The Dr. Tam Journals – Part 11 – Trash

Kaylee, Simon, and River stood at the foot of the cargo bay ramp, their luggage at their feet, looking up at Mal, Zoe, Jayne and Inara. The dreaded moment had arrived and Kaylee had a lump in her throat, unable to say what she wanted to say to them.

“It’s time,” Simon finally said to her. “Our ship leaves in thirty minutes.”

“I hate saying goodbye,” she replied, afraid she’d start crying. She was looking at them all, especially her Capt’n, her big brother, her hero.

“It ain’t goodbye,” Mal said. “We’ll be seeing you again, little Kaylee. I can promise you that much. Take care.”

With that he turned and walked inside and the others followed, not a word to those left behind. Kaylee felt it was all wrong, something terrible was wrong, and then Serenity took off. But wait, who was piloting it? Who was looking after the sick and injured? Who was taking care of the engines? No one was! She started running after the ship, Simon and River chasing her, their voices lost to the noise of the engines and then Serenity was high in the sky and Kaylee felt sick at heart. Suddenly there was a tremendous explosion as Serenity blew up into a million pieces, raining metal and death all around the Eavesdown Docks of Persephone.

Kaylee screamed “NO!” over and over again and then fell to the ground and covered her eyes, not wanting to be alive anymore, knowing it was her fault Serenity blew up ‘cause she wasn’t there to look after her. After a long while the noise of the explosion disappeared and Kaylee opened her eyes and stood.

She wasn’t on the Eavesdown Docks anymore, but in a bedroom and a baby was crying. She went to a crib in a corner and saw the most beautiful baby girl in the verse and knew she was hers. The baby had captivating green eyes like hers and lovely brown hair. She picked her up and cuddled her and sat in a rocking chair by an open window and hugged and loved her daughter. She closed her eyes, sang a lullaby and fell asleep with her baby in her arms.

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