Chapter 6

"This isn't possible. We would have known." Regan shook her head, simply unable to believe what she was hearing.

"Not like me though. They didn't hurt him enough. Teach him enough. Only feels some things. Not much." She crawled onto the other side of the bed and laid her head on Simon's shoulder. "But he could hear me calling for help. He came for me. He knew."

Samantha exchanged a sad look with Regan, who again closed her eyes against the pain her children had endured.

"River?" Samantha knelt beside the bed. "Are you saying you projected your thoughts to Simon from the Academy?"

River nodded.

"Lao tyen yeh." Samantha shook her head. "Could you always do this? Before you left?"

River made a face. "Of course not. They made me. But – I always knew things. Knew what girls he liked. He hated that."

"River and Simon always had a special bond. We thought it was just a strong intuitive sibling connection." Regan said quietly. "She was so lost when Simon was in school studying for his degree. And he was lost when she left for the Academy."

"Not lost. Lonely." River wrapped her arm around Simon's chest and hugged him tightly. "He protects me. I protect him."

"Great, now we got two a 'em," Jayne muttered stepped out of the room and began to pace.

River watched her brother's face intently. "Not two. Just one. He will get better. I won't."

"Don't say that," Kaylee spoke for the first time since River's revelation. "Simon's done real good tryin' to help ya."

River smiled brightly at her - sister. "Good doctor. Always helping, saving. Made to help." She lowered her head to look at her brother. "I was made to kill."

"Only by those hwoon dahn at the Academy," Kaylee insisted and they all glanced down as Simon started to stir.

Samantha stared at her patient. "I gave him enough propoxin to keep him out for hours."

"Body rejects it." River said as she flattened her hand along his cheek. "Doesn't work."

"I need to find another sedative that will, then."

"No." River said, staring at Samantha. "Mixing drugs is bad. Will hurt him."

"What?" The doctor regarded River with a curious look. "He's too violent. If I don't keep him sedated, he -"

" - needs to see love." River said simply. "Feel that he is loved. That he matters."

"What he needs to see are the inside of his eyelids until those drugs makin' him nutty wear off." Mal said sharply, a warning look in his eyes.

River stared at the Captain. "I'm - nutty. I'm not asleep."

"Yeah, little albatross, but we're used to yer kinda nutty."

"No. Not mine." Simon whispered, waking slowly from a nightmare and River cupped his cheek with her hand. "Don't want it. Don't - It's there. Not dead."

Samantha hurried to find another more powerful sedative while Mal took a step closer to restrain Simon if he turned violent.

"Don't give it to me." Simon said weakly. Tears filled his eyes and he cradled his head in his hands as River spoke in soft whispers.

Simon suddenly turned lucid eyes on his sister. "We used it up, they said." Simon shook his head, "But they lied. It's not gone. It's there. You see it."

"What is he babbling about?" Jayne asked from where he stood in the hallway.

"No!" Simon breathed and jerked as if he'd been shot. "Don't kill the - don't give –I don't want to see –"

River took his head in her hands pressed her cheek to his, whispering something no one could understand. After a few moments, he calmed and simply lay there, unmoving, looking up at his sister, his breath coming in short, heavy pants.

"Kaylee." River extended her hand in a request for her sister to come forward.

Kaylee's face was marred with tears but at River's insistence, she sat beside Simon on the bed and took his hand.

"Kiss him."

Surprised registered on her face. "What?"

"I told him you would kiss him. He feels safe in your arms. Loved. Home."

Jayne popped his head in through the open door. "That's what got him to quit his screamin'!"

River ignored him and leaned against the wall to give Kaylee the room she needed.

Simon's eyes were open but staring at something intently on the ceiling. But when Kaylee slid her hands along his cheek to cup the side of his face, his eyes shifted to her, a look of confusion mixed with sadness crossing his handsome face.

"Simon?" Kaylee's voice shook with emotion.

Simon trembled at her touch but he stared into her wide, tear-filled eyes, his own filling with love and compassion as he looked at her.

"No - don't cry." He reached up to wipe a tear from her cheek. "I - can't -" He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. "I - I see it. I see -"

"Tell him you love him." River said to Kaylee, her eyes bright.

Kaylee's world froze as she glanced up at River's smiling face. She had never told Simon she loved him. She did, of course. She couldn't remember the exact time her interest in him had turned from lust to love, but it was there, tugging at her heart and bringing tears to her eyes. She had never said the words. Fleetingly, she lamented that she didn't really want that first time to be in a room full of people.

River continued to insist. "He loves you. Too stubborn to say it. Too worried. Thinks too much. Needs to do more, think less." She shook her head, glancing at her brother. "He's such a boob."

River's string of oddly coherent speech brought a tentative smile to Kaylee's lips. She leaned down and pressed her cheek against his. "Oh, Simon. I do love you. So much. Ya fixed River up all good and now we -" Kaylee pulled away slightly to look down at him and she was surprised to see him smile.

"Love you," he whispered, his eyes clearing, his voice soft and weak. They'd been officially together for just a few months, since Miranda, and though it was easy for anyone looking at them to see their relationship had progressed further than just simple sex, neither had ever before said the words. It was odd, in this circumstance, to hear him say them now. Simon's eyes crossed for a moment. "I don't want it." His voice was steady and slightly detached which made Kaylee's heart sink to her toes.

"Your memory." River stared down at her brother. "Tell them."

Simon shook his head as if denying there was anything to say. His face was damp as were his clothes and he began to tremble.

Kaylee was at a loss. She didn't know what to do. She didn't understand. She just wanted his pain to go away. She just sat beside him and let the tears flow down her cheeks.

"Simon? I want to take some blood, all right?" Samantha said, approaching him slowly. She spoke in a slow, soothing voice as she lowered her hand to his exposed arm. "Can you let me do that?"

Simon flinched but as soon as Kaylee squeezed his hand, he calmed and gazed adoringly at her, his cloudy eyes closing.

The next day, Simon was sick - dreadfully so. The onset of chills shook him to the very core and his hair and clothes were drenched with sweat. He was more coherent now and far less violent but that just made the exhausting sickness more painful to witness.

Kaylee and Regan sat with him, refusing to leave his side, while Samantha sat back and recorded in her journal - or, rather, Simon's journal - every treatment she had administered. He was getting better, the foreign drugs purging themselves from his system as the hours passed.

She'd given River a sedative to make her sleep and Samantha had discovered a newfound respect for what Simon had been trying to accomplish. His sister was clearly a very disturbed girl, especially when it came to her brother's health. She would appear normal, slightly detached one moment and then highly hysterical the next.

"C'mon, Simon, ya havta eat." Kaylee pressed the spoon to his lips but he weakly brushed her hand away.

He hadn't said much, but his eyes had spoken volumes. They were haunted, the energy behind them diminished in some unfathomable way. He recognized his mother but was far too sick to question why she was there - if there had been words spoken, Kaylee hadn't been there to hear them. But, his inability to keep anything down started to worry her, and to a lesser extent, his mother, who knew and understood all too well what was happening.

"He's going through withdrawal," Samantha explained again as Kaylee once again lay a wet cloth across Simon's forehead.

"How longs it last?" Kaylee asked, her worried eyes scanning Simon's pale, sweat-covered face. "It's been so long."

"Not much longer - I hope. But the traditional drugs used to help remove narcotics from ones system don't seem to be working properly. This could last a week or longer."

"A week." Kaylee's eyes filled with tears. It was so terribly hard to see him like this, so helpless and in pain.

"I'm sure they didn't give him narcotics." Regan held Simon's hand. Her heart broke for the child she felt she had abandoned to this fugitive life. It hurt her more than words could say to see the mistreatment he had suffered at the hands of the Feds.

"Not in the strictest sense, no." Samantha leaned down to take Simon's vitals. "But the combination of drugs in his system is causing the same affect as if he'd been taking drops."

"He won't - ya know, die from it, will he?" Kaylee asked, her voice trembling. She carefully dabbed at Simon's face with the cool cloth.

"Rarely does someone die from detoxification." Samantha glanced over the stabilizing vitals.

"But it does happen," Regan could see through what her friend had not said.

"I don't know every drug they used, and therefore I don't know its affects on the body." Samantha sat back into a chair and began to add to another journal entry. "So - it could. But I am optimistic that Simon is healthy enough that there will be no lasting effects from whatever treatment he underwent."

Regan carefully watched Kaylee's face as she whispered to Simon, the care with which she wiped his face, and the adoration in her eyes. A small smile crossed her face. "You do love my son, don't you?"

Kaylee looked down at Simon for a moment, as if contemplating the answer. She wasn't sure she was ready to talk about this with his mother, they'd only just met, but she found herself answering "yes" in a soft voice before she could stop herself.

Regan nodded slowly, recognizing the honest answer for what it was. Kaylee was not the kind of girl she imagined her son choosing to share his life with, but, in the past year, he had obviously changed. Circumstance and experience had changed him - for the better, Regan suspected. She couldn't wait to meet this new son. He would recover. She - and Kaylee - would make sure of it.

Kaylee flattened her hand against the side of Simon's face as he groaned. She leaned down and pressed her lips to his temple, whispering, "Oh honey, you'll be right as rain in no time. Yer momma's here. She's missed you so. An' River - yer makin' her crazy bein' so sick. An' I - I don' know what ta do ta help ya. But I will. I'll do anythin'."

"How about we take turns?" Regan suggested as she handed Kaylee a basin and a dry towel. They were both exhausted and needed rest. As much as she wanted to stay and hold her son as if he was still that little boy who came crying to her whenever he had hurt himself, she knew she needed to let him go. "You stay for a few hours and then I'll be back to take over. We won't tire ourselves out too much that way."

Kaylee nodded and made no move to get up from where she lay beside Simon on the bed that they shared.

Regan stood and took a deep breath. "I will return in a few hours."

"Kaylee?" Simon turned weary eyes on the girl lying asleep on the bed beside him.

When she heard his voice, Kaylee lifted her head and smiled brightly. "Simon!" She hugged him tightly, but he groaned and she pulled away, not understanding. She tried to mask the hurt in her eyes.

"Don't feel so good," Simon muttered as he rolled over into a fetal position away from her. Spotting the basin sitting on a table beside the bed, he reached out a trembling hand for it.

Kaylee quickly got off the bed to wet the towel, while Simon lost the liquid contents of his stomach once again. He hadn't kept anything down while she'd been there, and she knew he hadn't kept anything down during his mother's shift either.

"Oh, honey." Kaylee took the basin from his shaking hands and set it aside. When she pressed the cold cloth to his face and forehead, he trembled, drawing the blanket up to his neck.

"This - is why one should - never take -" He reached for the basin again.

Kaylee wiped his face, and brushed her fingers through his damp hair. It fell over his eyes as he leaned weakly back into the mattress having expelled what little remained in his stomach.

" - barbituates," he breathed.

Samantha entered then, Regan at her heels.

"Simon, good to see you awake."

Simon turned glassy eyes on the familiar looking woman and then closed them again. "I'd rather be unconscious."

Samantha nodded in understanding. "Detox is not an enjoyable experience."

The only answer she received was a muffled groan.

River swept into the room and smiled brightly. She bent and kissed her brother's cheek, sing-songing, "Getting better."

Simon narrowed his eyes at her. "Your - cheerfulness - disturbs me." He trembled and River tucked the blankets around him, letting her hand linger on his cheek for a moment.

"Poster child for drops. Never take them. Very bad." River nodded at everyone in the room before backing away to let Samantha take his temperature.

Simon rolled his head weakly toward his sister. "Thank you." He breathed, the nausea returning. "I would - never have known." His attempt at sarcasm left a smile on everyone's lips. He was getting better. It would just take a bit more time.

River's eyes widened for a moment before narrowing in concern. There was something - something at work here she could not understand. For the first time, her brother's thoughts were not easy to read. They were clouded - blocked.

"How's the patient today?" Mal stood in the doorway, his voice booming into the room.

Simon groaned and draped an arm over his eyes, trying to shut out the light and sound.

Mal raised an eyebrow and turned toward Samantha, impatient for an answer.

"He's doing better. What he's feeling now is a common in those recovering from a drug dependency."

"Last long?" Mal asked, his eyes lingering on Kaylee wiping Simon's face.

"Long enough," Simon answered from the bed, his voice strained, as Regan held the basin for her son.

Mal winced at the pained tone and disgust crossed his handsome face. "Well, ain't you a picture a health." He left quickly, River on his heels.

Mal noticed her distraction and asked, "What is it, little Albatross?" as they walked toward the cockpit. "Makin' your own self sick watchin' that?"

River nodded and said simply. "He is sick."

Mal let a snort of laughter slip through his lips. "Well now that's obvious."

River sat in the co-pilots chair and drew her knees up to her chest. She stared out into the black, her heart heavy. "Very sick." She muttered as she wrapped her arms around her knees and trembled.

TBC

Chinese Translations for Chapter 6

"Lao tyen yeh."- Jesus

"hwoon dahn"- bastard

Response to reader comments:

Jessclifton - See, your reaction was exactly what I was hoping for. Hopefully you won't see the next thing coming too :)

TheScribe3 - Oh, there is a LOT more of Kaylee to come. A lot. Don't worry. Was a bunch of her in this chapter and there will be a lot more. This IS a S/K fic after all :)

AracayaRuby - Well, hi! A new person! I'm glad you stumbled onto the story and like it so much. Thanks for the long comments! I love the idea of Simon being tortured or injured too. Objects in Space is one of my favs because of the opening scene AND the shirtless scene. You must like the shirtless scene in the movie too, hmm? I know I was jumping for joy when I saw it :)

I'm glad you were captivated and hopefully, you will remain that way until the very end. More surprises to come - hopefully you lovely readers, like Mal says of the Alliance in the movie, 'won't see this coming' …..

The blue hands will be back. They have one more creepifying (well I think it is, anyway) scene before the end.

Pokey – There's some more twists coming….:) Glad you liked Jayne. I really do enjoy writing him.

Scott – Glad you're still reading. This chapter is a little mushy so hope you can stomach it. More little twists to come . . .

Sandpiper – You're right. He'd mistake it for intuition or a gut feeling. Or his parents would mistake it for simply 'missing' his sister because of a close sibling bond. That's all he really has IMO, but for the purpose of my story, that 'intuition' is intensified for the duration he is under treatment. You'll see why in the next chapter… Something happened to him when he was there . . . River went through behavioral conditioning, remember . . . :) No more hints…hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Erisinia – Well, he's not - really . . . You'll see :) As far as Jayne being humane . . Well, since he pointedly told Simon in the episode 'Serenity' (at the dinner table no less) that Kaylee wished he was a gynecologist, I don't think his comments in the last chapter were too out of character.

Aurelia30 – Evil? Me? No, evil would be to kill him. And I don't do that – well, in this story. My next one? Well, you'll just have to wait and see.

Zonya – Glad you liked this chapter. The next one gives little away, but it doesmake one wonder – I hope!

Devianttart – Well, daddy is mentioned at the very end and I do leave it ambiguous as to his involvement or knowledge of what went on at the Academy. See my comment to Sandpiper above for your question on Simon.