Radu sat on the circular couch in the lounge of the Christa, shivering despite the blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He hadn't been feeling well, but he was afraid to tell anyone, especially after the incident with the teddy bear that had happened a while back. As the evening went on, he got progressively worse and decided to stay away from the boys' bunk room; he couldn't deal with Harlan's bullying or Bova's pessimistic comments right now. Radu noticed the lights automatically dimming and realized it must be later than he thought.
"There you are!" came a cheery-sounding voice from the darkness. "I noticed you seemed under the weather today, so I went to check on you, and you weren't in your room."
"Hey, Rosie," Radu muttered in reply. He sneezed and some slushy snow dribbled out of his ears. It always embarrassed him when that happened. Rosie frowned at this, but then she got an idea. She grabbed a pillow from another chair and sat on the couch near Radu, placing the pillow on her lap.
"Why don't you come here?' Rosie suggested, gesturing towards the pillow. Radu understood and laid down with his head on Rosie's lap, and she covered him with the blanket and tucked it in around him.
"Sorry," Radu said. He wasn't used to anyone trying to comfort him like this. However, he did notice that Rosie's warmth made him stop shivering.
"No, don't apologize," Rosie replied as she stroked his curls. "I wish you had said something sooner. I love taking care of people, but I hate to see them suffer. If you still feel bad in the morning, I'll let Ms. Davenport know so she won't expect you to be in class." Noticing that he still seemed a little uneasy, she began gently tracing the spirals of his ears with her fingers. She had read in a medical book that hatchery attendants did this to soothe baby Andromedans, and it also seemed to be working for Radu; he closed his eyes and she felt him relax.
"Hmm, thank you," Radu murmured before he began snoring softly. He was so glad to have a friend like Rosie who genuinely cared for his well-being.
Now Rosie realized that she was stuck there for the rest of the night; she didn't want to get up and disturb Radu. She remembered that she had her Compu-pad in her pocket, so she got it out and continued the book she had been reading until she drifted off to sleep herself. She just knew Radu would be feeling better tomorrow, and she felt proud knowing she was able to take care of him.