would he use his comatose friend as a vessel for himself(Prote), seems kind of a not so friendly thing to do. Why wouldn't he help his friend(Robert)in his catatonic state? If they were such deep friends most of Roberts life, why didn't Prote take Robert instead of Bess?
If you're happy and you know it, it's a sin.
Maybe there was nothing he could do to wake Robert up from his catatonic state.
Just because he's an alien doesn't mean he's all powerful.
"would he use his comatose friend as a vessel for himself(Prote), seems kind of a not so friendly thing to do."
I don't see why not. If I were catatonic I'd have no problem with a nice alien like prot borrowing my body. It's not like I had much use of it.
For all we know they came to an understanding.
** Spoilers **
Remember that he took Robert away from the scene of the crime: Robert had killed the man who had killed his family.
The police thought Robert had drowned.
So Prot saved Robert from being arrested and probably convicted of murder.
Also, he kept Robert's body active by possessing it. Muscles would not atrophy, and when he found someone he thought could potentially help Robert, which also coincided with his needing to 'go home', he left Robert's body.
It's also possible that in Robert's catatonic state, that he couldn't do the light travel thing.
"I will not go gently onto a shelf, degutted, to become a non-book." ~ Bradbury
My take too. It seemed that Prot leaved the katatonic body to the best care it could possible get.
For the heart life is simple, it beats as long as it can.
A catatonic isn't necessarily brain-dead. Maybe Robert was able to experience the world through Prot so that his last memory wasn't of tragedy.
That's the most you'll ever get out of me Wordman. Ever. -Eddie Wilson