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The door creaking open quietly startles Ruby out of the light doe that she's fallen into. She lifts her head slightly and blinks until her blurry vision clears. "Penny?" she croaks out, wincing at the sound of her own voice. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to come and see how you were doing," Penny replies, settling herself on the bed next to Ruby. "I know that you were worried about getting the others sick, but I figured with me, that wouldn't be a problem."
"Oh, uh right," Ruby stutters. While Penny has a good point, Ruby is embarrassed that her friend is here to see her looking so disheveled. She hastily tries to push her bangs out of her face and make her hair look somewhat less of a mess. "Thanks, Penny, that's nice of you."
"You're welcome, Ruby," Penny chirps, cheerful as always. "I brought you some more water, since Weiss said that you need to stay hydrated. How are you feeling?"
"Oh, I'm, uh, feeling okay." Normally she'd try to claim that she was feeling much better already, but given that the simple act of sitting up in bed is still enough to leave her breathless and dizzy, that's probably too much of an obvious lie. Still, she hates to make Penny worry.
"Don't worry Ruby, I'll have you combat ready in no time!" Ruby just nods slightly, blushing at the combination of Penny's enthusiasm and close proximity. She hopes that her face is less red than it feels. "Your face is awfully flushed," Penny comments with a frown, pressing a hand to Ruby's forehead. Ruby lets out a little noise of surprise at the contact. The other girl draws her hand back and frowns. "Oh wow, Ruby, you're burning up! You must be feeling pretty miserable."
"It's not that bad," Ruby insists, closing her eyes. Sure, she's exhausted, and she has a headache, and her whole body aches, and her throat is sore, and she keeps alternating between feeling way too hot and way too cold, but it's nothing serious. She's not going to complain about it (at least, not out loud). "I just need to rest some more and I'll be fine. I'll probably be good as new tomorrow."
Penny doesn't look convinced. "Still, there must be something I can do." The redhead looks thoughtful for a moment, and then her whole face lights up the way it always does when she has an idea. It's very cute. Ruby loves how expressive Penny is. "Let me try something."
Penny closes her eyes for a second; when she reopens them, the green flames that signal when she's using her maiden powers appear. "Penny, what—" Ruby starts to ask, startled.
"I know that this is a bit of an unorthodox use of the powers of the Winter Maiden, but trust me."
Ruby's about to protest further when she something blissfully cool against her face. It feels so nice that she falls silent for a moment to savor the sensation. When she opens her eyes, Penny's hand is against her forehead, surrounded by a thin layer of frost. The icy chill is a welcome contrast to the dull burn of the fever. "That feels amazing, Penny. Thank you."
"I'm glad I could help," Penny says quietly. After a few minutes, Ruby finds herself starting to drift, finally able to relax now that the irritation caused by the fever is starting to ebb away. Her eyes fall closed again. "Get some rest, Ruby. I'll be here to watch over you."