Author's Note:
Hej there!
First of all: Merry christmas to everyone out there who celebrates it!
Second: I know, I should finish my ongoing story first, but this just sort of happened yesterday and I thought why not give it a chance. My first one-shot and in a new fandom... Let's see if it's any good.
Pure hurt and comfort. Well, more hurt than comfort, but... To be honest, Mal and Inara just beg to be tortured so they have to show their feelings for each other, don't they?
Last thing before I let you read: My usual reminder that I'm not a native speaker. So if you find any (major) mistakes, please tell me about them. I can't get better if no one teaches me. Thanks! Oh, and I know, I didn't get Mal's slang at all. I didn't even try because that's way above my skills anyways. Sorry for that!
Now enjoy :-)
Mal didn't knock. He never did. He just walked into her shuttle without announcing himself as he always did. Just because he knew it annoyed her. And as usually he didn't really have a reason to enter her quarters. He told himself it was because it was dinner time and he wanted to tell her, for she hadn't left her shuttle since her return from her last ... client. But if he was honest with himself – something he tried to avoid when it came to her – this was just a pretence. He had come here to see her and hoped he could get her to join the crew for the meal. Yes, if she did it would most likely end in a heated discussion between the two of them but he didn't mind that. It was worth it. To him, anyways...
When he had managed his way through all the curtains obscuring the path, he saw her lying on the bed, facing away from him and curled up. Sleeping.
Instantly, an argument between his common sense and his longings broke out. He itched to go near her, to see her lying there, eyes closed and peaceful. He had never seen her sleep but somehow he was sure it would make her look even more beautiful than she already was. If that was possible at all. On the other hand... He couldn't do that. He couldn't invade her privacy like that, it wasn't decent. And if she caught him in the act, he was sure she wouldn't forgive him easily.
So he stood there, rooted to the spot and fought with himself. He wanted to go near her but he knew it was a bad idea. He wanted to see her but he knew she wouldn't want him to.
In the end, his instincts got the upper hand, same as always, and he started moving towards her. He prescribed a semicircle so as not to collide with her huge bed. The huge bed, draped with fabric in more colours than he could name, that served as her workplace. He didn't even want to think about all the nose-up, arrogant brats, the favourites of the Alliance, she had already had here. Every time he thought about her doings, he could feel anger well up inside him.
When he tiptoed closer, he started to get a better view of her. She lay on her side, back describing an arc, head bent down and her arms clutched around her middle. Her whole posture was somehow tensed. Mal stopped mid-step, taking a second to have a closer look. Her face was distorted in pain and tears had made their way down her beautiful features.
He was at her side in a split second, without even thinking about it. He knelt before her bed and laid a hand on her shoulder. He could feel it shake slightly.
"Inara!" He was shocked by the sound of his own voice. It was rough and sounded almost ... scared.
At her name, her head snapped up and her eyes searched for the person who had disturbed her. One of them was swollen and he could see a bruise forming around it.
Anger welled up inside him. Who did this to an innocent woman? What deranged asshole was able to enact violence on someone as soft and tender as Inara? He could practically see the edges of his vision turn red. He wanted to shake her and ask for the name of whoever had did this to her so he could beat the guy to a pulp. But at the sane time he wanted to care for her and not leave her side until she was better again. Call the doctor even so the man could do something useful for once.
He took a deep breath. Anger would get him nowhere right now and he knew it. He needed to calm down.
"'Nara, what happened?" His voice still was so unlike him, so much softer.
She had managed to fix her eyes on him, but her expression was undecipherable. Was it hurt? Or shock? Maybe anger or defiance? He couldn't make it out. Her training in hiding every true emotion was too strong and he was too worked up to be sensitive.
She didn't answer, just looked at him for a second and then averted her eyes again.
He added a slight pressure to the shoulder he still had his hand on. "Inara. Tell me what happened." He wasn't sure but his voice sounded slightly pleading in his own ears.
"Inara!" He had to concentrate not to shake her shoulder after all, to get her attention. Finally, she slowly looked up again, once more searching for his face. She shook her head a little, defying him an answer. She had always taken the privacy of her clients too serious for his taste. How could she possibly try to protect someone after he had did this to her?
"Tell me!", he repeated, a little louder this time. She flinched and shook her head again, a little more this time. That the movement had been a mistake was imminently obvious. She made a low distressed noise that tore at his heart, closed her eyes, curled up even more and moved one hand to her mouth.
'Nausea' flashed through his mind. That bastard had given her a concussion. He held perfectly still although it cost him a lot of effort not to try get the name of that ... man out of her and waited, hoping she would get better again. But there was no such luck, of course. After a few seconds, she twitched and made that noise again.
Mal flashed a quick glance around. There was nothing in sight that would serve the purpose. So he just did what his instincts told him to do. He lifted her up by the shoulders – she was so light it frightened him – and pulled her near the edge of the bed. It was obvious he caused her additional pain but it was better than the alternative.
She shook in his grip before retching and vomiting on the floor next to her bed. The tears had started flooding over her face again.
Tears. He had never seen her cry before. Inara simply didn't cry, she was too strong for that. That she did now made his determination to find the person responsible even stronger. Nobody should be able to break Inara to the point where she acted not herself anymore.
When it became apparent that she was at least a bit better again, he carefully let her down. She kept her eyes closed and didn't do anything to acknowledge his presence anymore. Her whole body was still shaking and her posture even more tensed than before.
He didn't know what to do. He wanted to get her to talk to him and he certainly didn't want to leave her side. But on the other hand he had to do everything in his power to help her and as he was out of his depths here, the only reasonable possibility was to get the doctor.
He waited another few seconds and when her condition didn't change, he slowly stood up, carefully lifting his hands from where he still touched her.
"I'll get the doctor", he told her a bit awkwardly before leaving her side. He couldn't help but turn around again at every other step, checking that she was still laying still.
As soon as he had closed her door behind him, he picked up his pace, practically running to the medbay, hoping the physician really was there.
His mind was racing. Had she said anything indicating who she had seen today? Had she given any hints? This was a huge planet, there were plenty of possibilities. If he could only get the name from her! He felt like he'd go crazy if he didn't do anything.
When he arrived at the small, clinical clean room, he was relieved to indeed find the doctor there, working. And alone.
"Doctor!" His sudden appearance and harsh tone made the other man's head snap up.
"Captain?!"
"Inara is hurt." He didn't give any further explanation. In his opinion that wasn't necessary. All that mattered was the fact itself.
"What?" The shocked expression matched Mal's feelings when he had first found her. "How? What?"
"A client", he ground out. "I guess he's punched her. Concussion."
The doctor didn't move at first, just staring at Mal. Only when the captain made a highly impatient noise did he jump into action.
"Where is she?" he asked, simultaneously trying to get a full impression of the situation and gathering the things he might need.
"In her shuttle. I found her lying on her bed. She barely moves." The memory made Mal shudder. Inara, who always was active and who was never short of a snappy response to his remarks, barely reacting to his presence was one of the most worrying things he had ever experienced.
"Is she awake?" The doctor had finished packing his stuff and was rushing past Mal, not waiting for an answer because he knew, the captain would follow him anyways.
"Yes." Mal instantly was at the doctor's heels, overtaking him at the first opportunity.
It took them less than a minute to get where they were heading, but to Mal it felt like ages.
When they reached Inara's shuttle, Mal didn't bother knocking, even less so than usually when he just didn't do it to annoy her. They barged in, the doctor only half a step behind Mal, to find her still laying on her bed. She hadn't moved an inch since Mal had left her.
While he could only stand there, helplessly watching as the doctor ran over to her, trying to assess the situation, a thought came to his mind. How had she managed to get back here in the first place? How had she been able to steer her shuttle in this condition. She couldn't even sit upright anymore. He tried not to think about it, not to envision what it must have had been like. He was sure he wouldn't ever be able to get the picture out of his head again.
While he was standing there, unable to move, the doctor had knelt down before the bed, quite like Mal himself had, and started talking to Inara.
"Inara", he called her name. "Try to look at me, please." Mal couldn't see if she did so for he was still standing behind her, but since the doctor didn't repeat the command but started shining a small flash light in her face, apparently she had.
"Concussion alright", the doctor muttered under his breath so that Mal barely caught it. So he had been right. With every passing second his anger grew. If he ever learned the name of whoever had done this, the man surely wouldn't see the next day unscathed. If at all.
"Inara, can you try laying on you back?" the doctor's soft voice sounded again. Mal thought he could see her shake her head the tiniest bit and the doctor tried again.
"Please. I need to see if you are injured." Injured. The thought hadn't come to Mal before, he had ascribed her hunched over position to the general feeling of vulnerability. But as he took a closer look, he could see her arms being wrapped around her torso tightly. Come to think of it, they had been all the time, even when he had first come into her quarters. His fury intensified with every further revelation about the extent of her trauma.
"Mal, could you lend me a hand?" the doctor suddenly addressed him. "We need to turn her over. She won't like it but I have to check for internal bleeding." Internal bleeding. Mal did his best to just shut down his brain, to ignore the implications of what the young man was saying and just moved over to the other side of the bed, glancing at him questioningly for further instructions.
"Take her arm and turn her on her back. Carefully!" When Mal came closer and put his hands on Inara's arm and shoulder, the doctor talked to her soothingly.
"It's alright, it's gonna be alright." He got on like this and it occurred to Mal that it didn't matter so much, what he was saying but what tone he used. His voice was calm and low, implying that nothing bad could happen. Somehow it sounded stupid, but it was comforting anyways.
When Mal started to cautiously pull at Inara's upper body, she tried to resist, but the doctor made a small gesture, indicating he should go on nevertheless. Slowly, he managed to turn her and when her face pointed upwards, he could see the tears still flooding down her cheeks.
"Now, try to get her arm loose, I need to palpate her abdomen." Although Mal gave his best to be as careful as possible, she whimpered when he forced her to move out of her tensed position.
The doctor stood up from the floor and sat down on the mattress next to her, pulling gloves on. He carefully started to lift her shirt while Mal was glad she hadn't chosen a dress today. When the fabric revealed the skin beneath, both man sucked in a breath. Half her upper body was covered in forming bruises. Mal was getting sick at the thought of how brutal the man must've been to cause such damage.
"Inara, I need you to relax", the doctor told her. "Try to calm down!"
Nothing changed. Her body remained tensed and her breathing laboured. He looked at Mal. "Soothe her. I can't give her a sedative before I know how bad it is or I might cause further damage."
Mal's eyes widened. He had never been good with people. Not on an emotional level anyhow. But another look at Inara was enough to make him swallow and push aside all reservations. She was crew and she needed his help so he would do his best. Or at least that was what he told himself. There was no room for any further considerations concerning how he felt about her.
He took one of her hands and she instantly squeezed his, trying to compensate for the intense pain she was in.
"Shh, it's alright", he told her. "Inara, look at me. Look at me." She barely moved her head. "Concentrate on me. Come on. You need to calm down so the doctor can help you." Her posture didn't change.
The doctor was trying to examine her, but her muscular defense made it impossible. He looked at Mal. "Keep trying!" he urged.
Mal helplessly looked at the woman before him. He didn't know what else to do. There were still tears running down her face and into her hair. The dark curls were spread out across the pillow, making her features look even paler than they already were due to her condition. Instinctively, Mal reached out and wiped the tears away. As soon as he touched her, she slightly turned her head to meet his hand. He was so shocked, he almost pulled his hand away again, but at the last second remembered to stay still.
Slowly, her breathing evened out a bit and her body lost some of the built-up tension. Mal looked at her, completely astounded by the change. The doctor on the other hand didn't hesitate and used the opportunity to finally check her for internal injuries. When he let out a breath a few seconds later, Mal cast him a questioning glance.
"No. No damage apart from the obvious bruising and the concussion." He hesitated. "Although that surely is bad enough..." The doctor bent down and grabbed a vial and a syringe out of the pile of things he had brought with him.
"I'll give her a mild sedative and an analgetic. That's all I can do for her. I'd take her to the medbay but I think it would be better to keep her here." He looked at Mal. "Shall I stay with her or will you? She needs to be wakened every two hours and checked for brain damage."
"I know what to do with a concussion", Mal told him a bit indignantly.
"So you will stay with her?"
Mal looked down at his hand that still cupped Inara's face. "Yeah, I will."
"Alright." The doctor pulled the fluid into the syringe and injected it into the woman's arm. He then stood up, gathered his things and walked over to the door. At the last moment he turned around again. "If there are any problems, call for me. I'll tell the others what happened, but I deem it better not to allow them to visit. The additional people would mean too much stress for her." He stopped for a second. "I'll be back in a few hours." With that, the doctor left and let Mal alone with his musings and a now almost unconscious woman.
Even if she wasn't going to tell him who was responsible for this, he was hell bent on finding out, even if that forced him to hack into her communication protocols. And if he wasn't able to do it himself, he was sure Kaylee would help him, even if it meant a breach of trust to her best friend. He would find that monster and he would make him pay!
A/N: Well, that was it. What did you think? Please review, I'd appreciate it a lot!