Mal was furious as he punched in the code to unlock Serenity. "How could no one have seen anything? It's not like she blends in! That woman is the shiniest thing on this gorram hunk of gou shi! And it's not like they weren't starin' hard enough to notice while she and I were walkin' around earlier."

Four hours had passed. They had searched the market questioning everyone they could find, which, considering that it was almost full dark, wasn't many. They had asked around in every open establishment in town. And had finally ended up asking the local law enforcement. No one could remember seeing anything. And the sheriff just shook his head and said something about her not being missing long enough. Even Jayne knew enough to keep his mouth shut as he and Zoe followed the Captain back on board.

They found Kaylee and Simon sitting at the dining table. Kaylee's eyes and hope fell as she realized that Inara wasn't with them.

"Any news, Kaylee?"

"Nothing Cap'n. Santo seems to have its fair share of unsavories, but otherwise nothing real unusual or notable for a moon this sized. Nothing that points to Inara. Nothing that points to us, even."

Mal nodded and looked to Simon. "Did River have anything new to add?"

Simon cleared his throat. "She was incoherent but basically calm up until about an hour ago when she started scratching at her wrists and ranting something about snakes cutting off her circulation. I, I had to sedate her when she started screaming."

Kaylee blanched at the memory and stared at her hands in her lap. They were all quiet for a few seconds that felt like hours.

"Well. Nothin' else we can do tonight." Mal's voice felt tight in his throat. "We'll look again in the morning. Try an' get some sleep." His heart was pounding so loud he couldn't hear if there were any protests as he left the room. Seeing the look in his eyes and unable to think of anything else that they could accomplish before morning, the others went to their bunks, though not a one was headed towards sleep.

Rest! That was a cruel joke, and Mal didn't even try. He couldn't even stand still, so he paced through the ship. He walked in circles through Serenity. Every time he passed through the cargo bay he would open the hatch and step outside, hoping against reason to see her walking back to the ship. But as he stood there, still in the cold night, the self-flagellation would begin.

Why did he leave her there? He could have waited, should have. He should have known better than to leave her alone. On a civilized world her status as a registered companion would have protected her better than a dozen bodyguards, but here? In a crap town like this, on the edge of nowhere, someone may have just seen her as an easy mark.

Every time he stopped moving his mind filled with thoughts of what someone might have done to her, and how helpless he was now to do anything about it but wait. Waiting had never been one of his strong points.

The night passed very slowly.

The sky was beginning to lighten when he stepped out of the ship, again, and found her. The panic that had been ripping him apart inside all night tore through his heart. She was laying naked in a crumpled pile a few feet from the door.

He could see massive, angry, bruises covering her. There were a few places where her skin had split and bled. Her face was swollen beyond recognition. If it weren't for her hair and the delicate curve of her neck he might have believed it to be someone else. He covered her with his coat and checked for a pulse. She was still alive, but judging by the damage showing on her outside, he figured it to be a miracle. He carefully checked her for wounds that might worsen when he moved her. Satisfied that he wouldn't have to leave her there he picked her up as gently as he could. He carried her inside to the infirmary, lay her down on the exam bed and hit the intercom.

"Simon! Get to the infirmary now!"

His panic had found friends and it was all he could do to keep his fear and rage from taking hold of him as his vision kept threatening to black out. Now that she was laying under the unforgiving exam lights she looked like she should be dead and he had to check her pulse again, just to make sure. He adjusted his coat so it was fully covering her as he heard footsteps fast approaching.

"Oh, God!" Simon exclaimed. "Where did you find her?" As he quickly started examining her, her pulse, her pupils, although that proved a bit of a challenge since her eyes were swollen shut.

"Inara! Oh, God, no." Kaylee's eyes full of tears. Zoe and Jayne were right behind her.

Simon was hooking her up to the monitor when he realized Mal hadn't answered him, hadn't said anything. He looked up at the Captain and could tell that the man was just barely holding on. He placed his concern behind his training. Understanding that time was of the essence he asked them all to leave so he could work. Mal didn't budge. But when Zoe told him she would help Simon, he allowed himself to be guided out of the room.

Mal's world had shut down to encompass only the feeling of her pulse beneath his fingers. He didn't realize at first that he was sitting in the common room. He couldn't feel what he was sitting on and he had no idea how long it had taken before he had become aware of the others hovering around between him and the infirmary windows. They waited. They waited for what seemed like an eternity.

It was, in fact, three hours before Simon stepped out of the infirmary. Mal looked up at him. But, since his legs suddenly didn't seem to be working he stayed seated.

"It's lucky that you found her when you did. She has sustained massive amounts of trauma, two broken ribs, a broken collarbone and her right arm's fractured, as is her left cheekbone. She had some internal bleeding, which has been stopped, and she most likely has a concussion. There is no way to know how serious the trauma to her head is until she wakes up though. She's stable, for now, but, there's more." He swallowed thickly and looked away from Mal. "She's been raped, repeatedly." He reached out for Kaylee, who had started to cry.

“Cao ni zuzong shiba dai!” Jayne swore softly.

Finding the strength that pain always seemed to bring him, Mal stood and walked in to sit next to Inara. Carefully taking her left hand in his he lowered his head and although he would never admit it to anyone, not even himself, Malcolm Reynolds prayed.