From the first time he had seen them he'd hated these seizures she had.
If it meant he could stop them, then he had no qualms about holding her hand, no matter what embarrassing hurdles would appear in the future (bathing, changing, using the bathroom, etc.) He would thread his fingers with hers for eternity if need be, but he would never tell her that.
She seemed mortified by the whole thing; not just her Troi, but to be holding hands with a boy, sleeping in the same room, bathing with him so close, imposing on his family in such a way. He wished she would just come to understand that no one saw her as a burden, but he supposed that she would in good time.
And, meanwhile, he would have to settle for letting her adjust to his presence as he would hers, and if he could help it, then they would be together a long, long time. He had no plans of leaving anytime soon, nor of letting her leave.
It'd been decided when he realized his own affliction.
It was in his kind nature to dislike seeing others in pain (unless they really, really deserved it, of course) but she was a little different.
Never before had he been so sympathetic of a person's physical feeling. Never had he felt so in-tune with a person in his life, from the moment they first touched to the graceful battle they danced through. To see her in pain was to put him through pain.
When her body grew stiff and wracked with coughs he felt his own chest ache and his throat tighten. Though there was nothing medically wrong with him, he couldn't help but feel, as he watched her body vanish from view, that his own was disappearing as well. Her skin was icy and his blood ran cold. He instantly sought contact to keep her close, down to earth, to tie her to him.
He was immune to the disease, he had found out—possibly because of his Flare—and was incapable of contracting and experiencing it directly. But he'd seen enough through her, and he was impartial to these phantom pains as he watched her writhe.
The only thing he could do was hold her hand.
He was okay with that.
Because in that way she was as much his medicine as he was hers.