Hey all, I'm not really happy with the way this chapter turned out, but it took me long enough to write so it'll have to be good enough. Hope you enjoyed the story. Please review.

Zoe leaned against the door frame watching Simon organize the infirmary for the fifth time that day.

Jayne had spent most of the day in a deep, healing sleep- his talk with Mal seeming to have done wonders for dispelling the horrifying dreams that had plagued the big man the day before. The rest of them had trickled in the few times Jayne had been awake throughout the day, thanking the merc for his sacrifice or in Kaylee's case simply fawning over the wounded man until he told her in no uncertain terms to 'leave him the ruttin hell alone'. The little mechanic had simply laughed at his growl, called him her big teddy bear, kissed him on the forehead and skipped out of the room.

Of course the growl had been better than his slack- jawed response to River calling him "the Protector".

The only member of the crew that had yet to speak to Jayne was Simon; he seemed to be conspicuously absent any time his patient was awake. Zoe knew River was still furious with her brother and it was starting to irritate her as well; someone does something nice for you, you say thank you and get on with life, you don't spend the next however long wallowing in self-pity.

Simon looked up from his task when Jayne's breathing hitched as he shifted slightly on the small medical bed; it was obvious that his splints (Simon wasn't exactly stupid enough to cast over an open wound) and injuries were making it difficult for the merc to get comfortable. The young doctor turned quickly to leave, spotting Zoe in the doorway for the first time.

"Going somewhere, Doctor?"

A guilty look flashed across Simon's face. " I, uh-"

"-need to stay here and say thank you to Jayne." Her irritation grew exponentially at the confused look that crossed the other man's face.

"For what?"

"Top three percent my ass."

Zoe cracked a small smile at her husband's muttered wise crack from behind her; she'd been thinking the exact same thing. The smile disappeared quickly, "Simon, if it weren't for Jayne, you're sorry pe gu would rotting in a jail cell right now and River would be on her way back to the academy."

Simon froze as if the thought had never occurred to him, and it hadn't. He swayed suddenly as the enormity of the situation hit him head on, not resisting when Zoe pushed him down onto a stool. He'd been so caught up in his own shame that he'd barely comprehended a word Mal had said the night before. Jayne really had saved them, and paid a hefty price for it; spending the night on a cold, hard jail cell floor must have been torture with his injuries.

And Simon had only made things worse for the man.

He was pulled from his haze of thoughts as Jayne shifted again, this time waking enough to let out a low groan as the pain assaulted him. Simon was on his feet instantly, preparing another smoother to ease the merc's discomfort.

Jayne's blue eyes blinked open as Simon approached the bed. "Doc," he managed to croak out. He hoped that it didn't sound nearly as pitiful as it had in his own ears. He tried to sit up, quickly regretting the motion as pain flared through his entire body and the blanket slipped leaving him in nothing more than his boxer shorts; Jayne quickly sank back to the bed, gasping in pain.

"Easy Jayne, you're not up to moving around just yet; this will help." Simon injected the hypospray into the merc's exposed shoulder before leaning down to retrieve the blanket and cover Jayne's shivering form again. "How are you feeling?"

Jayne gave the doctor a look that clearly stated, 'and people think I'm stupid'. "Like go se, Doc. When do I get to get outta here?"

"Jayne, you haven't been coherent for more than ten minutes at a time, it will be a couple of days yet; and you're going to need to stay off that leg as much as possible even when I do release you."

The big merc closed his eyes and gave a soft grunt of acknowledgement, obviously not caring too much since the smoother had kicked in.

"Listen Jayne, I ah- look if it hadn't been for you- I just wanted to say-" Simon hated this, he never stuttered. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to start again only to stop when he took in Jayne's closed eyes and even breathing. Well, the man did need his rest. "Thank you Jayne," finally whispered quietly.

"Just don't go gettin used to it," came the softly mumbled replied.

Getting over his initial startle, the Doctor allowed a small smile but decided not to call the injured man on his bluff. Simon trusted River's instincts, about people anyway, and if she felt Jayne was their protector, then Simon would take her word for it. "Well thank you all the same, and Jayne, I'm sorry, I never should-"

"Look Doc, I ain't so good with stuff like this. Think we could just forget it ever happened?"

'No' Simon answered silently, he wanted to learn from this. He didn't ever want to do something even remotely that selfish again. He'd felt comfortable taking the oath because he felt he was better than that; turned out he was human after all.

"Whatever you say… Protector."