I looked around the medical bay at the line of empty beds. I hadn't been back here since those first days before I'd moved into the Captain's Quarters. There was something eerie and disconcerting about this room. Perhaps it was because, in my mind, I could still see my dead body lying in one of those beds.

"Yea, this is where I woke up the first time. I think I remember Hailey carrying me on board, but past that there's nothing."

"By the time I was in the airlock with you, your body was already shutting down. Your body ceased functioning for over a minute before I was able to resuscitate you."

"I took a big gamble trying to find this ship, and without Hailey, I would have lost that gamble. But if you asked me to roll the dice on that encounter again, I'd say yes every time you asked me." I looked over at Hailey, giving her hand a soft squeeze.

"Hah, so instead of the brave spacer charging in to save the day, it was the beautiful princess who saved the spacer?" I tried suppressing my laughter at Tayle's interpretation of events, but a loud snort still escaped me as I tried to reconcile that first meeting with Hailey and the image of her as some princess.

"What? What's so funny?" Tayle asked, confused, as Hailey's face slowly turned red as she realized what I was thinking.

"I'm sorry, but if you'd seen Hailey the first time I met her, a princess is not the description that would have come to mind. She'd tried cooking me a meal, and the dress she was wearing was completely covered in stains, it looked like she'd had a fight with the food synthesizer." There was a sound like escaping air beside me, and Hailey buried her face in my back in embarrassment.

"The food was delicious, by the way, one of the best meals I've ever eaten. We'll have to make it together sometime, Hailey." Hailey nodded, head still buried in the back of my shoulder.

"So, this is where all the magic happened, then?" Winri asked as she looked around the medical bay more closely.

"I was asleep for most of it, but yes. This is where I got my leg back, and all my rad damage healed. I had my NIL stuck into my brainmeats the second time I woke up."

"Ah! So that's how you were controlling the grav-sleds and the doors. I thought it was just like some automatic thing, or you were using a hidden remote. Wow, a real NIL. If we go with you, will we get one too?" I looked at Hailey, who had finally pulled her head away from my shoulder.

"Yes, there is a limited supply of Class Five NILs available for installation. They would be more than sufficient for use by additional crew members."

"Nova~! I've always wanted a NIL, they look like so much fun, and they're so convenient!" Tayle gave Winri a disapproving glare.

"Winri, a NIL isn't a toy. Having one is a very big responsibility, and you should take having one seriously."

"Oh come on, Tayle. Don't be such a scrap in the fan. I just think how convenient they make things is awesome."

"Yea, it's a very convenient tool to have, for example," I activated one of the medical beds instructing it to move upright, "why don't you sit down here so I can find out if we can fix what's keeping you from having kids." Tayle jerked slightly at the sudden movement before giving me a sharp look.

"Don't do that, you know I don't like sudden movements after what you and Winri pulled that one time." Winri let out an embarrassed laugh at being reminded of what hellions we were when we were younger.

"Yea, yea just sit in the chair, Tayle. We can talk about your Rama-induced phobia of sudden movement later." Tayle gave me another look warning me of trying any funny business before sitting in the chair.

"Alright, the chair is going to activate, Tayle. So don't go having a panic attack on me." I may be a bit of slaghead at times, but this wasn't the time for that kind of thing, and I liked to think I'd grown up at least a little bit since then.

"Alright, Rama, I'm ready," I ordered the medical bed to begin its scan of Tayle, and it came to life with a whine as several panels opened, deploying sensors.

"How long is this supposed to take?" Winri asked.

"Not long, it should only be a few minutes before we have some answers." We waited quietly, the only noise was the steady hum of the medical chair as it worked.

Soon enough, the chair finished, the hum dying away and the sensors retracting. My NIL displayed the results of the scan onto my vision, telling me more about Tayle's body than I was comfortable knowing. I quickly asked for a summary instead, face flushing.

"Well? What's the diagnosis, doctor?" Tayle asked, having rejoined us at the entrance to the medbay. I could tell she was nervous by the way she licked her lips. Our need to keep our population stable and ensure that there was another generation to keep The Hab running meant that there was a social stigma ingrained into us around being unable to bear children.

"Well, from what it's telling me, you have a genetic disorder that prevents your body from producing egg cells. It should be no problem for the medical bay to fix the issue with your genetic code. A month or so after the treatment you should be as fertile as any other woman. The operation will take most of the day, mostly for monitoring post-op, so come back any day while I'm here that you have free, and we'll get it taken care of." I watched as Tayle almost sagged in relief at my words.

"That's... that's good. Thank you, Rama, this means the universe to me that you would do this, for free even. I have to go to work in a bit, but I'll definitely make time before you leave to get the treatment." Tayle rubbed at her eyes slightly, and I ignored the slight redness I could spot in them.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Hey, there's no rush. Given the amount of stuff the Station Rep. ordered I'm going to be busy for almost a week just filling her orders. And it's no problem, Tayle, I wouldn't be much of a friend if I held something like this hostage over your head to try and convince you to leave with me. That'd be a pretty slaggy move on my part, and I'm pretty sure Hailey would slap me for it."

"Ha! Well glad to see at least someone's keeping you in line and from being a bad influence without me around. I don't think the universe is ready for more than one of you."

"I don't need anyone else like the Captain, one of him is enough." I pouted at Hailey's comment.

"Hey now, I'm not that bad. Though I can't argue with not wanting more of me, I don't like sharing."

"And thank the stars for that."

And on that comment, my trio of friends said their goodbye's, before heading back to the station. I returned to the newly renovated cafeteria to clean up, and Hailey left to tend to the fabricators. It didn't take me long, we'd already cleared away all of our dirty dishes from the actual cooking earlier that morning, so all I had left was to clear the tables and load the empty plates and serving dishes.

Finishing up, I sat down with a groan on one of the couches, and Hailey joined me shortly, having changed out of her jumpsuit into one of her white dresses after dealing with the smelly feedstock for the fabricators. Hailey snuggled into my side, content to simply sit with me in silence. I looked down at where she had tucked herself in underneath my arm, her head resting on my chest.

"So, what did you think?"

"About what?" Came Hailey's drowsy reply.

"About my friends, do you think they make a good fit?"

"They were nice."

"You didn't talk to them much," I noted.

"Didn't know what to say to them, and I didn't want to say the wrong thing."

"I don't think you could have said anything to upset them, Hailey. Even if you said the wrong thing, they would have understood."

"Mmhm."

"Do you want me to let you sleep?"

"Mm."

"I'll take that as a yes."

A nap didn't actually sound like a bad idea right now. I was mentally exhausted from talking about my death experience. Using my NIL, I shaved a few layers of smart matter off the back of the couch and turned it into a blanket. Grabbing it with my free arm, I draped it over me and Hailey, and we settled in for a nice nap.

***

I awoke some time later, the blanket having slipped into my lap with Hailey joining it there, using me as a pillow. I carefully pulled her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear as I watched her sleep. She twisted in her sleep, immediately undoing all my work to keep her hair out of her face. I gave a quiet huff of laughter at her actions as she proceeded to try and burrow deeper into my lap.

She'd been working hard, a lot harder than me certainly. I felt kind of guilty that she was still doing so much of the work around the ship taking care of maintenance, running the fabricators, hells I'd even needed her help to finish breakfast. She'd done it all without complaint or question, and it left me feeling like a complete piece of slag over it. I needed to do better, it wasn't fair to her that she shouldered so much of the day-to-day work while I ran off to catch up with old friends, or make more work for her. I frowned as her body suddenly stiffened, going completely rigid in my lap. I lightly shook her shoulder to no response.

"Hailey? Are you awake?" I received no answer.

"Hailey." I shook her harder, but still no response.

Suddenly she let loose a keening scream that made me wince at the pitch it reached. She started to thrash in my lap, and I tried to hold her still before she could throw herself onto the floor and hurt herself. She broke free of my grip as if it was made of paper and continued to convulse. Desperately, I wrapped both arms around her in a hug and held on as hard as I could, trying to protect her.

She continued to thrash and scream in my arms for several minutes as I held on as hard as I could. Finally, her fit came to an end, and the room turned quiet again, with only the sound of my labored breathing to break the silence. Hailey stirred in my arms, returning from wherever she had gone in that episode.

"Rama, why are you squishing me?"

"You mean you don't remember?"

"Uh-uh." Hailey's head shifted against my chest as she shook her head no.

"You were having some kind of fit. You kept making this really high-pitched noise and thrashing around. I was worried you were going to hurt yourself so I tried to restrain you, but it was like trying to ride a Kab. So instead I just grabbed hold and held onto you as best I could. Hailey, are you ok? We should go to the medical bay and-"

"No!" Hailey's head shook rapidly against my chest.

I let her go, letting her separate from me and stand on her own as I rose from the couch. Her hair was a complete mess, and she looked terrified. I felt like there was something different, wrong, about her eyes, but I couldn't name what it was. Hailey wrapped her arms around her torso and seemed to shrink in on herself. She looked so frail as if she would just turn to dust and blow away in the slightest breeze.

"No, there's no need to go to the medical bay."

"Hailey! I just watched you have a- a seizure! And you're telling me there's nothing wrong?! That's a load of slag! You need to have this looked at!" I protested, shaken by Hailey's episode.

"No! It won't do any good!"

"You don't know that! Maybe it's something that the SUNs did to you, and there's some kind of medication for it! I can't just do nothing, so let me help!" Hailey shuddered and shook her head violently.

"You don't know what you're talking about, so stop trying to help me!" With those last words, she tore out the door of the cafeteria into the ship.

"Hailey!" I stared, dumbfounded, as Hailey disappeared out the door.

"What just happened?" I asked myself.

I sat back down on the couch numbly, completely lost as to what to do. I checked the NIL attempting to locate Hailey, only to find that she had hidden from me somehow. I was consumed with worry. Something was wrong, and she knew what it was but wouldn't tell me.

I dropped my head forward into my hands, at a loss as to what to do. She was worried about me finding out about it, whatever it was. So much so that she'd run off in fear to hide. Part of me said to let her hide, that she'd reappear eventually, and that she just needed to calm down. The other part said, 'Frag that, look for her you fool!'

I groaned, running my hands through my hair in frustration, "Frag it! Come on Rama, you coward."

Standing abruptly, I marched for the doors of the cafeteria. Maybe she didn't want to see me. Maybe I couldn't find her. Maybe she didn't want my help. Like hell I wasn't going to try though. This was probably going to be a futile effort. Hailey could see me coming and would simply move somewhere else before I even got close to her hiding spot. But I had to try. I wasn't going to just leave Hailey to suffer without doing everything I could.

I began searching the ship room by room. I started at the bridge and worked my way down and aft. Bridge, nothing. Recreation deck, nothing. Workshops, nothing. Maintenance area, nothing. Cargo bay, nothing. I looked through every set of unused crew quarters, still nothing. Finally, there was only one place I hadn't looked.

"Did she seriously hide in my own room?" I mumbled as I power-walked my way back to my quarters.

It was a pretty gutsy move, smart too. My own quarters would be the last place I would expect her to be. I could still be wrong of course, and I was just playing an extended game of find the voidrat as she dodged around my search.

Entering the door to my quarters I slowed my pace, trying to walk as quietly as possible. The office area where I had set up her room was empty, the bed untouched. I silently made my way past her bed to the doorway to my bedroom.

"Oh, Hailey," I murmured.

She was curled up in the middle of my bed. She looked so small and alone. Approaching the bed quietly, I saw that she was asleep. No surprise, I'd been searching for her for hours. With how upset she was she probably cried herself out and then fell asleep. She'd likely planned to be gone before I came back to my quarters.

Holding out my hand, I turned the end of my bed into a blanket. Snatching it out of mid-air I wrapped Hailey up in it before wrapping myself around the Hailey-shaped bundle I'd made. She started awake and tried to free herself from my grip, but lacked the leverage to break free with her limbs restricted by the blanket.

"Nuh-uh, you aren't going anywhere until we talk about this, Hailey." She turned her head away from me, refusing to talk.

"I can do this all day, Hailey. I don't have anywhere to be and your Captain can be very patient." Still nothing.

"Look, if I promise not to make you get a checkup will you talk to me? I just want to help." A single blue eye stared at me.

"Promise?"

"Yea, I promise. Please, let me help."

"Can't help me."

"I don't believe that, Hailey. You wouldn't have reacted the way you did if there wasn't something you weren't telling me. You even told me I "didn't know what I was talking about," so please, tell me." I pleaded.

Hailey shook her head, "Can't."

"Can't, or won't let me?" Silence.

I sighed, "Hailey, I'm worried about you. Whatever you think I would be upset about, I promise you that I won't."

"You'll hate me, leave me." Two steps forward, five steps back it seems.

"Hailey, I could never hate you. Whatever it is, there is nothing in the universe that could ever make me hate you. But, I can tell you aren't going to talk to me about it now, so I'll leave it be. Just remember, Hailey, I care about you, and anytime you need help you just need to ask and I'll come running ok?" Hailey's shoulders relaxed and she nodded again.

"Alright, well I'm going to go study in my office, so that's where I'll be if you need me." Letting go of Hailey I got off the bed.

There was no point in trying to push the issue right now. All that would do is cause Hailey to close herself off more and make her more upset. I was going to have to wait for her to be ready to tell me. As frustrating as it was, I couldn't help her until she let me.