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When I had reached that small, clean room, I looked around. The floor was at an angle, but the bed that Wesley was on was, well, a medical bed in a war ship. It pivoted, balancing on a ball to keep the patient even and still, even in the event of an attack or crash.
I let this last load of bedding go, and it slid across the floor on the tilt. With a frown, I watched it slowly slip toward the lowest corner.
That, I would deal with in a moment.
“I have your glasses, Wesley.” I stepped closer and handed them to him, and he frowned at the scratched surface of the lens, rubbing it with his thumb to see if it was nothing more than a scuff. From his persistent frown, I surmised he was not pleased with the results, even as he slid them up his nose.
“Is... did you manage to fix everything you could?”
He was pale, and I could not tell if it was from blood loss or fear. He was afraid he would die.
Setting a hand on his shoulder, I nodded. “I believe we will last a while, but the suns have set, and I would see us closed off and warm as we can stay in here until they rise again. Are you hungry?”
He grimaced, made a strange move as if to shake his head, but caught himself with a wince. “No. Still kind of queasy, really.”
I did not think travel rations would upset his stomach, but it had not been long since we had feasted in the palace on Thorzan. I would press him if he did not wish to eat in the morning, but for now, I didn’t wish to cause him further discomfort.
I ate one of the white, tasteless bars to keep my strength up, taking bites between pressing extra mattresses against metal door panels and tucking blankets around the edges.
In the end, I decided the best place for me was that lowest corner. I could sleep on one of the patients’ beds, but each was thin, made for a single Thorzi. I would fit on my own, but with a mattress? Sufficient blankets to keep Wesley warm? It was impossible.
So I made a nest, propping the mattresses in the corner, curving them around to contain our body heat.
I used the magnets on my boots to walk freely to Wesley’s bedside when I was finished.
“It would be warmer if we slept together,” I said.
He was a clever human, and he fidgeted with his glasses only once before he agreed. “I’m down with warm. The warmer, the better.”
“May I move you?”
“Sure.”
I scooped him up with one arm under his legs, another around his back, and carried him to that far corner before I disengaged the magnets and knelt in the pile of all the soft things that I had found.
His face had gone a curious shade of pink, and I touched his skin. It did not feel as clammy or damp as it had when he had been ill.
“Do you feel well, Wesley?”
He stared up at me. That small bump at his throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Oh, yeah. This is just weird, right? Like we’re in a blanket fort.”
I grinned. “A fortress made of blankets would not offer protection in battle, Wesley. Better to build from trees or stone or metal. Build your fortress from materials to keep you safe.”
Wesley shrugged, biting his lip in a way that looked extremely innocent and made me want to gather him up in my arms and see him safe. “Hey, man, you’re the one who made the blanket fort. There must be some use to it.”
With a huff through my nose, I lifted the nearest blanket, dragged it over his small form, and settled in beside him. “Indeed, it may protect you from some things, I suppose. The cold.”
“And laser guns.”
“Wesley, no!” I sat up straight. “You must not rely on a blanket to—”
But there he was, grinning. He reached up for me, so I settled back down, happy to lend him my warmth.
“I promise, big guy, I’m not going to bring a blanket to a war zone.”
Too bad we already had.
CHAPTER7
