Disclaimers: Everything belongs to Joss, except for one character of my creation ----------------------------- **Mousing over the Chinese should reveal the English translations on most browsers. If not, translations follow the story. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mal finished speaking with Logan as quickly as he could, and hurried toward the infirmary. Simon was watching for him, and met him in the common area before he could enter. “Doc?” Mal asked, seeing the look on Simon’s face. “How is she?” Simon took Mal by the arm and steered him back up the stairs into the cargo bay, where they were alone. Mal frowned, puzzled. “She’s not good,” Simon said. Mal nodded. “She’s dehydrated and suffering from exposure. Her body temperature is extremely low. I’m trying to get her warmed up. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing how long she was out there before we found her—or how long she’s been unconscious, for that matter.” “She had a lot of blood on her, looked pretty tore up,” Mal said. Simon nodded. “She is. She obviously climbed the fence—the razor wire tore her up good. Some of the wounds are clear down to the bone.” Mal winced. “She’s also been stabbed,” Simon continued. “The blade’s still in her—in her hip. It’ll have to be removed surgically, but I can’t do anything while she’s this unstable. She also has a broken nose and a lot of bruising on her head and face. Looks like she got beaten pretty badly. Then there’s—” Simon hesitated. “What?” Mal prompted. “There’re signs of sexual activity.” Simon watched Mal’s face carefully as he spoke. “Judging from what I see, not consensual.” Mal pursed his lips and looked past Simon toward the infirmary. “Probably rape during the riots. By more than one, I’d say; maybe a bunch.” Simon paused. “Looks like it was pretty brutal,” he finished. Mal didn’t speak, just continued to stare. “She’s lost a lot of blood,” Simon said. “Zoë agreed to donate, and I’ve started the transfusion.” Mal sighed deeply. “Can you help her?” he asked, finally looking Simon in the eye. “Well...I can give her supportive care,” Simon said. “Fluids, blood, suture the wounds that can be sutured, but...she needs more than I can give her on the ship. I need to do some scans I can’t do here...and I need medicine. I’m worried about infection.” “We got all kinds of medicine, Doc,” Mal said, confused. “We restocked when we hit the hospital on Ariel. Remember?” “We did,” Simon said, looking uneasy. “But I don’t dare use a lot of it on her. Most of it’s pretty strong stuff and I, uh—I’m not sure it would be safe, under the circumstances.” Mal looked at him, mystified. “I can’t give her just anything right now,” Simon went on, “Because...um—” he shifted uncomfortably and looked down at his feet, “—because she’s pregnant.” Mal stared at him, clearly stunned. Neither spoke for a long moment. Then Mal shook himself. “Well...okay,” he said. He ran a hand through his hair. He nodded as though he suddenly got it. “Okay. You said there were signs of...activity...so, I guess—“ Simon shook his head. “No,” he said. “That was very recent. Probably during the riot. Way too recent for a noticeable pregnancy.” Mal had begun pacing back and forth, his hand still clutching his hair. He finally turned back to Simon. “So then—“ he began. “How—I mean...how... how...?” He stumbled, trying to find the words. “Captain,” Simon finally said gently, “You’re not going to make me give you a biology lesson, are you?” “I—what? No. Doc, no!” Mal exclaimed. “Of course not! I just—I...how long...how far—?” “How far along is the pregnancy?” Simon prompted. “Is that what you’re asking?” “Yeah. Yeah, that’s it,” Mal said, obviously relieved. Simon shrugged. “Well, a few months at least. I can’t say for sure. Far enough along to be visible.” Mal had begun to pace again. He appeared lost in thought. If the situation hadn’t been so serious, Simon would have laughed out loud watching him do the math in his head. He finally stopped and faced Simon again. “And the—the...um...well...is it...alive?” Simon nodded. “Alive,” he said. “Against all odds. Beyond that, I can’t say. I need to do some scans, and run some more tests. Tests I can’t do on the ship.” Mal sat down heavily on a crate, as though his feet wouldn’t hold him any more. “Is there a hospital anywhere out here that would have a scanner and some equipment we could use?” Simon asked. “Not run by Alliance?” “Yeah. Have to be.” “Rim hospitals don’t have much, generally speaking.” “I don’t need much,” Simon said. “Just a scanner, and maybe an ultrasound. And maybe someplace I could run more lab work than I can do here.” Mal shook his head and sighed again. “I’ll gather the crew, see if anyone’s got a favor they could pull in.” “They’re already gathered,” Simon said. “All but us, and Wash. They’re in the infirmary.” “So...they all know?” Mal asked hesitantly. Simon nodded. “Yeah, they all saw.” Mal squeezed his eyes shut tight. “ O, zhe shen shi ge kuai le de jin zhan ,” he muttered. Then he rose from the crate and headed slowly down the stairs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHINESE: O, zhe shen shi ge kuai le de jin zhan = Oh, this is a happy development ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go to Chapter 15.

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