growled under his breath.
Zeb knew he could easily take Kallus out as he was entering the base, and he knew Kallus would not be expecting such an attack so late at night. But what kept Zeb getting a rematch and letting the muttonchops by, was recalling how sick Ezra was.
"Specter four to five, muttonchops are coming into the base, troopers will be distracted by his arrival, remain hidden." Zeb ordered into the comlink.
Understood," Sabine replied, "Same goes for you."
After a few minutes, Sabine was on the wall near Zeb. As Sabine leapt over she was caught by Zeb. The two barley avoided the troopers on patrol as they ran. Once they were far enough away they stopped to catch their breaths,
"Well?" Zeb asked.
Sabine smiled as she held up the antibiotic capsules. Both smiled at themselves cunningly.
"and Kanan worried we couldn't do it by ourselves." Zeb smugly told Sabine.
"We can brag about it later, let's get this to the kid before he gets worse." Sabine stated
Zeb nodded in agreement as the two headed back to the Ghost, while playfully pushing one another as they raced to the Ghost.
As soon as Zeb and Sabine got back, they had Ezra take the antibiotic capsules. After a day Ezra's fever had gone down some and while he was coughing a bit, his lungs were clear of any black gunk.
Ezra, still in bed with Hera and Kanan on each side of him, was listening to Zeb and Sabine's story of how they got the medicine.
"We were this close to getting spotted when we bolted right out of there as the troopers turned the corner." Zeb finished.
"Wow, I can't believe you guys didn't get spotted." Ezra admitted impressed as he coughed a little.
"It wasn't easy, but we did it. Besides, that base wasn't worth blowing off." Sabine blew off.
"I still feel bad you guys went to all that trouble for me." Ezra told them almost apologetically.
"It wasn't trouble," Sabine assured him, "Kanan told you the other day, if you need it, then it's never an issue, and even if it was, your always worth it."
"Yeah kid, your one of us; and we look out for our own." Zeb told the kid, causing the still ill child to smile.
"Still, thank you guys for doing all that." Ezra replied appreciatively
"You can thank us by getting better soon kid," Sabine reasoned, "The sooner you are better, the sooner we can get back to our lessons."
"Yeah, and we can't have you getting rusty with your shooting," Zeb pointed out as well.
"Well he can't do any of that till he gets better, which means letting him sleep." Kanan indicated strongly for the two to go to bed as well.
At the droid's insistence as well (who was ramming it's self into Zeb's knee so his buddy could sleep) Zeb, Chopper and Sabine reluctantly wished the kid good night before going to bed themselves. Kanan smiled at the two specter's concern for Ezra.
"Good night kid," Kanan bid him as well as he ruffled the kid's hair, "Night Hera."
"Night Kanan." Both replied,
As soon as Kanan left their view Ezra told Hera, "You know if you want Hera, you don't have to sleep in here with me tonight." Ezra though he seemed pained to offer the idea.
"Is something wrong?" Hera asked with worry.
"No," Ezra assured Hera, "But I feel bad that you have had to take care of me, and I don't want you to get sick of me."
"Oh Hun," Hera replied sweetly, "I could never get sick of you, and it's my job to take care of you. Do you know why that is?"
"Because you are really nice?" Ezra asked, trying to avoid the word.
Hera gently told him as she held on him, "Because it's my job to take care of my children."
Ezra looked up in surprised but smiled at Hera's words before she told her, "You're a good mom." Hera smiled at his words as she held him.
Ezra leaned into Hera's gentle hold, the one that seemed so much like his mothers, because in a way, it was his mother's hold. At the moment, Ezra was content to fall into a land of peaceful slumber with his mother-figure by his side.
After a week Ezra was back to being his energetic self, playing Lothcat hunts with Chopper and continuing his lessons with the others. While the crew hated to see their youngling so ill, it was an enlightening experience for them all. Each put in different positons then what they were used to and figuring things about themselves out during that time. But it helped them each grow a little, and in the end they got through the ordeal with only a few bruises from Chopper.
A/N: So this concludes the ill chapters of Ezra. I hope I didn't cause you all to wait too long and I hope I gave you all a great chapter. So let's see if you all can guess the next chapter, hint, it has something to do with this story. Until then.
