Disclaimer: Firefly and I have nothing to do with one another. =o)

The Trunk

By KaySky

Chapter Four

“How is she?” Asked Mal.

Simon took a deep breath. He had been running off pure adrenaline the past few hours. “She lost a lot of blood, but she’s stabilized.”

“She gonna make it?” Mal was worried. Danielle was motionless on the table. All signs of life seemed to be swept away.

Simon sloped down against the wall of the infirmary. He was exhausted. “The next hour or so is critical. If she makes it through that, she’ll be on her way to a full recovery.” He felt his eyelids getting heavy. “I’ll stay with her.”

“Hey…” Kaylee said quietly as she walked into the infirmary. “Is Dani…” Tears started to form in her eyes as she walked over to the examine table and took Danielle’s hand.

“She’ll be fine, meimei.” Mal said reassuringly. “The Doc is pretty good at what he does.” Kaylee forced a small smile. “Miss Kaylee, you were quite the brave girl tonight.” Mal walked over to her, draped his arms over her shoulders, pulling her against him, giving her a tight hug. “You did good too, Simon.” The events of the evening were replaying through his mind. “Ain’t givin’ you a hug though.” He smirked.

* * * *

It was the beginning of a new day. Danielle had been wide awake for hours amusing Kaylee and River with funny wedding stories. She was not the type of person who let a bullet put a damper in her day. Plus all the pain medication seemed to be giving her quite the high. The girl’s conversation ceased when they saw Mal standing in the doorway. “I need to talk to Dani for a minute.” Kaylee and River nodded obligingly and left the infirmary, leaving Danielle and Mal to their privacy.

“You want to open the trunk?” Danielle knew where this conversation was going.

“I think I have a right to know what almost got me and my crew killed.”

“It was important to my Uncle to get the trunk to Noble safely, unopened.” Her eyes fell to her stomach. She placed her hand over the