Disclaimer: Not mine. Everything is Joss's.

Author's Note: I apologize that this took me so long! Here it is, I'm not entirely thrilled with it, but see what you think (and please let me know);

Epilogue

A bag settled loudly on the floor. A hulking shadow loomed in over the screen where Nurse Rei was inputting data from last night’s shift. Knowing full well who it was standing at his desk, Rei slowly finished the entirety of the sentence he was typing with his stylus before looking up with a calm professional mien.

“May I help you?”

“I’m waitin’ to hear you tell this girl a’ mine that I don’t snore.” The patient of the previous night, Jayne Cobb, gestured at the dainty ‘girl’ who was dwarfed beside his large form. “Then we’ll go.”

The nurse set down the stylus and leaned back in his chair. He’d had a long night, and he was tired, due in no small way to the patient standing before him. The man had finally fallen asleep, thanks to the intervention of his, um, girlfriend. But this morning Mr. Cobb had been more querulous and snappy than he had the night before. A laceration was found on his hand, presumably from the fall out of bed. When the nurse had tried to disinfect and dress it, he’d been rudely rebuffed. The patient had then proceeded to complain about everything; the distance to the shower room, the temperature of the water, and how long it was taking to get out of “this dump”, as he termed the state-of-the-art facility. And as for the howling that had ensued when the electrodes had to be pulled out of his chest hair – better not to remember that.

Well, no one was asking the nurse – no one ever did – but he had a few complaints too. He crossed his arms over the ID tag that read ‘Nurse Rei’ and leveled a deadpan gaze at Jayne.

“Oh, you snore, Mr. Cobb. You definitely snore.”

“See?” Mr. Cobb swung a triumphant look to his – whatever she was, who’d stayed the night with him. “If you’d a’ listened to me, we wouldn’t – wait. What?” He turned a confused look back to the