If you haven't you should read "Beginning's End" first.

Disclaimer: Don't own it. If I was making money with it I wouldn't be a starving student, so just let me have my fun.

Thanks a million for all the shiny comments-- keep it up!

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Kaylee stood outside the infimary, gazing at the doctor through the window. He was immersed in his work, busy patching the woman the captain had brought on board back together. Zoe stood opposite him in surgery, mopping up rivulets of blood and handing him instruments, while Wash sat nearby in a chair, providing more blood for transfusion.

It wasn’t the first time Kaylee had gone out of her way to watch Simon at work. There was something yanqing about the way his hands moved… even though his face was obscured by the white mask, she always liked to watch his fingers as he probed and stitched. Fixing people. Just like he’d fixed her, that one time she’d got shot.

She hoped the cap’n was doing ok. They’d just been finishing up stowing the cargo, her and Zoe and the Shepherd, when they saw Mal and Jayne come trudging out of the woods. Mal had stopped just long enough to set the strange girl he was carrying down on Simon’s med bed and bark at Simon to look after her before disappearing into his bunk. Wasn’t like the cap’n to disappear like that, no explanation or nothing. Hardly a word to no one. Didn’t even seem to care about the cargo.

“You think she’ll make it?” Kaylee glanced up to see Jayne leaning against the infirmary window next to her. He bit into the green apple he was holding, staring in at the woman on the table as he chewed with his mouth open.

“Simon’s zhen de shi tian cai when it comes to fixin’ people. He’ll get her better,” Kaylee replied, nodding firmly. “Won’t he?”

“She’s tore up pretty bad. Shepherd’s in the kitchen prayin’. Wonder who she is. Who did that to her. Don’t seem to be no mystery to Mal though.”

“What? No. But why wouldn’t he tell us about her?” Jayne shrugged.

“D