Simon found his hand cupping his throat of its own will. The bruises there reminded him of Mal's orders, Kaylee's hurt and his own resolution.

He'd been ordered to report all such things to Mal in future.

Kaylee'd been hurt, certain that he didn't trust her with his secrets.

Neither of them understood that they weren’t his secrets to betray.

That it was the most sacred rights of a patient.

Just as a priest didn’t betray what he heard in confessionals, so doctors didn’t betray what they learned from their patients.

So.

Even if Mal saw it as disobedience and threw him off his ship.

Even if Kaylee were hurt by what she saw as his distrust, even if it lost her for him (though the notion hurt him more than he would ever be able to express).

What passed between him and the crew, his family would stay with him.

He would not betray his oaths.

He’d given up so much all ready; he would not give up that.

So he didn’t put Zoë off, he didn’t call Mal to participate in the discussion.

But that being said, he wasn’t going to go forward with this until he was sure that it was the right thing to do.

So he answered Zoë’s question with one of his own

“Have you thought this through?”

Her eyes narrowed, and he cringed inside; as Wash had frequently said, this was a woman that could kill him with her pinky, and for all that he liked and respected her, he was a little afraid of her when he had done or said something she disapproved of.

But he wouldn’t back down, so he met her eyes and waited for a response.

She sighed, and with that simple action all the fire in her seemed to have died out.

“You all have worried about me, telling me about what Wash had left was a hard decision for you. I know that. I know that you are afraid that I am rushing into this. But I’m not. I want this child; Wash wanted me to have this child. This is not a decision born out of my grief.”

She paused and took a deep breath, but before she could continue, Mal cleared his throat behind her.

Sim