go."

He lifted his little pink friend gently down from his shoulder and
rested him in the crook of his arm. Fuzzy looked up at him, blinking his
shoe-button eyes happily. "You asked me once to leave Fuzzy with you,
and I refused. I couldn't see then how I could possibly do without him;
even the thought was frightening. But now I think I've changed my mind."

He reached out and placed Fuzzy gently in the Black Doctor's hand. "I
want you to keep him," he said. "I don't think I'll need him any more.
I'll miss him, but I think it would be better if I don't have him now.
Be good to him, and let me visit him once in a while."

The Black Doctor looked at Dal, and then lifted Fuzzy up to his own
shoulder. For a moment the little creature shivered as if afraid. Then
he blinked twice at Dal, trustingly, and snuggled in comfortably against
the Black Doctor's neck.

Without a word Dal turned and walked out of the office. As he stepped
down the corridor, he waited fearfully for the wave of desolation and
loneliness he had felt before when Fuzzy was away from him.

But there was no hint of those desolate feelings in his mind now. And
after all, he thought, why should there be? He was not a Garvian any
longer. He was a Star Surgeon from Hospital Earth.

He smiled as he stepped from the elevator into the main lobby and
crossed through the crowd to the street doors. He pulled his scarlet
cape tightly around his throat. Drawing himself up to the full height of
which he was capable, he walked out of the building and strode down onto
the street.

* * * * *

_Also by Alan E. Nourse_

ROCKET TO LIMBO

SCAVENGERS IN SPACE

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Star Surgeon, by Alan Nourse

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STAR SURGEON ***

***** This file should be named 18492.txt or 18492.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/4/9/18492/

Produced by Greg Weeks, Annika Feilbach and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,