Kaylee stopped outside the shuttle door and knocked, more than a little worried that Inara and River would rather have their privacy, 'specially if River wasn't feeling too well.

She waited a few moments for a response, and not getting one, considered moving on, but paused and knocked again. She knew neither River nor Inara would ignore her, even at a time like this. And if River were ill, she doubted Inara would want to leave her alone unless it were very serious, given no-one's opinion of Simon was too high right now. Still getting nothing from inside the shuttle, she took a deep breath and got ready to blurt out an apology if she walked in on something amorous.

Stepping over the threshold of the shuttle, she had already formed the beginning of 'sorry' with her lips when she heard a sound of retching. Coming out from behind the curtains she saw River leaning weakly over the side of the bed, trying to decide if it was going to happen again.

"River?" She questioned, moving quickly to the edge of the bed. "Are you okay? Where's 'Nara?" she questioned hurriedly, pulling River's hair back.

River tried to smile. "Don't worry, nothing's coming up" she informed the mechanic before retching again. Kaylee flinched away instinctively even as she held River's hair. She hated sick. When River finished the she collapsed back on the bed looking ashen and shaky. "Inara went to get Simon."

Kaylee's stomach did a flip at the sound of his name. She wasn't ready to face Simon just yet, and would bet everything she had that River would rather he was on the other side of the 'Verse about now. "Simon?" she said in disbelief, not really sure how to continue.

"Could you turn the lights down?" River queried hopefully.

"I...yeah." Kaylee agreed, still thrown off. She stood up and walked across the shuttle, moving the fabric aside that Inara used to hide the lighting panel and dimmed the lights further.

"Thank you" River said from the bed, relief evident in her tone.

Kaylee turned to find River curled back up on the bed, the heels of her hands pushing into her eyesockets as though the pressure might help with what looked like an awful beast of a headache. Fear gathered inside her as she watched tears trickle down River's cheeks in the muted light. "You don't look so good" she informed her friend worriedly, moving to sit beside River's head and stroke her hair gently.

"Reacting badly to Simon's meds is all." River told her. "Mind's too open and it's all too loud, too strong. Hurts my head." She grimaced. "They'll be here any minute, so you should go if you're not ready to see him."

The image of River unconscious on Simon's bed, an expression of dread on her face popped into Kaylee's mind. "Shouldn't've left the first time" she said quietly. "I'm surely not leaving now, with you as you are."

"Thank you" River whispered, a hand sneaking up to take the one of Kaylee's that was stroking her hair. A feeling of warm happiness settled into Kaylee's middle in spite of her fear and worry. This was what it was supposed to be like, the two of them like sisters, taking care of each other.

It was just typical, Jayne thought, sitting in the cargo bay after lifting weights to try and pass the time, that the Doc had gone and done something stupid and gotten them all into some kind of life threatening situation yet again. While he liked to tease River, he really didn't hold much quarrel with the girl no more. Crazy she might be, but things they'd seen, he felt she had a right to be, and he couldn't fault her as a member of the crew no more. She more'n earned her keep. Saved his life yet again just a few hours ago, when she could've followed Mal's instructions 'n left them to die. In a way, he even felt a mite proud of her, getting it on with Inara. 'Specially as he knew it made Simon mad. Plus, it was hot. And Jayne liked hot, though it might get his ass kicked by little River.

He hadn't heard anything, which seemed like good news so far as concerned their imminent death at the hands of whatever Alliance creatures had been after them on that trip to Ariel. Jayne shuddered. He'd hear those screams till the day he died.

"This is different" He heard Inara's voice say firmly, her voice echoing from the area of the infirmary. He'd seen her head off in that direction not long before.

"It doesn't sound that different from when she woke up from the dream last time" Simon argued. "Light sensitivity, nausea, dizziness, headache."

"It's different, Simon. Worse." Inara paused, turning to face him at the entry to the cargo bay. "I know you don't believe she can read minds, but she says it's too loud. That we're all too loud. It's overwhelming her senses – our thoughts, emotions. At the very least she's reacting badly to the medication you gave her. You said it was new?" She turned around and kept heading in the direction of the shuttle.

"Um, yes" Simon agreed. "I've read the papers on the clinical trials they've been conducting with it. I've been following it for a couple of years, actually. The results are promising, and the mechanism of action is different from most sedatives. It-"

"Simon" Inara cut him off, her voice sharp.

"Sorry. Nervous habit." he apologised. "It's about to be shipped out to the hospitals, and I managed to get hold of some on the black market when we were on Ariel."

Jayne got up off his bench and followed them. Doc trying new meds on his sister's special brain and her reacting badly didn't sound much like anything positive to him.

"River?" Inara called out quietly as she entered the shuttle.

"We're in here" She heard Kaylee's voice call softly back.

"Kaylee?" Simon said from behind her in surprise. Inara ignored him, moving quickly into the shuttle. Taking in the scene, her concern for River shot up astronomically. The girl was curled up on the bed with her hands clamped over her ears, sobbing quietly. Kaylee was beside her, stroking her hair quietly.

"Sweetie?" Inara bent down quietly beside River, but she didn't respond, tears running down her face from eyes clenched shut. Dread settled firmly in Inara's stomach as she felt tears beginning to run down her own cheeks.

"I came to say hi, and found her throwin' up, kinda like after that dream" Kaylee said quietly, stroking Inara's shoulder in comfort. "Said you'd gone for Simon. She was talking to me until a few minutes ago."

Inara reached out and gently pried River's right hand off of her ear, taking it to hold in her own. "That's not where you're hearing things from, bǎo bèi" she said, keeping her voice as calm as she could. River's eyes opened to meet her own, wide with pain and confusion.

"It was just a sedative" Simon said to River, worried and confused, coming to kneel beside Inara. "A different one than others I've used, but it should have suppressed the affected area of your brain, not enhanced it. You shouldn't be hearing anything, mèi mei." He used his thumb to gently wipe the tears from under her eyes.

River didn't look at him, closing her eyes again instead. "I can hear everything." She croaked softly. "It's getting worse. Mind's wide open. It's going to get us killed if you don't stop it. " Inara didn't like River's colour. She was bone white and her breathing was shallow. She swallowed the sob that rose up inside her.

Simon was evidently worried, too, as he opened his medkit and started looking through the vials it contained. "I've been specifically following that drug because of where it works in your brain. It's like it was tailor made for you."

River's eyes flew open with sudden horror. "What?"

Simon didn't pick up on it, focussed on finding a specific drug in his kit. "Diluted, it can be used as a sleep aid. I've been watching the clinical trials for a couple of years. I thought it might help with your nightmares, but it's been impossible to get hold of on the black market."

Inara's stomach plummeted. "And you finally found some on Ariel."