His dreams were filled with memories of his mother. Twisted memories that had her crying out for him. Pleaded with him not to go away, asking him why didn't he see her before she died. A soft voice called out his name and it was all it took to wake him up and have him pointing Jenny at it.

It was the crazy girl's voice. He sat up and put the gun down but kept it within arm's reach. She was staring at him saying nothing and holding a small tray with a hearty stew and some bok choy salad to the side.

“What are ya doin' in here?” he grumbled.

She rolled her eyes and lifted the tray slightly as if to say, “What does it look like I'm doing?”

She gently placed the tray across his lap. “The Captain wanted to make sure you've eaten something.”

“I'm not hungry,” he grunted and two seconds later his stomach growled.

River arched a brow at him. “Your stomach says otherwise. I'd advise you to eat something. Having only alcohol in your system can seriously damage your liver and kidneys after a prolonged period of ti—”

“Bi zui! I'll eat it, all right? Anythin' to get ya to shut yer trap,” he snapped. He picked up his spoon and dipped it into his stew. It wasn't half bad. No where near as good as his ma's—no don't think 'bout her, think 'bout anything but her. He was half-way through with his stew when he noticed the girl hadn't left.

“What ya still doin' here?”

“Captain wants me to make sure you eat everything.”

He snorted. “What are ya, my gorram babysitter now? Don'tja gotta do some piloting or somethin'?”

“The Captain is at the helm at the moment. And Zoe's emotional state of being does not make her an adequate candidate to bring you down your dinner. It fell to me to be your ambassador to the outside world,” she said eloquently.

Jayne stared at her. “So what... your sayin' you're a whore now?”

River actually laughed.

He frowned at her and finished off his stew. “Stop laughin' at me.”

“I am not laughing at you. I'm laughing at what you said, there's a difference.”

There came no answer from him. He picked at his salad and pushed it away.

“I'm done.”

“You're to eat everything.” She said firmly.

“I don't want to,” he gritted his teeth.

“The bok choy has many nutrients and vita—”

“Does it look like I give a gorram 'bout nutrients and vitamins?” he growled.

River smiled. He was acting like a petulant child refusing to eat his vegetables, which in a sense he was being. “Didn't your mother ever teach you to finish your veggies?”

As soon as she said it, she regretted it. She'd meant it as a joke. Being annoyed at her presence had made him forget about his mother, therefore she'd forgotten as well.

“Get out.”

“I apologize—”

“Get out.”

“Do you want to finish—”

Tray, bok choy, and everything else went flying against the far wall. He'd jumped to his feet.

“I said get the hell out!” His face looked angry but it was his eyes that betrayed his true feelings. He was scared and full of grief. She was the only thing pure in his life and she was going to be taken away from him. River felt his emotions churning and coming off of him in waves. She stumbled a bit. So much pain, so much anger, so much anguish. It was worse than being around Mal and Inara.

“Stop!” She put her hands to her ears. “Stop swallowing your emotions, they pile up and pile up and I'm drowning in them. Let them go, the flow must go somewhere or the river will overflow and a flood will be inevitable!”

“Mal, the girl's going feng le again. You better get down here,” Jayne said into the intercom. “Doc you better come here, too.”

“All right little crazy girl. Just stay down there and yer brother will be here to take you, dong ma?” Jayne said quietly. He didn't touch her or step closer. Whatever the hell was happening to her he knew it had something to do with him getting angry.

She continued to sob and mutter in Chinese under her breath. When she screamed at him to stop, she'd fallen to her knees so much like she'd done on Miranda that it'd scared him to death. For the first time ever, Jayne felt guilty about hurting the girl.

What happened on Ariel was different. He'd meant to hurt her and Simon. And although he had felt guilty about trying to turn them in, it was more so because he'd betrayed Mal's trust than anything else. Now his thoughts and pain from the fear of losing his mother had bled over to her and were causing her to relapse.

The hatch opened and Mal jumped down. “What the hell happened?”

“She just went nuts all a sudden...” he muttered.

“How come I ain't believing that's all the truth?” Mal knelt down next to River. She backed away from him.

“No! You can't just try to stop the flooding with more rain! It doesn't work that way! You have to build a dam, but you just can't let the water overflow. The floodgates have to open, the dam can't hold everything always...” she trailed off and started muttering in Chinese again.

Simon scrambled down the latter with his bag in hand. He sat next River and began prepping a syringe.

“What did you do to her?” he accused Jayne.

“I ain't done nothin' to her!” He yelled. “Gorram moonbrain girl starts talkin' about my ma and I tell 'er ta get out and next thing I know she's talkin' nonsense and babblin' about a flooding and water...”

“His dam is near bursting. He won't let the floodgates open, Simon,” River grasped the doctor's shirt suddenly. “Tell him to let them open...” she moaned.

“Shh... mei-mei. Don't worry it'll be fine,” he pressed the small needle against her skin.

“No... it'll never be fine. Everything's going to change so fast. He'll see, you'll all see,” she pointed at Jayne before she calmed down. Her eyes fluttered for a second before they shut.

“I thought you were only giving her a smoother,” Mal asked.

“She was so agitated, she needed to be drugged,” he closed his bag shut.

“Well here's somethin' you shoulda thought before that, top three percent. How the hell we gonna get her out?”

“Captain, I'm sure we can—”

“I can haul her up,” Jayne offered.

He bent over River and picked her up like she weighed no more than a feather. Compared to the big mercenary, she probably did, Mal thought.

Jayne gently placed her over his shoulder like a sack, using his shoulders to keep her balanced on him as he climbed out. He waited for the doc and Mal to come up.

“Where do you want me to take her, the infirmary or her room?” he asked. He'd already placed her in his arms again. Mal thought he looked oddly like a dark knight stealing a virginal princess off into the darkness. He shook that strange thought from his head.

“Her room will be fine, Jayne,” Simon said politely.

Jayne shrugged and walked away. Mal held Simon back. “What do you reckon happened, Doc?”

Simon rubbed his eyes, looking exhausted. “From the little I understood her tirade and Jayne's... inadequate explanation, I'd say she was overwhelmed by Jayne's emotions.”

“Jayne? Emotions? Come on, Doc,” Mal scoffed.

“I know it's difficult to grasp Jayne having deep enough thoughts to affect River... but it is his mother.”

Jayne went down the stairs and entered into the passenger dorms. The girl was the only one that used them now. The doc hardly came to his room but to get clothes or if the girl was havin' a bad day.

“Guess today qualifies as a bad day, huh girlie?” He asked her not expecting a response.

He laid her gently on her bed. She looked so innocent and childlike. Too gorram skinny, that's what it was. If the girl ate more and put some meat on her bones she'd look like she was eighteen not no thirteen. He tucked the strands of stray hair away from her face.

“Thank you, Jayne. That'll be all,” Simon said primly. He'd obviously caught him touching River's face.

Jayne shrugged and turned to leave.

“If I find out that you did something to harm her in any way, you'll find out how quickly I can forget my oath,” he said coldly.

“Doc, tend ta your business and I'll tend ta mine,” was all Jayne said.