Well, I bet you know what I'm going to say... the disclaimer remained the same. Song for this chapter: "Without Me" - Eminem. Hey, review while you're at it! It's quick and simple and makes someone's day (in this case mine!) Oh, and the characters that you won't see on the DVD set of "Firefly: The Complete Series" still belong to me. And polyfimbriroseus (aka Rosy Cheek Fern) is not a real plant. I just made up the name because it sounded pretty.

"What's goin' on, Doc?" Mal asked as he came into the infirmary. The captain wanted to put his hands over his ears but didn't; the girl was making some sort of awful noise.

"Well," Simon said tersely and without looking up from the monitor, "this is either going to be the end…"

"Or what?"

"Let me rephrase that. This goes wrong, this is the end."

"The end? As in…"

"As in she's going to die, Jayne, you blockhead," Zoë snapped. Jayne backed up as though Zoë had shoved him.

"What's goin' on, Doc?" Mal repeated.

"Well, this is the part where logic and reasoning go away. Not that she had much of that anyway," Simon amended. "Then there will be more seizures. And then, if we can't stop it, brain death. And… I hate to be the bringer of awful news to the bad news party, but we're out of anti-convulsant."

"I believe I can help in that matter," a smooth voice said from the doors. Everyone turned to see a well-dressed older gentleman clutching a black bag reminiscent of Simon's. He was wearing a black derby over his white-gold hair. "Rupert Pawtucket, medic for Stoïque. Miss Emilia sent me. I happen to have the drug you speak of."

"Well, whaddya waitin' fer?" Jayne demanded.

"I told her we didn't need help," Inara murmured quietly.

"Well, you were wrong. Weren't the first time, won't be the last," Jayne said quickly. "You kin come in… Rupert, did ya say?"

River screamed again and her back arched. Simon looked as though he was moments away from tears. Kaylee was already crying. "Nara, you take Kaylee outa here," Mal ordered, and the Companion moved to obey. "Jayne, you get Wash. Make yerselves useful."

"Whaddya want us t' do?"

"…Make some oatmeal or somethin'."

Jayne nodded, even though Mal had been expecting a protest ("Oatmeal? What good's that gonna do us?") and ran out. Rupert Pawtucket stepped closer to the bed and set his bag on the counter behind him. "A Truth-Teller, is that what it was?"

Simon nodded. "River? Can you hear me?"

"She's probably gone deaf, Doctor," Rupert said.

"Then why is she still screamin'?" Mal asked.

"Because her brain has lost the ability to speak," Rupert answered crisply. "If it could still form words, she would be speaking a great deal faster and more expressively than you have ever heard."

"You don't know River very well," Mal said, trying to pull humor into the situation, which was obviously a very bad idea. "She talks a storm, don't she, Zoë?"

"Yes, sir," Zoë said stolidly.

"She… talks a right storm, all the time. Never shuts up," Mal said, his heart sinking.

"I have the drugs to stop the seizure, good Doctor," Rupert said to Simon, "but I doubt at this stage that they will be very effective."

"Why's that?" Mal asked, because Simon obviously wasn't going to.

"The infection has already gathered fluid. In order for the anti-convulsant to work, you'd have to get all the fluid out first," Rupert answered, gesturing to the rash on River's shoulders. Mal could plainly see that the red rash had turned reddish-yellow, and he knew there was fluid inside. "There's only one thing I can think of that will stop this now."

"And I bet we don't have it, sir," Zoë said.

"We can get the fluid out," Simon said.

"Fast enough?" Rupert questioned.

"Look. This is my sister, and I'm not letting her die."

"You may not have a choice, good doctor," Rupert replied, a little sadly, even though he had never met River. "The Truth-Teller drugs are notorious for their kill rate. One hundred percent. They are better than a sniper."

"She's not going to die!" Simon yelled, and Rupert backed up, startled at the outburst. "We have been through too much together for me to let her die. And if you think I'm giving up, I'm not. Instead of talking and telling me what's going to go wrong, why don't you start getting the fluid out?"

Rupert looked into the younger man's eyes with pity in his own.

"You said there was one thing that could stop this," Mal said suddenly, before either doctor could speak again. "What is it?"

"It's a plant," Rupert said.

"Tzao-gao," Zoë said. "The last plant we had was a head o' lettuce. A right brown one at that."

Mal looked back at Simon. The doctor had stopped working, stopped moving. He had put his face next to River's and was whispering something. It could have been a prayer. It could have been a plea to his sister to wake up, as the girl had gone very still. Mal didn't know and didn't much care. He wasn't going to give up and let the girl die, let Serenity turn into a funeral parlor for someone much too young to die. "What plant?" he asked Rupert urgently.

"It's a rare species of fern, which I doubt you have ever heard of or had contact with," Rupert said, still looking at Simon. "It's called polyfimbriroseus."

Zoë looked at Mal, whose eyes had gone wide. Apparently they were having the same thought. "Sir… that plant you keep in yer bunk, that one that's half-dead all the time, what's it called?"

"Rosy Cheek Fern," Mal replied. "Greek name…"

"Polyfimbriroseus," Rupert interjected. "Go, run quickly! Before she dies!"

Mal turned and ran smack into the closed infirmary doors, which Jayne had apparently thoughtfully closed after his departure. He shoved the doors open, reeling from hitting his head, and ran for his bunk.

"Doctor?" Rupert said gently after the captain had left. "I think you need to start preparing for the end."

"She's still breathing," Simon said, which was true. River's mouth was open and she was gasping for every breath she took. "She still has a pulse."

"I know that's what's going on right now," Rupert said, "but in a few moments…"

"You obviously don't get what I've been trying to tell you," Simon said sharply, interrupting the older man, something he probably would have never done under normal circumstances. "She is going to live. The captain has the plant."

"The plant may not work at this late stage. Look, the seizures have stopped. You know what that means."

"Brain death," Zoë murmured.

"She's not going anywhere," Simon said firmly. "She's fine. Except, Jayne would say, 'fer still bein' crazy.'" He was crying. Zoë had never seen him cry. "She's… she killed a whole bunch of Reavers. Reavers. My little sister, all grown up and killing Reavers! And she survived torture at the Alliance's 'academy'… and now she's going to die just because a… a spy who apparently wasn't even acting under his own free will gave her a bad drug. Why, Dr. Pawtucket? Why?"

"Son, there are no easy answers," Rupert answered as gently as he could.

"Were there ever?" Zoë wondered. Rupert for some reason reminded her of the good Shepherd they'd lost.

Translations: tzao-gao - oh crap