"You're kidding, right?" Simon stared at the boy who was clearly already suffering some negative side effects of sleep deprivation as well as malnutrition. Did he think this was a joke or a game? "I can't give you stimulants! My god, you're probably on the verge of hallucinating as it is! You need to sleep!"

"No… I can't." Jerry insisted. "Bad things happen when I sleep. I'm not asking you to keep me awake forever or give me enough to last for weeks - just a few days. Just until we land. I swear I'll sleep as soon as this ship is back in the sky. I have to stay awake until then."

"I'm sorry but morally and ethically I can't encourage you to further damage yourself. I can give you some sedatives. If you're worried you may do something to put us in danger we can lock you in your room, tie you to the bed, set Jayne to guard you… whatever it takes to make you comfortable. I'm not going to keep you awake, though." He made sure his tone was firm. As much as he hated even thinking about it, he might have to bring the Captain in to intervene if this guy wouldn't take no for an answer.

"You don't understand…" He huffed in frustration.

"Then help me."

"I… honestly, I don't think you'll believe me until you have too much proof to do anything about it." He dropped heavily into one of the chairs. "I've been told I'm insane enough in the last week but this isn't insanity. It's so much worse than that…"

"If you have a valid concern you should be able to offer proof of some kind."

"I do - but you won't believe it, anyway. No one has yet. They just laugh and tell me to go get some sleep." He leaned back against the wall and stared at the ceiling. "Believe me, I'd love to but it's not safe for me or anyone else."

"I've… seen some strange and insane things in my time." Simon admitted - being around River the last few months had guaranteed that. "Show me your proof and we'll go from there."

Jerry looked back down at him, holding Simon's gaze in silence for a few moments before coming to a decision. He stood, turned and pulled his shirt off. Running almost the length of his back were four long lacerations, the two in the middle seemed the deepest. From the look of the scabs he would estimate the injury to have been four or five days prior and all of them were showing signs of infection. It was odd - the pattern was similar to claw marks but the cuts were far too clean for that.

"Lay down - that has to be cleaned." He said with a sigh. "I can give you some antibiotics for this… what happened?"

"This is what happened last time I fell asleep." He said as he stifled a yawn. "I was alone in a safe and comfortable place. The wounds happened in my dream and I woke up with them."

"That's unusual but not entirely unheard of. The brain's ability to…"

"No. This isn't about my brain." He said impatiently. Simon didn't mind too much - even he had trouble believing just this guy's expectation of the wounds had been enough to create such deep cuts. Scratches maybe… if this had happened to River he might be a little more likely to believe. "There's something else going on and it sounds crazy but from what I've seen I have enough proof that I need to get as far from people as possible as fast as possible. These nightmares almost seem like they're contagious so the best thing for me to do is stay awake by myself and get off this ship as soon as it touches land."

Simon frowned but kept cleaning. Normally he would be safe in assuming the wounds were self inflicted but the angle of the cuts was clearly not possible to accomplish unassisted. Even if he had someone do this to him what would be the benefit? He wasn't looking for attention, just escape to an unpopular planet on the Rim. Even at the best of times if he were healthy he wouldn't be the sort of person Simon would assume could handle the hard life out there. This boy would be most comfortable in a more civilized area.

As he cleaned the wounds his mind was circling every book and paper he had read on the subject of sleep but he couldn't think of any disease, mental or physical, that would explain the spontaneous appearance of this kind of wound. Whatever the problem was, it wasn't medical. At least not the source problem. He was going to develop problems if this refusal to sleep continued.

"How long ago did you say these wounds happened?" Simon asked.

"Five days ago."

Simon sighed - that lined up with his estimate. It was possible to be awake for at least 11 days without risking permanent damage but that didn't mean it was wise or without consequences. "You said you had enough proof for your own satisfaction… what else can you tell me?"

"Nothing you'll believe." He grumbled. "I had a few friends who started getting these nightmares before me. Some kind of Reaver chasing them, getting closer every day. Always mocking and laughing at them. I thought it was a bad joke until they started waking up hurt… then they didn't wake up. As one died another started having nightmares. Then it started happening to me. Once the wounds start showing up like this you don't have long… I may survive sleep once more if I'm really lucky but then I also risk spreading it."

"That's very unlik-" Simon began, frowning as Jerry interrupted again.

"I'm not asking you to believe me." He snapped, twisting his head to look back at the doctor. "I just want you to humor me for a couple of days, alright? Maybe I'm insane and cut myself for attention. Maybe I was targeted by a murderer and escaped the planet. Maybe I'm telling the truth. Whatever you want to believe, all you have to do is humor me for a few days then I'll be gone and it won't matter anyway."

"Quite a tale regardless." Mal said from the doorway. Simon almost dropped a bottle of antiseptic - he hadn't heard anyone in the hall. He had yet to get used to the Captain appearing out of nowhere as he did once in a while. The man could move silently on this old ship when he wanted to.

Jerry sighed heavily. "Just… keep me awake. That's all that matters."

"Keep you from fallin' asleep where a dream Reaver might get you?" Mal asked skeptically. "Doc, what really happened to cut him up like that?"

"I'd say-"

"Four long blades." Jerry interrupted again. Simon glared at him - that was getting old. "The Reaver had them attached to his hand."

The Captain looked to Simon with a raised eyebrow.

He nodded unhappily. "That… would explain the pattern and depth. I've never heard of a dream causing wounds of this magnitude but the injuries do match his description of what happened."

"What's the likelihood the boy ain't sane enough to know the truth after goin' without sleep?" Mal pressed. "Think he could have been attacked by a real person and thought it a dream?"

"No! I may be tired but I'm not crazy." Jerry said sharply, rolling off the table and wincing as his back twisted more than the wounds were prepared for.

"He… doesn't appear to have been awake long enough for hallucinations or any measurable level of psychosis." Simon admitted reluctantly. He couldn't believe the proffered story but while he couldn't rule out a pre-existing mental health issue, he was certain that there was nothing physically wrong with the boy that couldn't be explained by a lack of sleep and nutritious food for the last five days.

"Your call, then." Mal said with a shrug as he turned away. "Don't go wastin' supplies."

"So you going to help?" Jerry asked.

"Come back if your back starts bothering you. I'll give you antibiotics and something to help with the pain but I don't believe dreams are capable of causing harm like this." Simon said, sighing as the boy stormed off. What he needed most was sleep - only once he had gotten some real rest would he be thinking clearly enough to see his fears were unfounded. No sense wasting supplies as the Captain had pointed out. From what he could see Jerry would likely lose his battle to stay awake before they landed.