How We Used to Be, Chapter 36
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firefly_fanfic
Title: How We Used to Be
Author: Sarah-Beth (memorysdaughter)
Email: memorysdaughter@gmail.com
Summary: Set in present-day America, an AU fic. Dr. Simon Tam thought he lost everything when his parents were killed in a car crash. Forced to move back home to care for his fifteen-year-old “vegetable” sister, River, Simon comes face-to-face with all of his fears and misgivings about the past. When it becomes necessary to take in boarders to keep the Tam home, he ends up finding a family he never thought could exist. But what will it take to make him see that things might turn out all right despite the odds?
Series: Chapter 36
Character(s): River, Kaylee
Pairings: supports Zoe/Wash, Simon/Kaylee, eventually Mal/Inara
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Timeline: set in present-day America
Disclaimer: Joss is boss.
Author’s Note: I know it's been awhile since I updated... I blame NaNoWriMo, and school, and about eight other fanfics. :)
Chapters 1-35
How We Used to Be
At the stables the next morning, the girls from Cabin Two went up and down the aisles, looking at all of the horses. The horses were beautiful, roans and dappled grays and chestnuts, and all blinked their slow, knowing eyes as the wheelchairs rolled past them.
In the ring, stable master Tim herded a slew of volunteers around one patient horse, a beautiful palomino named Ruby. The volunteers took various positions around the horse, holding lead ropes and medical equipment. Tim himself would ride behind the more physically involved girls, propping them up as the horse went around and around the ring.
In an air-conditioned room off the ring, the girls waited for their turns. Paint, crayons, tubes of glitter glue, and paper were spread out on a large table.
River sat on one side of the table, with a piece of newsprint held up in an easel in front of her. Kaylee, in a chair to her left, put a tube of blue glitter glue into River’s mouth, and watched as River held it with her teeth, moving it around the paper with some effort, making a glittery circle on the page.
Ellie lay on her side on the table on a woolen blanket, drawing on a newsprint tablet with big swirls of bright red paint from a thick brush. “I love art,” she confessed to River. “Painting is my favorite.”
“I love dancing,” River mumbled around the tube of glitter glue.
Kaylee reached up and removed the glitter glue from River’s mouth.
“Thanks! I love dancing,” River repeated.
“Oh, me too,” Ellie said, dragging the chunky paintbrush across the tablet. “Sometimes when I’m at home, my brother Ethan picks me up and swings me around the living room until my mom tells him to stop or I’ll throw up. And we laugh and laugh and laugh.”
“Hey, when we’re done with these, we should trade them,” River said, indicating the paintings. “We can hang them up over our beds!”
“Yeah!” Ellie said excitedly.
Ellie’s partner, her sister Alice, leaned in. “Ellie, Janna’s all done on the horse. I think it’s your turn. Are you ready?”
“Yeah,” Ellie said, releasing her grip on the paintbrush.
Alice scooped Ellie off the table, and they headed for the ring. “Be back in a bit!” Ellie called to River.
“We’ll be here!” Kaylee replied for River, who was eagerly attacking the paper with a green tube of glitter glue.
Kaylee leaned back in her chair. “Hey, did I tell you that I think Miss Serra has a huge crush on Zoë’s friend Mal?”
River nearly gagged on the tube of glitter glue; Kaylee hastened to remove it from her mouth. “What?” River asked, surprised. “Miss Serra and Mal?”
“Yeah. When we were at the concert in the park, I caught her staring at him.”
“Are you sure?” River asked doubtfully.
“Oh, yeah. She was looking at him like she wished she had something to say, just so she could…”
“No, no,” River interrupted. “I mean, how could you be sure that she was looking at him? You and Simon were so busy smooching that I’m surprised you saw anything but his lips.”
Kaylee flushed. “Hey!”
“Well, it’s true,” River pointed out.
“Yeah, but…”
“We’re making bracelets in arts and crafts today,” River said. “I want to make one for Ellie.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Kaylee said.
After a short wait, it was River’s turn on the horse. Tim, the stable master, sat on the horse as two volunteers held the lead ropes. River and Kaylee took their place at the top of a ramp-accessible mounting platform, along with two other volunteers. Kaylee disconnected River’s ventilator from the back of her wheelchair, and handed it down to another volunteer, who strapped it over his shoulder.
“Okay, once you have your helmet on we’ll start the ride,” Tim said. “Kaylee, will you check and make sure it’s fastened correctly?”
Kaylee bent down to check the helmet strap. “It’s fine,” she reported.
“All right. We’re going to transfer her laterally, the same way that we transferred Amber earlier,” Tim said. “Kaylee, do you feel comfortable lifting from under her arms?”
“Sure,” Kaylee said.
“Good. Darcy, Steve, make sure you’re in position. River, are you ready?”
“Yeah!”
“All right, then, on the count of three – one, two, three!”
Kaylee lifted, and Darcy and Steve and Tim lifted, and then River was up and out of her wheelchair, getting settled on the horse’s back.
“Wow, we’re up high,” River said as Tim’s arms went around her, supporting her.
“Ruby’s a tall one,” Tim agreed pleasantly. “Everybody okay?”
Steve and Darcy agreed that they were fine, Steve still carrying River’s ventilator.
“Then let’s take off,” Tim said, and clucked to Ruby, who started walking around the ring.
“Kaylee, take pictures!” River called. “The camera’s in my backpack!”
Kaylee, smiling as she watched horse and man and girl plod around the ring, reached for the digital camera and took several shots. It was the kind of thing, she knew, that Simon would absolutely love to see.
Author: Sarah-Beth (memorysdaughter)
Email: memorysdaughter@gmail.com
Summary: Set in present-day America, an AU fic. Dr. Simon Tam thought he lost everything when his parents were killed in a car crash. Forced to move back home to care for his fifteen-year-old “vegetable” sister, River, Simon comes face-to-face with all of his fears and misgivings about the past. When it becomes necessary to take in boarders to keep the Tam home, he ends up finding a family he never thought could exist. But what will it take to make him see that things might turn out all right despite the odds?
Series: Chapter 36
Character(s): River, Kaylee
Pairings: supports Zoe/Wash, Simon/Kaylee, eventually Mal/Inara
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Timeline: set in present-day America
Disclaimer: Joss is boss.
Author’s Note: I know it's been awhile since I updated... I blame NaNoWriMo, and school, and about eight other fanfics. :)
Chapters 1-35
How We Used to Be
At the stables the next morning, the girls from Cabin Two went up and down the aisles, looking at all of the horses. The horses were beautiful, roans and dappled grays and chestnuts, and all blinked their slow, knowing eyes as the wheelchairs rolled past them.
In the ring, stable master Tim herded a slew of volunteers around one patient horse, a beautiful palomino named Ruby. The volunteers took various positions around the horse, holding lead ropes and medical equipment. Tim himself would ride behind the more physically involved girls, propping them up as the horse went around and around the ring.
In an air-conditioned room off the ring, the girls waited for their turns. Paint, crayons, tubes of glitter glue, and paper were spread out on a large table.
River sat on one side of the table, with a piece of newsprint held up in an easel in front of her. Kaylee, in a chair to her left, put a tube of blue glitter glue into River’s mouth, and watched as River held it with her teeth, moving it around the paper with some effort, making a glittery circle on the page.
Ellie lay on her side on the table on a woolen blanket, drawing on a newsprint tablet with big swirls of bright red paint from a thick brush. “I love art,” she confessed to River. “Painting is my favorite.”
“I love dancing,” River mumbled around the tube of glitter glue.
Kaylee reached up and removed the glitter glue from River’s mouth.
“Thanks! I love dancing,” River repeated.
“Oh, me too,” Ellie said, dragging the chunky paintbrush across the tablet. “Sometimes when I’m at home, my brother Ethan picks me up and swings me around the living room until my mom tells him to stop or I’ll throw up. And we laugh and laugh and laugh.”
“Hey, when we’re done with these, we should trade them,” River said, indicating the paintings. “We can hang them up over our beds!”
“Yeah!” Ellie said excitedly.
Ellie’s partner, her sister Alice, leaned in. “Ellie, Janna’s all done on the horse. I think it’s your turn. Are you ready?”
“Yeah,” Ellie said, releasing her grip on the paintbrush.
Alice scooped Ellie off the table, and they headed for the ring. “Be back in a bit!” Ellie called to River.
“We’ll be here!” Kaylee replied for River, who was eagerly attacking the paper with a green tube of glitter glue.
Kaylee leaned back in her chair. “Hey, did I tell you that I think Miss Serra has a huge crush on Zoë’s friend Mal?”
River nearly gagged on the tube of glitter glue; Kaylee hastened to remove it from her mouth. “What?” River asked, surprised. “Miss Serra and Mal?”
“Yeah. When we were at the concert in the park, I caught her staring at him.”
“Are you sure?” River asked doubtfully.
“Oh, yeah. She was looking at him like she wished she had something to say, just so she could…”
“No, no,” River interrupted. “I mean, how could you be sure that she was looking at him? You and Simon were so busy smooching that I’m surprised you saw anything but his lips.”
Kaylee flushed. “Hey!”
“Well, it’s true,” River pointed out.
“Yeah, but…”
“We’re making bracelets in arts and crafts today,” River said. “I want to make one for Ellie.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Kaylee said.
After a short wait, it was River’s turn on the horse. Tim, the stable master, sat on the horse as two volunteers held the lead ropes. River and Kaylee took their place at the top of a ramp-accessible mounting platform, along with two other volunteers. Kaylee disconnected River’s ventilator from the back of her wheelchair, and handed it down to another volunteer, who strapped it over his shoulder.
“Okay, once you have your helmet on we’ll start the ride,” Tim said. “Kaylee, will you check and make sure it’s fastened correctly?”
Kaylee bent down to check the helmet strap. “It’s fine,” she reported.
“All right. We’re going to transfer her laterally, the same way that we transferred Amber earlier,” Tim said. “Kaylee, do you feel comfortable lifting from under her arms?”
“Sure,” Kaylee said.
“Good. Darcy, Steve, make sure you’re in position. River, are you ready?”
“Yeah!”
“All right, then, on the count of three – one, two, three!”
Kaylee lifted, and Darcy and Steve and Tim lifted, and then River was up and out of her wheelchair, getting settled on the horse’s back.
“Wow, we’re up high,” River said as Tim’s arms went around her, supporting her.
“Ruby’s a tall one,” Tim agreed pleasantly. “Everybody okay?”
Steve and Darcy agreed that they were fine, Steve still carrying River’s ventilator.
“Then let’s take off,” Tim said, and clucked to Ruby, who started walking around the ring.
“Kaylee, take pictures!” River called. “The camera’s in my backpack!”
Kaylee, smiling as she watched horse and man and girl plod around the ring, reached for the digital camera and took several shots. It was the kind of thing, she knew, that Simon would absolutely love to see.