A/N: Well, for those of you that burned me in effigy after my last post ... I hope this eases things a bit ... and remember, 33 chapters total folks, we got a lot to get through ... hang on!

Thanks to Leiasky for the beta.

And thanks to everyone for all the great comments - you guys have helped on some pretty icky days and I appreciate it! Keep it up!

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A NEW DAY, ch. 16: Just the Beginning

***

It was the dead of night on Harvest when the call came through to Millie’s. Their wave screen beeped relentlessly until Zoe had managed to stumble from bed and flip it on. The sight of Simon’s mother, on the other side caused her breath to catch in her throat and she hurriedly went to get Kaylee and Simon both.

With trepidation and fear gripping their hearts, Kaylee sat in front of the screen, Simon standing behind her, his hands on her shoulders. Looking to his mother with hope and fear on his face, he asked quietly, “Mother?” When the woman did not volunteer any information, Simon heard Kaylee let out an audible sob, and he asked her, “Rylee?”

Nodding once, Regan allowed a few of her tears to fall as she told the parents, “Yes, dear, we have her. We’re bringing her home.”

With a big sigh of relief and a few tears, Simon hung his head at this news even as Kaylee turned in her seat and reached for him. Kneeling at her side, he hugged her tightly to him as she cried a bit. Rocking her gently, Simon allowed his eyes to drift back to the screen and he saw the concern on his mother’s features. Guessing there was more and also guessing it would not be good news, Simon pulled away from Kaylee a bit and questioned her, “How is she?”

Shaking her head sadly, Regan said haltingly, “Not good, son, but I think you probably could have guessed that.”

Kaylee let out another audible sob, burying her head into his shoulder as Simon held his mother’s gaze. Blinking back more tears of frustration and relief, he whispered, “Just bring her home, please.”

Still unwilling to close the connection, Regan regarded her son and daughter-in-law uncertain of what to tell them. She couldn’t keep River’s condition from them forever, but she wondered if now was really the time.

However, Simon took the choice away from her. “What else?”

Surprised by his intuition, although she would never know why, Regan finally smiled sadly to him and crying steadily, murmured, “It’s River.”

***

Jayne sat at her side, watching as River’s chest moved up and down in rhythm, her breathing shallow, her face pale. They had completed her surgery a few hours ago, removing the bullet and patching up the organs that had been damaged as the hot metal had pierced through her intestines and below. Holding her cold hand to his mouth, Jayne kissed it even as he murmured comforting words to her.

Unable to witness the scene for a minute more, Regan turned and found herself looking at the doctor to whom her daughter’s care had been entrusted. He was an old family friend and Regan smiled at him with tearful eyes.

Placing a light hand to her shoulder, the older man told her quietly, “She’s doing very well, considering.”

Nodding once at his assessment, Regan blinked her tears away quickly and asked, “And Rylee?”

Grimacing, he said, “I called for the therapist you asked for. She should be here in just a few minutes.”

“I’m going to go sit with her. Come and get please if River’s condition changes.” The older man nodded once and then Regan moved away from him, a weariness permeating her movements that she had not felt for quite some time. With another sigh and straightening of her shoulders, she rounded the corner into her granddaughter’s room and willed her body not to give out on her.

The little girl was curled into a ball on her side, one of her arms held at an odd angle as the doctors had been forced to give her an IV of fluid and nutrients. She had not said a word since they’d brought her into the hospital and whether it was because she couldn’t or wouldn’t, no one was quite able to determine. She had not cried either, her eyes instead remaining open, blinking occasionally as she stared off into space.

Stifling a sob, Regan moved towards her side and sat in a chair that was directly in the little girl’s line of sight. Reaching out a gentle hand, she smoothed some of her hair back from her face and murmured to her, “Rylee, it’s grandma. Can you hear me sweetie?”

She got no answer, and although she had not expected one, her granddaughter’s continued silence only made her heart break more. Sitting back in the chair, she thought of the fact that the longer they stayed here, the more danger there were in. After Jayne’s demand to get River to a hospital, Regan had called in a multitude of favors to get them in the fastest transport she could buy and off planet. She knew that staying on Osiris would have been a risk they couldn’t afford and so with little thought to much else, she had ordered them to Ariel, knowing that next to Capitol City, they had the best doctors, the best equipment.

She was lost in thought, her mind swirling with images of her daughter’s distressed form, her son’s distraught face, Jayne’s anguished look, when the help she had asked for finally arrived.

Turning at the sound of the small throat clear, Regan blinked the tears away from her eyes and rose to greet her guest. Reaching out a hand to the younger woman, Regan said, “I’m so glad you could come. Thank you.”

Looking between Regan and the traumatized girl before her, Alicia Baker, formerly Sampson, asked quietly, “I’m not exactly sure why you called for me. What’s going on, Mrs. Tam?”

“Regan, Alicia dear, please,” she corrected her and drawing the girl into a far corner of the room.

Glancing again to the injured child, Alicia asked her, “Who is that, Regan? And what happened to her?”

Smiling slightly, Regan took a step closer to young woman and said, “That, Alicia, is my granddaughter, Rylee. Simon’s daughter.”

With wide eyes Alicia looked to Regan quickly and then back to the girl. Alicia saw more of Simon’s sister in her than him, but there was no mistaking the child was a Tam. She couldn’t believe she was now confronted with one of Simon’s children, after so many years, or that the way they would have to meet again was through tragedy. Tearing her eyes away from her, Alicia asked again, “What happened?”

With as much detail as she could stomach, Regan began to explain exactly why her granddaughter needed her particular expertise. As Alicia listened, her eyes widening in shock and horror at the things Regan was telling her, her gaze drifted back to the sweet girl who was lying so incredibly still. As Regan went on, the psychiatrist reached for the little one’s chart, flipping through it and reading over the medical assessment of the doctors. Noting the varied and damaging drugs they had found in her system and the amount of trauma to her arms and legs from the needles and machines, Alicia fought to keep the bile from rising in her throat. The girl was bad off, and had obviously been through hell.

Closing the chart and holding it to her chest, she met Regan’s fearful gaze and asked her quietly, “What do you want me to do?”

“Help her, please.” Regan’s tone was pleading, begging Alicia to do this, for her, for Simon.

Keeping her eyes locked on the girl, she questioned, “She’s four?”

Regan whispered, “Yes. Her birthday was just a few weeks ago. Her mother collapsed that day. It was the start of a very bad time for her.”

More concern lighting her face at the thought of a pregnant woman fainting, especially when that woman was the love of Simon’s life, Alicia asked hurriedly, “Is she all right?”

Nodding once, Regan didn’t want to talk about Kaylee right now; she just wanted Alicia to help her granddaughter. Squeezing the girl’s arm, she said, “Please, help her.”

Grimacing slightly at the very big task Regan had just set before her, Alicia reached out and squeezed the other woman’s arm and said gently, “I’ll do my best.”

Turning away from the girl’s concerned grandmother Alicia placed down Rylee’s chart and approached her side. Sitting in the chair Regan had occupied minutes before, Alicia met the girl’s unblinking gaze and stared at her for a few moments. She hoped that if Regan was right and the girl was a reader, than some of the extra work she’d normally do to gain the child’s trust would go fast. Hopefully, Rylee could read Alicia’s intent and it was just to help her, however she could.

Finally, Alicia cleared her throat and said softly, “Hi Rylee. My name’s Ally. I’m an old friend of your grandmother’s.”

Nothing; Alicia hadn’t really expected anything. “I’m going to try and help you, okay?” Still nothing and with a barely contained sigh, she edged a bit closer to the girl and kept talking.

***

Jayne watched the doctor work, noting how the man, in a manner very similar to Simon’s, darted his eyes from the screens and equipment and back to the chart in his hands writing down every vital statistics. After minutes of silence, Jayne finally trusted his voice enough to ask, “Doc, she gonna be all right?”

Looking up at the sound of his voice, the older man grinned kindly at the concerned husband and told him honestly, “At this point, son, there’s no reason to believe she won’t. Her body has been through quite a bit of trauma, so we’re going to need to give her some time to wake up.” Deepening the smile, he said, “There’s no need to panic.”

Nodding at the man’s assessment, Jayne watched as he left the room and then reached up a hand to River’s face. He didn’t like seeing her like this – he never did. It was normally him strapped into all this medical mumbo jumbo, with IVs and bandages covering his body as he came back from one botched job or another. Of course, River was always at his side too, especially if it was bad, holding his hand and telling him he’d be fine. Jayne always took comfort in her reassurances, knowing that she had a special talent for seeing into the heart of things – he always believed her.

But he couldn’t believe himself; there was nothing he could say or do to be sure she opened those big, brown eyes to him again and the thought scared and angered him all at once. Her skin was still too pale and the IV they’d stuck in her arm looked painful. The tubes in her nose, helping her breath, didn’t look right either and Jayne wished that she would just wake up, if only for a second, and tell him that everything would be all right – that he could stop worrying and she’d be back to normal in no time.

River wasn’t going to do that though, he knew that. While she might have wanted to, her body wasn’t going to allow her, and even River, for as strong and determined as she was could not deny herself the rest she needed after surviving such a damaging wound. She had lost a lot of blood and the bullet had caused some major internal damage that they had been lucky to repair.

With a heavy sigh, Jayne brought his lips to her forehead and kissed her lightly. “You gotta wake up, baby girl,” he whispered, his mouth still resting against her smooth skin. “You gotta wake up and soon, dong ma? I need ya.”

When she did not stir, Jayne simply sat back in his chair, keeping a firm hold of her hand and continued to stare.

***

Rylee was so tired, she just wanted to sleep. But every time she closed her eyes, all she could see were those blue-handed men and all she could feel were the needles and the drugs they had pumped into her system. Occasionally, she’d see her mama or daddy too, but with new fright, she’d only shudder more as she realized they were still figments of her imagination and she was still alone.

She didn’t mind the lady her grandmother had brought by to see her. She was pretty and nice, kind of like Aunt Inara, except her hair was a golden color. She talked to Rylee in a calm voice, but she wanted her to talk back, about what had happened while she’d been on that ship and Rylee couldn’t do that, she didn’t want to talk about it, she just wanted to forget it had ever happened.

The lady, Ally, had come back again, for the third day in a row. Rylee had asked her yesterday when she might to get to go home and with a sad smile, she had told the girl that she wasn’t sure, that they needed to stay in the hospital because her aunt River was still really sick. Rylee didn’t like that. She didn’t like the fact that aunt River was sick or that they had to stay here. She just wanted to see her parents.

Rylee watched with tired eyes as Ally again sat in the chair at her side, holding pads of drawing paper and colored pencils under one arm. “Good morning, Rylee,” she said easily, smiling at the girl. Rylee could tell that she only wanted to help her. Her abilities, while put through an inordinate amount of stress during her time with the blue-hands had not been destroyed and so she could still read things from certain people: her grandmother’s sadness, her uncle Jayne’s anger, Ally’s concern. She couldn’t read anything from her aunt River right now and Rylee didn’t like that either.

“I thought maybe we could draw today,” Ally was saying, laying out the sketch pads and pencils she had brought next to Rylee on the bed. When the girl made no move to pick one up, Ally smiled at her again, and then took one of the pads into her lap. Picking up a sky blue pencil, she started to color the top half of her page, drawing in the sky.

Rylee watched her for a moment, working so diligently to create the sky and then finally said, “Aun’ River says the sky ain’t always blue.”

Looking up at her with a quizzical gaze and that same patient smile, Alicia asked her, “Really? What else does Aunt River say?”

Sighing a bit, Rylee sat up and reached for the other pad of paper, wincing as the motion pulled at her IV. Handing the girl what she needed, Ally waited and watched as she began to draw as well, choosing a deep red pencil to begin. With a quiet voice and a light tone, she went on. “Aunt River says I’m special.”

Smiling at her, Alicia watched and said, “Yes, that’s very true.”

“Aun’ River’s special too, like me,” the girl told her, lifting her eyes from her drawing and holding the young doctor’s gaze.

“I’d heard that,” she agreed. Hoping to get the girl to continue talking, she asked her, “Is there anything else you and your aunt River have in common?”

“We were both hurt by those men.”

The girl spoke the words so innocently it took Alicia a minute to register what she’d said. Laying her sketch pad down at her side, she asked her curiously, “Really? When was aunt River hurt?”

Shrugging slightly, Rylee continued working, reaching this time for a blue pencil, setting down the red one which no longer had any point on it to speak of. “Dunno. A while ago, I guess. Daddy saved her.” Nodding once, Alicia watched the girl draw and waited for her continue, guessing she would. “Daddy took her on ‘renity and that’s where he met mama.”

Swallowing down a bit of regret and memory, Alicia thought of those fleeting moments almost five years ago now when she had first found out about Serenity and Simon’s wife.

With a heavy sigh, Rylee stopped her coloring, leaning back from her pad to regard her work, and then, reaching for another pencil, this one brown, she said, “My daddy didn’t come for me though.”

With tears in her eyes, Alicia struggled not to cry. The girl had made the statement with no malice or hatred, barely any sadness, but she had made it all the same and Alicia wondered what exactly that meant. Looking to her still as she continued to draw, Alicia asked, “Why do you think that is?”

“’Cause o’ the new babies,” she answered quietly, her eyes never leaving the paper in front of her. “They’re sick.”

Furrowing her brow, Alicia knew, from all Regan had told her, that Rylee’s kidnapping and the birth of her brother and sister had been almost simultaneous; there was no way the girl could know the condition they were in. “Really? How do you know?”

“I saw it.”

Again Alicia had to blink quickly as she fought to interpret each new piece of information the little girl shared. She spoke with such a nonchalant tone, Alicia wondered if she even knew what she was saying.

Snapping her eyes up, she fixed the woman with a hard stare and said, “I saw it. I’m special.”

Smiling at her and swallowing past the lump in her throat, Alicia reached out a hand and covered one of hers. “I know, Rylee, you are. It’s just that your gifts, they’re kind of hard to understand for someone like me. Can you explain it?”

With another heavy sigh, she set aside her drawing pad out of Alicia’s line of sight and fixed the woman with a patient gaze. “Some people can only hear things people say,” she told her. “Sometimes, I can hear things people think.”

“That must be kind of scary, huh,” Alicia asked, sitting back and looking at her, watching as her brown eyes held her gaze steadily. “Sometimes people don’t think very nice things.”

Shrugging again, Rylee murmured, “Sometimes I don’t either.”

With a big yawn, Rylee actually felt like sleeping for the first time in days. “Can I go to sleep?” she asked Alicia, even as her eyes begin to cloud.

Smiling at her, the young woman answered, “Of course, Rylee. Do you want me to go?”

Shaking her head, she lied back down and stared at her for a minute. “No. Can you stay?”

Nodding once, Alicia sat back and watched her drift off, waiting until her breathing had become even and deep before rising and circling the bed to get a look at the drawing she had done.

Picking up the sketch pad, Alicia’s eyes roved up and down the sheet, looking for the pattern among the colors she had used. There wasn’t much on the page that looked like anything Alicia could recognize, which immediately concerned her. Most children Rylee’s age were intent on drawing familiar shapes – their homes or family or pet – but Rylee’s drawing was a swirl of colors, mostly red, with some blue interspersed and a bit of brown drawn along the bottom.

With a heavy sigh, she regarded the little girl’s sleeping form, hoping that she could help her, for Rylee’s sake and her father’s.

***

Regan met Alicia that night in the hospital’s cafeteria for stale coffee and could not stop thanking the young woman for all she was doing. After about the fifth profession of gratitude, Alicia finally raised a hand and told her kindly, “Okay, Regan, enough. I’m just doing my job.” As Regan’s next compliment died on her lips, Alicia took a sip of her drink and said, “And it’s my pleasure. She’s a beautiful little girl.”

Sighing a bit at her assessment, Regan could only agree. “Yes, she is, isn’t she?”

The two of them sat in a comfortable silence for a few more moments and then finally, staring into the dark liquid before her, Alicia asked, “How is Simon?”

Glancing to the girl, Regan reached out and covered one of her hands, squeezing lightly. “He’s doing very well, dear. His wife, Kaylee, just had twins, a boy and a girl. They were a little early, but mother and babies seem to be just fine now.”

Alicia nodded her eyes clouding a bit at this new information. Reaching for her left hand, Regan wiggled her eyebrows knowingly and glanced at the diamond adorning her ring finger. “And how is your new husband?”

Smiling, Alicia took another sip, trying to cover her slight embarrassment and told her, “Fine, thank you. John is actually traveling on business right now.”

The two women sat and talked about Alicia’s husband for a few more minutes, until finally Jayne found them. Noting his agitated demeanor, Regan sat up straight, fear in her eyes. “Jayne, is everything all right?”

Shaking his head, he told her. “I waved Simon, to tell ‘im ‘bout River and he asked to speak with her doctor.”

Sitting back with a relieved sigh, Regan said, “Well, that’s fine, dear. He’s known Doctor Evans for years.”

Nodding once, Jayne said, “Yeah, they’re gettin’ along great, but now he wants to talk to Rylee’s doctor,” he added throwing a knowing look in Alicia’s direction. Jayne didn’t know the whole story and he didn’t rightly care, but he did know that this little meeting could cause a bit of discomfort for everyone involved.

As Regan again sat up with a bit of concern, Alicia simply placed a light hand to her arm and smiling told her, “It’s fine, Regan. I am the girl’s doctor. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t ask to speak with me before now.”

Following Jayne from the room, Alicia had the five minute walk to the wave screen to get nervous, anxious and calm about fifty times over. She had not seen Simon in five years, and while she was a very happily married woman, with a baby on the way, she still did feel some residual butterflies at seeing her ex – especially now that she was treating his traumatized daughter.

Ushering her into the room, she smiled her thanks to the burly man and with a deep breath, sat in front of the wave screen. Simon’s shocked eyes met her gaze and she watched him struggle for words. “Wha- … Oh, I … Alicia?”

“Hello Simon,” she said quietly, meeting his confused gaze with a patient smile. He still looked amazingly handsome despite the five years that had passed. “How are you?”

Still slightly taken off guard, but recovering quickly, Simon told her, “I’m fine, thank you. I was waiting to speak with my daughter’s doctor.”

Shrugging simply, she told him, “Well, you’re looking at her.”

Simon’s shocked expression only intensified and then with a small shake of the head, he dropped his face from the screen and muttered, “My mother.” Looking back to her, Alicia saw the blush that had crept along his cheeks. “My mother did this.” It wasn’t a question.

Alicia grinned back at him and said simply, “She called me, yes and asked for my help. She said it was important.” Continuing to watch as he grinned sheepishly, she asked, “How could I say no to her?”

Simon was still blushing. “I’m sorry,” he told her truthfully.

Waving away his apology, she told him, “I’m glad your mother thought of me, trusted me enough to help. She’s right, it is important.”

His face instantly clouding with concern, he asked haltingly, “So you’ve been treating Rylee then?”

Nodding, she answered, “For the past three days, yes.”

“And?”

Alicia studied him closely for a moment, watching as the concern on his face transfigured into fear. She could only guess how incredibly hard this was, for him and Rylee’s mother, especially considering they were a good two week shuttle ride away and unable to be with their daughter during her recovery.

“Simon,” she began slowly, trying to push away any thought of their history together and treat him as the father of a patient, nothing more. “She’s been through a very traumatic event.” When he pursed his lips at her in annoyance, she hastened to add, “You can’t expect a miracle in three days.”

“I don’t, Als, truly,” he told her, his voice dropping in volume, his tone taking on a pleading quality. “It’s just that, I have a pretty good idea of what they did to her and it’s killing me that I can’t be there.”

Smiling sympathetically at him, she said, “I know that, Simon and I can’t imagine what you or your wife are going through, but it’s going to take Rylee some time.” Her smile turning to one more of happiness, she told him, “She’s a very special little girl, very loving, and she misses you and her mother very much.” Her smile fading slightly, she added, “But because she’s so special, she knows that what happened to her was bad, and I think she’s been purposefully avoiding the subject with me.”

Simon sighed at this assessment and ran a hand through his already mussed hair. “She is very smart,” Simon agreed, looking back to his old friend. “I mean, she’s River-smart. I have no doubt believing she won’t figure out how to tell you exactly what you want to hear so she can come home.”

Nodding once, Alicia was glad that Simon had confirmed her suspicion. “Exactly, which is why this is going to take a while.”

His face blanching, Simon asked quietly, “How long is a while?”

Shrugging, Alicia told him, “I don’t know, Simon. Victims of emotional and physical trauma heal at their own rate. It could be a month, it could six.”

His face going even paler, Simon slumped back in his seat. Kaylee wouldn’t make it six months, and he knew he wouldn’t either. Looking back to her, he started grasping for options and asked, “Would you consider coming back with her?”

Her brow furrowing, Alicia sat up a bit straighter and asked, “What?”

Speaking fast, hoping that he could coax a yes from her, Simon elaborated. “You could come back with Rylee and my mother and my sister and Jayne, back here. We would pay you of course, but then you could treat Rylee here, surrounded by her family.” His eyes were pleading with her again, and Alicia tried to ignore them. “Her mother and I, Kaylee and I, we need her back, Als, and we can’t travel, not with the twins.”

Alicia’s heart broke for him as she saw the pure desperation playing across his features. With a sad smile, she told him, “I’m sorry, Simon, but … well, I’m expecting, and my husband and I have decided that since it’s our first child, I should probably stick pretty close to home.”

Smiling sadly to her, Simon said, “Well, congratulations, Alicia, that’s wonderful, really.”

She returned his small smile and then waited as he again began to question her about Rylee’s treated. “What therapies have you tried? Have you tried drawing, because she really loves to draw.”

Holding up a hand to get him to calm down, Alicia said, “Yes, Simon, we just started drawing today actually and it worked quite well.”

“I’d like to see them.”

Furrowing her brow at him, Alicia frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “Which one of us is the psychiatrist?”

Giving her his best soulful look, he pleaded, “Als—"

Holding up a hand again, she told him, “Simon, you’re going to have to trust me. Trust me to do my job and help your daughter.” As Simon’s eyes continued to implore her silently, she added quietly, “I’m good at what I do, Simon and I will help her, as fast as I can, any way I can. I promise you.”

Nodding once, Simon again averted his eyes and said sullenly, “I know.”

As silence settled between them, it was another moment before he returned his gaze to her face. “Can I speak with her?”

Shaking her head slightly, Alicia told him, “Not yet. I want to wait just a few more days.”

Sighing again, Simon was ready to close the connection. Looking back to his old friend he smiled at her again, and said, “Thank you, Alicia, I mean it. I’ll rest easier knowing that you’re looking after our little girl.”

Blinking back a few tears at the sincerity of his words, she told him, “I’ll be in touch.” And then the screen went blank. Sitting back heavily in her chair, Alicia rubbed her hands over her stomach, her belly that wasn’t even showing yet. She could only imagine what Simon and Kaylee were suffering through and as an expectant parent, she found herself even more determined to get their daughter back to them, safe and whole.

***