Author's Note: I wasn't expecting anyone to read it quite that fast, but I'm delighted none the less. So here's a new chapter!
As a personal note, Vega and Kaidan were my favorite characters, but I'll be using at least one other character's perspective-although I'm undecided as to whom just yet.
Song Credits: top, "Wish It Was True" by The White Buffalo (whose music you should definitely check out); bottom, "Head Above Water" by Theory of a Deadman
Find a way back home, make everything new
But I wish it was true.
The medic team had been swamped with casualties and injured when Vega reached them. Makeshift cots filled rooms that had once been libraries, classrooms. When he told them he needed help, they stared at him blankly.
"I've got a severely wounded man out there, and he needs your help now!" He could feel the veins on his neck sticking out, and he was quickly growing hot under the collar with each passing second of inactivity.
"I don't know if you've noticed, sir," the medic said flatly, "but everyone here needs help. He'll have to wait." He turned his attention back to the soldier in front of him. It took all of Vega's self control not to rip the man's head off his shoulders and punt it outside. Gazing at the soldier on the cot, he took a calming breath, wondering what Shepard would say. He quickly abandoned that line of thinking. He'd never been good with words.
"Fuck man, listen." He put his hand on the medic's shoulder, hoping his gentleness would speak louder than anger. "It's Commander Shepard. He might not last much longer." The medic glanced up at him, his face grimacing. The soldier on the cot pushed the medic way.
"Go get the Commander. I can wait." He gave a weak smile and laid his head back. "Trust me, I'm not going anywhere."
The medic's face showed he was still conflicted, but he grabbed his kit and stood anyway. "Let's go then."
Half an hour passed before Vega had managed to return to Kaidan and the Commander. He found Kaidan holding Shepard, his eyes distant and off somewhere else. He had to shake him to get his attention, and even then he wasn't all there. He had stumbled off and refused to look at the Commander after that. Vega wasn't sure that there was anything he could do, so he let him be. Maybe Liara could help.
He assisted the medic in getting Shepard on the stretcher and carrying him back to the med bay, occasionally glancing behind them to see if Kaidan was still there.
Back at triage, they quickly got to work on Shepard. Vega couldn't bear to watch as the ripped his armor off. His upper torso was covered in gashes, the longest about seven inches that ran from his collar bone to his side. Blood seemed to seep from everywhere and the medics quickly piled used gauze on the floor next to them. On his chest where his heart was was a large black mark; it was beneath the skin and almost looked like it had spread through his veins. It branched out like a web to cover a large portion of his chest. The medics didn't seem to know what it was, something that scared Vega. Loco...what happened to you?
He went to find Doctor Chakwas, knowing she'd want to be there helping the Commander.
The forward operating base was swamped with maps and people, all trying to coordinate relief efforts and rebuild. Even Admiral Hackett had come planet side, and his presence raised everyone's spirits. Kaidan, however, avoided him, afraid of any questions he might ask. He couldn't address what was at the back of his mind, no matter how pressing it was.
He busied himself with helping ground crews remove rubble and move equipment. No one really seemed to know what was going on, only that the Reapers were gone and the threat with them. There was an air of happiness, and many of the soldiers could be heard cutting up as they went about their work, but Kaidan found that he couldn't smile. Even when he was approached by some of his biotic students, he could only muster a grimace. No one asked him about the Commander, and for that he was grateful.
Eventually his weariness caught up with him; he had been pushing himself to stay occupied and was running off fumes. His migraine returned with force and he leaned against the closest wall. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he waited for the worst of it to pass.
"Alenko? I've been looking all over for you." Kaidan turned to see Vega jogging towards him. He steeled himself for any grim news, but James was all smiles.
"Hey, Vega." He said softly, removing his hand from his face and awkwardly dropping it by his side. He wasn't sure what to say, especially after knowing the way Vega had found him when he had come back with the medics and how he had run off after getting back to the base.
"I got some good news about Loco. The Doc wanted to tell you in person, though. C'mon." Without giving him a chance to argue, James grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him along.
Head above water, gotta fight from going under
Even when it feels useless to wish
You're gonna get through this