Once again, I would like to state that any canon and copyrighted characters of Mass Effect that appear in this story are property of Bioware. I do not own recognizable characters of the story and make no profit what so ever from posting this; it is solely for the enjoyment of writing that I wrote this story. Any views expressed in this story should not be taken as my own personal views and no offense is meant towards anyone of a differing opinion.

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Chapter Four

Beep…beep...beep…beep…

"Everybody out! We need the medical bay sterile before infection sets in…"

~oOo~

Beep…beep…

"We need to get some x-rays; there may be scarring to the lungs…"

"Her throat will need to be cleared before an air tube is inserted…"

"Her respiratory tract is swelling; this wasn't just from the smoke, was it? What was in that pesticide?"

"I didn't get a chance to check when we found her. Mordin?"

"Metam sodium…chlorpyrifos…metolachlor…usage in decline in human colonies due to respiratory paralysis and convulsions….and vomiting; we must drain the airway or she'll choke on her own bile…"

~oOo~

Beep…beep…beep…

"Help me with this, her clothes are burnt into the skin, we need to remove them…She's going into shock! Get an IV in her…and we need a catheter…"

"Burns marks over 43% of the body…skin grafts will be necessary..."

"Her skin looks so raw…Can she feel anything?"

"No, Commander, her nerves are completely shot; but she'll be in for a lot of pain in the morning no doubt…"

~oOo~

Beep…beep…beep…

"Substantial damage to the face and eye…could prove problematic…reconstructing facial tissue is lengthy process…"

"Get her in the tub; these burns have to be cleaned immediately…"

~oOo~

Beep…beep…beep…beep…

"I took a plasma sample, she's AB positive. Five of the crew members are a match; I want all of them up here for testing now! We need a donor…these puncture wounds in her neck are deeper than we thought…"

"Bruising to the face and sternum; possibly result of blunt force trauma…sprained ankle…will need to be tended to after more immediate injuries are accessed and treated…"

Beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…

~oOo~

Beep-beep…beep-beep…beep-beep…

"How long has she been conscious?! She needs another sedative!"

"Heart rate climbing…"

Beep-beep… beep-beep…beep-beep…beep-beep…

"I asked for a sedative! Sedate her now!"

Beep-beepbeep-beepbeep-beepbeep-beepbeep-beepbeep- beep

"She's trying to move around!"

"Commander, help me with her restraints…"

"Her movement isn't voluntary…she's convulsing…"

Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbe epbeepbeep

"Someone get over to damn that machine and raise the sedation; I can't walk away from her while she's thrashing like this! We need to sedate her now before she does any more damage to herself…

Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbe epbeepbeep

"She's coding!"

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

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The first thing Mavis became aware of was how uncomfortably warm she was. Her skin felt overheated and itchy. It was like she was wrapped up tight in an ugly woolen sweater. Groaning, she shifted around and was assaulted by a fresh wave of pain radiating up her side and settling itself behind her eyes and around her temples like the world's most persistent migraine, making her moan feebly. She felt like she had been hit by a truck. A big truck…loaded with anvils…encased in cement. There wasn't a single part of her that didn't feel like a bruised apple; her chest surrounded in pressure like there was a boulder resting on it and her skull throbbing like she had taken a sucker punch to the face. And then there was that God awful itching!

She tried to open her eyes and was greeted with blindly bright lights. It was like a poke in the eye and she cringed; whining like a kicked puppy. If that was the bright light at the end of the tunnel, she sure as hell hoped there was a dimmer switch.

"Finally awake?"

Mavis jolted at the sound of the voice and inhaled sharply at the twinge it sent through her side.

Something lightly touched her forehead; a hand. "Easy, easy now," the owner of the hand spoke softly. Their voice was either laced with a slight accent of some kind or the speaker was just making it a point to annunciate as prim and precisely as possible. "You don't have to be scared; I'm not going to harm you. I am Dr. Chakwas and I'm here because you were in an accident. Do you suppose you could try opening your eyes again?"

Thinking about how painfully bright the lights had been, she considered refusing, but a part of her was curious about the person attached to this new voice. With a bit of reluctance, she opened her eyes the tiniest bit; squinting really, and the blurry image of a gray haired woman hazily came into view.

Dr. Chakwas smiled down at her. "There we are," she said, "that wasn't so bad, was it? You just need to get used to the light; that's all." The woman lifted a hand and in it she held a long skinny stick. "I hope you don't mind," she began, "But I need to take a quick look at you." She leaned over well into Mavis's personal space and pushed back on her eyelids, holding them open wider before clicking the stick and shining a piercingly bright light into her right eye, making Mavis hiss and flinch away from her.

"Now, none of that," Dr. Chakwas chided, laying her palm flat along the side of Mavis's face, firmly holding her head in place as her pointer and middle continued to force her eye open. She waited a moment, staring, and then clicked the little flashlight off, tucking the thing behind her ear. "Pupil dilation reacting normally to light exposure; same as last time," she murmured to herself. Next she snapped her finger next to Mavis right ear, followed by her left, though the left side sounded a bit softer; muffled. "You seem alert enough; hearing's as well as is to be expected," she pulled her hand away and raised her arm up horizontal to her body as an orange glow came over it like a circular disk. She busily prodded away on it like a keyboard with her free hand while Mavis stared on in shocked puzzlement.

The doctor seemed not to notice. "Things might be a bit unfocused right now and seem a little off to you," she stated, waving the strange device over Mavis's body, "Depth perception is heavily affected by the loss of one eye, but fortunately…"

"What?!" Mavis shrieked. She attempted to sit up and touch her face, only to recoil as the sudden movement seemed to anger her overly sensitive nerves and send a lightning bolt of pain up her spine.

"Calm down," Chakwas said, hands up placating like she was talking to a startled animal as the strange device on her arm disappeared, "The pain killers are beginning to wear off; you're going to need another dose. In the meantime you shouldn't make any sudden movements or you will just wind up hurting yourself." She carefully pushed back on Mavis's shoulders until she was lying back down. "Now as I was saying," she said in a stern voice one would use on a misbehaving child, "Depth perception is heavily affected by the loss of one eye, but fortunately you are only lacking the use of yours for the time being; it's just going to take you a while to adjust. You didn't lose the eye itself," she assured. "Give me your hand, here, the good one," she reached over her patient and took Mavis's right hand in her own and brought it towards her; towards the left side of the girl's face. "See?" she said, "It's still there."

Mavis ran the tips of her fingers over her face. Her eye was indeed still there, but it had been sealed shut with some sort of adhesive and a thick strip of cloth went over the corner of it; trailing up to wrap around her head. Nevertheless her eye was present and accounted for; she could feel the subtle bulge of it underneath her eyelid, whole and intact. What worried her was that the bandaged covered more than just her eye, but rather spread out over her cheek and jaw line as well as her ear.

"The eye is still there," Dr. Chakwas repeated, "it just needs to stay covered while everything heals. Opening and closing the eye repeatedly could agitate the skin around the socket." She was back to prodding around on that glowing orange disk again, "To be honest I'm a bit surprised you hadn't noticed it when you woke up," she mused, "then again, I imagine you are still a bit disoriented from the antibiotics and the after effect of the sedatives. Oh, and before I forget," the orange object pulled another disappearing act and she raised her now free hand up to Mavis's face, her pointer finger pointing straight up, "Without moving your head, follow my finger with your eye."

She drew slow, delicate circles in the air and watched carefully as Mavis's good eye tracked the movements. Up and down, side to side, she moved her hand. For good measure, she moved her finger as far to the left of Mavis's face while still being in sight to test how well the peripherals of Mavis's right eye were coping without the use of her left eye. The reactions from her patient were occasionally delayed or moved a bit ahead of their target in the direction Mavis figured Chakwas's finger was going, but for the most part, Mavis's sight was fine, all things considered.

"I'm going to be doing sight tests with you for a while," Chakwas declared, "As well as cranial nerve exams. Especially once your left eye is allowed to open again. Now, about your discomfort," she walked over to a machine and fiddled with the controls and before Mavis knew it, a tingling, pleasant numbness was seeping into her body, "there we go. I didn't give you too high a dosage this time. It's the first time you have been fully conscious since we treated you and it would be nice to use this moment of lucidity to discuss your condition."

Mavis closed her eyes and settled back into the pillows with a sigh as relief blanketed her body. The numbing was taking care of the itching as well as the pain and it was nice be rid of the sensation akin to ants crawling all over her body "Thanks, that's much better," she cleared her throat and winced at the dryness, "Could I have a glass of water or something?"

"Of course," the doctor acquiesced.

She could hear Chakwas moving about in the far side of the room and when she opened her eyes, or rather her good eye, Dr. Chakwas had returned, holding a glass out to her. She adjusted Mavis's bed into a raised position so that she was sitting up before giving her the glass of water. Mavis grabbed the proffered the drink with a minimum amount of difficulty due to the numbness in her arms. When she finally managed to get a secure hold on the glass, she took a huge, grateful gulp. "That's better," she sighed.

"Your throat might feel a tad sore," the doctor explained, "we only removed the breathing tube this morning. Perhaps I should explain," she added, seeing Mavis's startled expression. She pulled over a chair and sat down next to the bed, a thin electronic screen in hand; it looked like a tablet. "You were badly burned while you were on Horizon. According to the Commander, a small explosion of fuel tanks was apparently the cause."

"Horizon?"

"The colony, dear," Dr. Chakwas clarified, "the planet you were on."

"I was on another planet?" Mavis asked, bewildered.

Dr. Chakwas nodded her eyebrow quirked in question. "That doesn't sound familiar to you?"

"Not at all."

"I see," Chakwas tsked, making a note on her tablet. "Well that's where you were during the attack and you were injured in the fire that followed a minor explosion."

'I don't think any explosion can be considered minor,' Mavis thought to herself, but she did not interrupt.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat it; your condition was quite severe when they brought you in," Chakwas continued, scrolling through the notes on her tablet screen, "Smoke inhalation nearly damaged your lungs and the pesticide certainly didn't help matters. In the future if you are ever going to do something as risky as crafting your own personal flamethrower, I would recommend you at least use something with less harmful chemicals. Perhaps a hairspray?" she gave Mavis a wry grin, but her expression just screamed 'what were you thinking?'

'I wasn't; that's the problem.' "I'll try to keep that in mind…" Mavis replied.

"Good," Chakwas said, in a business-like manner, "Your trachea was inflamed and vomiting caused you to take on fluid in your lungs, but we managed to clear that up quickly before you suffocated. Your voice might be hoarse for a few days but we prevented any lasting damage. You lost a substantial amount of blood from the lacerations on your neck and some internal hemorrhaging, but we found a donor with your blood type on board and caught the hemorrhage in time. Your burns, on the other hand were a far more difficult matter." She reached forward and her hand hovered just over the blanket splayed over Mavis's body, "May I?"

"Uh…sure."

Dr. Chakwas pulled the cover away and Mavis gasped in alarm. From her chest to her knee, her left side was covered in a thin layer of gauze and bandages. The wrappings crisscrossed over her left breast to her right and then up over her left shoulder from behind her back before looping under her armpit and around her forearm, forming a sort of makeshift bra. It explained why she had felt so itchy and overheated before and just thinking about it made her subconsciously reach over to scratch at the gauze, making Chakwas gently smack her hand away with a stern, "don't pick at it."

Remembering her eye, Mavis reached up to the bandages on her head and prodded at the cloth like cap it made around her skull. Judging by the feel of it, the bandages wrapped around the front of her head along her forehead a few times before switching into several strips of gauze going up along the left side of her head.

"We had to shave your head where the damage was," Chakwas explained. "There wasn't much left on that side of your head after the blast anyway, I'm afraid. Most of it was falling out on its own. Like most of your other side, the right side of your head managed to come out pretty much unscathed, apart from a bit of scorching over the bride of your nose and just above your right eyebrow. You're hand and arm sustained minimal damage," she lightly tapped a patch of gauze on Mavis's lower arm. "On the bright side you got to keep most of your hair on this side," she fingered a lock of black hair and held it up for Mavis to see. "It was such a shame; but at least half of it survived. It's a pity you dye it though. The roots of your hair are red, a much nicer color in my opinion," she left the raven locks drop, "But then it isn't my place to judge. It would have made more sense to simply shave your entire head, but I knew you would already have a lot to adjust to and cope with when the bandages come off and I felt it kinder to at least leave you with the hair you had left; you're going to have a hard enough time with recovery without having to walk around bald. A bit unorthodox I know." She presented Mavis with a medical gown that she could slip on easily, "Now that you can sit up and move around some, let's preserve your modesty."

Mavis allowed the clothing to be slipped over her, but wasn't really listening anymore. She wasn't trying to be rude, but…she was just covered in so much gauze and bandages. She wondered what could lie underneath it all.

"The bandages make it seem worse than it really is," Chakwas assured her.

"Well then how bad is it really?" Mavis grumbled.

Chakwas was looking over her tablet again, "you had severe burns to roughly over 43% of your body; your left side to be exact. You're quite fortunate, had you not been turned somewhat away from the blast, you actually would have lost your eye." She tapped at the screen and typed something down, "The swelling around your eyelid may have done its part to prevent the flames reaching your eye as well; a fractured eye socket. It seems you sustained it prior to the explosion."

"I did?" Mavis didn't even remember that. As far as she could recall, she hadn't injured her eye when fighting her way out.

Chakwas interrupted her train of thought, "Unfortunately that didn't prevent you from receiving third degree burns. We lack a proper burn ward on the Normandy so we had to make do with the supplies and equipment we had on hand, but we were at least well stocked enough to prevent any infection and severe disfigurement. That isn't to say there won't be scarring, however." She gave Mavis a remorseful look. "I can treat scarring from lacerations," she said, "and I did for several cuts and punctures around your neck and face, but burns to the epidermis usually require a series of skin grafts over a long course of time and a burn ward would be better suited for that sort of procedure. We can replicate the skin cells needed here to keep you from walking around with your muscle tissue exposed, but the cosmetics are another matter entirely. We managed to reconstruct your ear at least, so I considered that a positive note. There is very little muscle tissue on the ears and they are mostly skin and cartilage so it goes without saying that the fire did quite a number on it. But like I said, we repaired the damaged, and may I just say you are very fortunate that your eardrum itself was untouched. You will be undergoing a series of hearing test though, just to be safe."

Mavis fiddled with the sheets, still thinking about the bandages that lie just beneath the gown, "So…how bad will the scarring be then?"

"We have changed your bandages several times and from what I have seen, your scars are relatively mild considering the severity of your injuries. And as I mentioned before, skin grafts and cosmetic procedures should take care of any aesthetic issues you may wish to have addressed, but it will be a lengthy process. If I had two years and the full facilities Cerberus had for the Commander, I could take care of it myself," she muttered as an afterthought. "There was one other thing…" she paused, apparently mulling over how to word what was on her mind.

"Yes?" Mavis prompted, though she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. Chakwas seemed like a kind, well meaning woman, but what she had told Mavis so far hadn't exactly been pleasant to hear, no matter how politely or considerately it was worded.

That in itself was worrisome; nothing Dr. Chakwas had said so far had made Mavis feel very good about her condition. Sure, she hadn't lost an eye and overall she was lucky to be alive, but that did little to ease her mind on the whole matter. If Chakwas had something to say that even she as a medical professional wasn't too keen on sharing, whatever else she had to tell Mavis, it likely wasn't going to be good news.

Dr. Chakwas leaned back in her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose. "The severity of your burns coupled with the effects of the poisoning, as well as the internal hemorrhaging caused a great deal of strain on your body. You…how should I say this? You regained consciousness while undergoing procedures and went into shock. Your body was already very weak and with your heart rate…" she frowned, "you flatlined on the table."

"I…flatlined?" Mavis asked, the color draining from her face.

"You heart stopped," Dr. Chakwas said bluntly, "for three minutes, you were for all intents and purposes, dead. We had to resuscitate you."

"I died…" Mavis whispered, "I actually died…"

"For three minutes at the most," Chakwas reminded, "I'm only telling you because you have a right to know and to be frank I would rather you heard it from a professional than in passing or casual conversation with someone like, say, the Commander or Mr. Moreau."

"Yeah," Mavis said softly, not really listening, "uh…thanks for telling me…I guess…"

The doctor placed her hand on Mavis's arm. "I know this is a lot to take in right now," she said sympathetically, "you've been through quite an ordeal. I don't know too many who would actually take being told they were legally dead well."

"As opposed to being illegally dead…right?" Mavis joked weakly.

Dr. Chakwas laughed. "Yes, I suppose you're right," she agreed, "If it helps any, you're not the only one who's been dead before; the Commander can assure you that!"

"What do you mean?"

"It's a long story," Chakwas explained, "It's better off not discussed by me. You'll have to go to ask the Commander herself. Now," she leaned forward, "do you have any questions about your health or your injuries?"

"When can I see myself with the bandages off?" Mavis asked hesitantly.

"The gauze must stay on for a few more days at the least," Dr. Chakwas answered, "to prevent air-borne infection while the skin is still raw and healing. While we're on the subject," she brought up something on her tablet and gave it a once over, "when you came in, you were already weak from what appeared to be a quick acting virus in your system; regulating your vitals was complicated by fever and weakening of your immune system." She observed Mavis from over the top of the tablet, "Microbial life on the surface of Horizon can cause soil-borne diseases. Illness can be considered common for newcomers to the Horizon, but can be prevented by a series of vaccinations prior to visiting or settling on the colony…yet you seemed to have missed the necessary precautionary vaccines. Any idea why that is?"

Mavis shook her head, still reeling from her revelation, "No. I don't even know why I was on the colony to begin with. I just remember waking up and then I met…MIKHAIL!" she gasped, struggling to sit up, the pain medication making her limbs feel like jelly, "Where is Mikhail?!" How could she have forgotten about him? How could she have not noticed he wasn't with her after having been practically glued to the boy's side while down on the colony? "Mikhail needs me! He needs me!"

Dr. Chakwas pushed her back down onto the bed. "What did I say about sudden movements?" she scolded, "You can relax; Mikhail is perfectly fine."

Mavis went still. "He is?" she asked disbelievingly.

Chakwas nodded, "After the paralysis wore off, he only had a few cuts and bruises to tend to and we patched him up in no time at all. He was rather shaken up, understandably so, but physically no worse for wear. He's frequented the Med Bay since we brought you in; we managed to coax him away for some lunch with people who are actually conscious this time. He's taken all his meals in here since you arrived; he's even been sleeping here," she gestured to the bed on Mavis's opposite side. The sheets were rumpled like someone had been lying on them quite recently and propped up against the pillows was the stuffed Eli the Elcor doll Mavis had nabbed for Mikhail during their escape.

Mavis let out a sigh of relief and relaxed. Mikhail was okay; she had saved him. "When can I see him? How long have I been out, exactly?" she asked out of curiosity.

"A few days," Dr. Chakwas replied, bringing out the orange glowing object again and waving it over Mavis's body once more as she grabbed her by the chin and carefully tilted her head this way and that. "You slipped in and out of consciousness for a while," she explained, reaching forward to feel Mavis's neck and examining her sealed eye, "you weren't really aware of anything and we had one incident of you nearly striking one of the crew; you were rather disoriented at the time," she elaborated, "As for seeing Mikhail, he should be done with his lunch fairly shortly and I'm hoping Yeoman Chambers can convince him to wash up some. You'll have to forgive me if I don't call for him now. If he knew you were awake, he would rush in here in a second and I would prefer he take the time to have a decent meal and perhaps a shower before returning. All in all, Mikhail will be very happy to see you."

"I'll be happy to see him too in all honesty," Mavis confessed, "I was worried we wouldn't make it out of there. It was all so…I was terrified…"

"You've been through quite the ordeal," Dr. Chakwas reasoned, "Fear is understandable." She regarded Mavis, deep in thought, "Mikhail said that you could not remember who you were, outside of your name. Judging from your lack of knowledge for Horizon or why you were there, I take it he was telling the truth?"

Mavis stared down at her lap. "Yeah," she admitted, "I can't really recall anything about myself, what I was doing there or even what I look like," she smiled bitterly, "of course if I am scarred up, it won't matter much what I looked like before anyway, so I won't have any good looks to miss. I didn't even know my own name at first. I was talking to Mikhail and it just came to me."

"What do you mean," Dr. Chakwas inquired.

Mavis shrugged stiffly, "Just what I said; I just knew. Some memory came back to me, a little one. The details were a bit hazy but I'm pretty sure someone called me Mavis. I remembered a song too, sort of…but there wasn't really a memory to place to it…"

"Mavis," Dr. Chakwas repeated, "yes, Mikhail mentioned that was your name." She ran a scan over Mavis's head again with the circular disk, "Female, roughly around twenty-five years of age if I had to hazard a guess…"

"Twenty-six…"

"Pardon?" Dr Chakwas asked, startled.

Mavis blinked; she hadn't realized what she had said when she said it. She had spoken on impulse, without hesitance, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out why she was so sure that was her age. She hadn't really remembered it so much as she just…knew it. "I-I think I'm twenty-six..."

"You think?"

"Yeah…" Mavis mumbled, "yes, that sounds about right. It…it feels right." She rubbed at her brow in frustration, "Does that make any sense?"

Dr. Chakwas thought a moment, "Classic case of Amnesia, by the sounds of it. Memories can often times be triggered to return and then sometimes they have no reasonable trigger at all, just flitting in at random. Age is biological, remembering it was probably reflex."

"I'm older than I thought I was," Mavis mused. It was true; from the way Mikhail's mother had treated her, she had assumed herself to be much younger than mid twenties. She had viewed herself as a girl; not a woman.

"You're older than I thought you were too," Chakwas added, "But not by much. Twenty-six is still young," she assured. "Now about your memory loss; I found no swelling of the brain, but some head trauma could still very likely be the cause. I'll need to run more tests to be sure. I want you to stay in the medical bay with me for a few more days until I am sure it is safe to release you."

"Great…" Mavis groaned.

"Now let's take that catheter out, shall we?"

Mavis blanched and then fell back into the mattress with a hand across her eyes, "Just when I thought things couldn't get any better," she mumbled sarcastically.

Dr. Chakwas merely laughed.

~OoO~OoO~OoO~

AUTHOR'S NOTE!

Another chapter done. I humbly ask you to read and review.

The treatment for Mavis's burns were based on the research I found about the steps taken when a burn victim is brought in immediately after the accident that caused the burns and I wrote down her treatment in order of what steps came first in the list I found in the treatment process.