Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter Two: Recovery

Chapter Two: Recovery

Normally, the ETA to Arcadia would have been an hour. Thanks to Wash, that time was shaved to a precious forty minutes. Mal suspected that even if the commandos had any ideas of chasing them, they would have been eating a fine mix of dust and exhaust by now.

Three Hills was made up of dry land but Arcadia was nearest its equator which made the land and air dry with considerable humidity. It was something when even the Three Hills' government ignored you. Arcadia relied on mining ore and water as their income. It was also a place where new names were forgotten and old names were never remembered.

Once Wash found a clearing to land nearby the settlement, they hurried the still unconscious Zoe on her stretcher to find the nearest doctor. A young boy passerby led them to a small shack of an office and introduced them to an older gentleman. Very tall, white-gray hair, and a face that was hardened by weather but softened by life. Even his voice was soothing.

"What do we have here?"

Mal explained what had happened, just not how it happened. Mal found it was far easier and safer not letting unknowns to have an inkling to their criminal tendencies. The tall doctor calmly delegated duties to the new crew so to help Zoe switched to the doctor's medical room behind him. Once Zoe was at the mercy of the new doctor, the old man started examining her wound and checked her vitals. He then hooked her up to an I.V. and then looked over at the young boy who was watching along with the crew of Serenity.

"Go fetch your sister, Caleb. I think she may be needed."

Young Caleb flew off like a bullet. The old doctor addressed Mal who he had already established as the leader of this group. "She's lost a lot of blood. We have to get that stopped before we can get into the wound and take the bullet out. She's gonna need surgery. You administered the gauze?"

Mal answered, "Yes. It was all we had."

"Well, it may have saved her life. I don't have much in the way of professional facilities here, but I make do."

Wash grew impatient. "What does that mean? Can't you fix her?" He turned back to Mal and cried, "I think we came to the wrong place."

Mal turned to his pilot. "The doc's going to do what he can, just as he says. If we had taken her anywhere else, she would have died."

The doctor addressed Wash. "He's right, son. I apologize if my sense of humor gave you the wrong impression." He paused and stated, "This woman is special to you."

Mal was impressed how the doctor bled some of his calm demeanor into Wash and worked. Wash replied, "Yes. She's my fiancee."

The doctor took his arm and patted Wash on the shoulder and said reassuringly, "I'll take good care of her." He looked at the rest of the crew and noted, "Well, you're all welcome to stay in the other room, but as you can see this ain't exactly comfy with four people. I suggest using Carson's next door as a waiting room. They got drinks and food."

"You sure we ain't trespassing?" Mal asked.

"Oh, heavens no. You're all welcome. Least we can do while we fix up your mate."

"How long will this take," Wash asked impatiently.

"I suspect a few hours if Fiona can get here quick enough."

"Fiona?" Kaylee questioned.

Mal supplied the answer. "Caleb's sister. She's your nurse?"

"That she is. And a fine one at that. Now you folks go along and get you some grub and drink."