It's somewhat disconcerting the way that patients sometimes appear literally from nowhere aboard the Enterprise. Admittedly, there is not always much warning of an incoming casualty on Serenity, but there is at least generally Mal (or somebody else) going out on a job, which presents the possibility, even likelihood, of someone being hurt.

Here, patients have a way of simply appearing. At least Q managed to bring this man, as badly hurt as he was, directly into sickbay, as he'd done with Simon and Kaylee when they first arrived. Simon and Kaylee had fallen to the capable care of Doctor Bashir. This man had fallen to Simon's.

That's why Simon is ... not precisely hovering by his patient's bedside, but certainly checking in on him regularly, and why Simon is the first of the medical personnel there after he awakens.

"Welcome back," Simon says, quietly, as the man's eyes begin to focus. "You're safe now."