A/N: Okay folks, we are building to the grand finale here - and the 67-page denouement ... I hope you can handle it!

Thanks to all those who take in interest in what I write and how I build my stories (angst and all) in this wonderful 'verse Joss and Co. created. So glad to just have more stories for all of us to read and enjoy with some of our favorite characters.

And of course, as always, thanks to Leiasky!

***

A NEW DAY, ch. 28: Situational Stress

***

“Well, I would say everything is progressing along great,” Simon told Mal and Inara both as he stepped away from her exposed stomach and replaced his stethoscope around his neck.

Smiling at him, Inara said, “Good. So, when can we induce?”

“What?” Simon asked her, noting that Mal was sporting a similarly quizzical look.

“Simon,” Inara said, struggling to sit up even with Mal’s help. “Look at me, I’m huge. I wasn’t half this big with Mimi. I need to have this baby.”

Smiling at her and trying very hard not to say something that would get him slapped, Simon placed a hand to her shoulder and said calmly, “Inara, you still have two weeks to go. The baby will come when he or she is ready.”

Trying to be as patient as her hormones would allow, Inara returned his grin and bit out, “Well, that’s fine, Simon, but seeing as how I’m the baby’s mother, I say it’s ready.”

Noting her edgy tone, Simon stepped back as Mal circled the exam table. “’Nara, what’s gotten into you?”

With fresh tears welling in her eyes, Inara told him, “Mal, I’m fat.”

Throwing a look to Simon, the doctor only shook his head. Scowling at the man’s cowardice, Mal looked back to his wife and said, “’Nara, you ain’t fat, you’re pregnant.”

“Precisely, so if Simon induces labor and the baby comes, I won’t be pregnant anymore. Which means I won’t be fat anymore. Which means my ankles won’t be swollen, which means my back won’t hurt, which means I won’t have to pee every five minutes.” Fisting her hands into her husband’s shirt, her tears had dried quickly and had been replaced by a burning fire. “Do you see where I’m going with this?”

Smiling to his wife, and swallowing thickly, Mal worked her hands from his shirt and said, “Come on, ai ren, let’s go lie down for a bit, okay?”

“Oh sure,” she said sarcastically, even as she allowed Mal to help her off the table. “Sure, lie down. Like that’s going to solve anything.” Looking to Mal as they reached the door, she told him, “Maybe we can have sex. That’ll induce labor, right Simon?”

Looking up at the sound of his name and trying in vain to pretend he hadn’t been listening, Simon asked innocently, “What?”

Waving a hand at him, Inara turned back and headed out the door ahead of her husband. “Oh never mind, I know it does.” As her voice faded, Mal watched her go, his head hanging. Turning back to Simon, the younger man tried not to laugh at the other man’s absolutely pathetic look.

Opening his mouth to say something, he snapped it shut as both men heard Inara yell, “Malcolm Reynolds!”

His eyes wide, Simon nodded to him once and said, “Good luck,” before the captain had followed his wife, shutting the door behind him.

Simon was soon engrossed in his charts, waiting for his next appointment, when he heard his door open. Turning at the sound, he saw Mrs. Wu standing there, her son Timmy at her side and her little baby Ella in her arms, a look of pure distress playing across her features.

“Mrs. Wu?” Simon questioned, hurrying to her side. “Are you all right?”

Shaking her head hurriedly, she turned watery eyes to him and said, “I’m sorry to keep comin’ back, doc. I don’t got nothin’ to pay ya with and-”

Silencing her, Simon said, “Mrs. Wu, you know I’ve never cared about that. Now, what’s wrong?”

Shoving Ella to him, Simon took the one-year-old as her mother said, “It’s Ella. She ain’t been eatin’ or sleepin’. She was doin’ okay after you gave us that medicine, but she ain’t no more.”

Holding the baby for only moment, Simon could already feel how hot she was. Guessing her fever was well over one hundred degrees, Simon moved with her towards the table, motioning the girl’s mother and brother into chairs across the way. “Well, then, let’s see what’s the matter with this little one,” Simon said quietly, turning all of his attention to the little baby who had started to whimper in his arms.

***

They found Simon, not surprisingly in his clinic, his movements hurried as he went about cleaning supplies and trying to prepare for the next patient. At the sound of the door swinging open he looked up to see both his wife and his sister enter the room, their faces drawn, their expressions serious. Considering all that’d been happening as of late, their visit and their demeanors did nothing to calm him. Instead Simon felt his heart beat speed up just a bit and he took a deep breath, hoping that whatever they had come to say wouldn’t be half as bad as what his very fast brain had imagined.

“Hey sweetie.” Kaylee greeted him easily, as she always did, with a smile that melted his heart and a quick kiss to the cheek. He smiled back to her and took her hand, squeezing it in his own.

“Hi, you two,” Simon said quietly, studying his sister’s drawn face with a bit of concern, before looking back to his wife.

River smiled at him, and gave him a quick hug, before stepping back. Trying to disrupt the unease swirling about them, Simon sighed and then said with a fake cheerfulness, “So, what brings my two favorite women to visit with me?” His eyes widening slightly and a small smile on his face, he turned to his wife and asked giddily, “Is it presents?”

The joke worked on Kaylee, as it always did, getting a giggle to come bubbling out of her. When Daniel had been just two and a half, the crew had been on a job, and everyone had managed to make it back to the ship without a scratch and their full cut of the money. Simon had then made an offhanded remark about how it was a special day and they should celebrate. Their son, hearing the words ‘special’ and ‘celebrate’ had instantly run to his mama, thrown himself into her arms and asked with breathless wonder, ‘Are there presents?’ Now, everyone on Serenity, even Jayne used the line and it always elicited giggles, if not full-blown laughter.

“No, sweetie, unfortunately, there won’t be any presents,” she told him sadly, frowning a bit in his direction.

Shrugging slightly, Simon wondered if he would have to make more small talk, before his sister finally piped up. “Actually, Simon, I have to ask you something.”

Turning his concerned gaze back to his sister, he saw the fear in her own eyes and his heart thudded loudly in his ears. He did not like that look on her, he never had. He’d thought they’d managed to rid her of it, years ago. And now, over the past four years, as she had been more and more happy with Jayne, Simon had forgotten how devastating his sister’s fright could be.

Going to her, Simon took her hands and forced her to look at him. “Anything, mei mei, you know that.” Biting her lip, River nodded to him once, knowing that he meant it, but also knowing he could never have imagined she would ask this. Glancing over his shoulder to Kaylee, her sister nodded to the young girl, a few tears already shining in her eyes. Looking back to her brother, River placed a light hand against his face, causing his anxiety to sky rocket.

“I think maybe we better sit down,” she said quietly, guiding Simon to the couch on the far side of the room. Kaylee followed them, sitting near in an easy chair, her knees pointed towards Simon even as his gaze remained locked on his sister.

“What is it, River?” he asked her again, knowing now that whatever he had feared would pale in comparison. She had never had difficulty telling him something bad before, her relationship with Jayne and the way he’d found out were proof of that.

Smiling to him again, River wondered, not for the first time if this was really the right thing to do. She’d known that Kaylee would say yes, the woman was too kind, too generous to say anything but. But Simon … he would not so readily acquiesce. It would be a fight and River was weary. The past year had taken its toll and while she wanted to believe she was back to her old strength, she knew that wasn’t true. Honestly, she wasn’t so sure she ever would be.

Swallowing hard past the lump in her throat, River hoped that her tears stayed away long enough for her to say the words. Looking back to her brother, she kept a hold of his hands and said slowly, “I would never normally ask something like this of you or Kaylee.”

Simon threw a questioning look over his shoulder to his wife and he did not like the fact that she was crying, while his sister was trying to hold in tears of her own. Turning his concerned gaze back to his mei mei, he waited as she continued. “But I have to do it. I have to ask, because I have to know that I tried everything. That I didn’t give up.” Swallowing again and taking a deep breath, River felt the first tear roll down her cheek and she knew she was powerless to stop them. Opening her eyes back to her brother, she said, “I want to have a baby.”

Simon’s heart broke at the statement. They knew now, beyond a shadow of a doubt that was impossible for her. The virus the Alliance had pumped into her system had done its job amazingly well. There was no way River could ever carry a baby to term. And chances were if she tried again, she would die, right along with the child. Reaching up and cupping her face in his hands, Simon whispered softly, “Mei mei, we’ve been through this. You can’t. Your body just … it just can’t,” he finished softly, pressing a kiss to her cheek and wishing he had a different answer for her.

Nodding sadly, River said, “I know I can’t.” Looking back to Kaylee and getting one final nod of reassurance, she looked back to her brother and said evenly, “But Kaylee can.”

Simon’s eyes widened so far, he was sure they would fall right out of his skull. For a few seconds all he could do was stare at his sister in disbelief. Shocked wasn’t even the word for what he felt right now. He didn’t have words, there weren’t any to describe this. Never had he thought his sister would reach this conclusion, never had he thought she would be so desperate to have a child. Never had he thought he’d be in the position to have any control over it.

Looking back to his wife, he saw her tears and felt for her as well. Grabbing her hand in his own, he said, “River, you can’t ask that. You can’t ask that of us, of Kaylee. It’s not …”

A squeeze of his hand drew his attention back to his wife and he looked at her as she smiled a bit. “She already did, honey,” she told him, her voice soft, hoping to keep him calm.

“She what?” Simon didn’t want to believe what he knew his wife meant. He didn’t want to believe any of this.

Smiling again with that patient look she had perfected on their children, Kaylee leaned forward and pressed a hand to his cheek. “She already asked me.”

Shock again registered on Simon’s features and he knew his face had gone as pale as the crisp white shirt her wore. Turning his full attention to his wife, he whispered, “And you already said yes?”

Looking to River, Kaylee nodded once and then looked back to her husband’s handsome face. “I told River that we’d have to talk ‘bout it, and that if you agreed then I would do it.”

“See Simon?” His sister’s voice, now bright and bubbly, pulled his attention away from Kaylee’s warm green eyes. Looking to his mei mei now he saw happiness where there had been despair only moments before. “I can be a mother. I can have a baby.”

She was right, medically speaking. While the virus in her system prevented River from carrying to term, her eggs and ovaries were intact. She would probably be considered a prime candidate for surrogacy, given her own physical stamina. But still … Shaking his head, Simon rose, needing distance from the craziness this situation spun in his head.

“River, we can’t … You can’t think that … I just …” Simon could not form a thought, let alone a sentence. This was too unbelievable. Too risky, too unorthodox, too expensive … all of the negatives, the obstacles, the roadblocks thundered through his mind, but when he again looked into River’s brown eyes, filled to the brim with tears of hope and sadness, he knew that all those negatives didn’t mean a damn thing. Not to his sister; which meant they shouldn’t mean a damn thing to him either. But this wasn’t a nameless stranger she wanted to impregnate – it was his wife, the mother of his four beautiful children, who had not so long ago weathered a fairly rough pregnancy. Kaylee would have to go through all of it, morning sickness, back pain, mood swings – nine months of raging hormones and midnight cravings – and then, when it was all said and done, she would have to turn over the baby she had loved and cared for nine months and pretend it never happened, pretend she’d never been part of the child’s life. Simon did not know if his wife, his loving wife, could take that. And he wasn’t even sure she had considered the pain it would bring.

River could read most of his apprehension and his fears. She knew she would not get an answer from Simon anytime soon. Rising and crossing the distance between them, she hugged him tightly and whispered, “Just think about it. For me. Please.”

Unable to say anything, his voice having failed him, Simon simply nodded. River released him then, going back to where Kaylee was still sitting, kissed her sister on the cheek and then left the two of them alone.

Neither one of them said anything for several moments. Simon was still fairly certain his voice was gone and he wondered if he’d regain use of his vocal cords anytime in the near future. Running his hands through his hair, Simon let them cradle the back of his neck as he dropped his chin to his chest and sighed heavily. This was too much, it was all just too much.

“Sweetie?” Kaylee had moved to stand before him and now, she placed a finger under his chin drawing his face up to look at her. She saw the tears of frustration and doubt in his eyes and the look made her own tears fall more freely. “Simon, talk to me,” she whispered, knowing that he was spiraling out of control and wanting to help.

Sighing again, Simon squeezed her shoulders and then moved past her to sit back on the couch. Not looking at her, he said quietly, “I can’t believe you said yes without talking to me.”

“I didn’t,” she assured him, hurrying across the room and sitting beside him. Taking his hand, she made him look to her as she said, “I told River that you and I would have to talk ‘bout it and that you would have to agree. Otherwise, no deal.” She said it firmly and Simon knew that if he said no, she would drop it. But how could he do that? It was his sister and his wife.

Leaning forward, he took her other hand in his and asked plaintively, “Why, Kaylee?” Frowning at him, Simon asked her again, “Why do you want to do this?”

Kaylee was slightly surprised by his question, thinking the why was the easy part when compared to the how, when and where questions she’d been pondering. “Because it’s River,” she said simply, looking to him, wondering if that was the answer he’d expected. “She’s your sister, she’s my sister and she wants this, Simon. She wants it so bad.”

“Just because she wants it doesn’t necessarily mean she should have it,” Simon ground out, his voice harsher than he’d expected. He didn’t know why he was so mad all of a sudden.

And apparently, neither did Kaylee. “How can you say that? River’s never done nothin’ wrong ‘cept be too smart and now, ‘cause o’ somethin’ she had no control over, she can’t be a ma.” Kaylee’s voice grew small as she withdrew her hands from her husband’s grasp and let her eyes wander the room. “I don’ know what I’da done if I couldn’ta had any o’ our babies.”

Simon’s heart instantly beat faster for his wife, her forlorn expression and wistful tone making him all the more sorry that he couldn’t support this idea. Reaching for her, Simon pulled her into a tight embrace, and whispered into her ear, “I don’t know either.”

She hugged him back, grateful that he could still comfort her so, grateful that he still wanted to although she knew he felt betrayed. But how could Kaylee have ever turned her down?

Still holding her tight, Simon asked, “Have you thought about this? I mean really thought about it?”

Pulling back from him, Kaylee cocked an eyebrow and asked, “Which one o’ us has been pregnant three times ‘fore?”

Simon smiled at her, knowing she was again trying to ease his tension and loving her for it. Placing a hand against her cheek, he said earnestly, “I’m serious, Kaylee. This is about more than being pregnant. It’s about more than the physical changes you’ll be putting your body through again. There’s an emotional side to this, a deeply personal emotional side. Have you thought about that?”

Kaylee smiled slightly at him and said quietly, “You mean ‘bout carryin’ a baby and then givin’ ‘im up? Yeah, I have. And if’n it were my own child, with my blood in his veins, I know I couldn’t do it. But it won’t be. It’ll be River and Jayne’s baby. A baby they want so bad they can practically taste it.” Matching the hand he’d placed to her face with one of her own, she leaned towards him and whispered, “An’ I’ll be givin’ it to ‘em.”

And in that one statement Kaylee had summed up her entire reasoning behind doing something so risky – she wanted to give her sister and her sister’s husband the greatest gift in the ‘verse and she was honored and proud that she could. Simon kissed her softly, unable to keep the love he felt from overwhelming him. She kissed him back and then held him again, her arms wrapping around his back and pulling him tight.

But this wasn’t over, not for Simon. He hadn’t said yes yet, and Kaylee knew he had more questions. “Kaylee, think about it though,” he said finally, pulling back to look at her. “We’re talking another nine months, of mood swings and hormones. And how are we going to explain to the children that their mother is carrying a baby that won’t even be their brother or sister when it’s born? And what about your health?”

Kaylee swallowed thickly, having known this would be one of Simon’s foremost concerns. “Well, the pregnancy with Ethan and Emma wasn’t easy, but we got through it,” she told him, her voice sounding unconvincing in her own ears.

Nodding once, Simon said, “Yes, that’s true, but the chances of a surrogate having multiple fetuses is very high. This puts you back in the very real position of carrying more than one child again. I don’t want you to suffer like that.”

Kaylee reached out a hand to him and he took it gladly squeezing it lightly. “I know that, sweetie. But you’ll be lookin’ out for me, and me and Ethan and Emma, we’re all fine now.” Leaning towards him, she whispered, “An’ you told me yourself, every pregnancy’s different.”

Sighing heavily once again, Simon slouched back on the couch, letting his head tip back to stare at the ceiling. “You’re right,” he said tiredly, still not liking the trepidation that coursed through him.

“Then what is it?” Kaylee asked him, leaning back with an elbow on the couch, her head resting against her hand. Regarding him for a moment more she finally asked, “What’re you really scared of?”

The answer to her question was on the tip of Simon’s tongue in an instant, even as he tried to swallow it down. He didn’t want to admit this, not out loud, not to his beautiful, giving wife. But he couldn’t help how he felt or what he felt. “This is different,” he whispered, wishing he didn’t feel like such an insensitive boob.

“It ain’t that different,” Kaylee told him, leaning over to rest her head against his shoulder. “The end results the same – Jayne and River’ll have a baby. We’re only switchin’ the oven.” Simon smiled at her colloquialism, even as his guilt again weighed him down.

“I know,” he said quietly, “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Sitting up abruptly, Kaylee studied him closely and she could see the sadness and anxiety creeping over his features. “What?”

Turning a conflicted gaze to her, Simon said dejectedly, “It’s different, because before, when Jayne and River were so determined to have a baby, there was nothing I could do about it. It was between them, their life. But now …” He trailed off uncertain he could finish his statement. He was quite certain this would color Kaylee’s opinion of him as it pretty much made him disgusted with himself, but he had to get it off his chest or it would kill him. “Now, when I have the power to say no, I can’t help thinking that maybe I should.”

“Oh, Simon,” Kaylee breathed, sucking in a hesitant breath as more of her own tears fell. She could see that it was destroying him to say this, but she wanted him to get it out in the open, that was the only way they could talk about it, fix it.

“I know, it’s awful,” he said, his cheeks blushing with shame. “I shouldn’t think that way, not about my sister, but she’s been through so much.” This time when he turned his blue eyes to her, Kaylee could see his desperation there, his desperation for her to believe him, to empathize with him, even if she couldn’t sympathize. He knew he didn’t deserve her understanding, but he needed it. “I just can’t help thinking that River losing her baby wasn’t a sign, a sign that maybe she’s not ready. Maybe she’ll never be ready and now …” He couldn’t finish it and there was no need.

Finally, allowing a few of his own tears to fall, Simon blinked them away quickly, tired of feeling guilty for what happened to his sister. Tired of being the one who had the power to say yes or no, good or bad, sick or well. He wanted his life to be simple, as it had never been simple before. And he didn’t want to be in this position.

Rising abruptly, Kaylee was startled by his sudden movement. “Sweetie?” she questioned as he headed for the door.

Pausing with his hand on the knob, he said quietly, “I just need some time, Kaylee. This is a huge request, a huge responsibility.” Sighing again, he opened the door and muttered, “I just need some time.”

And with that he was gone, lost in his own thoughts and self-loathing over his desire to destroy his sister’s one wish.

***

Simon circled the yard for about the thousandth time, still lost in his own thoughts. He had tried in the hours since he’d left his wife and his sister to think through this decision, his sister’s request. He wanted to support her, truly, but he just couldn’t move past the fact River had tried to manipulate him by using his wife. Plus, the thought of Kaylee, pregnant with another man’s child chilled him, especially knowing that man would be Jayne. Besides that, there were costs to consider, specialists to find and … well, Simon just didn’t know if after everything he’d already given up for his sister, he could make this sacrifice as well. And that thought brought a heavy guilt to his heart.

Once, not so long ago, River had been his only reason for being. And then, the strangest thing had happened, something he’d never expected, he’d fallen in love.

Even when Simon and Kaylee were first together, he had always felt that he was being fair to his sister. Selfishly, he had thought that River was still getting the amount of his attention that she needed, still benefiting from his love and care. He’d thought in those first few months that he had been juggling both the women in his life with great skill.

And then River had gotten pregnant and lost her baby, and he could not help but blame himself for this entire tragedy. If he had been more attentive, more aware, he could have discovered the dirty little secret the Alliance had implanted in his baby sister. He could have saved her the heartache that was tearing her apart. He even could have spared Jayne the pain, and while that had never been a consideration of his before, Simon had to admit that now, as he watched him suffer, Simon knew he wouldn’t wish that on any man.

“Didn’t know, Simon.”

River’s small voice startled him slightly and he looked up to see her lithe form poking out from behind one of the big trees that dotted the edge of their yard. Dusk was rapidly approaching and the children had been chased inside a few minutes ago to get ready for bed and school the next day. Sighing heavily at the sight of her, Simon said softly, “River, I really can’t see you right now.”

Ignoring him, she moved forward and took his hand, drawing him to a bench sitting under the trees’ branches. Sitting with her, Simon did not look back to her, but instead continued to study the leaf-covered ground at his feet. River watched him, feeling his anger and disappointment, and said again, “Didn’t know. Couldn’t know.”

Deciding he would have to take her bait in order to get her to leave him in peace, Simon asked, “Didn’t know what?”

“That it would happen. Not your fault.”

Simon’s breath caught in his throat at her words. He could still remember that day almost a year ago now when he’d had to tell her the bad news. She had wailed at him, hurling insults and names at him as she cursed him for his inability to save her daughter. She had apologized to him before now, but until this moment, he had never really believed her.

Blinking back a few tears, he said steadily, “River, you know I never wanted this for you.”

Reaching over, she placed one of her small hands over his and whispered, “I know. You’re a good doctor and a good brother. You wanted the best for me.” He nodded once and didn’t say anything, the two of them continuing to sit in silence. Finally, River worked up the courage to add, “Do you still want the best for me?”

His eyes widening at the question, he knew where she was heading and he rose suddenly in disbelief at her obvious manipulation. “What kind of question is that,” he demanded, pacing away from her, feeling his anger on the rise. “Of course, I do. You know that.”

“Then help me, Simon,” she said plaintively, rising as well but keeping her distance. His disappointment had quickly turned into a fury she was not accustomed to. “Help me. You know you can.”

His eyes burning now with anger, anger at her inability to comprehend the unbelievable request she was making, anger at her selfishness – and a little bit of anger at his own. “Do you have any idea what it is you’re asking of me?” he asked, his voice rising in volume and pitch as his anger grew. “Of Kaylee? Any idea at all?”

She paused for a moment and then said quietly, “I know it’s a lot. I know that it’s more than I’ve ever asked of you before, but Simon, Kaylee said she’d do it. She wants to.”

“Of course she does, River,” Simon said with a sigh. “Because she’d do anything for anyone she cares about and you know she loves you.” Walking towards her, Simon placed his hands on her shoulders and said softly, “And River I would too, I hope you know that.” She blinked back tears and nodded once, waiting for Simon to continue. “But River, just because we want the best for you, doesn’t mean we can do this. Kaylee’s last pregnancy … it could have ended really badly.”

“But she’s okay and the babies are okay. You saved them,” River told him, smiling at him brightly. “And if you had to, you could do it again.”

“But I don’t want to have to, River,” Simon told her, dropping his hands and pacing away from her. “I don’t want to watch Kaylee go through that kind of pain again.” Turning back to her, Simon said with a sigh, “I can’t watch her go through that again.”

River nodded once and watched as Simon fought to keep his composure. He was trying so hard to be fair, to be open-minded and think of a solution that would give his sister what she so desperately wanted. And he couldn’t and the knowledge that he’d have to say ‘no’ to her was bothering him more than even he wanted to admit.

“So that’s it then?” River’s voice was small, her eyes cast down to the ground. “That’s your answer? No?”

With a sigh, Simon shut his eyes, trying to clear the burning of fatigue and frustration he felt there. Looking back to his sister, he almost relented, but then all the events of the past year came flooding back, and he couldn’t do it. “River, after all we’ve been through, everything with Rylee, everything with the twins, everything you and I have fought so hard to find our way back from … you want to risk it for this?”

River swallowed hard and met Simon’s unwavering gaze. Blinking back a few more tears, she told him, “I don’t want to risk losing you or Kaylee or any of my family, but yes Simon, I want a baby so badly, I would risk my own life.” Pausing for a moment, she asked, “Does that answer your question?”

With another sigh, Simon pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and whispered, “River, it’s not your life you’d be risking, it’s Kaylee’s. I wish you could see that.”

Taking a step towards him, River dropped her voice to a whisper and said, “You don’t think I understand the risk after losing my child?” Her eyes were burning with a bit of anger and frustration. “I know the risk, Simon.” Trying to temper her anger, she placed a hand to his cheek and said softly, “And I know you’d never let anything happen to Kaylee or the baby. So, it wouldn’t be a risk, not really.”

“River, your faith in me is either severely misplaced or incredibly generous,” Simon told her, his voice still soft. “Every pregnancy is a risk, no matter the conditions.” Looking back to her, he said, “I still need to think about it.”

River nodded once and stepped back from him. “I know, Simon, I know.” And then without a word, she turned and ran back towards the house. Simon watched her go, his heart heavy with the weight of this decision and the knowledge that no matter what he decided it could end up being the wrong choice. ***

River returned to Jayne’s side, still upset from her discussion with Simon. She didn’t want to be mad at him, not really, because she could understand where he was coming from. But she also wanted a baby, badly.

Flopping down onto the bed beside Jayne, River rolled her head to look at him, and noticed for the first time the beads of sweat running down his forehead. Rolling over onto her side, she placed a cool hand to his face, and said, “Jayne, baby? Are you all right?”

With effort, Jayne opened his eyes to look at her. Smiling sluggishly, he murmured, “Yeah, darlin’, I’m fine. Just a mite tired.”

“You’re burning up,” she told him, getting off the bed and going to the sideboard for a cool rag. Rubbing it along his forehead as she returned to his side, he sighed under her touch and she smiled slightly to him. “Better?”

Opening his eyes again, he was able to smile slightly at her as he said, “Always better when you’re here.”

River leaned and brushed a kiss to his mouth. “You want me to get Simon?” she asked quietly, continuing to bathe his brow.

Shaking his head, he told her, “Nah, he tol’ me some o’ those meds might make me a bit tired or sick. This ain’t nothin’ be botherin’ him for.” Covering her hands with his own, he smiled a bit more and said, “’Sides, I want you all to myself.”

Smiling to him brightly, River lied on her side next to him and rested her head against his chest. “Well, you got me, all to yourself.” Pressing a kiss to his cheek, she continued to run a hand through his hair as he again drifted off to sleep.

***

“This doesn’t make any sense.”

“What don’t?”

Simon’s head snapped up at the sound of Kaylee’s voice. So wrapped up had he been with his notes and data, he hadn’t heard her come into the clinic or begin to pick up some of the materials he’d used for the day.

Moving towards her quickly, he took a drape from her hand, and asked urgently, “Kaylee, what’re you doing?”

Frowning at him, Kaylee tried to reach for the dirty rag as she told him, “Helpin’ ya tidy up, like’n I always do.” Reaching for it again, she was truly puzzled as Simon moved it farther away from her. “What s’matter?”

Simon didn’t know, that was the problem, but he knew, based on all the data he’d managed to collect so far that he did not want his wife or his children near the clinic for quite some time. Not until he knew for certain what the matter really was. Directing her to the sink across the room, he told her, “Listen, I want you to wash your hands, really good, and then head back to the house, dong ma?”

Turning to face him, her fists planted on her hips, Kaylee pursed her lips and said, “Nuh-uh. Not ‘till you tell me what’s got you so spooked.”

Sighing, Simon held her determined gaze for a minute and then admitted, “Kaylee, I’m really not sure, and that’s the truth. But it doesn’t look good and I don’t want to run the risk of you getting sick.”

Stepping towards him with concern lighting her eyes, Kaylee held a hand to his cheek and asked, “What ‘bout you?”

Taking her hand from his face, Simon stepped back from her and said, “If I could get it, I’d probably already have it. Doctors are given a lot of immunizations to try and protect against highly contagious diseases. I should be fine.”

“Should?” Kaylee asked haltingly, her voice dropping.

Smiling to her, Simon said, “Yes, should. But I need to finish my work to figure it out, so please, please just do as I ask.”

Nodding once, Kaylee headed for the sink in silence, using copious amounts of Simon’s special anti-bacterial soap as he’d asked to and washed her hands. By the time she was done, he had already gone to the door and held it open for her so she wouldn’t have to touch the knob.

Kissing her lightly as she passed him, he told her, “As soon as I know anything, I’ll tell you.”

She nodded once, still concerned, her heart beating heavily in her chest. She knew, for Simon to be worried, about something medical, it had to be bad. “And don’t say anything to the others,” he called after her. Turning to face him, Kaylee again nodded once, unable to trust her voice and then walked away.

Simon watched her go, wishing he hadn’t had to send her away, but everything he had been piecing together over the past few days was all leading to some pretty alarming information and he could not risk Kaylee’s health.

Shutting the door, he locked it, and then went back to his desk. It had all started with the Wu baby, Ella. She had presented with flu-like symptoms, fever, runny nose, red eyes, but when her mother had brought her back today, Simon had noticed how the child howled the minute he’d touched the lymph nodes at the back of her neck. And then his eyes had fallen to the girl’s brother.

Tim was a quiet boy that was no secret. But he had been exceptionally withdrawn each time he’d come to see Simon that week with his mother and sister, and today, when Simon had asked to examine him, he’d found the child suffering from a temperature of a hundred and three, and the start of a bumpy, red rash along his underarms.

Reaching for his datapad containing the most extensive medical dictionary, Simon thumbed it on and prayed he was wrong.

***

Remember, comments make the 'verse go round!