A/N: This is the second of a four part fic. Any feedback will be appreciated. Hope you all enjoy it. Also, a big THANKS to my beta, Chazzer.

Disclaimer: All things belong to Joss.

Strange, Stranger and Downright Unsettling

By abbeygirl

Part Two

When he awoke, the glare from the lights above made him squint his eyes. Suddenly someone leaned over him. With the light now being blocked by his visitor, he opened his eyes so he could see. It was River.

“River…” he started to say. “Are you, well, you?”

“Shhhh…” she interrupted. Her eyes locked with his. “It’s all fluid. Go with it.” With that, she turned and was gone.

How odd, Mal thought. But then again, he seldom understood what she meant. At least things seemed back to normal. River was River. He felt a huge weight being lifted from his chest. He breathed a sigh of relief. Mal sat up ever so slowly. His head still hurt, but dulled by the meds he had received. He looked around. Everything else seemed OK.

“Must have whacked my head pretty hard,” he said to himself, trying to allay the nagging feeling that things were not what they seemed. “Everything seems fine. Everything’s OK.”

Then he went to straighten his clothes. He looked down and noticed he was wearing Shepherd Book’s gray shirt and collar.

“Or not…” he braced himself up against the table for a minute, thinking. He started rationalizing the events from yesterday. “Just a prank. Has to be a big prank. Not very funny one though”

He decided that it was time to end the joke. He knew he had to find Zoe. Zoe would help him get these hooligans back to work. Slowly, he left the infirmary and went towards the bridge. As he got near to Shuttle one, he saw someone dart quickly towards him. He tried to avoid them, but still managed to collide with them and they both ended up on their asses. Something clanked as it hit the grate.

“Oh my God, Shepherd! I am so sorry!” she said as she picked up the dr