"Don't leave me behind…"
All she could think about was that final moment with Kaidan.
"No matter what happens… know that I love you. Always."
As the Catalyst explained her options…
"I love you, too."
She couldn't get Kaidan's face out of her mind's eye, twisted in pain over leaving her.
"What will you choose?" It asked, interrupting her reverie. She looked at her options, which weren't really options at all. Let the Reapers live or destroy them. There was only one choice. From day one, destroying them has been the objective, she thought.
"Don't leave me behind…"
Without a second thought, without saying a word, she limped over to her right, gun in hand. "I won't leave you behind, Kaidan. Just… wait for me…" she whispered to herself.
Raising her gun as she reached her destination, she said, "I'm sorry, EDI. Please forgive me," she cried, and she shot and shot and shot until it was over. And it was over. There was nothing.
"Am I dead?" she wondered.
"No, siha."
"Thane?"
She couldn't believe it. Her good friend stood before her on what looked like a beach. She looked down, but she stood on nothing.
"Take heart, siha. Today is not the day you will be greeted on the shore. You have yet to cross the ocean."
"But how – " was all she could say before she was sucked back.
Her body wracked with pain, Shepard desperately gasped for air. She heard the faint sound of someone shouting from far away. Pain consumed her senses, but it meant she was alive, and she was grateful. She barely opened her eyes. She could see only the blurry images of rubble and the distant sky littered with fire and destruction before she closed them again.
In the distance, a group of soldiers rummaged through the destruction looking for any survivors. "Is that Commander Shepard?" one asked, and they all rushed to her seemingly lifeless body.
She gasped once again.
"How in the hell?"
"God, she's still alive!"
"Call for a med evac now!"
She could barely hear them shouting, like she was in a bubble. Ears ringing, unable to move or open her eyes, she simply laid there, grasping at her life from the cusp of death. I can't leave him behind, she thought. She muttered "Kaidan" a few times while the soldiers applied medi-gel, waiting on the med evac.
Opening her eyes for what seemed like the first time, Shepard found herself in a white room. Vision blurry, she tried examining the room but she couldn't make anything out. She could hear the faint beeps of machines monitoring her vitals. A green figure came into her blurry vision.
"Commander Shepard, can you hear me?" A hoarse "yes" barely escaped her scorched throat. The figure, a nurse, she thought, held a cup to her mouth and ordered her to drink. She took one gulp before she violently coughed out the rest. It burns! She thought as she moaned in agony.
"I know it hurts, but you must drink, Commander."
The coughing fit ceased and the nurse put the cup back up to her lips. Shepard mustered up what little resolve she had left and guzzled the whole thing. It burned less and less with each gulp, but that didn't stop her from coughing when she was done. Shepard muttered a painful "thank you" before the nurse got the doctor.
"Hello, Commander Shepard, I'm one of the doctors overseeing your treatment."
"How long have I been here?" she asked.
"Three weeks," he said.
"How bad?"
"Worse than bad," he started. "But you have made a remarkable recovery. When we received you, you had full-thickness burns all over your body, several deep wounds to your abdominal region, cuts and gashes pretty much everywhere, six broken ribs, a shattered elbow, fractured collarbone, broken ankle, and a concussion."
"Good God," she muttered.
The doctor continued, "But you're lucky. A group of soldiers found you and applied medi-gel right away. You - "
"What's my status now?" she interrupted, almost pleading.
"All flesh wounds have been sealed. Your stitches will be in for another week. The broken bones will take time to heal, though. You'll need to rest. You're cleared for visitations now. When you are ready, the screen on the right side of your bed will allow you to invite visitors to your room." And he left her.
Shepard dared take a look at her body. I am mangled, she thought as she looked at her misshapen elbow and the stitches that run the length of her arms. I'm one giant bruise. She laughed a dry laugh and looked at the screen next to her. The first visitor on the list is… She prepared herself.
It wasn't long before her fist visitor walked through the door.
"Oh, God, Rae…" as soon as he said that, Shepard gazed upon the face of love and all her preparedness meant nothing. The tears came, they flowed and she didn't even try to stop them.
"Kaidan!" she cried, overcome with pure joy. He embraced her and she cried harder and harder for all the strength that carried her to the end finally gave out. She was finally done. It was over and she finally made it home.
"I came back for you," she said.
"And I waited for you," he smiled.