Chapter Five: Sleep and Other Nocturnal Adventures (Part 2)

Soundtrack suggestions: "Morning Nightcap" – Lunasa, "A Night to Remember" – SheDaisy

Serenity was silent as she moved on auto-pilot through the black. Everyone was in their bunks asleep; at least, that was the hope. There were a few exceptions.

Suddenly a scream sliced the silence, like a flash of lightning on a dark evening.

Simon jerked up, suddenly awake. Next to him, Kaylee opened her eyes. "Who… what? Screams?" she asked blearily.

Simon grabbed for his pants and undershirt, throwing both on. "It's okay, stay here," he told her. He scrambled up the ladder to the main deck.

He met Kate and Mother Mary in the common area, as well as Jayne and Mal. Mother Mary was even scarier and more imposing at night than she was in daylight; she wore a voluminous white flannel nightgown and her graying hair was down, looking fairly ratty. "What's goin' on?" Mal demanded.

"I don't know," Simon said as another scream echoed throughout the ship.

"I'm bettin' ten-t'-one it's yer moon brain sister," Jayne informed Simon.

"Where's it coming from?" Mother Mary asked, just as Kate asked, "Is someone hurt?"

Simon moved to the bunk where he had left Nona and River. Sliding open the door and peering in, he realized that only Nona was in the bunk. She appeared to be fast asleep. "River's gone," he said.

"Is she armed?" Mal asked. Simon shrugged in response. To Kate and Mother Mary, Mal said, "Not t' worry. You kin go back t' bed."

"Nona's not in danger," Simon assured Kate, who still looked worried. "You can check on her if you want; she's right in there."

"You want me t' find her?" Jayne asked Mal.

"I'll find her," Simon said hurriedly. Letting the thug find his sister was probably not a great plan. "You can go back to bed."

"I don't want no trouble, Doc, ya hear?" Mal said.

Simon raised his hands. "I don't want trouble, either. I just want to find River."

"I'll help," Kate offered.

"You… don't… have to…"

"Nonsense, there's nothing wrong with giving a hand where it's needed. Mother Mary, you can go back to bed now."

"Thank th' Lord," Mother Mary said, and swept out of the room like a hideous ghost.

Simon considered that. He wasn't sure if searching a ship for his sister, who was probably in what Jayne would refer to as "crazy mode" and possibly hurt or in pain, either physical or emotional, was a reason to thank the Lord.

"Where should we look first?" Kate asked before Simon could snap out of his puzzlement.

"Uh…" Simon said. "The infirmary, and the mess hall, I guess."

"Lead the way," Kate said, smiling up at him.

He looked one more time in the bunk to make sure River hadn't holed up in some dark corner. No, all was clear, just Nona fast asleep, and her wheelchair next to the bed. "Okay. Let's go."

They went through the ship silently, starting in the cargo hold and working their way up towards the common areas. When they entered the small alcove outside the infirmary, Simon was surprised to see the lights on. He couldn't see River through the windows, but he had a feeling she was in there. He moved to the doors carefully; they were closed, as he had left them.

"Is she in there?" Kate asked, and he started at her voice.

"Uh… I don't know." Simon opened the doors.

His sister was sitting on the far side of the room, behind the bed. He could only see her head. "Mei-mei," he said cautiously as he moved towards her, "are you all right?"

Kate had followed him in. "Is everything all right?"

He stepped around the bed and found River staring up at him. She was very calm, which surprised him and scared him just a little, though he couldn't at first say why. Then he realized why – she was covered in blood. "River!" he exclaimed, his mouth dropping open.

She blinked, staring at some point on the wall in front of her, but said nothing.

"River." He knelt down next to her.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked. Simon had forgotten she was there. Then she stepped up next to him and her mouth, too, fell open. "Gracious Lord in Heaven," she whispered, her face going white.

"River," Simon said, at a loss to say anything else.

His sister smiled, then began to giggle uncontrollably, her head falling back, her mouth open, her eyes closed. Her teeth were stained red, Simon noticed, his heart sinking. There was blood all over her mouth, soaked into her dress, dripping down her arms and legs, in puddles on the floor. There was too much of it; where was it coming from? "River, what did you do?" he demanded.

"Do you want me to…?" Kate began, at a loss to finish her sentence.

"Ni shi shen me dong xi?" River asked in between giggles.

"River, it's Simon," Simon said, attempting to sound stern. "What did you do?"

"Could that someone be Mack the Knife?" River asked brightly, opening her eyes to look at him. He wasn't sure what he saw in her eyes. She was by no means lucid, but she didn't appear to be fully psychotic, and that was what scared him.

He closed his eyes. When he opened them, she was holding her up her arms like someone at a revival meeting, the palms of her hands facing him. He saw where all the blood was coming from; it was all hers. The slices on her arms and her palms seemed to justify that theory. "The average human body has five liters of blood," she informed him. "That's ten pints. It makes up seven percent of your body weight."

"Holy ruttin' hell," someone said from behind him, and Jayne appeared in Simon's sight line. The thug swallowed hard. "She try t'…"

"I'm not sure what she tried to do," Simon answered, and was surprised at how calm his voice sounded.

"D' ya need any help?" Jayne asked, looking at Kate, who was obviously going to be no use in this situation.

"Could you pick her up?" Simon asked, standing, not noticing that his pants were now covered in his sister's blood, and his white undershirt was stained red. "Set her on the counter, please."

Jayne moved to do as the doctor asked. River didn't fight him, surprisingly enough, and let herself be gently placed on the counter. Simon swallowed hard and began opening drawers, forcing himself to think in a detached doctor-patient sort of way. It was by no means easy.

Things faded in and out of his vision as he worked. He saw Jayne and Mal come in and go out. They seemed to be discussing something, but he couldn't hear it. He saw Kate's face, white and concerned, and Kaylee's, even more concerned, in a sea of pale blue. Mostly he saw blood, far too much of it. It was everywhere, consuming his thoughts. He knew how much blood a person could lose safely; it was 70 milliliters per kilogram. River weighed approximately forty-one kilograms; she could stand to lose up to 2900 milliliters of blood. That was a little more than two liters. He had no way to calculate what had already been lost, and more was still flowing. He was worried beyond belief – what had made his sister do such a horrific thing to herself? But his hands did not shake or waver from their tasks.

He finished at long last. River had long since been asleep, he was not sure if it was from sheer exhaustion, pain, or the anesthesia he'd used while he had been sewing her back together. Whatever it was, her sleep was not peaceful, and, even though he knew it was trite and petty of him, he felt secretly pleased that she was suffering for the way she was making him suffer. Of all the things River had done, this was certainly the worst, but he also knew that he would never find the heart to yell at her when she awoke. He couldn't risk throwing her into further despair and hopelessness, thinking that everybody hated her. But he still wondered… what had set this off? What had happened in between dinner, when she had gone to play dress-up with Nona, and the time he'd found her on the floor in a puddle of her own blood?

Someone was yelling; he could hear it vaguely in the back of his brain. He realized it was Kate, standing outside the infirmary doors. Who was she yelling at?

"I think you'd better find the first safe port and leave us there!" Kate declared as Simon stepped out of the infirmary. Great bloody hell, it doesn't even have to be a safe port! The next place we come to, we're off!"

Kaylee, who was seated, stood as Simon appeared. She wove her way past Kate, who was arguing with Mal and Zoë, and came to stand next to him. "How is she?" Kaylee whispered into his ear.

Simon swallowed hard, the sudden extremeness of the situation suddenly hitting him full force. For a moment he couldn't speak, and he feared his knees would give out. Kaylee caught him and lowered him into the chair she'd been sitting in a moment before. "It's all right," she soothed, sitting down next to him.

Mal said, "We can't very well put ya down just anywheres."

"Well, we are certainly not safe here!" Kate exclaimed. "I am convinced of that."

"Why?" Zoë asked. "Because one of our crew members did something to herself?"

"You are forgetting, perhaps, that this crew member of yours is the girl who earlier swore to protect my younger sister? And perhaps you have also forgotten that my sister is unable to care for herself and would be defenseless against your crew member? And perhaps you have also forgotten that your crew member is lying in there, unconscious, in her own blood?"

"Trust me, Ms. Sugarwhite, I would let River harm your sister chu fei wo si le," Mal said. "She may be part of my crew, but you are a paying passenger."

"Not any longer!" Kate yelled. "We are getting off! We are obviously no longer safe on this ship."

"Ms. Sugarwhite, why don't we all calm down?" Mal suggested, trying to placate Kate. "I understand we've all been under some stress this evening…"

"That's just it; I don't think you understand at all!" Kate cried in disgust. "We are not safe here! Something horrible could happen to Nona or Mother Mary or even me!"

Simon had been listening to this discourse, growing angrier and angrier. Finally, having heard all he could hear, he stood up angrily. "Listen to me!" he said loudly, interrupting the banter between Kate and Mal. "You think you're in danger? Do you want to know who is in danger? It's not you, I can tell you that much. It is my sister, the one who is lying in there unconscious in a puddle of her own blood! She is the only one in danger, and she is in danger of dying because someone thought it was fun to play around with her brain!" His voice was a notch above a yell, and way too loud for the situation.

He felt Kaylee's hand on his shoulder suddenly and everything he had said smacked him in the face. He buried his head in his hands.

"Doc," Mal said, watching the younger man, "yer sister's gonna be fine. She's made it through rougher 'n this a'fore." Simon didn't respond, so the captain turned to Kate. "And what's more, you and yers are safer than ever a'fore on my ship. We'll take care t' make sure nothin' happens t' ya."

Kate's face had lost its angry look and she was staring with almost-pity at Simon, who still had his head buried in his hands, Kaylee's arm around his shoulder. Softly, she said, "No, no special treatment, Captain Reynolds. You were right. We are perfectly safe here."

"Well… good," Mal said, at a loss to say anything else.

"Sir, why don't we discuss this further in the morning?" Zoë suggested.

"Yes. That's a good idea," Kate agreed hurriedly. "Thank you for all your help, Captain Reynolds."

She turned on her heel and moved quickly from the alcove. Mal watched her go with interest. "She's a right mystery, ain't she?" he asked Zoë.

"Whatever you say, sir," Zoë said tiredly.

"Kaylee, take the doc t' bed," Mal requested.

"No," Simon said through his hands. "I have to watch River. Make sure she doesn't… go into shock."

"She won't wake up fer awhile, Simon," Kaylee said gently. "You kin sleep 'til she's awake."

"I have to… she's lost so much blood…" He looked up at Mal; he was obviously upset.

"If he ain't gonna sleep, Kaylee, keep 'im company," Mal said, softening a little. "We'll take stock o' things in th' mornin'."

Kaylee nodded, her arm still around Simon. Mal watched them go into the infirmary together, then turned to Zoë. "You kin go back t' sleep now."

"Thank you, sir."

"Didn't Wash wake up?"

"He did. I told him t' stay outa the way if he knew what was good fer him."

"Smart move. Knew I could count on you."

They went their separate ways, one back to a warm bed and a loving spouse, the other to an empty, dark bunk, neither looking forward to what the morning would bring.

Kaylee took a perch on the opposite side of the infirmary as Simon tended to his sister. "How is she?" the mechanic asked.

Simon sighed; he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. "She is… who knows? She is all cut up, covered in blood."

"I'm sure when she wakes up, she'll tell ya exactly what happened."

"What do you mean?"

"Simon," Kaylee said, as though this was obvious, "you don't really think was River did this?"

Simon looked at her as though she had just suggested they dress up like superheroes and attempt to fly by jumping off the top of a tall building. "Uh… what?"

She shook her head, smiling. "River could never do this t' herself. Had t' be somebody else in there."

Realization hit Simon in the face like a pan of cold water. "You think… you think there's somebody in her that told her to do this?"

"What else could it've been? River wouldn't do this t' herself. Look deep inside, ya know she wouldn't."

Simon looked down at his sleeping sister. Her face had lost the tension of earlier, and she appeared to be sleeping peacefully once more, except for the fact that she was still covered in her own blood from head to toe. Quietly he agreed, "Yes. You're right. River wouldn't do this if she was in control of her brain."

Kaylee shook her head. "Cai bu shi."

"Now what?" Simon asked, looking up at her.

She pulled a lock of hair between two of her fingers. "Now? We play the waitin' game."