CHAPTER THREE: Got a Story Ta Tell Ya

Jayne was greeted by the familiar ceiling of their bedroom when he woke up. For a moment he thought that everything had been a dream. They hadn’t found him again and he didn’t have yet another scar to add to his collection. But the spike of pain that lanced through his shoulder when he reached out for River brought him back to reality.

"Shouldn’t have moved." She rolled onto her side to face him. The sun was already up and splashing rays of light through the little room. It bounced off the white washed walls and through River’s hair, making it sparkle with reddish highlights. Her pale skin seemed to glow and her deep brown eyes were warm with life. They reminded him of another pair of brown eyes that had looked back at him what seemed a lifetime ago.

"Morning, gorgeous." He covered his mouth to stifle a yawn. "How long was I out?"

"It is four hours before high noon on the seventh day of the week. Roberto does not understand your rapid metabolism and natural resistance to sedatives." She began checking his bandages. Finding that they were not displaced or soaked through with blood, she smoothed them down and let her fingers play over his bare chest.

"Yeah, well, Roberto might know more than anyone about bringin’ babes into this ‘verse but yer brother, he ain’t."

"No, he is definitely not Simon."

"So what happened after I got shot?"

"The Sheriff found us, took you to the doctor, found the undertaker. Was ignored by the doctor, helped the undertaker move the bodies. Didn’t want people to see them on the way to church."

"Aw, Kooky, you didn’t have ta do that. Shoulda just let ole’ Stan take care a them all."

She shrugged. "You were still with the doctor. Didn’t want to just sit."

She fell silent after that. It was rare that they were able to simply enjoy each other’s company like this so they soaked it up while they could. The bar kept them busy most days and when it didn’t, there was always something to be done around the house. Eventual