"Where are these bombs supposed to go?" Ezra asked Sabine as he walked along the pipes.
Sabine, using her jetpack, was floating at the side of the large, wide pipe in the old engine room.
"I'm placing them on the side," Sabine answered him, already getting a bomb out of her pack.
Their mission from Sato was to destroy a Empire armoury factory that would make weapons for the Academy and Stormtroopers. It wasn't the only one, but it was a large one, and the closest to Phoenix Home for them to disappear to with the stolen cargo. And any dent they could make would be worth it. Kanan and Zeb went to lead a fake run on the guards while Ezra and Sabine went through the underground tunnels, undetected.
"These things look pretty old," Ezra said as Sabine set another bomb on the pipe.
"Yeah, this factory was up and running in the Clone Wars. It made weapons for the Re—," Sabine's voice trailed off as her eye caught something. It didn't go unnoticed as Ezra watched her move and lean in closer to try and read something on the pipe, a code title that had been rubbed off by time.
"Something wrong?" Ezra asked her.
Sabine looked down at the Imperial map again of the factory, looking closely at the room.
"No," Sabine answered, setting another bomb as the map disappeared. "Just checking to make sure we are in the right room."
Ezra nodded and looked around. Sabine stared at the pipe again. It was rather large for just a hot air pipe to help power electricity for the power, but it was old. Models changed. And it was an old factory; maybe it needed more air for power. The pipe itself was outdated.
After Sabine set the last bomb, she moved herself down to the ground beside her partner again. Only three small, but that's all they needed. The pipe would break and the steam would come out and the power would run low. Then it would be easier for the rest of Phoenix Squadron to make an attack after raiding it. After the locator on the base was disabled, they had a certain amount of time, but it would be enough. It was an old factory that not as many people checked on. Locator came off every now and again. Sabine had tracked that.
"Should we get out of here?" Ezra asked.
"Yeah. It's going to get hot in here fast," Sabine answered before turning on the comlink, "Spectre 5, to Ghost, charges set. Get ready to move in."
There was a moment of silence on the other end before Hera answered, "Confirmed. Move to Spectre 1 and 4 when you are done."
"On it." Sabine answered as the two had turned around, already moving out of the room. They were at the doorway, the door barely shut when Sabine set off the bombs.
The blast took her and Ezra completely by surprise.
The small bomb was the lowest set. The bomb barely made any damage
Yet somehow, Sabine and Ezra flew against the wall of the room, the door and part of the wall of the engine room they were just in. The ache that was immediate in her shoulders and legs was painful. In the blast her helmet had even flown off, but her head didn't hurt as much as her one shoulder that slammed against the wall.
Opening her eyes, a small fire around the other side of the room, Sabine felt a little dizzy, but soon the stars went away. She stared at the other side of the room and at the pipes. They were completely torn apart and on the ground, in pieces. Some were over near her.
That…wasn't possible?
It was supposed to be steam, not combustable gas….unless.
Sabine cursed herself. The pipes were too big, or maybe mislabeled, or the Empire changed what went through them and they were labelled right, or the room was labeled wrong. Either way, she wasn't guessing that gas was on the other side of the pipe. They were meant to make a small hole, not blow up the room.
Sabine rubbed her head, carefully getting up. She stumbled a bit as she gained her balance again and heard the beeping on her comlink.
"Spectre 5 and Spectre 6, what happened?" Hera's voice asked.
Spectre 6.
Where was Ezra?
Sabine turned quickly.
"Ezra?!" Sabine called.
And there, in the corner of the room, was Ezra laying down on his back with a puddle of blood forming under him.
Her breath caught in her throat as she ran towards him. She kneeled by him instantly, her knees hitting the ground hard and shaking her bones, but she barely noticed it. Ezra was staring up at the roof, the dust circling around him. He was blinking, dazed.
"Ezra?!" Sabine asked, looking him over.
"Sabine?" Ezra moaned, his voice very much unlike his.
Sabine felt her breath catch in her throat again and she quickly contacted the others.
"Spectre 2?!" Sabine couldn't stop screaming even as she used the comlink, not being able to hold in any of her panic as she spoke, her hands moving to look for something to put pressure on his chest wound. "Spectre 1?! Anyone!"
"What happened, Spectre 5?" Karan spoke at the same time that Hera answered her as well, her voice in alert like the Jedi's.
"Spectre 5, what is going on?"
Sabine was almost hyperventilating as she placed her one hand on the sound to try and put pressure on it that way while she moved the comlink back up to talk to the others.
"Spectre 6 is really hurt," Sabine told them, her voice still in the electric fear, her mind racing, "he needs to get to the med-bay. We need to get out of here now!"
"What happened?!" Kanan asked. Sabine was aware of what else was going around them enough to know that Kanan was already running.
"The cylinder….the cylinder!" Sabine tried to take deep breaths as she felt the blood already seeping to her fingers through her glove, "It wasn't supposed to be combustable gas, they mislabeled the rooms! There wasn't supposed be an explosion! We need to go…Hera there is so much blood!"
"Spectre 5, I need you to stay calm we are on our way," Hera answered her, her voice slightly strained. Sabine could tell that she was trying to keep her voice calm, but Sabine could still hear the fear in her voice from Sabine's tone and volume.
"Where are you going to be?" Sabine asked, moving to gather Ezra in her arms, "I'll meet you!" They didn't have time. Ezra was hit too hard. He was bleeding.
"We're going to come in from the south quarter," Hera answered her.
"We'll meet you back at the base," Kanan told them, "just get him to Phoenix Home."
Sabine had already brought her arms under Ezra's legs, her other arm holding him closer to her chest. Ezra looked up at her, slightly confused and he blinked a couple of times, still dazed.
"Sabine?" Ezra asked weakly.
The Mandalorian looked down at him and carefully picked him up to not hurt him more. She balanced Ezra against her as the other teen leaned against her slightly, his head on her shoulder.
"I'm here," Sabine told him as she carefully started her jet pack, feeling herself move up into the air with him. She angled herself and started moving them towards the south wing. "Ezra, I need you to stay awake, okay?"
If he had a head injury, which she was sure he might have, then she didn't need him to go to sleep. He could at the very least have a concussion.
Ezra just stared up at her. The bruise on his face was getting larger, the scratches not bleeding as much, but now in the wind already starting to crust. His side wound, however, was dropping blood onto the ground as Sabine moved him. Sabine stared down at him, a deep frown on her face.
"Sabine?" Ezra asked again.
"You'll be okay," Sabine told him. "We're on our way to the Ghost. You'll be okay."
"Where's your helmet?" Ezra asked weakly.
Sabine stared down at him, confused.
"I-I don't care about my riffing helmet, you Di'kut!" Sabine told him, almost chastising him. How in the galaxy could he worry about her helmet at a time like this.
"But it's yours," Ezra asked, confused.
"Ezra, I don't care about my helmet. I'll steal and paint another one. I care about you!" Sabine told him, forcing herself not to yell in her panic and exasperation. "Ezra, it's just a helmet!"
Sabine heard a ship coming closer to the opening and she saw the Ghost speeding towards her. She sighed with relief as Hera opened the hatch. Sabine carried Ezra on and flew through the ghost to get him to their medical centre. She felt the ship move quickly again and knew before she even got Ezra into the bed that Hera was moving them to Phoenix Home.
Sabine looked down at Ezra and she told him, her voice shaking in fear.
"I need you to stay awake."
"Sabine, I'm not going anywhere."
~.~
The ghost crew stared at Ezra in the stretcher on the Phoenix Home base. They were sitting around him, mostly silent. Hera had contacted the base ahead to have them ready to take Ezra in. Sabine had done what she could on the Ghost, Chopper cutting off part of his shirt so that Sabine could put bandages as pressure on the would and to collect blood. But the base's doctor, Dr. Diqui, had quickly taken Ezra into surgery. Sabine had refused to change. She was still in her blood soaked armour that had now dried. She was sure if she took off her gloves that Ezra's blood would still be stained to her fingers.
While she had said that Ezra was most likely to be okay, he was kept under observation with machines strapped to him. The doctor had told them that Ezra had fractured all of his ribs and his wrist was twisted slightly, but for the most part he was fine. The wounds had stopped bleeding and the doctor was confident that there wouldn't be organ failure. During their time in the waiting room they had been silent except for when Sabine told them what happened, that the pipe exploded and landed on Ezra.
But now they were here, watching their crew mate sleep in the stretcher. Sabine hated how pale he looked. It wasn't Ezra in that bed. At least, it didn't look like him. He had a bandage on his cheek and his chest was all wrapped up. There were burn marks that were more easily visible from the paler skin and under Ezra's eyes were deep black circles, almost like soot.
Kanan was leaning close to Ezra on the one side while Sabine held one of his hands in two of hers.
"Did the doctor say when he might wake up?" Zeb asked.
"It could be any time now," Hera answered.
"And they did a brain scan?" Sabine asked.
Hera nodded. Sabine told the doctor that Ezra landed hard on his head and that while he was coherent when they were talking after the accident, there was still the fear that a hit like that could cause brain damage.
"The doctor said that Ezra was responding well. We'll know more when he wakes up," Hera answered.
The last couple of words were drowned out when there was beeping on Hera's comlink. The Twi'lek sighed and moved out of the room to take the message.
Sabine looked back over at Ezra. It felt so weird to see him so quiet and still.
Not a couple of moments after, Hera moved back into the room, but stayed at the doorway.
"Uh, Sato wants to talk to us," Hera answered.
Zeb looked at Ezra and Sabine immediately told her, not turning to face her, "I'll stay with him. In case he wakes up."
There was a bit of silence before Hera answered her, "okay."
Kanan and Zeb sat in their chairs for a couple more minutes as Chopper made his way to the door already. Finally, they forced themselves to stand up, looking behind them as they left the room.
Sitting alone, Sabine sighed and moved her chair closer to Ezra's bed.
"I'm so sorry, Ezra," Sabine whispered to him. "I'm so sorry."
But there was just silence.
~.~
Sabine didn't know how long the others were gone before she heard the bed shift. She had closed her eyes, silently thinking any Mando'a prayers she knew. She wasn't religious to herself, not by the least, but she would be for Ezra.
Opening her eyes, she saw Ezra moving in the bed, his eyes awake, but slanted slightly, still very muddled in sleep.
"Ezra?" Sabine asked gently, squeezing his hand and leaning closer to him. The smile on her face was instantaneous as he looked back up at her and smiled. He could hear her. He was smiling. He would be okay. He would be okay.
Ezra smiled towards her but his hand didn't squeeze hers back. He talked, but his voice low and his words were slow. The voice didn't really seem like his, "Hey Satine. How do I rook?"
Sabine's attention was immediately caught. All happiness she had about Ezra being awake and coherent had completely vanished. Her hand squeezed Ezra, a new fear flooding in her. She felt so sick to her stomach and she could literally feel the colour drain from her face.
"Sorry, Ezra can you say that again?" Sabine asked, "what did you call me?"
She needed to confirm what she heard, just in case. Maybe she heard wrong.
Oh how she hoped that she heard him wrong.
Ezra looked confused for a moment before he opened his mouth then closed it. After a couple of seconds, ones that felt like hours to the Mandalorian, Ezra answered her again.
"Satine," Ezra answered, very sure about his answer as he looked up at her. The Mandalorian felt her throat tighten and she squeezed his hand again.
"Satine, what's wr…wr…" Ezra started to speak again.
Sabine could tell that he was looking for the right word. That did nothing but feed into her fears. In her mind she tried to count how long it had been since his last brain scan was. It had only been a couple of hours ago, but something could have happened between then.
Sabine carefully leaned in closer to Ezra and told him gently, keeping her voice level to not scare him and as a way to force herself to stay calm.
"Hey, don't talk, okay," Sabine told him gently.
Ezra moved into the pillows a bit and nodded. Sabine gave him a gentle smile, hoping that it would comfort him as she moved back a bit and leaned to the side in her chair. She took one hand off of Ezra's and moved it to press the emergency call button.
The boy's brows furrowed and he looked back at her again.
"Water you doing?" Ezra asked her.
Sabine gave him another smile and told him.
"I just want to tell the doctor that you are awake," Sabine answered. "So that she can see you."
"Oh," Ezra nodded, leaning back into the seat and agreeing happily in what Sabine guessed was an extremely muddled mind, "what 'or?"
Sabine smiled and shrugged to try and keep the situation light. She didn't want him to get worried. She didn't know if any bursts of emotions could make things worse.
"Just to see you, make sure they know you are awake," Sabine answered.
"Oh. That makes since," Ezra agreed.
Sabine nodded, gulping. She pressed the button again, this time more frantically.
When she was about to press it for the third time in under a minute, she heard the doors open from behind her. Sabine turned and saw Dr. Diqui move into the room with a medical droid and a couple of nurses.
"What's going on?" the doctor asked as she walked closer, then noticing that Ezra was awake.
Sabine squeezed Ezra's hand and answered her.
"He's just woke up, but he's not making any sense. He's calling me by the wrong name and getting words mixed up," Sabine told her.
The doctor immediately went on high alert. She went to the other side of the stretcher and took out a light.
"Ezra, can you tell me what your last name is?" the doctor asked.
"Igger." Ezra grunted as the doctor moved to pull his eyes so that they would open more.
"Okay." Dr. Diqui answered. "Ezra can you just look into the light?"
Ezra just stayed still as the doctor flashed the light into his eyes. During that time, she told the nurses, "prep him immediately. We need to get his brain scanned."
The doctor pulled back and looked at Sabine.
"Miss Wren you're going to need to go back into the waiting room," the doctor told her.
"Do you know what's going on?" Sabine asked, her voice rising with panic again.
The doctor took her arm from across the stretcher and told her, "I don't know yet, for certain, that's why I need to get his brain scanned."
"But he's going to be okay, right?" Sabine asked, her voice shaking as the nurses were already moving the stretcher towards the door.
Sabine followed them out, still holding tightly to Ezra's hand as the younger teen was looking at what was going on around him with confusion.
The doctor moved to the other side of the stretcher to walk beside Sabine. The Mandalorian felt the doctor's hands on her wrists and Sabine tried to keep hold, but the doctor managed to push her away as she saw Hera and the others walk down the hall, soon walking faster when they saw Ezra quickly being moved.
"Sabine, you need to let go of him," the doctor told her.
"But—," Hera's voice cut her off.
"What's going on?!" Hera asked, the others moving to a jog to meet the nurses but Ezra already moved through another set of doors.
The doctor turned to them and told Hera, "we need to give him a couple of brain scans. I'll let you know if I find out any more information."
Before Hera or the others could ask anything else, Dr. Diqui moved through the doors to follow the patient as well. It left the crew dumbfounded and standing there, wondering what had happened. Hera turned to Sabine to see that the girl was starting to tremble and slowly loosing colour.
Hera moved carefully towards Sabine. The shaking girl was extremely pale and the last thing Hera wanted was another one of her cremates passing out and leading to another in the hospital.
"Sabine?" Hera asked.
Slowly, Hera placed her arms on Sabine's upper arms. The younger girl jumped, but didn't pull away. Hera tightened her hold to make sure she would be able to steady Sabine if she did end up passing out. The Twi'lek moved her body, keeping her arms still so that she was in front of Sabine and they could have eye-to-eye contact. The others could only watch in confusion, fear, and helplessness. More than ever was Kanan glad that Hera knew what to do.
"Sabine, what happened?" Hera asked gentle yet firm enough voice so that it could make it through Sabine's growing hysterics.
Sabine gulped and moved her arms towards the door Ezra went through helplessly before she answered, her voice shaking as much as her physical body.
"He-he woke up an-and he was…so confused," Sabine told her, "he couldn't say my name right…He kept calling me 'Satine'…and he kept mispronouncing words and phrases. He couldn't find simple words…Hera he couldn't even remember the word 'wrong'!"
Hera felt her throat tighten and her stomach turn out.
Sabine felt tears moving from her eyes. A couple rolled down her cheeks as she moved to look at the others. She felt immediately sick to her stomach from seeing their worried faces and she moved to almost double over. Hera moved herself up against Sabine to help hold her up.
"Sabine, he'll be okay," Hera tried to tell her.
"Hera, it means that he has a serious brain injury!" Sabine cried. "It doesn't matter what the original scan said it, means that he either has permanent brain damage or that his brain has started haemorrhaging!"
Hera felt Sabine lean against her more. She kept holding her up, bringing the girl closer to her to keep the girl from falling as she sobbed.
"Hera, what did I do?!" Sabine sobbed, "What did I do?!"
The Twi'lek brought her arms tightly around the other girl and held Sabine to her chest.
"He'll be okay," Hera tried to console her. "He'll be okay."
But Sabine kept shaking, tears coming faster.
"What did I do?" Sabine's voice broke.
~.~
The Ghost crew sat in the waiting room for a couple of hours. After they saw Ezra leave and had calmed Sabine back down to at least just sitting down, no more shaking and no more crying, but she was still an eerie pale white colour.
A droid had come in hours ago and told them that Ezra was going into surgery again. Ever since Chopper was going through the med-bay's electronic files to get any sort of update they could get on their youngest crewmate.
"The scan found that he was suffering from some haemorrhaging, but the doctor seems optimistic because it was caught early. She believes that it was from a small cerebral aneurysm that started to rupture. They are taking him into surgery," the droid promptly told them.
"A brain aneurysm?" Karan asked in disbelief. "Isn't he too young to get those? Why wasn't it caught before. I thought that they did a brain scan."
"It was not the right type of brain scan. The nurses did not believe in his health and regular blood pressure that there was a need. The brain showed no signs of bleeding. The doctor theorizes that in this instance it was a hereditary condition," the droid answered before promptly telling them, "I must go back."
And that was it. Sabine had been thinking about those words for hours since. All of them had. A brain aneurysm. Because of medical advances they found that there was herbal medication that people who are prone to them, or had them, could take to stop them from forming or shrinking the bulge in the artery wall. It was rare for someone Ezra's age to develop one. Unless it was hereditary, like the droid said. And that was possible. Ezra was too young to know if one of his parents were prone to them, and if he ever did take scans for just in case look-overs, he wouldn't have remembered them.
But even if they caught it early, there still could be some permanent damage. Or Ezra may not recover at all.
Hera was watching Sabine closely. The teen hadn't said anything since the droid left and had been pricking the skin on her fingers. She could see how guilty Sabine felt. She didn't want that for her. It was a mistake that happened and it wasn't something Sabine could control. She had seen how guilt could destroy a person and that was the last thing that Hera wanted for her.
"Sabine, you need to stop blaming yourself for this," Hera told her gently.
The Mandalorian shook her head. She was quiet for a moment before saying, "if I had been more careful then he wouldn't have been in this position in the first place."
"Sabine, you caught him when he started haemorrhaging," Hera told her. "You saved his life. If you didn't get a doctor as soon as you did it could have led to something a lot worse."
The Mandalorian stared up at her, not completely convinced. Hera sighed and Kanan leaned in closer to her, hoping to help as well.
"Sabine, if you didn't do anything then he could have had a stroke or he could have became brain dead," Kanan told her gently. "You saw the signs and you immediately got a doctor. You did all of the right things."
The Mandalorian stared between them before looking down again.
"I guess I should have suspected it," Sabine whispered.
"What do you mean?" Zeb asked.
"Ezra didn't have a helmet. We slammed against the wall pretty hard. And he wasn't wearing armour. He had nothing to protect his body. I should have known that he had a bad head injury. I should have seen this coming."
Hera leaned over to take her hand again. Sabine stared down at it and heard her friend tell her, "Ezra is going to be okay."
"You can't know that," Sabine told her, her eyes starting to get glossy again. "Hera, this is my fault. I knew something was wrong and I set those bombs."
"You didn't know what was going to happen," Kanan told her.
"But I should have been more careful! I knew something was wrong…I…." Sabine gulped.
"We can't change that," Hera told her gently. "But you saved him. You got to us as quickly as you could and when you saw that there was something wrong when he woke up you immediately got help."
"His brain…" Sabine started but Zeb cut her off.
"Sabine, you can't keep blaming yourself. Missions go wrong all the time," Zeb told her.
"Something like this hasn't happened before," Sabine told him.
"But it could have," Zeb told her. "There are things we can't control. And you didn't make a mistake. You had the information that you thought was right and used what you knew of it in the situation. You didn't know this was going to happen and you weren't looking for Ezra to get hurt. Some things are just out of our control. Not to mention, but in some way, you could have saved Ezra again. Because of this we now know that Ezra is prone to cerebral aneurysms."
"That's right," Kanan agreed. "The aneurysm was a pre-existing condition. It could have ruptured at any time and it could have been a lot more disastrous. Now that we know about it then we can prevent him from developing another with medication and making sure that he has regular brain scans."
The Mandalorian hadn't even thought of that. Although she doubted that this was a twist of fate to save Ezra when this almost killed him or when it could still kill him.
There was silence in the room before Chopper warbled and rolled over from the medical system he was attached to. They all looked towards him and Hera smiled a bit.
"He's out of surgery," Hera sighed with relief.
"That means we'll be able to see him soon," Kanan agreed.
"Did you get anything else? Any reports on how he is?" Zeb asked the droid.
Chopper warbled a no. Those files hadn't been completely uploaded yet, but Chopper told them that he was moving between rooms. That may mean good news, or at least better news than what could have been.
In a few moments, they saw the doctor move through the doors, looking for them. All five of them stared up at her, hopeful but weary. But the woman smiled slightly and walked over to them. Hera immediately relaxed, her shoulders moving down, almost melting in realization. She felt as though she could breathe again.
"Ezra is going to be okay," the woman told them confidently. "The rupture most likely started from the stress on his body, but it was caught very early. Basically it had just started when you had us on call, Sabine."
"So he'll be okay, completely? No permanent brain damage?" Zeb asked.
"I can't say that for certain, but I'm pretty confident that there will not be. We won't know for certain until he wakes up. We're going to attach him to a pressure to monitor his brain. We're going to want to keep him for a little while longer for recovery. We scan didn't show any more aneurysms forming, but that doesn't mean he won't form more clots. In the state he is in we still want to catch those early. I believe he is out of the woods, but it's just as a safety precaution."
Hera nodded and Kanan stood up.
"Can we see him?" he asked.
The doctor nodded.
"You can. He might wake up, but probably not for long. But don't be surprised if he doesn't. He's going to need to rest."
The others nodded and Kanan set his hand gently on Sabine's shoulder in comfort.
"We'll all see him," Kanan told the doctor.
She nodded.
"I'll lead the way. He'll have to stay in ICU."
~.~
The others didn't stay long. They could tell that Sabine wanted some alone time with Ezra again. They all stayed for about a half hour before saying that they had people to talk to and the Phantom to fix. Hera wasn't so sure about leaving Sabine alone, but Kanan had led her out and whispered that she would be okay, that Sabine wouldn't do anything. She just wanted to be with Ezra. Hera wasn't completely convinced and she didn't want to leave Ezra either, but she did.
Sabine was silent, just sitting on a chair by the bed and listening to the multiple machines beep. He was hooked up to more now and was even more pale. He looked smaller in the bed and he looked younger. Almost not like himself. It was like the white blankets were enveloping him, or that he was trying to match their colour.
Sabine stared at him. He looked so small and so pale. He looked like he was dying.
The Mandalorian felt a tear roll down her cheek and she sniffed lightly, feeling her chest ache and tighten again. She sniffed, trying to bring in more air before she squeezed Ezra's hand. She tried to think of something else, but her mind stayed on Ezra. Maybe she could think of the good things. Maybe that would help if she thought of the good memories.
Sabine cleared her throat and squeezed Ezra's hand again.
"You know, I still remember when I first saw you on Lothal," Sabine told him gently. "You were…so small then. So short. I don't know when you actually started to get taller, but you were so short then. And you just tried to waltz in on our pick up, all trying to be charismatic…" Sabine chuckled a bit, "and then you basically fell on your face…you were so annoying back then. Or at least on that day an a couple after. You were like a balloon of pride. I thought it was annoying, but then I realized that it was…like a coping mechanism. To make things seem that they weren't so bad.."
She stared at him again. He looked smaller in that bed than he did then. And younger. And frailer. He was so tiny and skinny then. Zeb had told her that when he saw Ezra changing that he could see the kid's rib cage, that he was nothing but skin and bones. Sabine believed him. But even then he didn't look as frail as he did now.
She felt her hands starting to shake again.
"And when you finally let that ballon deflate, you became one of the most real and caring people that I know," Sabine told him.
She felt tears sting her eyes again.
"Ezra, I swear on my honour as a Mandalorian that if you die on me, Jedi or not, I will go into the afterlife and I will kill you again," Sabine told him, her voice in harsh emotion as she stared down at him. "Don't you dare leave us, Ezra. You're not allowed to do that to us. Not after everything we've been through."
She felt more tears coming to her eyes as they started to roll down her cheek. She wasn't angry at him. She knew that, but the idea that he wouldn't come back sent…so much electric pain up her spine, through her veins, and in her chest. She felt like her chest was both weakening and crumbling inside her while still feeling as though it was turning to stone. She opened her mouth again and she could barely speak the words.
"Please, Ezra," she begged, her voice trembling with every syllable, "I've already lost enough people close to me. Please don't make me lose you too."
She stared at him, begging any type of god on any planet that Ezra would just suddenly open his eyes or even just make any slight movement. That he would do anything to show he was alive, that he wouldn't leave.
But there was nothing. There was barely even the motion of his chest moving up and down to show he was breathing.
The Mandalorian bit her lip, hard, feeling the wound draw blood as she stared down at him. She squeezed his hand and used her other to try and remove the tears from her cheeks, but all it did was smear the wetness all over her cheeks and her hand. There was too much.
~.~
"You hungry?"
Sabine almost jolted in her seat. She hadn't even heard Hera's footsteps. Nor the door to the room for that matter.
Sabine looked behind her and saw Hera standing with a tray of food in her hand with a steaming cup of caf on it and a small smile on her face to try and encourage a slightly happier tone in the room, "I thought that you might want something."
Sabine offered Hera a small smile, though she doubted that it actually came to form. Her tears had dried, but no words had been spoken for a couple of hours. Sabine just stared at him and kept thinking and thinking about what had happened, what had led Ezra to this. The fear growing as well as her pain, but some slight hope. She knew Ezra was strong and she tried desperately to hold on to that.
It had just been them for hours.
"Thanks," Sabine told her.
Hera nodded and held the tray in one hand before moving slightly to the side to take an empty chair in her other and drag it so that it was placed near Sabine. After sitting down, Hera offered Sabine the tray. Sabine forced herself to let go of Ezra's hand for the first time in hours. She stared at it for a moment before moving her focus away to look down at the small sandwich and cup of fruit that Hera had gotten for her.
The Twi'lek looked over at Ezra as well. She didn't like the tube around his nose and how there were things connected to him, how he was attached to so many machines. And it was eerie to see Ezra so still. She wasn't sure he was even this still in his sleep. It sent a chill up her spine. It was like he was lifeless, that he wasn't actually there inside.
Taking a deep breath, Hera looked away from the youngest of her crew and towards Sabine.
"How has he been?" Hera asked her.
Sabine shrugged, taking the cup of cafe in her hands. It felt warm against her fingertips and that was somewhat of a soothing sensation. It was like her veins were already warming just from the feel.
"The same…there hasn't been any change," Sabine answered, looking over at Ezra again, "he hasn't woken up yet."
Hera nodded.
"The doctor said this could take a bit of time," Hera answered.
Sabine nodded as well before taking a drink of the caff. She turned to Hera again and asked, "where are the others?"
"Zeb and Chopper just finished fixing the Phantom. They should be on their way," Hera answered. "And Kanan was with me. I think he's going to be meditating for a bit."
Sabine nodded.
"I would have thought he would do that here…to be with Ezra," Sabine commented.
"I think he wants to be alone to do it," Hera answered. "He knows we all want to be here so he didn't want to push us away from Ezra for his time."
Sabine nodded, grateful for Kanan's decision. She didn't know if she could last not being right beside Ezra at least until he woke up.
Sabine put the cup of caff down and picked up her sandwich to take a bite. She couldn't really taste it, not because it wasn't good, but because everything in her felt so numb as she waited for Ezra.
"I talked to Dr. Diqui," Hera told her. "We can stay here for the night."
Sabine nodded.
"Thanks, Hera." Sabine whispered.
"None of us want him to be alone," the Twi'lek said.
"No, thank you for giving me time with him," Sabine told him. "I'm sorry I haven't given you all time."
Hera shook her head and placed her hand on Sabine's shoulder, gently rubbing her.
"Don't even worry about that," Hera told her. "We understand."
Sabine nodded and looked over at Ezra.
"I just want him to wake up," Sabine whispered, "but then I'm scared that the same thing will happen. That he won't make any sense."
Hera squeezed the girl's shoulder.
"You know how stubborn he is," Hera told her. "He'll come back and be alright."
Sabine didn't say anything.
~.~
"Sabine?"
The Mandalorian moved her head a bit, slightly confused. She felt something squeeze her hand. The other voice was soft and low, even slightly confused.
"Kanan? Hera?"
Sabine moved her head again. What was that voice. The movement caught someone else's attention.
"Sabine?"
Ezra?
Ezra!
Sabine never thought she jumped awake so fast. Her eyes immediately opened and even through the strain of light that made her cringe, she looked down towards the stretcher that was beside her to see a not-so-pale Ezra staring up at her. Unlike before, his eyes seemed more focus, and brighter. There wasn't dark circles under his eyes. He just stared up at her with a weak smile on his face.
"Ezra," Sabine whispered with relief. "Oh thank…you're up."
Before Ezra could say anything else, Sabine rushed into his arms, hugging him. Ezra let out a small 'oof' sound, wincing in pain as Sabine let out a small prayer and praise in Mando'a. Hugging him tightly. Ezra hissed and grunted.
"Sabine…I think…did I break some ribs?" Ezra asked.
Sabine's eyes broke open again and she pulled back immediately.
"Oh…Ezra I'm sorry!" Sabine told him, her voice a hurried rush.
But Ezra just smiled.
"I'm just a little bruised, that's all," Ezra told her gently.
"A little?" Sabine gasped, almost laughing. "Ezra you almost died…twice!"
He shook his head.
"Like I could," Ezra joked lightly.
Sabine beamed down at him. He was speaking and coherently. He was joking. It was Ezra again.
Sabine looked beside her and saw that Kanan was still sleeping. Looking around, so were the others. She didn't know where Chopper went, but the droid was no longer in the room. Maybe Hera asked him to watch the Ghost while they were off of it or to continue working on something.
Sabine reached over with her spare hand and shook Kanan's shoulder. The Jedi was leaning in his chair, his neck crouched over the top and she knew it was uncomfortable, but at the insistent shaking, the Jedi moved awake.
"What is it?" Kanan asked.
"Sorry, but I was getting pretty lonely." Ezra told him.
Immediately, the Jedi was at attention and moved to bring the chair closer, though it almost made him lose his balance and fall of the chair.
"Ezra?" Kanan asked, "thank Force you are awake. We've all been so worried."
Hera was stirring a bit from the noise of the chair scraping across the floor along with Zeb. The Twi'lek groaned slightly before bringing her hands up to her eyes to try and rub the sleep from them. Opening them and hearing the voice, Hera smiled and turned towards the bed.
"Oh, love, you're awake," Hera sighed with relief.
Ezra smiled towards her.
"How long have you all been here?" Ezra asked.
"Not too long," Kanan answered as Hera moved closer to the bed as well. "Not even twenty-four hours."
Ezra nodded, smiling toward Zeb. The Lasat immediately gave one back.
"Hey kid, you gave us a pretty good scare…well two." Zeb told him.
Ezra looked confused.
"Two?" his gaze turned to look at all of them, "I remember…we were in an explosion, but I didn't think I was that bad."
Sabine nodded and asked him, "Ezra, do you remember waking up?"
The teen's brows furrowed.
"Waking up? I didn't wake up." Ezra told them, "I only…I was asleep. I could hear your voice, but I didn't wake up."
This time, Sabine's brows moved together.
"You…heard me?" Sabine asked.
Ezra nodded, "yeah. You were talking about how we met. Something about a balloon maybe? But I don't appreciated being threatened that you would kill me. I had just been in an explosion."
Sabine couldn't stop the small laugh that pushed it's way out of her. It was of relief, but it was still small.
"Ezra, I thought you might die," Sabine told him.
"It was still unappreciated," Ezra joked before Kanan moved in closer.
"Ezra, did you know that you are prone to brain aneurysms?" Kanan asked him.
The teen turned towards him and frowned.
"No…what are they?" he asked.
"Basically a clot in your brain. The doctor thinks that it was hereditary." Hera answered him gently.
"Oh…no," Ezra answered.
"You woke up and you were talking weird. You called me 'Satine' and were mispronouncing words…" Sabine informed him.
"It started to rupture. Sabine caught it in time and they were able to help, but you're going to be in here for a while." Hera told him, "they want to monitor your condition."
Ezra frowned and relaxed in the pillows.
"I don't remember any of that," Ezra answered.
"Don't worry about it," Hera told him. "Just worry about getting rest and getting better."
Sabine nodded and squeezed Ezra's hand.
"I'm sorry, Ezra," Sabine whispered. "I knew things were off and I still set those bombs."
Ezra shrugged lightly before telling her, squeezing her hand back, "hey, like I told you, I'm not going anywhere. Like I would leave you guys. You're stuck with me."
Sabine smiled warmly, "good."