The whoosh of the medical bay's pressurized doors opening pulled Dr. Chakwas out of her reverie. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Shepard stripping out of his armor even as he strode over to one of the unoccupied beds and sat himself down.

"I'd have thought by now you would have figured out that debriefing usually takes place in the comm room," Chakwas chided gently, as she picked up her omni-tool for the examination. "Shall I grab my trauma kit as well? You seem to be in a bit of a panic. That's not like you, Commander."

"What? No. Sorry, Doctor. I'm just a little frustrated with myself. Apparently I was storming around the Rayya for the better part of an hour with an open cut and didn't realize it. I don't think I would have ever noticed it but Joker saw me come through the airlock and made a quip about me single-handedly wiping out the entire quarian civilization by doing community service."

Shepard put his hand between his neck and his shoulder, felt for the cut, and showed Dr. Chakwas the resultant bloodstain on his fingers.

"Well..." said Chakwas, gently fingering the skin around the wound, "I can't say how badly that will affect the Rayya's environmental systems, but it shouldn't take too long to clear out. The good news for you is that you were just grazed. No need to use any medigel. This won't take more than a couple stitches and a damp cloth to clean up, but what are you doing injured in the first place? I'd hardly expect Tali's trial to dissolve into a bar fight, unless you insulted the judge's mother."

"If only it were that simple" mused Shepard as he lowered his head. "Tali―The reason Tali was being tried for treason was because her father activated some geth aboard his lab ship, the Alarei. The geth took control of the vessel, and there were no survivors. We had to recapture the ship and find out what happened before the trial could continue. After we found her father's body, a geth hunter came from behind us and must have got a lucky shot off before Grunt took it out."

"I see you came through in one piece, but is Tali all right?"

"She's... holding up. I need to talk to her though, find out what I can do for her. I just want to get cleaned up before I go near her again."

"Lucky for us, Commander, your heart is always in the right place. It's just that your blood isn't right now." Dr. Chakwas swabbed Shepard's shoulder clean before saying, "This is going to sting when I count to three. One..."

"Hey!" winced Shepard as the needle entered his skin.

"Sorry," Chakwas chuckled. "It's something I used to do to Lt. Alenko. He was always so tense when he came in for treatment, and he would get too worked up when I needed him to relax. Thankfully, for all his biotic ability, he never saw that coming. Made my job easier. Now hold still."

It wasn't a moment before Dr. Chakwas was finished with her sewing and determined Shepard was fit for service again. "There. I've done what I can for you. Now you go see to Miss Zorah."

Shepard hopped down from the table, donned his shirt, picked up his armor and started for the door.

"Commander?"

"Yes, Doctor?"

"You won't be doing Tali much good if you go in wound up as you are. Remember to relax. Be stable if you want to give her any real support."

"Yes, Doctor."

The medical bay doors opened and closed with another whoosh as Shepard stepped out. Dr. Chakwas's eyes followed him as far as the elevator before she sat down at her desk and resumed her thoughts.