They finally let him visit. Part of him wished he hadn't, though. The smell of disinfectant and blood and medicine reminded him of his own stay not all that long ago. There were also the numerous overworked doctors and nurses trying to smile, because just because the war ended… well, that didn't mean the wounded just magically got better. Based on the number of weeping people in the waiting room, he'd say that a lot of them got magically worse.
Then there was the fact he was here to see Shepard. Proud, gorgeous, invincible Shepard… now all tiny and battered on a hospital bed, hooked up to far too many machines and IVs to make him comfortable. The nurse let him in with the gentle warnings of "don't disturb the other patients" and "Hasn't woken up yet, so don't be surprised if there's no response." In fact, the only good thing he'd heard since learning the day the broken body had been recovered from the wreckage was that Shepard's condition finally stabilized.
He sat down next to the bed, just staring. Studying. Bloody and bruised, Shepard was still incredibly attractive. He did wish for a smile, though. Nothing in the world compared to his love's smile. "Hey," he whispered, leaning forward to take Shepard's hand. "I'm here." He wondered if Shepard had done this, back when he'd been stuck in the hospital. …Shepard had visited him a lot, even though they'd been very… well… awkward since Horizon.
Well, that just meant he'd definitely have to visit every possible day they let him in. With luck, he'd walk in and see that smile and kiss the living hell out of Shepard for worrying him so much. After all, the war was finally over, and they had plenty of vacation time to spend nowadays.