Perils of Peridea

Chapter 6 - Innocence

Perils of Peridea
Chapter 6
Innocence

They continued to head back. Thrawn wanted to make haste but Ezra seemed to only grow slower as his fever rose and so did his fatigue. They had to take breaks more often, even Ezra's sarcastic comments had stopped, and they had run out of water by his increased level of thirst. He downed the last of the water from the last bottle and made a dissatisfied whine as he stood up after taking yet another break. Thrawn reached the top of the mound and saw the star destroyer come into view finally. Ezra let out a loud sigh of relief and headed down the rocky slope, Thrawn following behind. In another hour and a half they finally reached their home base. Ezra let out a happy cry and hugged one of the metal bars on the loading ramp. Thrawn smirked to himself and rolled his eyes, blaming it on the fever, but knowing him better to know full well that was just his normal silliness.

"Go to the refresher and get cleaned up, find some clean dry clothes." Thrawn instructed and turned to go. "I will do the same." Thankfully Thrawn had his own private refresher in his room and had several changes of clothing. Ezra however had gone thru people's rooms to find clothing that would fit him and had made a stash in the quarters he was staying in. After they both got clean and changed they met in the kitchen. Thrawn smirked, seeing Ezra wearing an officer's uniform. "I must say Bridger, that outfit suits you."

"Yeah, I blend in with imperial drab well enough. How do you think it's so easy for me to sneak onto ships all the time?" Ezra smirked back weakly, Thrawn could tell he was exhausted, his eyes hooded with the fever. His normally paler completion was very flush, even his lips looked dark pink like he was wearing a colored lip stain. Ezra let out a quiet sigh that shivered with pain, "I think I need to sit down."

"Rest on the sofa and keep out of my way. I double checked but didn't find any medication. I will see if I can find something suitable for a sick person to eat. Soup or something."

"I'm really not that hungry. I feel kinda nauseous, probably from the water like you said." Ezra started to cough again, his voice getting raspy from the heartburn and acid reflux. "I keep throwing up tho, so hopefully if I did get a parasite or something I got it out."

"No, the parasite is still here." Thrawn made a quiet quip and Ezra shot him a grimace. "Vomiting is good to get it out of your system, but that is why you keep getting so dehydrated. You will need to drink lots of fluids to bring your fever down."

"Good thing you've got the brains to take care of me. And here I was starting to get worried you really would actually push me off of a cliff out there to end your problem."

"Don't tempt me." Thrawn smirked to himself, finally finding a can of broth and some dehydrated bread. "You will need something simple and bland on your stomach then. After that you will need to sleep. I should keep my distance from you after that in the off chance that this could be contagious."

"Good excuse to not have to see you." Ezra snickered quietly. "But you worry too much."

"And you don't worry enough."

"I guess that's what balances us out and makes us such a good team." Ezra let out an exhausted sigh and sunk back against the sofa.

Thrawn paused as he prepared the food. A good team.... no, such a foolish comment, he blamed that on the fever. As Thrawn worked to cook the broth and re-hydrate the bread, Ezra laid down on the couch. He was really tired and had a bad headache. He knew it was from all of the physical activity, the dehydration, the nagging ache in his shoulder, and of course feeling sick from the stupid fever draining his energy. He could smell the broth cooking. Despite his painful nausea, he wished they had some fish to add to it. Too bad it didn't taste as good coming up as it did going down. At some point he succumbed to his exhaustion and fell asleep. Thrawn finished the food and placed the small bowl of broth and the slice of bread on the table. The bread wasn't the best, still fairly dry and crumbly, but better than nothing. He cut it up into smaller pieces to make it easier on him to swallow. It would help absorb all of the excess stomach acid and hopefully let him keep down the nutrients in the broth. Thrawn looked down at the meal and put his hands on his hips, wondering if there were any sort of leaves or herbs on board to make tea for his coughing? No, stop. Thrawn shook his head. Why did he care? If Ezra died of infection or poison it would leave more resources for himself, nobody to hinder his work. Let him suffer. Why was he bothering with him? He wasn't his responsibility. Suddenly Ezra cried out in agony and it snapped Thrawn back to reality. He turned and walked over to where Ezra was having feverish fits on the couch in his sleep, curled up in a ball, writhing and moaning and groaning with jagged painful breaths.