Chapter 19: Side Effects

Ezra woke up on the hide-a-bed feeling horrible. His stomach hurt as did his head and right arm, his nose was runny and he could hear himself wheezing. He let out a congested cough and moaned and burrowed deeper into the blankets; he was freezing. His only hope was that this was nothing too serious and that Kanan would be up soon to help in any way he could.

It took a few more minutes before Kanan woke up and went out into the living room. He was mildly surprised when Ezra didn't shoot up in bed like normal.

"You awake kid?" Kanan asked softly, not to wake him in case Ezra was still asleep.

"I'm up." Ezra moaned.

"Are you okay?" Kanan asked walking over and pulling the blankets off slightly, only to gasp in shock of what was revealed.

Ezra's neck seemed to have swelled some during the night and he also had a rash on his arm. This sent Kanan into a panic, knowing that a swelled neck and rashes can occur during an anaphylactic reaction.

"Are you having trouble breathing?" Kanan asked.

"Not really." Ezra responded, his voice was a bit wheezy though.

Kanan placed a hand on Ezra's forehead, before pulling it back. The kid seemed to have a fever.

"Are you in any pain?" Kanan asked.

"My head, arm and stomach." Ezra relayed the information.

Kanan shook his head, not knowing what to do.

Ezra seemed to be in bad shape: fever, shivering, aches, wheezing, swelling, and rashes. After Ezra let out a sniff and a cough he could add coughing and most likely a runny nose to the list.

Ezra crawled out of the bed and headed to the bathroom. After a minute Ezra came back out. Kanan hadn't moved from his spot, and allowed Ezra to crawl back into the bed.

"If you are making a list, you can add diarrhea to it." Ezra said.

Kanan winced. That's it, he was calling the doctor. Kanan pulled out his cell phone and called the number of the doctor, which was given to him at the end of the appointment.

"Dr. Devin's office." Nathalie said on the other side of the line.

"Hello, this is Kanan Jarrus," Kanan said. "I really need to speak with Dr. Devin."

"One moment please." Nathalie said.

Kanan waited about ten seconds before the phone was picked up by the doctor, and in the small time frame walked closer to the kitchen to give Ezra a little space.

"Dr. Devin, what seems to be the problem?" Dr. Devin asked.

"Hello, this Kanan." Kanan reintroduced. "You saw my charge yesterday."

"I recall, yes." Dr. Devin said.

"Well, Ezra seems to be sick now, and I don't know what to do." Kanan said.

"What are his symptoms?" Dr. Devin asked.

"He has a rash on his upper right arm, his neck is swelled, he said his head, arms and stomach hurt. He has a runny nose, a cough and is wheezing and also has diarrhea, and is shivering." Kanan listed. A retching sound made Kanan turn around to see that Ezra had just gotten sick in the nearby trash can. "And he just threw up."

"What part of his neck is swollen?" Dr. Devin asked.

Kanan went over to examine Ezra, "It looks like on the side of his neck, closer to his head and a little on either side of his windpipe."

"Mr. Jarrus you have nothing to worry about." Dr. Devin said. "Ezra is just having some adverse side effects to the vaccinations. The vomiting and diarrhea should stop soon, the rash will dissipate in a few days, but should cause no harm. The swelling should be down by tomorrow evening, the same with the fever. The runny nose and cough my take a little longer to clear up but other than that he should be fine."

Kanan let out a sigh of relief and stood up and walked back to the kitchen, "What about the aches and shivering and wheezing?"

"The aches are up in the air." Dr. Devin said. "As for the shivering and wheezing, keep him comfortable to help the shivering and you can help the wheezing by with propping him up or when he is sleeping have two pillows under his head instead of one."

"Thank you so much." Kanan said.

"What's important is that you can't give him medicine for his pain or cold symptoms, considering it was medicine that caused this. Just keep him as comfortable as possible and don't leave him alone for long periods of time." Dr. Devin explained. "If his fever raises above 103 you can help bring it back down with a cool cloth to the forehead, but other than that, like I said, keep him comfortable. Try to make sure he eats and drinks plenty of fluid."

"Thanks." Kanan said.

"Don't hesitate to call if he gets any worse." Dr. Devin said.

"Okay. Have a nice day." Kanan bid.

"You too." Dr. Devin said, hanging up.

Kanan hung up and went back over to Ezra, who was still leaning over the trash-can.

"Am I dying?" Ezra asked.

"No, you are just having some side effects from the vaccination." Kanan explained rubbing his charge's back. "Come on, back to bed with you."

"Sorry," Ezra muttered as he stood up with some help from Kanan.

"It's not your fault kid." Kanan soothed as Ezra climbed back into bed a laid down. Kanan went to the closet and pulled out an extra pillow. "Lift your head please."

Ezra did as Kanan asked and his guardian slid another pillow under his head, this helped him breathe without wheezing so he didn't ask why Kanan just did that, figuring that to be the reason.

"Do you need anything?" Kanan asked. "Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"No," Ezra said, burrowing as deep as he could into the blankets.

"Do you want another blanket?" Kanan asked.

"That'd be nice." Ezra said.

Kanan went back to the closet and pulled out a blanket and laid it across Ezra.

"Do you want anything else?" Kanan asked.

"Would you mind," Ezra started.

"What?" Kanan asked.

"Reading to me?" Ezra asked.

"Sure kid, I'll read to you." Kanan smiled and pulled a book off the shelf. Before sitting down in a chair next to him, he grabbed two cups of water and a plate of crackers. "Alright, where to start,"

"The beginning." Ezra offered.

"Even when you're sick, you're a bit cocky." Kanan said. "Alright, here we go."

Ezra listened intently as Kanan read to him. Kanan's voice was really soothing and just pleasant to listen to. He didn't even realize it when he fell back asleep.

The next time Ezra woke up, Kanan had moved into the kitchen and seemed to be making something. Ezra took another unpleasant trip to the bathroom before crawling back under the covers, but sat up, leaning against the back of the couch that was still present in bed form.

"You hungry now?" Kanan asked.

"I guess." Ezra said.

Kanan smiled and brought over a bowl of soup. "Here you go."

"Thank you." Ezra took the bowl and started to eat. It warmed him up from his shivers and it felt good sliding down his throat.

"Is there anything particularly bothering you?" Kanan asked.

Ezra gave a short sniff, his head ache wasn't that bad, and after eating my stomach felt better, and his arm still hurt a bit, but nothing too bad. His neck felt a little weird with the swelling, making him have to constantly remind himself that he was not having an anaphylactic reaction. "No,"

"Good," Kanan smiled. "Do you want to watch something?"

"Sure." Ezra said.

Kanan smiled and grabbed a movie. While Ezra had been asleep he had made a mental list of movies that would most likely trigger something, so as to not ever put it on, unless it was okay with Ezra.

Kanan started the movie up, "Anything else?"

Ezra wouldn't meet his eyes when he made his next request, "Can you, sit with me?"

"Sure kid, scoot over." Kanan said, and sat next to him. It didn't take long into the movie for Ezra to lean his head onto Kanan's shoulder.

About half way through the movie Kanan realized he had a problem. His trial was tomorrow and Ezra probably wouldn't be well enough to be alone for a long time. He took out his cell phone and started to text Hera, maybe she could have an answer.

'Hera help me please!' Kanan texted.

It took only a minute to get a reply, 'What's wrong?'

'I have my trail for shooting those Imperials tomorrow, but Ezra is sick and I don't know how long I can leave him alone.' Kanan texted back.

'Ezra's sick?' Hera texted.

'Side effects from his shots yesterday. But who knows how long I could be gone for, and if his fever shoots up someone will need to be here to help.' Kanan explained.

'Do you have a neighbor who could help?' Hera asked.

Kanan thought about it for a moment. There was that one neighbor he meet when he first moved in, but he wasn't sure how busy he was, or if he liked him much, considering how they meet.

*Flashback*

Kanan just wasn't understanding why his key wouldn't work. He tried fitting it in both ways but no matter what it just wouldn't slide in.

"Is there a reason you are trying to get into my apartment?" a voice asked.

Kanan turned to look at a rather intimidating looking man. He had green eyes and long black hair.

"Your apartment?" Kanan asked.

"Yes, my apartment, 202." the man said.

"202?" Kanan repeated and looked at the number on the door. "That explains it, I thought it was 203."

"You're the new guy?" the man asked.

"Yes." Kanan said. "Kanan Jarrus." He stuck out his hand for the man to shake.

The man stared at his hand for a moment before taking it and introduced himself, "Janus Kasimir."

"Nice to meet you." Kanan said.

"Yeah, well get away from my door." Janus said.

"Right," Kanan said, stepping away from Janus' door and entered his own.

*End FlashBack*

'Well, there is one guy. I'm just not sure how much he likes me.' Kanan texted.

'Might as well ask. The worst he can do is refuse.' Hera replied.

'Alright, thanks Hera.' Kanan texted.

'No problem, love.' was Hera's farewell.

"Hey, I got to go talk to one of the neighbors." Kanan told Ezra. "I'll be right back."

"M'kay." Ezra said, removing his head from Kanan's shoulder and Kanan got up and left the apartment and headed across the hall.

He knocked on apartment number 202's door and waited. Shortly Janus opened the door.

"This isn't your apartment," Janus said.

"I know, but I need a favor." Kanan said.

"What sort of favor?" Janus asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, my kid is sick." Kanan started to explain.

"You have a kid?" Janus asked.

"Foster kid," Kanan cleared up, "Well anyway he is sick and probably shouldn't be left alone for a long time. Well I have a court hearing tomorrow,"

"For what?" Janus interrupted.

"I shot and killed three Imperials saving my kid before he was mine." Kanan said, getting slightly annoyed by Janus' interrupting. "Anyways, I just need someone to watch him while I'm there. It will hopefully only be a few hours at most."

"What does watching this kid entail?" Janus asked.

"He's fifteen so just basically get him the stuff he needs, like food or water. He may want you to set up something for him to watch or maybe get him a book but other than that he shouldn't be too much trouble." Kanan said.

Janus seemed to be taking too long to think about it, so Kanan glacially and desperately added, "I'll pay you ten dollars an hour."

"Ten dollars an hour to watch a sick teen?" Janus asked. "You got yourself a deal bud."

"Thank you so much." Kanan thanked. "Can you come by at eleven tomorrow morning?"

"Sure thing." Janus said. "What' s the kid's name anyway?"

"Ezra," Kanan provided.

"Then I guess I'll see you and Ezra tomorrow." Janus said before closing the door.

Kanan went back into his own apartment to see Ezra was where he left him.

"What did you have to see the neighbor about?" Ezra asked as Kanan sat back down next to him.

"I needed to see if he could watch you tomorrow while I go to my trail." Kanan said.

"Oh, okay." Ezra said, turning his attention back to the movie.

"Hey, it'll be okay." Kanan reassured. "He seems to be an okay guy."

"I'm not worried about him," Ezra said. "I'm worried about you. What if they fire you, or put you in jail?"

"Ezra," Kanan paused the movie and made Ezra look at him. "It'll be okay."

"How can you be so sure?" Ezra asked.

"I know these things." Kanan smiled. "And if something does go wrong, Fulcrum will make sure you end up in a good home."

"I don't want another home, I want you!" Ezra said before gaining a surprised look and looking down.

Kanan pulled Ezra into a hug.

"I lost my parents to the Imperials, I don't want to lose you because of them too. Not on the anniversary too." Ezra admitted.

"Tomorrow is the anniversary?" Kanan asked.

Ezra nodded.

"After my trail, and if you feel better, we can do something to honor them if you want." Kanan said.

Ezra nodded, and turned back to the paused movie.

Kanan knew he wasn't going to get anything else out of him, so he continued the movie.