Hand clapped over her mouth in an attempt to cover or subdue the coughing, Inara squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. Slowly, the feeling of being both outside of her body and within it subsided and she regained control of her lungs. Gasping for air, she slumped back against the pillows, half-turning on her side to curl up awkwardly into the curve of the couch.
"Mal?" she gasped, hand splayed on her chest now, trying to still the residual rumble in her lungs. "What are you doing here? Did something happen?" Her head felt heavy and clouded, like she'd been asleep for too long but Morpheus was still reluctant to let her go. But the fact that Mal was in her apartment - although he had been staying there, she remembered vaguely - did a fair job of snapping her back to reality. Had he been... watching her sleep?