Simon wandered through the halls of the familiar building, running his fingers along the sterile, white walls, as the alarms in the back of his head faded into the quiet of a well-staffed hospital. The tiles made comforting clicking noises under his polished, black shoes as he drifted down the long, strait path. At the end of the hall he could see a glowing, red sign that read ‘emergency’, and a ghostly smile played in the corners of his eyes, a glimmer of relief grazing his soul. He was home. Finally, he was back where he truly belonged. He found his pace quickening. He wanted to get to that room, to run his fingers along all of the soothing gadgets that had made life so easy for him, that he had spent so many years of his life learning to use. He reached the door and stretched out a hand to push it open, but then stopped with his palm pressed against the cool, serene metal. He thought he heard a little sigh, like someone was already in the room. Barely breathing, he moved closer to the door and peered through the window. River, in a hospital gown, was sitting on the bed. She was looking straight at him, and he could clearly hear her soft whisper. “Playground school bell rings again. Rain clouds come to play again.” Her eyes were wide and innocent: the one thing that had scared him most about her condition. She didn’t even seem to know that there was something wrong with her. He fell back from the glass—startled—and found himself in the company of a frantic nurse, unidentifiable because of the mask she wore over her face to protect her from potentially dangerous germs. She grabbed his arm and dragged him down a side hallway. “Has no one told you she’s not breathing?” The nurse quipped, a strange, metallic pitch in her voice. Before Simon could ask whom, she pushed him into a room. Confused, but still acutely aware of the proper conduct of a doctor, he carefully pulled the curtain around the bed to the side. He was shocked to see his own mother, whom he had not seen or talked to in years, laying on the bed. As the nurse had confided in him, she was indeed not breathing. He backed out of the room hastily, refusing to believe his own eyes. He raced back down the side hall, towards the main one. A voice in his head called out to him, a voice he had not listened to in quite a long time. “Hello…I am your mind, giving you someone to talk to. Hello…” he clamped his hands over his ears, trying to shut it out. He tried to figure out how he had gotten to this hospital, a thought he had not previously considered. He had been on Serenity, and they hadn’t stopped anywhere. He must be sleeping. This must be a dream… “If I smile and don’t believe…” he whispered to himself. “Soon I know I’ll wake from this dream….” His own words gave him confidence, and he once again sprinted down the hall. He knew where the exit was, and how to get out. He passed by the emergency room again, where he chanced a quick glance in. River was still in there, but now she was up against the door, screaming. He put as much distance between himself and it as he could, but her words still sank into his ears. “Don’t try to fix me I’m not broken!” Gritting his teeth, he ran faster still, away from the room. “Hello…” He moved his hand halfway to his ear to block out the voice, but then remembered that it wouldn’t do him any good. Instead, he concentrated on reaching the exit, which he could now see clearly. “I’m the lie living for you so you can hide…” He flung open the door, and was immediately blinded by a brilliantly white light. When he could see again, he realized that he was on Serenity, in Kaylee’s room. A soft sobbing sound attracted his attention, and he turned to see Kaylee sitting on her bed, hugging a stuffed bear to her chest. Her face was red and she looked as though she hadn’t slept for several nights. Automatically, he ran to her. “Don’t cry…” he whispered comfortingly, reaching an arm around her. But he found he couldn’t touch her. His hand went right through her. Horrified, he took a hasty step back, lost his balance, and fell right through the floor, through several floors below that, and found himself drifting into space, watching Serenity pull away. “Suddenly…” he whispered to himself. “I know I’m not sleeping…” He was answered by the silence, and a voice in the back of his mind. “Hello…I’m still here. All that’s left of yesterday…”