Ezra woke slowly at the feel of a large hand on his back, rubbing firmly enough to shake him a little. He tried scrunching away and then going limp, hoping Zeb would give up.
"Come on, kid. Know you'd rather sleep, but Hera wants to look you over." Zeb sounded sympathetic at least, but he didn't stop prodding him until Ezra started sitting up, then he waited for him to climb down the ladder on his own.
"Sorry to wake you, but if we need to go into the medical center it's best to get there early." Hera apologized before getting out the thermometer.
Ezra shrugged, even if he could argue there wasn't much point in it. The medicine made him drowsy, but it wasn't very restful sleep now that the first night of exhaustion had passed. He dozed off and woke up again feeling like he'd just closed his eyes, but the chronometer said differently. There wasn't any way for her to know that, and he didn't feel like trying to whisper it all. Instead he just held still until the thermometer beeped.
Her looked over the readings with a frown. "You still have a fever, even if the medicine's brought it down. And your throat?"
Ezra opened his mouth. It didn't feel any better than before, but maybe if it showed some sign of improvement he could go back to bed.
Hera held his jaw gently as she peered, shining the light. "Still looks swollen. I'd feel better if you got looked at by an expert, but I'm not going to force you. Will you go with me to see someone?"
Ezra hesitated a moment, he didn't really want to go out in the wet and the rain, he wanted to go right back to bed. But Hera looked concerned and earnest and he knew she wouldn't say it unless she was sure. He breathed in a sigh, then nodded.
"Do you think you can go by speeder? I'd rather not take the Phantom in unless there's no other choice."
Ezra nodded, trying not to look disappointed. He was hoping he'd at least avoid the drive out there through the wet.
"Then get ready and I'll meet you down in the hanger." Hera gave him an encouraging smile, walking out.
Ezra gave his bed a longing look, then started changing. He'd been sleeping in his orange jumpsuit, but that got tugged off to be cleaned and his work clothing and coveralls tugged on. He checked to make sure his ID was in its pocket, not going to risk needing it and not having it even if he wasn't going to be working.
He dragged himself down to the hanger, picking up his rain gear reluctantly. Hera was already there, getting on her own gear. She'd forgone a hood for a rain hat that left her long lekku free.
"It's not raining right now, but we both know how that can change." She offered, waiting for him to tug his own gear on.
Ezra nodded, leaving his hood down as he followed her out. It was overcast and foggy, the moisture in the air already starting to condense on the cooler fabric as he walked. The speeders they had now weren't nearly as nice as the ones that had been lost on Lothal, but they worked. And Ezra was secretly just as glad to have ones that wouldn't be a great loss when moisture finally did manage to get into the inner workings and corrode something important. Hera got up first, bracing and offering him a hand up.
He took it, swinging in place and then hesitating awkwardly as Hera tugged her goggles down and started the engine. When Zeb rode behind him he just looped an arm around his waist like some sort of giant fuzzy snake or held onto the bike itself. When he'd ridden behind Kanan he knew where not to grab and everything else was fair game. With Hera he found himself stiffly placing one hand on either side of her waist, fairly sure that would be safe and not insulting.
If she was amused at how awkwardly he was holding on he couldn't see the expression as she started out, steering smoothly. He could feel the differences after a few minutes. Kanan tended towards quick exact corrections, which made it feel a little jerkier. Hera made it feel like she wasn't even steering at all, and he found himself starting to drift, leaning his forehead against her back. He caught himself a few times nodding off and then finally gave up, wrapping his arms around her waist and closing his eyes, dozing.
He woke up as the speeder started easing to a halt, straightening up. They were parked at a different side of the port from where they usually worked, close to the medical center. Ezra hopped off once they were stopped, a little embarrassed about falling asleep again and not wanting to risk Hera offering to help him down. The sleep had helped a little, at least. He still felt tired, but not like he was going to doze off anymore. There was no way he was falling asleep in public anyway.
Ezra followed Hera into the medical center, glad to let her take charge, offering his ID card when asked and otherwise staying silent, glad no one expected him to talk. Then again, if pyrethroat was as common as Kanan said then that would make sense. Hera was more than familiar enough with their cover information to fill out everything for him.
He took a seat, not really paying much attention until Hera nudged him.
"Cal, Cal Landers." One of the staff waited at the door with a holopad. He quickly stood up, shooting Hera a grateful look for the nudge. It was hard enough remembering cover names even when he wasn't sick.
They both went back to one of the exam rooms and he took a seat on the table to wait. It wasn't long before an older looking Rodian lady was coming in, carrying the holopad with his information.
"Hello Cal, I'm Doctor Tana. You're here for a severe sore throat? I know you're likely going to have some problems answering, so I'll be doing my best not to talk about you as if you're not here." She sounded friendly, even if she had a strong Central Worlds' accent, and Ezra found himself smiling slightly as he nodded.
"Any other symptoms?" She asked, Ezra glanced to Hera.
"Fever and general aches and tiredness." Hera answered for him.
"Have you been taking anything for it?" She made a small note on the holopad.
"I have the bottles here, he's been following the directions." Hera produced the medicine bottles from a pocket. The doctor looked them over and then handed them back to her, getting out a device and holding it to Ezra's throat. He held still while the scan was taking place, she took it away to check the readings.
"I can do a swab to confirm, but it appears to be a pyregutta infection and you're doing everything exactly right. You can increase the bacta spraying to once an hour instead of every four for the next couple days, and then back to four or longer when you're sleeping. It's fungal, not bacterial or viral so there's no direct person to person transfer. Stick to fairly thin liquids for the next few days or until it's significantly easier to swallow, as choking is a risk." She started prepping the swab.
Ezra bit his lip, thinking of something and leaning in to Hera. "It stings." It was painful enough taking the bacta with the numbing, he wasn't sure how much worse it would be without. Thankfully she caught on to what he was saying right away.
"He's been using the painkiller to numb his throat before the bacta, but if he's taking it every hour I don't think that will work." Hera said.
"I can give you a numbing spray to use, and continue using the painkiller every four hours. Open up for me please?" She waited until he opened his mouth to swab quickly, making him cough.
"I'm also going to advise you not to go into work. If you have time off, use it. They changed regulations such that since pyrethroat isn't contagious, it does not count towards sick days. I much prefer to see patients like this than when they get brought in after they've collapsed from exhaustion or dehydration." She took the swab, sliding it into a machine for analysis.
"Does that happen fairly often?" Hera sounded politely curious, but Ezra knew she wasn't usually one for small talk.
"More now than it used to. It seems every few weeks there's some new regulation or other making it harder to get time off. There's even been talk of cutting back on the provided medical care for the workers here." Doctor Tana sounded personally offended by that.
"That's terrible. You're the head doctor at this center, are you not? I wasn't expecting someone like you to want to look over a kid's sore throat." Hera asked.
"I am, I transferred to Eritt a few years ago, and I like to stay hands on with patients."
"I noticed the accent. What made you want to transfer?" Hera put her hand lightly on Ezra's shoulder. He knew better than to interrupt.
The doctor made an amused sound, looking Hera over. "I somehow doubt you don't know the general atmosphere on Coruscant and similar worlds towards non-humans. I was 'gently encouraged' to find a position somewhere out of the way. But what can you do?"
Hera shrugged "I guess it depends on what it is you want to do."
Doctor Tana turned away to check the readings. "It's definitely pyrethroat. Treat it like I said before, every hour during the day for two days and then every four hours, and then continue for at least a day after all the symptoms are gone, two would be best. It's been known to relapse. Come back in at once if you start to have difficulty breathing or any new symptoms. It's not common, but sometimes pneumonia can develop. No solid food, but plenty of liquids. There's a nutrient shake you can get, but I've yet to find a patient who can stand the taste unless there's any other option." She produced a small bottle, handing it over and Hera added it to the ones already in her pockets. "That's the numbing spray, use as needed but if you run out you'll need to purchase more."
"Thank you." Hera squeezed Ezra's shoulder lightly and he took that as his cue to stand up to follow her out.
"You could have said you were using me for a mission." Ezra whispered, pulling himself up onto the speeder behind her. The way Hera had been questioning her was obviously trying to feel out how sympathetic she felt towards the Empire.
Hera paused at that, turning so she could talk quietly. "I'm sorry, that actually wasn't the plan. Kanan and I were going to approach her later, I didn't think she'd want to examine someone with a common illness personally. I just didn't want to waste the chance.
Ezra smiled at that. "Hey, it's ok, I'm glad it worked out."
Hera chuckled softly "Kanan's going to be glad too. He was going to minorly injure himself and then overreact and demand to see the best doctor there. This probably worked out better. "
Ezra nodded, agreeing with her. She might have been less sympathetic, especially if she found out later that the injury was a ruse to get into the medical center.
The ride back was quiet. The drizzling rain had started back up so he tugged his hood up, keeping his head down close to Hera's back to break the wind as they rode back towards the Ghost.
Zeb was waiting to help get the speeder in and dried off, taking it from them. "Just don't get too used to this, eh kid?"
Ezra tugged off his rain gear, glad to be back inside. He'd thought maybe a few days inside would have made the wet weather more bearable, but it was only worse being able to remember how nice it was not to be soggy for a while.
"Do you want to go with me to tell Kanan the news, or go rest?" Hera asked.
Ezra paused in hanging up his rain gear to dry, thinking it over and then just heading to the ladder. He trusted Hera that if she had some criticism for him she'd give it directly, and everything else he was there for it.
He went ahead and showered quickly, while he still had the energy for it, tugging on dry clothes. He wasn't sure exactly who they had belonged to before, he suspected that they might have been Kanan's, or maybe they had just been bought in case of someone needing them. They were soft, well worn, with the shirt a faded grey and the pants some indeterminate shade of brown. They were dry and just big enough on him to be comfortable, and that was the important part. He was just starting to settle into bed when he remembered Hera still had his medicine with her. Ezra was just starting to get back up when the door opened.
"Thought you might be looking for this." Kanan held up one of the bottles as he walked over. Ezra reached for it gratefully, the shower took more out of him than he expected and everything was starting to ache again.
"Hera said you did well out there." Kanan said, watching approvingly as Ezra look the medicine without complaint.
"I didn't do anything though." Ezra whispered it, glad for the numbing.
"I know, and that's why I'm proud. You knew something was up, but you trusted Hera and followed her lead. Not that long ago you might have tried to jump in, but you're learning patience. " Kanan reached to gently ruffle his still damp hair. "Now try to get some rest."
Ezra couldn't help the grin, nodding in agreement and settling down, remembering to set the chrono to wake him when it was time to take more medicine, closing his eyes as Kanan let himself out.