There was some kinda flowery smell in the air, Jayne could smell it even though he couldn’t say where he was. Lyin’ on a bed, that was for sure. He tried to roll over and get up but was restrained by soft blankets tangled up in his legs. He grunted with effort and couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t reach the stupid… gorram… blankets……. He fell back against the bed with another grunt, his head spinning, his hands shaking… ‘Musta been a good night’ he muttered into the twilight darkness of the room – damn fine moonshine they had on this rock… wherever it was. He heard movement on the other side of the room and struggled to find his weapon. But he was naked under the blankets and before he could feel under the pillow the soft flowery smell was next to him, all… wrapped up in…. some…kinda… rustling…. Dress…. As the darkness flowed up over him and sunk into his mind he heard a voice.. ‘hush now mr, you’re fine, you’re safe. Just sleep now… you’re safe’ ‘aint never s……’ he slurred as unconsciousness claimed him.

The voice was the next thing he heard… he couldn’t understand what it was saying at first, it was just like cottonwool in his brain…soft, warm…reminded him of.. Reminded him of… ah hell he aint never heard a voice like that before…but then he was dreaming so that was ok. The voice started to make a bit more sense, and at the same time he could feel someone touching him. Like walking into a cold rain he realised he wasn’t dreaming, was being bathed like a baby! The hands wiping him with a cloth and then drying him. ‘aint no gorram baby..’ he growled and tried to push the hands away ‘I know’ said the voice, sounding like it was laughing at him ‘aint funny’ he grumbled and grabbed one of the hands. It twisted easily out of he grasp and he knew something was really wrong if his massive hands couldn’t hold someone still. ‘wha’s wrong with me?’ he grunted. The voice leaned in closer to him ‘you were in an accident about three weeks ago – do you remember? You’re on Green..’ Jayne looked in the direction of the voice and only saw a blurry shape in the dim light. ‘Green? Had a job.. Three Weeks’ He tried to sit up again three weeks! Gods only knew what had happened in that time – where was the rest of the crew? Where was the ship? The woman gently pushed on his big chest, and easily pushed him back against the pillows. ‘Calm down Mr Cobb, your friends know you’re here, they’ll be back for you, but you were not able to be moved, hush now it’ll come back to you’ Jayne was exhausted again but he was not going to let that stop him: ‘who the hell’r you? And my name aint Mr Cobb..’ The woman smiled at him ‘my name is Verity, and I have been nursing you these three weeks. So do I have your permission to call you Jayne?’ He grunted at her. It wasn’t yes and it wasn’t no, hell he didn’t know her from Adam and wasn’t goin’ to decide if she was friend or enemy yet. Guess that didn’t matter though as his friends AND his enemies call him Jayne anyhow. Verity…verity… pretty name… kinda like … Vera…… With that he fell asleep again, this time a proper, restful sleep.