Chapter 1
"Get me all the Medi-Gel you can spare!" Miranda Lawson ordered the nurses pushing the gurney. "Listen to me Shepard! Hold on! Don't stop breathing on me damn it! Promise me!" she reassured Commander Shepard, who laid on the gurney in front of her.
She could barely recognize the man she loved. Dirt, dust, and plenty of dried blood covered him from head to toe. His armor had melted into a fine mess all over. What little skin that showed was either horribly bruised, badly burned, or caked in blood. His right leg had to have been removed to pull him from the wreckage he was found in. His face was near unrecognizable save for its basic structure. If it wasn't for the dog tags, no one would have known it was Shepard. It took all the effort Miranda could muster to not feel ill looking at what remained.
How was he still breathing? How did he survive this much trauma? Anyone else's body would have given out by this point. This should have been impossible but somehow, here he was, still breathing; still fighting to stay alive.
"Where is the nearest Medical Bay?" her concern was becoming more evident as she continued.
"I'm not sure if it's still standing, but Huerta Memorial isn't too far from here. They should have the proper supplies he'll need there." a doctor replied, reading through Shepard's medical history on their Omni-Tool.
Miranda silently cursed. She would have much preferred a personal lab on Earth or anywhere else for that matter, but Shepard's condition was too poor to move him. Despite the dirt and grime that now covered every surface, the Citadel was in surprisingly good condition considering everything that had happened. Huerta Memorial would have to do for now.
"His heartbeat is failing." A nearby nurse called out.
The group entered the nearest elevator. Without looking, Miranda slammed her Biotics into the console, selecting the proper floor. Hurry up. Hurry up. All she could think about was getting started on this. He could die at any second.
The elevator reached its floor and she raced out of it with the gurney. Huerta Memorial was crowded. The explosion had left thousands injured. Even more were dead. The back wing of the hospital had given way leaving the waiting room to be used for medical care. There simply weren't enough doctors on staff for the amount of people there, but they were trying their best. A small area behind a wall had only a small group of people in the area.
"Out of my way." Miranda ordered the injured civilians. The look in her eyes made them shutter slightly but they didn't move.
"These patients need treatment. You can't simply barge in here and order them around like you have control of the facility. We're badly under staffed as it is and we can't help everyone at once." a nearby nurse said. It was obvious she was trying to be polite but either her patience had worn thin or she hadn't slept in days, probably both.
"He needs medical attention right now. His condition is critical and we'll lose him otherwise." Miranda shouted, lifting and throwing a couch and a couple of chairs with biotics out of the large broken window to the now disgusting Presidium Fountains.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" the doctor grabbed her arm and forced it behind her back to keep her restrained slightly. "We have ten other patients in critical condition. What makes you think he deserves special treatment?"
A quick movement later and the doctor was on the ground, the heel of her boot to her throat. "Its Commander Shepard and he's only saved our asses! This is the least you can do for him!" she screamed with almost rage like emotions. She never usually showed this kind of emotion.
The entire Hospital suddenly became silent almost instantly.
"Now, get me some medi-gel and another doctor." The order came from between clenched teeth. She removed her foot from her throat.
The small group of injured civilians looked at the Gurney and the body that rested on it. They silently got up and moved away from the area, leaving Miranda enough space to work from. A few doctors silently moved Shepard's Gurney against the wall and started hooking up some machines to monitor him.
"Thank you." She said much more calmly.
Miranda quickly got to work on what remained of Shepard, applying a large amount of Medi-gel to his burns to at least numb the pain for him. The basic medi-gel formula would never be able to clear up these burns. An order would have to be made for better supplies. Getting Shepard stable needed to take priority.
Looking at the leg, the men who dragged him from the rubble made a clean cut but the tourniquet wasn't tight enough. He'd lost a lot of blood from there alone. She tightened the tourniquet quickly and applied medi-gel to the wound while continuing her thought. No quantity of medi-gel would ever heal a wound of that size. A clone or a prosthetic were the only solutions she could think of and it would take months to clone a leg in a high paying hospital, let alone a hospital recovering from a war attack. Maybe a prosthetic would work if he regained consciousness before a clone could be finished?
Shepard's body began convulsing. His breaths became labored and deep. He coughed. He coughed again. A mixture of blood and dirt sprayed from his mouth onto the nearby doctors and Miranda herself. She quickly wiped the blood off her face.
"His heat rate is dropping!" A nurse shouted, stating what Miranda could already know from the loud beeping. "The implants are sending him into shock!"
Before Miranda could say another word, Shepard's arm shot up and grabbed her hand. His head turned in her general direction but his eyes didn't open. Several outs of coughing and wheezing followed the action as blood trickled down the corner of his mouth. Did he know she was there? Was he trying to say something? Could he hear what was going on?
"Shepard! Listen to me! You're going to be fine! I'm here for you! Don't die again, damn it!" she screamed at him without thinking. Her emotions were leaking out again. Miranda clasped his hand in both of her own. "I love you Shepard." A few tears finally managed to escape.
His condition didn't change. He was getting worse by the second.
"Induce a coma. Now!" she ordered with confidence. The doctors fumbled with the tubes and the medication while trying to follow her orders. High pressure situations and no sleep made a deadly combination.
"Get out of my way." A female doctor with red hair shouted as she sprinted across the lobby to Shepard. She removed the cap of a needle with a green substance inside as she made her way. The instant she was within arm's reach of the body, she stabbed the needle into his chest. He let out one final cough of blood and dirt before his heart rate returned to where it was.
Miranda let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't realized she was holding her breath.
"This is Commander Shepard? I barely recognize him." the woman asked with a thick French accent and a hint of despair. "And you are?"
"Lawson. Miranda Lawson." She said wiping the blood from her face and clothing. Her usual white jumpsuit was stained now. She'd been meaning for over a year now to go shopping for some more suitable clothing but never found the time.
"Doctor Chloe Michelle." The doctor said with a weak smile. "I'm the attending physician of Huerta at the moment."
Miranda remained silent as she studied the Commander's body carefully.
"I get the feeling you two knew each other." She spoke after a few moments of silence.
Miranda hesitated slightly before answering. Cerberus was dead. She had nothing to fear any more.
"He loved me." The words were slightly awkward and unfamiliar to her.
"Loved? He no longer does?" Doctor Michelle pressed.
"No. I didn't mean it that way." Miranda stammered. She wasn't used to talking about her relationships. She didn't do emotionally attached.
"It's times like these where we need everyone we care for on the road to recovery." Doctor Michelle looked down at the Commander's body. "He's going to need those he loved and cared for by his side though the operation."
"You sound almost like you knew him." She refused to make eye contact. She couldn't.
"I did. He saved me from some thugs once or twice back when he first became a Spectre. I have him to thank for being in charge of Huerta today." A small sigh escaped her mouth. "I owe him my life two times over."
Miranda turned and looked Doctor Michelle in the eye. "Thank you for-"she started.
"No need to thank me, Miss Lawson. We all are in his debt today." Miss Lawson. Shepard always called her that. As much as she hated him calling her Miss Lawson, it grew on her. She'd come to love the name. No. She's come to love hearing his voice call her that.
"Call all those who he cared for. Tell them the good news that he's still alive." The doctor looked at Shepard again before turning back to Miranda. "Or at least for now he is."
"I'll contact the Alliance right away."
Doctor Michelle smiled before returning to her other patients. She seemed nice for a doctor, and for once it wasn't in some mad scientist ethics-for-sale kind of way Miranda was used to encountering in the galaxy.
Using her Omni-tool and waiting several hours on hold, Miranda finally made it through to Admiral Hackett.
"Hackett speaking. This better be important." And deeper voice answered on the other end of the call. He sounded tired and annoyed. Then again, Who didn't at this time?
"Admiral Hackett? This is Miranda Lawson. I'm calling from the Citadel. We've found Commander Shepard. He's still alive." She informed him.
Silence.
"And you're sure he's alive?" he broke the silence.
"Would I have called you if I wasn't absolutely sure?"
"Fair point Miss Lawson." Miranda once again found herself hating that name. "What's his condition? I'll send some Alliance Soldiers to keep watch."
"He's in critical condition. I…" She paused slightly. "I'm not sure if he'll pull through. I need to talk with his crew."
More silence.
"Understood. They're still at the Rendezvous point. I'm patching you through now." He replied.
The silence was beginning to annoy her. Jeff "Joker" Moreau finally answered the call.
"We were just in the middle of burying our dead, Miranda. I'll call you ba-" Joker started. It was hard to tell if he was angry or depressed. Having spent nearly a year on a ship with him, Joker was usually foreign to both concepts.
"Shepard is alive." Miranda stated to keep Joker still on the line.
"What? I don't think I heard you clearly." Joker responded. Normally this would be a sarcastic remark but the question was genuine.
"Shepard is alive. I don't know how but he survived whatever happened at the Crucible. I'm at Huerta Memorial on the Citadel, or what's left of it anyways. He's in critical condition. I…I'm not sure if he's going to pull through on this one." She quickly explained, trying not to falter her confidence.
"We'll be on our way over there immediately, but it'll be a few days till we get there with the Mass Relays down and everything." Joker's tone of voice had changed within only a few moments. He still sounded depressed, but certainly not angry any longer.
"Mr. Moreau, Can you do me a favor?"
"It depends on what it is. I don't think we could handle going after any evil Uncles of you-" he started making a joke before Miranda interrupted him.
"It would be appreciated if you could send me the contacts of anyone from the squad whos over here. Samara or Jennifer or-" This time, Joker interrupted her.
"Jennifer?" he asked. Then he remembered. "Oh. Jack. Yeah, I'll send you the information as soon as I can. There's…" he paused.
"Is there something wrong, Joker?" Miranda couldn't remember ever using his first name or his nickname rather than his last.
"It's nothing." Miranda could spot a lie from a mile away and this one was only a few feet in distance. "I'll talk to you when we get to the Citadel. Joker out." The called ended.
Miranda could tell there was something troubling Joker and it made her worry a bit, but she didn't have time to be worrying about things that are far out of her grasp.
An hour later, Miranda's Omni-tool pinged; the sound of a new message. Joker got the contact information for a lot of the old squad; Shepard's friends; The people he cared for during his life. She made her way down the list.
"Hello? Kasumi? It's Miranda. Shepard is alive."