"How is she, doctor?"
"Well, we've sedated her, as the pain from her various injuries would probably be too much if she was awake. To be truthful, Dr. T'Soni, I'm surprised she survived the trip over here without literally dying from the pain. I can't even imagine having as many burns, broken bones, and holes in my body that that girl has. She must have some strong resolve," Shepard's doctor looked down at his datapad, reviewing his notes on her condition. It still made him shiver a bit when he remembered the condition she had come to him in. He hadn't even known where to start on her injuries, looking at the various applications of medi-gel on her body.
"Yes, she's.. very stubborn. She has a strong will to live. She's seen too much death in her life," Liara looked down nervously and played with her fingernail, anxious about Shepard's condition. It hadn't looked too good when she found her, either. "May I go in to see her? Just see what it's like?"
"I'm sorry, Dr. T'Soni, but we have a policy that we usually only let people with close relationships to the patient in when they're in this condition. May I ask what your relationship to Shepard is?"
"I'm her bondmate." Liara stared the doctor down, starting to feel angry that she wasn't allowed to go in and see the woman she loved.
"Her.. bondmate? Right, what would that mean in human terms? I'm not that familiar of asari culture, I'm sorry." The doctor backed down a bit, alarmed by the look in T'Soni's eyes.
"I'm basically her wife."
"Really? I suppose you can go ahead, Dr. T'Soni, though I may need to verify that. But you don't seem like you would want to cause any harm to the patient, anyway." The doctor backed away from the doorway, clearing the way for Liara to enter.
"Verify whatever you want." Liara struggled to keep her biotics in check, starting to flare in her anger.
She entered the hospital room, with stark white walls, and reflective white-colored tile, it smelled undeniably like antiseptic, and was disconcertingly serene enough to drive a person mad. She looked out the window, out over the rubble of what used to be the great London. Watching the Big Ben beginning to crumble into pieces brought back memories of that run to the beam, and what Shepard said when Liara was injured and called the Normandy to evacuate.
"Shepard, I'm fine, I can still fight," Liara said, struggling to stand. She had to hold onto James for support.
"No, you're hurt, Liara. Go on, don't argue with me." Shepard anxiously looked behind her, wondering how much time there was before Harbinger noticed the Normandy and blew them all away. She had to complete the mission, hadn't Liara realized that?
"Please, Shepard. I need to go with you." Tears started streaming down Liara's cheeks, as reached out for Ren.
Shepard began walking forward, taking Liara's face into her hands. "Liara, listen to me. You mean everything to me. You're my universe, and I couldn't do any of this without you. Now, I need you to go on, and live. I want to know that you're safe, that you're always going to be there, for me to come back to you."
"I love you, Renala," Liara whispered, the tears quickening their pace.
"I love you, too." CRASH "Go, go! James, take her to the medbay, quickly." Shepard un-holstered her assault rifle, readying her biotics. She watched as James snapped off what could be his last salute, and as Liara reached her hand out for her as she was carried off into the ship.
"I'm yours, Shepard." She had said as she was carried back into the Normandy, and watched as her bondmate turned, returning to battle, ready to risk her life to save the galaxy. 'Risk our life,' Liara had thought. 'What it could've been.'
Dr. T'Soni looked down at the figure in the hospital bed. The great Commander Shepard, her details softened in sleep. Her face had been cleaned of the blood and grime that had been there in the rubble, and therefore looked more pure. Younger, innocent. Ironic, considering all the death and destruction she had seen in her life. From the death of her entire family, the death of her friend Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, the demise of her friends Thane Krios and Mordin Solus, and the perhaps hundreds of enemies that she had killed on missions. Liara remembered the scars that she had when they first met, souvenirs of her ordeal on Akuze. Now removed by Cerberus, the Commander's clear and almost flawless skin made her look much younger than her 31 years.
Liara placed a hand on her bondmate's cheek, finding relief in how warm it was. Shepard's skin had been so cold when they found her, it made Liara fear the worst. The asari listened, to the steady breathing of her lover. The calmness of the room made her body realize just how much trauma it had been through today. She found tranquility in sleep, next to the one she loved.
Time had passed, and Liara woke up to find Shepard smiling at her, the dimple forming in her left cheek that Liara loved so much.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." Ren placed a hand on the asari's head, bringing her closer so that she could plant a soft kiss on it.
"Shepard," Liara gasped, now wondering how long she had been asleep for, "are you okay? Is the pain too much, I recall that's why the doctors sedated you."
"Nah, I'm good," Shepard said, her voice still rough from sleep. "They pretty much pumped me with enough pain relievers to take down a krogan. I've got a pretty bad headache, but I can manage regardless. What about you, did you get Chakwas to fix up your leg the other night? It looked pretty bad."
"Yes, I'm fine. You're always worrying about me, Shepard, even when you're obviously in pain yourself. You don't have to pretend to be invincible for me, Renala."
"Who said I was pretending?" she chuckled, "And anyways, asking you about your condition is the least I could do. You're pretty much the only reason I'm alive."
"Don't say that, Ren. I wasn't carrying you to the Crucible beam, now was I?"
"No, but it was what you had said before you got in the Normandy that did. If you never said that, I wouldn't have had any reason to want to stay alive. Do you know how much pain I was in as I laid in that debris? Your voice was the only thing that kept me from slipping away. I had to destroy the Reapers, and live to tell about it, because I promised you. I promised that I would do it, and that I would come home. That we would get married, move away, and have a bunch of little blue babies. I'm still holding you to that, by the way," Shepard chuckled.
"And when have you ever broken a promise to me?" Liara smiled as she leaned into her bondmate's shoulder.
"Never, and I definitely wasn't going to start then," Shepard smiled as she placed another kiss on her asari's forehead. She had come home, and they were going to start a new life, begin building a family. She couldn't bear leaving when the Alliance and Council needed her most, so she was going to help in the rebuilding effort. Once that was over, however, she was going to start life anew with her beautiful bondmate, Liara T'Soni.
I wrote another installment as soon as I finished the other one. Thankfully this one is longer, and hopefully less corny. Or maybe that was Garrus' statement at the end of the last chapter. This is story is going to be like my other one, Memory Police, where chapters are named after song lyrics.
The song is The Running Free by Coheed and Cambria. I obviously don't own Mass Effect, as my endings wouldn't be as crappy. I would hope to think.
Please review, and thanks for reading, all. I appreciate the follows and favorites that I've gotten so far.
