“I’m telling you,” Jayne said rather loudly, “there’s nothin’ wrong with me.”

“You look awful,” Inara told him. “Not that it’s a complete change from the norm…”

“I really don’t need you gettin’ sick on me,” Mal said, “but if you say you’re fine, then you’re fine.”

“Thank you,” Jayne said. “I am fine.”

“You’ll be bedridden by morning,” River said.

“Would you stop?” Jayne asked her first, and then turned to Mal. “Would you please get her to stop that?”

“How ‘bout everybody gets back to their work,” Mal said, “and leave Jayne be.”

Mal’s word was the end of that conversation.

“Are we ready to leave this rock?” he asked River.

“Yes, sir,” she answered. The sir was something she had picked up from Zoë. Mal certainly didn’t mind it.

“Good,” he said, mostly to himself. “Good work is hard to come by, and I don’t need to botch this job.”

Soon it was only Jayne and Mal left in the cargo bay unloading the supplies. Jayne was grumbling, as he always did when River told him her opinion.

“I ain’t been sick in years,” he said.

* * *

“Jayne ain’t gettin’ out of bed, sir,” Zoe informed Mal, who was sitting behind Serenity’s controls.

“How shi sung chung,” he answered sarcastically.

River had an I-told-you-so look on her face, but she didn’t say anything.

Simon came in slowly, obviously still not feeling well. Kaylee was right behind him; apparently trying to make sure he stayed upright, all though he wasn’t having much trouble.

“You gonna be all right, doc?” Mal asked.

“Kaylee has done a fair job of nursing me back to health,” he said as he grinned at Kaylee.

“Cuz we got another sicky needs tendin’ to,” Mal said.

“Oh,” Simon said, apparently just remembering that he had a job on the ship. “I’ll get something for him.” He and Kaylee turned to leave.

“I think you’d better make up some more of that soup, Kaylee,” Mal said.

“Me?” Kaylee asked. “I, uh…”

“It seemed to do wonders for Simon.”

“Yes, sir,” she said