I think it's high time I introduced our protagonist.

John Shepard, age 28, is not yet who you remember him as. He works on a farm in the colony of Mindoir, on the fringes of the Terminus Systems. He is 5'9.5" tall with short, dark brown hair; blue-gray eyes; and a layer of stubble covering his jaw line and chin. He was placed in a med-clinic to recover from shock due to an event from the previous chapter, which I shan't repeat.

Now, where was I? Ah, right!

/-/

Shepard returned to the clinic roughly a week later, assisting any and all patients that asked of him. Over and over again, though, as he moved to-and-fro through the building, he kept checking in on the quarian. He knew she was still unconscious, and would probably be staying that way for a while, but he couldn't help it. She just looked so peaceful.

"Shepard?" The medic from yesterday, who had since introduced himself as Clint, shook Shepard from his latest trance. "Shepard!"

"Huh?"

"You zoned out again. Something wrong?"

"No," Shepard responded. "No, I'm fine. I was just checking up on our guest is all."

"Well, when you're done, you wanna join me for some coffee?"

"Sure."

/-/

"So, tell me," Clint said after a drink from his cinnamon cappuccino, "what's keeping you so distracted lately?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Shepard replied.

"Shepard, I'm twenty-seven, you're not going to slip by this so easily. Every day for the last week or so, you space-out outside the quarian's room. So, what's bugging you?"

Shepard sighed. "Fine, you got me. But to be honest, I don't know what's up."

"Is that so?"

"If there were more, I'd tell you." He took a sip of his caramel macchiato.

"Hm… I think I know your issue."

"Do you, now?"

"Yep." Clint smirked, "You like her, don't you?"

Shepard was genuinely confused. "Like who?"

"The quarian, of course!"

"…Do you hear yourself, Clint?"

"Yes, in fact. It makes so much sense; it has to be the case."

Shepard remained silent for almost a whole minute while he let this accusation sink in, before uttering forth his response: "Clint?"

"Hm?"

"You're an idiot."

/-/

When they got back to the clinic, Clint was still confident that Shepard was infatuated. "You can't deny it, Shepard."

"It's actually pretty easy to deny a false claim."

"The evidence is there, just accept it!"

"You're really not going to let this go, huh?"

"Well, persistence has always been one of my best qualities; so, no, I'm not. And I'll even prove you like her."

"How so?"

They stopped outside the quarian's room, and Clint pointed to her. "When she wakes up, you're going to talk to her. If you're lying, and you like her, then you should get nervous; sweat, stuttering, the whole shebang. But, if you're telling the truth, and there's nothing there, then we should see no real reaction."

"Okay… And if I were to, say, not talk to her when she wakes up?"

"Trust me, you'll talk to her…"