PART 6 – Hint of a miracle

River couldn’t decide if she wanted to cling to Mal or not, but she kept crying out for ‘daddy’ and he wasn’t correcting her, and Kaylee wasn’t quite sure how to read that. He sat on the bed with her, holding the blanket to her because she kept pushing it off, and tried to rub some warmth into her bones. Kaylee sat on the side of the bed, stroking River’s hair, and murmuring soothes. She needed Simon and a box of tissues would not go amiss either.

“I want to go home,” River cried over and over, rocking against Mal, alternately pounding her head against his chest and trying to escape his embrace.

“We ain’t going anywhere ‘til Zoë pulls through, so just settle yourself down,” Kaylee said firmly. Mal gave her a look and she gave him a look right back. Being accommodating wasn’t going to change things, so she may as well speak honestly. River furrowed her brow and stopped whining, trying to understand the rebuke.

“I want to fly the ship,” she explained, her eyes finding focus as she processed where she was. She separated herself from Mal and edged carefully off the bed, closing her eyes when her bare feet hit the cold tile floor. Mal stood and blocked the door to the hospital room so she wouldn’t dart out.

Then she said, “The ship is home.”

“You mean that luxury boat?” Kaylee asked. She could never remember the name of the ship River worked on.

River shook her head and circled the room, touching the walls like they were paths to another time, then she looked back at them and said, “Serenity.”

Mal inhaled and shuddered. “Little River, Serenity ain’t going anywhere unless it’s in the hold of a much bigger ship. Best we can do is weld the name plate onto something that ain’t so broken.”

“Sick,” River murmured, then she leaned against the wall and sank to the floor, hugging her stomach. “Useless.”

“How sick are you?” Kaylee asked, setting a bowl down next to her in case she vomited again. “Do I need to get Simon?”

River shook her head and pressed b