A/N: I don't own Star Wars.
Day 1 Morning
Zev Senesca awoke to the sound of groaning and thrashing coming from the bed next to his. According to his crono, the time was exactly 03:00. Why someone would be making so much noise at that early hour confused Zev at first, until he woke up a little more and realized commander Skywalker was the one making the racket. That in itself struck him as odd; in the weeks he'd known the young commander, he'd never heard Luke make so much as a peep while sleeping. Curious, Zev reached over and turned on the small reading light next to his bunk and looked over at his superior. His curiosity quickly turned to alarm when he saw the state the young officer was in. Quickly throwing off his covers and jumping out of bed, Zev rushed to Lukes' side.
Lukes' face was white, save for his brightly flushed cheeks, and he was drenched in sweat and shivering. Zev flinched when he touched his friends' shoulder. Luke was hot, and appeared to be delirious. Just as he was about to reach for his comlink to call for medical assistance, Zev heard a commotion in the bunk above Lukes'. "What in the name of Corellia's going on?," Wedge Antilles called, sounding half awake.
"It's Luke," Zev responded, unable to keep the worry out of his voice, "he's really sick."
Upon hearing those words, Wedge quickly grabbed and activated his comlink while very nearly yelling "Rogue Three to med bay, we need assistance in the pilots' barracks right now!" He then jumped out of bed and rushed down the ladder in his haste to get to his ailing friend and commanders' side, forgetting the comlink still in his hand, and ignoring the groans and protests of the other pilots he'd just woken up. "Oh, Luke," he said gently as he watched his friend thrash around while muttering about a "dragon" or something. Wedge couldn't make out most of what Luke was muttering, but he thought he heard him say "Biggs, watch out!" which alarmed the young Corellian.
Seeing the look of alarm on Wedges' face, Zev asked "is he referring to Biggs Darklighter, one of the pilots who died during the battle of Yavin?!"
Wedge nodded, "yes," he said, "Luke and Biggs grew up together on Tatooine. According to Luke, they were best friends, and they had many misadventures together. When Luke first joined the Alliance, Biggs was the only person he really knew, having only recently met Han and Leia. Luke took his death really hard. I couldn't began to count the nights he cried himself to sleep while I tried to comfort him. It took Luke months to even began to get over his friends' death."
Zev turned his attention back to Luke as the young man muttered, "if we survive this, my uncle's gonna kill us both," sounding terrified, a statement that both scared Zev and made him curious. It scared Zev, because he knew the story of how Luke joined the Rebellion after his aunt and uncle, the only family Luke had, were killed by stormtroopers, and it seemed like Luke was reliving something from his past. But at the same time, it also made him curious, for if Luke was reliving a memory from his home planet, Zev knew it would probably make for a really good story. Apparently, so did the other members of Rogue Squadron who'd all gathered around Lukes' bed by this time, having been woken up by Wedge calling for help.
By the time the door to the barracks opened, revealing a medical droid and his human assistant, Luke had started to whimper and cry out "we're both dead" while his squadron members looked on in fear and horror as they tried, unsuccessfully, to wake their commander. They quickly moved out of the way when the medics approached and gave them room to work. They quickly determined that Luke had a virus and the best course of treatment would be to give him fluids, place cold compresses on his forehead, and order him to remain in bed except to go to the bathroom. After a brief discussion with Rogue Squadron, it was decided to let Luke stay in the barracks, with at least one member of the squadron with him at all times and the medical assistant checking on him frequently.
After removing his nightshirt and setting up an IV, a cleaning droid was called to bring Luke new sheets and nightclothes and take his sweat-drenched sheets and nightclothes to the laundry. While they were waiting for the droid, they pulled back Lukes' sheets and that's when they noticed he'd wet the bed. Zev cringed, embarrassed and concerned for his commander, and wondering how long it would take Janson or Hobbie to make fun of Luke. "Dang," Janson muttered, sounding anything but amused, "poor Luke. I don't care if I get court-marshaled, if anyone makes fun of Luke for this, I will personally pound them into the ground."
Hobbie nodded in agreement, "I don't think it's fair to laugh at our commander for this. He's really sick, and couldn't help it. Besides," he continued, looking at his ailing officer, who'd become quiet, "he may have reacted to whatever memory/fever-dream he was having."
Wedge silently agreed with Hobbie as he looked at his stricken friend. His initial reaction to seeing Lukes' accident was embarrassment for his friend and concern that Luke may be sicker than first thought. "Is he going to be ok?," Wedge asked, concern showing in his brown eyes. He looked over when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and met the assistants' calm gaze.
"He'll be fine in a few days," she said calmly, "this isn't the first time I've seen this. Sometimes patients either don't wake up in time to go to the bathroom, or they have fever-dreams or relive memories that are so scary, they wet themselves." Wedge nodded, feeling relived. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zev relax, a look of relief on his face that Wedge was sure mirrored his own. Dak Ralter, however, still looked stricken. The young pilots' expression hadn't changed from the time he climbed down from his own bunk and saw the sorry state Luke was in. Everyone in the squadron knew how much Dak looked up to their commander, so seeing him like this must've been hard for their teammate.
Dak couldn't stop shaking as he looked at Luke laying helpless on his bed. It was so hard seeing his commanding officer, his hero, flattened like this. He barely noticed when someone put their arm around his shoulders, until he heard Zev whisper in his ear, "you really need to pull yourself together and be strong for Luke. I know you must be scared, I am too, but Luke needs us to take care of him right now, so you need to calm down." Dak nodded, taking a deep breath and trying to fight down the panic rising in his chest.
After the medical droid suggested moving Luke to another bed while his own bed was cleaned up, Zev offered both his bed and taking the first shift watching over the ill young man. Once Luke was moved and care instructions were given to the pilots, the med droid and assistant left the barracks, leaving Luke to Zevs' care. After telling the other pilots to get some rest while they could, Zev sat down by Luke, and lightly brushed a few hairs off his forehead. To Zev, the commander still felt really warm, but at least they'd gotten his fever down a little, and he didn't seem delirious anymore. Zev didn't relax though, he kept close watch over his sick superior and didn't even look up when the cleaning droid came to deal with Lukes' bed.
About an hour later Lukes' eyes fluttered open and he started whimpering. Before Zev could say anything, Luke spoke up. "My head hurts," he whined in a rough-sounding voice, "my throat hurts, my whole body hurts, I feel horrible." When Zev asked if he needed anything, Luke shook his head. "I want to feel better," he whined weakly. Despite Zevs' best efforts to comfort his commander, Luke continued to whine until, completely exhausted, he fell asleep. 'So, Luke gets really whiny when he's sick,' Zev thought, groaning inwardly. While he knew it wasn't Skywalkers' fault, Zev still knew Rogue Squadron was in for several rough days while they nursed their commander back to health.
Wedge had been laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep, listening to Luke whine and wishing there was something he could do. However, since there was nothing he could do, and since Zev was there, Wedge just lay in bed. When Luke finally fell asleep after whining for awhile, Wedge decided to get up and help Zev look after him. When he got to Lukes' sickbed, he found Zev wiping the younger mans' face with a wet cloth, while the medical assistant was removing the IV from Luke. "How's he doing?," Wedge asked, looking at their patient. Luke didn't look any better, and Wedge was clearly worried.
"He may not look it, but he's doing a lot better," the assistant replied, "his fever's down a little and he's resting comfortably. I just took the IV out, so you guys will have to get him to drink. Just clear liquids for today, and we'll see how he's holding up tomorrow. Be sure to get him up periodically to go to the bathroom." With that, she got up and left, leaving Wedge and Zev to watch over Luke.
Thirty minutes later, Luke started moaning and squirming. Zev, figuring that maybe Luke needed to use the bathroom, asked Wedge to help him get their leader up. When the peeled the covers back, Luke moaned and opened his eyes half way. "Come on, Luke," Zev said gently, "let's get you to the bathroom."
Luke felt like he'd been hit by a landspeeder. Every part of his body hurt, and he felt cold and very miserable. He moaned softly as his two companions gently helped him to his feet. As he stood, he felt an intense pressure in his lower abdomen. Groaning, he stepped forward slowly and painfully. "Guys," he said weakly, "I really don't think I can make it to the bathroom."
Zev winced when he heard Luke say that. "You have to at least try," he told his commanding officer, "if you don't make it, you don't make it, it'll be alright." The younger man whimpered, and Wedge muttered words of encouragement as they slowly headed for the nearest toilet. When they got about halfway there, Luke suddenly groaned and doubled over, staggering. Before Zev or Wedge could react, they heard a stream of fluid hitting the floor, and Luke started sobbing uncontrollably.
Luke couldn't believe what was happening, he really didn't want this to be anything other than a terrible nightmare, but he knew it wasn't. He, Luke Skywalker, leader of Rogue Squadron, commander in the Rebel Alliance, destroyer of the Death Star, was wetting his pants in the middle of the barracks. He felt humiliated and ashamed. 'I haven't wet myself since that time when I was 16 and Biggs and I crashed that homemade sand-skimmer into a sleeping Krayt Dragon, and I know I wasn't the only one who had to change when we got home.' Luke really hoped that no one from his squadron ever found out about that incident. He could already hear Zev chewing his butt off. The older pilot would have a major problem with the phrase "homemade sand-skimmer." This indignity was more than bad enough for him, and he barely registered his two friends' apologies and comforting words through his sobs. Until a third voice chimed in: "it's alright. You just couldn't make it to the bathroom."
Dak had been awake for awhile when he heard Zev and Wedge get Luke up. He sat up himself preparing to go help, but he saw they had the situation under control, so he decided to sit there and watch to see if they needed help. It quickly became clear to Dak how things were going to end; he'd seen it way too many times back home. Growing up on an Imperial prison planet, he'd seen all manner of cruel torture. One of the Imps favorite things to do to prisoners was keep them working when it was obvious they really needed the latrine. Then, when there was no way the unfortunate prisoner was going to make it, the guards would let them go, only to severely punish the prisoner for not making the latrine. Dak swore he'd help someone in that position if he ever got the chance, and here it was. His CO was not what he had in mind, however.
Zev was inwardly kicking himself for not figuring something out when Luke said he couldn't make it. Now, he and Wedge had to find some way to calm their distraught commander before his condition got worse. Nothing they said seemed to make a difference. Then Dak spoke up, and Luke seemed to listen to him. Looking over, Zev saw the youngest pilot in the group walking up, looking concerned. "If you guys want to take care of Luke, I'll take care of the rest," Dak said. The older pilots quickly agreed.
Once everything was taken care of and Luke was once again resting comfortably, Wedge said, "we need to find a solution to this problem. Luke shouldn't have to go through that again." Zev agreed wholeheartedly.
When the medical assistant returned to check on the commander, both Zev and Wedge told her what had happened, and she hurried off, returning a short time later with a bedpan. She apologized profusely for not bringing one sooner, as she thought Luke would be able to get to the bathroom. The assistant than woke Luke up, got him to drink some water, questioned him about his symptoms, and left for awhile. By that time, all the other pilots were awake and had heard about the events of the morning. All of the pilots from Rogue squadron and most of the pilots from Green squadron were sympathetic to Lukes' plight. All but one jerk from Green who kept looking like he wanted to make some snide comments, but the death glares he kept getting from the other pilots kept him quiet.
Later in the morning, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, Han, and Leia came by to check on Luke. They'd heard rumors that he was down and wanted to find out for themselves. They came together and kept their friend company for awhile, enduring his misery induced whining, and tried their best to cheer him up, which Chewy accomplished by telling Luke, with C-3PO interpreting, about the time he had to nurse Han through an illness. According to Chewy, Han was far more whiny than Luke could ever be.
Luke wasn't the only one who enjoyed the story of a less-than-healthy-Han. Everyone else in the barracks did too. Zev noticed the dangerously delighted look on Princess Leias' face, and he just knew this story was going to come back to bite Han in the backside the first time Leia got annoyed with Han after today.
After they left, the members of Rogue squadron helped their sick leader with going to the bathroom, gave him more water, which he seemed reluctant to swallow, and helped him lay down for another nap.