INT. SERENITY - INFIRMARY

Jayne rushes in, laying Paul's unconscious body on the operating chair. Simon enters immediately after him, rushing to the counter and picking up his Med. Scanner. He runs it over Paul's body.

SIMON (handing Jayne a wad of 4x4's): Keep pressure on that bleeder. (beat, then to himself, reading the Scanner) Sub-dural hematoma... Fifteen percent volume depletion... EEG is erratic...

JAYNE (perplexed desperation): What? Some of us ain't docs, ya know...

SIMON (setting down the Scanner): He's bleeding inside his head. He's lost a lot of blood from the head wound, and his brainwaves are scrambled. Now, no talking, and do exactly what I tell you. Captain, get me an IV kit out of that drawer. Jayne, keep holding pressure.

Simon pulls on some latex gloves, then grabs a nasal cannula from a drawer and puts it on Paul's face, attaching its hose to an oxygen canister beneath the counter. He pulls a pair of trauma sheers from a drawer and cuts Paul's clothes off, leaving him in his skivvies.

Inara appears at the door and is taken aback by the scene. Simon spots her as he runs his hands down Paul's arms and legs, checking for internal skeletal trauma.

SIMON (back in clinically detached mode): No obvious long-bone fractures. No bruising or edema.

JAYNE (hint of desperation): Doc, quit yammerin’ and feelin’ ‘im up. Man needs... doctorin'.

Simon grabs the IV kit from Mal and rips it open. He swabs Paul's inner forearm as Mal wraps the tourniquet around his upper arm.

INARA: What can I do?

SIMON (not looking up, IV catheter poised): Pray.

INT. SERENITY - BRIDGE

River and Zoe each occupy a seat, working on their console.

ZOE: Incoming wave. Alliance emergency frequency.

She flips a switch.

MADSEN (VO Radio): Serenity, this is Paladin Escape Pod One, do you copy?

ZOE: We read you, Pod One.

MADSEN (VO Radio): Just wanted to say good luck. (beat) And… nice catch.

Zoe smiles, glancing at River. Her gaze is averted.

ZOE: Good luck, Pod One. (kills the wave) River?

RIVER: Sifu… he’s…

ZOE: He’s hurt pretty bad, isn’t he? (River nods) Then you should be down there. I’ll muddle through.

River nods and jumps up from her chair, exiting the Bridge. Zoe takes the yoke, guiding Serenity with a confident hand.

INT. SERENITY – INFIRMARY

Paul is restrained, his arms and legs fastened to the medical table. An IV line runs from his right arm up to a 1000cc bag of saline. Simon is drawing up a syringe of medication.

Jayne remains holding pressure on Paul’s head wound. Simon pushes the medication into an access port on Paul’s IV line, clicking the IV flow to maximum. Paul is perfectly still. Inara watches worriedly from the doorway. River silently slinks up behind her.

SIMON: Okay, we need to roll him over.

Simon begins to unstrap Paul, Malcolm stepping forward to help.

SIMON: Be careful. He could convulse at any time and buck right off the table.

Between the three of them, Jayne primarily guiding his head, they roll Paul over and lay him on his belly. Simon swiftly re-straps his arms and legs. He then pulls a tray covered neatly with suture equipment over next to Paul’s head. He then delicately pulls Jayne’s hands away from Paul’s head. The 4x4’s are soaked with blood, as are Jayne’s hands.

Jayne looks at his hands, his eyes going wide.

SIMON (swabbing and spraying Paul’s occipital skull with saline) Both of you, scrub up. Thoroughly. I might need your hands.

Simon glances at River and Inara in the doorway. His gaze meets River’s. Her eyes bore into his, her brow furrowed. His gaze is equally determined as he nods slightly and turns back toward Paul.

EXT. SERENITY - VFX

Serenity gracefully soars through space, gliding into then out of view.

INT. SERENITY - BRIDGE

Zoe sits at the pilot’s console, her eyes gazing longingly out the windshield.

Pan down to her hands. Only her fingertips rest on the yoke, touching it almost lovingly.

CU of Zoe’s eyes. A single tear forms in the corner of her left eye.

ZOE (whisper): God, I miss you baby. That last run was something else. You would’ve had so much fun...

INT. SERENITY - INFIRMARY

This scene is silent, overlaid with somber music.

The medical bed is raised up to chest level on Simon. His gloved hands are bloody, the hemostat and scissor they hold also bloody. He is halfway done stitching the ugly laceration in Paul’s skull. He occasionally pulls the tools back to allow Malcolm to swab the area with fresh damp 4x4’s.

Inara has one arm around River’s shoulders, her other hand rubbing River’s arm.

Kaylee crouches on the landing, watching through the Infirmary window. She is crying quietly.

Slow Pan around Paul's face. Zoom in to CU of Paul’s closed eyes. They pop open...

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