A/N: See? I get those nice shiny comments and you get chapters posted every day! I call that a win-win!

Thanks to Leiasky for the beta on this one. Just as an update, I finished the sequel to this story, "Unforeseen Consequences" over the weekend. It's 240+ pages of angsty goodness! And a little fluff ...

Keep leaving those comments, pretty please??!?!?

“She’s not really speaking to me so I’m not exactly sure how she’s feeling.” With a heavy heart, Simon let out a sigh, his eyes gazing to Kaylee’s motionless form as she sat, hands in her lap across the room. Looking back to Eli and Evelyn with the most forlorn of expressions, the young doctor added, “I’m still concerned that she might-“

Resting a comforting hand to his shoulder, Evelyn smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, Simon. We’ll take good care of her.”

Nodding stiffly, Simon bent his head closer to Eli’s to give a few instructions, while across the way, Inara and Mal were saying goodbye. The captain’s weight was fully supported on a crutch, the muscles of his forearm bulging under the stress of leaning on it so heavily. But due to his stubbornness, he’d refused a wheelchair. So, Inara had simply decided to ignore his machismo and stay as close to him as possible.

The fingers of his free hand rested softly against Inara’s cheek and she turned into the touch, brushing her lips over his palm, before turning those huge, brown eyes to meet his gaze. “We’ll be fine, Mal,” she assured him, forcing a smile to her face she did not feel.

Swallowing uncomfortably, Mal shifted his weight and murmured, “Yeah, I know.”

Smiling softly at his failed attempt to mask his true feelings, Inara squeezed his hand in hers and said, “Zoe and Jayne won’t let anything happen to me. You know that.”

“Damn right, ‘cause I’ll kill ‘em both if somethin’ does,” he muttered fiercely. Swaying a bit on his feet, Mal begrudgingly allowed Inara to guide hi