Haven't spent a lot ot time prettying this part up so if you find fractures that need splinting, please let me know and I'll fix them. Hope it mostly follows okay. For those of you who asked for Jayne to hurry up and rise again, trust me a little longer. Delayed satisfaction makes the reaping more pleasurable, dontcha think? :0)

The Measure of a Jayne, Part 3

Simon finished recording his latest findings which, when compared with the past days’ figures charted on a graph indicated almost miraculous progress. He checked once again to be sure, and dared himself to hope that his latest doctor/patient ordeal might actually be nearing an end.

The signs led toward it being a good end indeed, better than he’d have dared hope when he first laid eyes on Jayne bled nearly dry into the desert dust, life slowly leaking from two grievous wounds, either of which could have been fatal. The copious but nearly sterile dust that caked him from head to toe was an aid in stanching the blood flow. It was likely part of what kept the burly merc's soul and body intact until Simon's superior services brought him back from near-dead status.

Yes, the results were all there on paper logged in Simon's precise and flowing script. Some combination of the excellent education his noble parents had provided and the grueling hours of emergency surgery he had successfully wrought during his spotless internship had brought him to this place and this patient.

Jayne reaped the benefit of Simon’s learning and experience. Hell, they all did on this boat. Not exactly the clientele he had envisioned when he was a star medical student and intern. In no way could the smooth promising path of his former life have prepared him for its current and frequent twist of healing gun shot/knife lacerated/poisoned/tortured/fractured thieves aboard a smuggling ship.

Would that eons younger and far happier Simon Tam striding along toward a secure future have believed it if told about the fodder that would provide him with his bread