Chapter 10
The crew stared at Simon in silence for nearly half a minute before Kaylee finally let out a squeal of happiness and threw herself into her husband's arms.
"Oh ai-ren I knew you'd do it! I'm so proud a ya!" She squealed, kissing his cheek over and over.
"Well it's not a definite cure, but all the tests we ran tonight looked promising." Simon replied evenly.
"I thought you'd need samples from both parents to cure the virus." River replied looking uncertain.
"That's what I thought as well, but it seems like the virus is responding to an antivirus created with only one source of DNA." Simon explained.
"That's wonderful Simon. Thank you." Zoe said warmly.
Simon shrugged looking modest, "Well I wouldn't have been able to do it without my father's help."
Gabriel shrugged and looked every bit as modest as his son. "You would have done it without my help. I'm just glad I could offer my expertise."
After they had finished eating Simon gathered Zoe, River, and the twins in the study so that he could inject them with the antivirus.
"Are you sure it's safe?" River asked nervously as Simon prepared to give the shot to Annabelle.
"Oh I'm sure it's safe. It will either cure the virus or do nothing." He assured the nervous mother.
River nodded and continued to hold Annabelle's hand while Simon injected her.
"This better work Uncle Simon, I'm getting awful sick a all these shots you keep givin me." Haven pouted as she prepared for her turn.
"I know Vee, I'm sorry. But I think this will be the last shot you need." Simon assured her as he finished the injection.
Once he finished administering the shots to everyone else, he quickly injected himself and then gave his sister a smile.
"I really think this will work mei-mei." He said trying to erase the troubled look from her face.
"I trust you Simon. I just keep feeling like something is still wrong." She replied looking around the room uncertainly.
"Well it's been a very long week. Being sick and having the girls sick as well is bound to put you on edge." He said reasonably.
She nodded and then smiled at her girls.
"You know girls I think we were promised a dance recital tonight. Why don't we go up and get you both changed into your costumes. Uncle Simon can get everyone gathered together." River suggested.
The girls jumped up excitedly and clapped their hands. Both began jabbering at once as they pulled River out of the room and up the stairs.
"You sure you can handle one a those Doc?" Zoe asked with a hand on her belly.
"One definitely two I'm not so sure about. I really don't know how Mal and River manage it sometimes." He replied and moved to sit down on the couch next to her.
"I'm really sorry about all this Zoe. You're doing such a wonderful thing for Kaylee and I, and it made you sick."
"It's alright Simon. I told ya before I don't blame you. Plus I knew goin into this that there could be risks. I didn't really consider government engineered virus to be one of them, but still I knew something could go wrong." Zoe assured him.
"I know, but I still can't help feeling guilty about it."
"Hey you just cured me remember? So everything's shiny." She said firmly. "He's kickin." She informed him a second later.
Simon placed a hand on her belly and broke into a wide smile when he felt his son kicking against his hand.
"We should go to my father's lab tomorrow and run a few tests, just to make sure he's doing alright." Simon commented, unable to keep from being a doctor for long.
Zoe nodded and gave him a bemused grin. "Whatever you say Doc. Now ain't you supposed to be getting everyone together for a dance recital?" She reminded.
Simon climbed wearily to his feet and left to gather the rest of the crew, thinking about how good it would feel to climb into bed and sleep later and how much better it would feel once the virus was out of his system.
Watching the twins dance was exactly the kind of relief everyone in the house needed. The little girls knew some ballet that River had taught them in the cargo bay, but mostly they were happy skipping around the room and twirling so that their tutus flared out. They were met with thunderous applause when they finished and both bowed proudly.
Once the dance recital was through the girls spent the rest of the evening with Gabriel. They'd never had a grandparent before and were delighted to tell him everything about their lives that he had missed so far, he was equally delighted to hear about everything he'd missed.
"How's it feel bein home?" Mal asked River as they cuddled on a couch next to the fireplace.
"Not home, not anymore. But it is nice to visit the past. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed my father until I saw him again." She replied.
"Ain't ya mad at him for leavin ya in that place?" He asked.
River took a few seconds to think before answering. "Not anymore. He knows he made a mistake and he's learned from it and is trying to make up for it. Blaming him won't change the past."
"Guess you got a good point. Anybody ever tell ya yer pretty smart sometimes?" He teased.
"Oh I've heard it on occasion." She answered with a grin which was interrupted by another fit of coughing.
Mal tightened his arms around her and held her until she could take a breath again.
"That stuff Simon made should start workin pretty soon." He assured her.
She nodded and then drew in a ragged breath. "I hope so." She replied uncertainly.
"Girls it's bed time." Mal finally declared an hour later.
"I'll put em to bed." Kaylee volunteered and was met by cheering from the girls.
"Ya'll want Aunt Kaylee ta put ya to bed do ya?" Mal teased.
The girls again cheered loudly and began jumping up and down. Mal thought that they already looked like they were feeling better.
"Thanks Kaylee. Good luck." Mal commented and smiled at the excited little girls.
After circling the room to give goodnight hugs to everyone the twins and Kaylee disappeared upstairs. Mal settled back onto the couch and glanced down to see that River had fallen asleep against his chest. He picked her up carefully and followed Kaylee out of the room, nodding goodnight to everyone so that he wouldn't wake River up.
Three hours later Mal was pacing the floor of River's old bedroom, unable to sleep. He wasn't accustomed to sleeping during the day and the nap he'd taken that afternoon was now keeping him awake.
He was pacing the large room from one end to the other, glancing at River every half minute or so. Despite Simon's hope that he'd found the antivirus Mal couldn't help but continue to worry about River. Her fever hadn't seemed to come down at all since she'd been given the injection.
Mal suddenly felt the need to leave the room, the room felt stifling and his unease was growing by the second. He eased the door open quietly to avoid waking River and then stepped out into the hallway. He'd only walked ten feet or so when River's piercing screams sent him running back into the room.
River was sitting up in bed clutching the sheets in her fists, her eyes darting frantically around the room as she screamed.
"River bao-bei what's wrong?" Mal asked as he shook her shoulders to try and get her attention.
"Please don't hurt me! No! Mal! Mal! Mal!" She screamed out, her eyes wide with terror.
"I'm right here love. River please look at me!" Mal shouted, but wasn't able to even get her to glance in his direction.
Realizing that his shouting was doing no good Mal hurried out of the room and towards Simon's room. Zoe and Jayne had been awakened by River's screaming and were standing in the hall when Mal came out of the bedroom.
"What's wrong?" Jayne asked.
"River's havin an episode. I'm goin ta get Simon." Mal replied as he rushed past the couple.
Mal banged on the door to Simon and Kaylee's room, it was answered almost instantly by Kaylee who looked every bit as panicked as Mal.
"I need Simon to come give River a smoother, she's havin an episode." Mal explained urgently.
"I know I could hear her, so I tried ta wake Simon up, but he ain't wakin up Cap'n." Kaylee explained tearfully.
Mal's attention was torn away from River's continuing screams by Kaylee's words.
"Whatda ya mean he ain't wakin up?" He asked and hurried into the room.
Kaylee hurried behind him and sat down on the side of the bed next to Simon's still form.
"It's the fever I think. He's burnin up and I can't get im to open his eyes." Kaylee sobbed.
"Jayne!" Mal shouted over his shoulder.
Jayne walked into the room a second later and looked around in confusion.
"Go get River's pa and have Zoe go sit with the girl's. River's screamin probly woke em up." Mal ordered.
Jayne nodded once and then pivoted and disappeared from the room. Mal looked from the door back to Simon in turmoil, not sure who he should be with. But River was at least conscious and Kaylee didn't look as if she could handle being left alone with her unconscious husband.
Mal pulled Kaylee up from the bed so that he could examine Simon closer. The doctor was drenched with sweat and shockingly pale except for his cheeks which were flaming red. Mal could feel the heat of the fever burning off of him without even having to touch him.
"What's wrong?" Gabriel asked as he strode into the room.
"It's the fever. Can't get the doc to wake up." Mal explained and then moved to allow the older Dr. Tam room to examine Simon.
Mal knew there wasn't anything else he could do for Simon so he quickly returned to his room. Jayne was sitting on the edge of the bed with River who had now stopped screaming but was still mumbling and thrashing in the bed.
"Thanks Jayne." Mal whispered thankful that River hadn't been alone in the room.
Jayne nodded and moved so that Mal could sit with his wife. "I'm gonna go check on Zoe and the girls."
Mal nodded but barely registered what Jayne was saying, his entire focus was centered on his terrified wife.
"River? Bao-bei can ya hear me?" Mal whispered.
River continued to stare past him, her eyes darting about looking for danger that wasn't there.
Leaving her side for only a moment Mal hurried into the adjoining bathroom and wetted a cloth down with cold water. He hurried back to her side and began to wipe her hot brow with the cool cloth. He'd hoped it would help her settle down, but she continued to toss and turn while muttering under her breath. Putting his ear closer to her mouth Mal struggled to understand what she was saying.
"Please don't leave me out here. It's so cold. Mal please come." She murmured over and over.
Mal felt a cold knot of fury tighten in his stomach. She was talking about the night she'd been raped and left for dead in the snow. He wasn't sure but Mal was almost positive she wasn't having an episode, she was simply delirious with fever and hallucinating.
Not knowing what else he could do for her until Dr. Tam arrived, Mal lay down next to her and spoke softly trying everything he could think of to help calm her.
After what seemed an eternity to Mal, but was only about fifteen minutes Gabriel entered the room carrying his doctor's bag.
"Has she calmed down at all?" He asked with concern when he saw River.
"A bit. She woke up screamin. Now she just keeps talkin and thrashin around. How's Simon?" Mal asked as he climbed off the bed so that Dr. Tam would have room to help River.
"Still unconscious. His fever was up to one-hundred and five. Kaylee helped me move him into the bathtub so that we could get him soaking in a cold bath. Hopefully it will bring the fever down some. We'll need to do the same for River." He replied while taking her temperature and vital signs.
Mal nodded and moved into the bathroom to run the water. When he came back into the bedroom he found Gabriel giving River an injection.
"Just a standard pain medicine with fever reducer. I don't know if it will do anything to bring down the fever but it can't hurt." Gabriel explained.
"Should we get her in the bath now?" Mal asked.
"Yes the sooner we get her cooled off the better." Gabriel replied.
Mal scooped River up into his arms and held her tightly against his chest despite the fact that she was still struggling and mumbling incoherently. Gabriel followed him into the bathroom and checked the water temperature before nodding to Mal to put River in the water.
The second River's body was submersed in the cold water she began to thrash around violently, clawing desperately at Mal to get out of the water. Using his strength Mal managed to pin her wrists and keep her in the water, but he wasn't sure for how long. If she became aware enough to use her training she would have him down in seconds.
The mutterings she been speaking turned into screams as soon as Mal grabbed her wrists. It was a sound that chilled Mal to his core, one long wail of terror and anguish that seemed to go on forever. Finally her voice gave out and she began to whimper again.
"Please don't leave me. Don't leave me in the cold Mal, please. Mal please." She repeated over and over.
"I ain't leavin ya bao-bei. I'm right here with ya. Right here and I ain't leavin. Yer safe, you ain't out in the woods. Yer at yer dad's house remember, with me and the girls. The twins are right next door sleeping." Mal babbled hoping something would calm her down.
"I love you bao-bei and Haven and Annabelle both love you." He whispered into her ear.
Finally something seemed to break through whatever hallucination the fever had caused. She didn't speak or acknowledge him, but she did stop muttering and she relaxed into the water and stopped fighting. Mal slumped against the side of the tub exhausted. Gabriel slumped down next to him.
"So I'm guessin this means the cure didn't work?" Mal asked.
"Apparently not." Gabriel replied truthfully.
"I gotta go check on the twins, if they're this sick too…" Mal said as he jumped to his feet.
"Don't worry I checked on the twins before I came in here. They're fine, I mean they were scared because River was screaming, but their fevers are almost completely gone and Jayne and Zoe nearly had them back to sleep." Gabriel assured the worried father.
"I think right now the best thing you can do is stay with River." Gabriel suggested.
"How long should she stay in there?" Mal asked.
"Give it another fifteen minutes then get her back into bed."
Gabriel stood up and began to leave the room when he turned back to Mal with a confused look on his face.
"The things she was muttering. Do you know what she was talking about?" Gabriel asked.
Mal let out a ragged breath and ran a hand through his hair.
"It happened bout five years ago. Just before River and I got together. We were planet side on Eurydice, it was the winter season there. Me and her went hunting out in the woods and four men attacked us. They shot me and knocked me out, when I woke up River was gone. I found her a couple a hours later…" Mal stopped talking then as he vividly remembered finding River.
Gabriel shuddered at the haunted look of pain that came into the Captain's face and he realized that whatever had happened was worse than he'd imagined. When Mal began speaking again his voice sounded hollow and distant.
"They left her outside, tied to a tree in the snow. They left her there for over an hour naked and beaten in a blizzard. I thought she was dead when I first saw her, but she's a fighter. She'd killed two a the men and I killed the others. But I didn't get there in time, if I had just gotten there sooner maybe they wouldn't have had time to hurt her." Mal's voice was choked off by a sob that escaped unwillingly.
"Did they…?" Gabriel asked not even able to finish the question.
"Rape her? Yes one of the men did. She was still a virgin when it happened."
Gabriel felt like his body had turned to stone, he couldn't even seem to breath, he was so enraged by what had happened to his little girl.
Mal had turned around so that he was facing River and began to talk softly to her again while running a hand through her hair. Suddenly River blinked and her eyes seemed to clear some.
"Mal?" She asked groggily.
"Hey bao-bei I'm right here." He assured her with relief.
"Why am I in the bathtub?" She asked, her teeth chattering from the cold water.
"We had ta get ya cooled down love. Yer fever was really high." He explained.
"The cure? Mal you need to go check on the girls." She said urgently.
"Yer dad already saw to em. He says their fevers just about gone, Jayne and Zoe are with em." Mal assured her.
River relaxed again and gave Mal a tired smile. "So can I get out of here now? I'm freezing."
Pulling himself from the daze he'd been in Gabriel cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes you've been in there long enough. But you have to stay in bed and drink as much water as you can to prevent dehydration." He ordered.
Mal scooped River up from the water and carried her back to the room. Gabriel left to go help put Simon back into his bed while Mal helped River change into dry pajamas.
"Mal will you go check on the girls? Just to make sure they aren't scared." River asked once she was back in bed.
"Course I will. You drink that glass a water I got ya and then get some rest dong ma?" He ordered before leaving the bedroom.
Gabriel stepped back into the room when Mal left and busied himself checking River's vitals.
"How's Simon?" She asked.
"His fever is very high, a little higher than yours. He's still unconscious but he's stable." Gabriel answered vaguely.
River nodded and didn't question him further, both of them knew that the cure hadn't worked and she didn't feel the need to discuss it.
"Mal told you." She stated a moment later.
Gabriel nodded sadly and took River's hand in his own. "I don't know what to say River. I'm so very sorry."
River shrugged her shoulders casually. "It was a long time ago. I've moved past it."
River yawned widely and settled against the pillows further.
"Get some sleep now. I'll go check on Simon and the girls once more." Gabriel assured her, and then noticed she'd already drifted off to sleep.
Mal, Zoe, and Jayne were standing in the hallway waiting for Gabriel when he left River's room.
"The girls are asleep. And they don't have a fever at all, neither does Zoe. You got any idea why?" Mal asked as they moved away from the door.
"Not for sure. I need to do some blood tests before I can make any guesses." Gabriel responded. "I'd suggest we all try and get some sleep, there isn't anything more we can do tonight. Come get me if anything changes."
The group broke up as everyone walked quietly towards their own rooms.
Kaylee heard the closing of several doors and guessed that everyone had returned to their own rooms. Beside her in the bed Simon sighed in his sleep and shifted a little. Kaylee wiped tears off of her cheeks and took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
"Kaylee has there been any change?" Gabriel asked as he stuck his head into the room.
"No he's still out." She answered quietly.
"There isn't anything else I can do for him tonight, but come get me if anything changes or if you need me alright." Gabriel instructed.
Kaylee nodded absently and turned back to her husband.
"Hey Simon can ya hear me?" Kaylee asked quietly like she'd done every few minutes since they'd gotten him out of the cold bath.
When she didn't get a response she stifled another sob and brushed a kiss over Simon's burning forehead.
"Please wake up Simon. You gotta get better alright. We're gonna have a baby soon, so you gotta get better. I need you and our baby's gonna need you. So you gotta get better ya hear me. Cause I can't do this by myself." She whispered into his ear.
Simon remained still and didn't respond to her words. Sighing with worry she laid her head on his chest and comforted herself with the steady sound of his heartbeat. She had just managed to fall asleep twenty minutes later when she was suddenly jolted back to consciousness.
She was confused for a few seconds about what exactly had caused her to wake up and then realized what it was that had woken her so violently. The steady pulsing of Simon's heartbeat against her cheek was gone. Simon's heart wasn't beating.