Disclaimers : Everything belongs to Joss, except for one character of my creation

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**Mousing over the Chinese should reveal the English translations on most browsers. If not, translations follow the story.

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It was two a.m. on Haven, and Mal was dozing in a chair in the clinic recovery room. Simon had surgically removed the knife from Alex that afternoon, and it had been hard on her. She had needed another transfusion (Simon had collected from several generous villagers, so he had extra on hand now), and the anesthesia had caused her heart rate and breathing to drop to a level Simon was not comfortable with. He had put her on oxygen and left her on it to be on the safe side. He had also inserted a nasograstric feeding tube for nutrition, and had concocted a liquid protein supplement to feed her through it. He wanted someone with her round the clock. Mal had insisted on sitting with her all night, even though the crew thought it was a bad idea, since they knew he hadn’t been getting much sleep. They also knew him well enough to realize that arguing would be futile. So Simon had shown him how to monitor the equipment and how to administer the liquid through the feeding tube, and had gone off to bed, as had the rest.

The clinic was silent except for the hiss of the oxygen and the soft, steady clicks the IV pump made as it measured out the fluids. They were hypnotic sounds, and Mal caught himself nodding off a couple times. He got up and stretched when that happened, setting a timer to alert him when something needed to be done.

He wondered how conscious her mind was. Kaylee had asked Simon if he thought she could hear them if they talked to her. Simon said he doubted it, but it certainly couldn’t hurt, just in case.

Around one a.m., after stepping outside for a breath of fresh air to wake himself, Mal pulled the chair close to her bedside and took one of her heavily b