A/N: Once again, thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows!

I tried to make the medical stuff as accurate as I could in this chapter. My research hasn't really turned up much either, so I went with what I did find out. Feel free to correct me if it doesn't sound right and I will make the necessary edits.

Chapter Four – Doubts and Frustration

The day started out nice. There wasn't a single cloud in the skies above the small town where the Shepard-Vakarian home was located. Weather reports promised that the skies of Toronto would also be the same and will remain so for the entire weekend.

It was perfect. Garrus and Shepard had planned to spend the entire weekend in Toronto. Garrus himself had been there a few times to help out at the turian refugee camp, but this will be Shepard's first time there in five weeks since leaving the hospital.

Garrus knew that getting Shepard out of their small town would do her good. For the last two weeks after Joker and EDI's visit, she was feeling a tad bit jealous that they got the opportunity to travel the galaxy (then again, they were stuck with chauffeuring the Councilors around).

The only downfall to Shepard about going to Toronto was that she had a doctor's appointment. As a matter of fact, she was supposed to be visiting one last week, but Shepard had refused to see anyone but Dr. Chakwas. Dr. Chakwas ended up being assigned back to the Normandy to travel with the Councilors. Shepard didn't blame her for taking the offer. Dr. Chakwas always preferred life on a ship compared to being groundside. The only other doctor Shepard may have considered seeing was Dr. Michel, but the last she heard, the younger doctor was all the way in Geneva helping out with the recovery efforts there.

As a compromise, Dr. Chakwas recommended a colleague of hers who had opened up a new clinic in Toronto a few weeks after the war ended. Shepard still preferred to see Chakwas, but Garrus insisted that she should at least give this doctor a chance. Shepard eventually accepted but only because she was a friend of Chakwas.

The appointment was for noon. So she and Garrus packed their bags the night before and headed out the next morning in their skycar. They also took food and clothing donations collected by the human owner of the local market. He had asked Garrus to take them up to Toronto once he heard that the turian was making a trip up there two days ago.

The travel was as long as Shepard remembered it. Most of it was spent with her and Garrus in a comfortable silence, the car's stereo playing a mix of both human and turian music that was downloaded into the system.

At one point, Garrus raised a brow ridge at a particular lyric in an old human song that was playing at the moment. "Um, did my translator just glitch or did the singer actually mention throwing a speed ball? Because last I checked, a speed ball was a human drug."

Shepard shook her head, but chuckled a little. "You're hearing it right. And actually, it was originally a term for a fast ball in a human game called baseball. People have misinterpreted it back then, and it seems like now they're getting it wrong two hundred years later."

"So in that case, why not call it a fast ball instead?" Garrus questioned.

"Because, well, why not? It might be an old term even for those times, but it's not the singer's fault that people misinterpret it. And let's stop talking about it. You're going ruin the song for me."

Garrus laughed and decided to drop it.

Soon, they arrived in Toronto after fighting with traffic (even with skycars, traffic was still an issue in city areas, especially after the war). Shepard had a half hour to spare before her appointment, so Garrus decided to drop her off at the clinic. He offered to help her out, but Shepard insisted on getting out of the car on her own. It took a minute, but Shepard let out a little victory yell once she managed to stand on her feet.

Garrus smiled at her little cheer. Indeed she was in a good mood.

"Send me a message when you're done," Garrus said to her.

"Hopefully it won't take long," Shepard replied. "I'll see you in a little bit."

With that, she closed the car door. Garrus stayed long enough to make sure she got inside before taking off to head to the turian camp.

Shepard made it to the front desk after a few minutes of her slow walk, taking a deep breath while trying to be calm about it. There were a few other patients waiting for their appointments. Shepard was aware of a few of them staring, most likely recognizing her. She thought about pulling her hood over her head to conceal her face, but quickly decided against it. The patients have already seen her face anyway at this point.

A she expected, the nurse at the front desk gave her some forms to fill out. 'Always the fun part,' she thought to herself as she sat down at the closest empty chair she found.

Fifteen minutes of filling out forms and an additional twenty minute wait later, the doctor was ready to see her. The usual quick exams came along which included taking her blood pressure, temperature, and recording her weight and height. Then, the nurse escorted her into an exam room and said that the doctor would be with her shortly.

Another ten minutes went by. Then, she heard a soft knock at the door before it opened. A middle-aged woman with gray hair tied back in a low bun entered the room, a warm smile coming over her face upon seeing her patient.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Hinato," she greeted cheerfully. She extended her arm out in hopes of shaking her hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Commander. Dr. Chakwas told me so much about you."

Shepard reached out to shake her head. "I'm sure most of it involved how much of a pain in the ass I can be when I'm a patient." She said this with a friendly grin.

Dr. Hinato chuckled. "Well, she did warn me about that. But she also told me how much of a good friend you've been to her."

"She's been with me from day one," Shepard mentioned.

"I hope I'm not taking offense by, um, replacing her, Commander."

Shepard waved a hand. "No offense at all. And please, call me Shepard."

"Of course, Commander, um, sorry, Shepard." Dr. Hinato soon activated her omni-tool. "Now, let's get down to it. I'll be doing a quick scan to see where you are at. Dr. Chakwas also has sent me your medical records from both your time on the Normandy and your time at the hospital after the war."

"So I assume she told you about my… upgrades."

"She did," the doctor confirmed. "Very extensive work from what she told me."

"They didn't come cheap, that's for sure."

A small beep was heard, indicating to the doctor that the scan was complete. "Let's see… it looks like your body is accepting the bolts and rods in your hips and legs. Has there been any improvement with walking since you left the hospital?"

Shepard frowned a little. "Not really. I mean, I walked less in the beginning only because I just got out of the hospital, but I get around a little more now. If we're talking about speed, or how long I can stand, again, not really."

"I see," Dr. Hinato continued. "Also, it looks like those upgrades you've mentioned are doing well on your upper body. From your records, the upgrades in your legs were the ones that shut down."

Shepard nodded. "Yes. The… original records involving my upgrades have been lost after the war. I still have contact with the person who oversaw my… procedure, and she tried what she could to restore what was damaged. She's no longer associated with those who gave her the funding, so she wasn't able to fix everything."

"That's a shame."

Shepard felt herself twitch a little at that comment, but she reminded herself that she didn't give the doctor the name of that 'association.' She also guessed that Dr. Chakwas didn't mention about Cerberus to her either.

"Something tells me it's for the best," Shepard said in reply.

There was another fifteen minutes of routine exams with the doctor asking more questions. To keep up with conversation, Shepard dared herself to ask if Dr. Hinato still had family after the way. She was happy to hear that her younger sister and her family survived. They had lived on Terra Nova and managed to get on the escape shuttles just as the Reapers hit. The family had returned to Terra Nova only a couple of months ago. Dr. Hinato had a husband, but he passed away from illness long before the war.

Once the exams were done, Dr. Hinato shut off her omni-tool after taking a few notes. "You're recovery is a slow one of course, but you are doing much better. Your scars are still healing, but most of them will fade with time."

Shepard grinned. "And maybe once I can get these legs working again, I could go back to being a soldier and add more scars to my collection."

It was meant as a joke, but Shepard didn't miss the falter in Dr. Hinato's warm smile. She knew that the doctor wanted to say something in reply, so she folded her arms in front of her. "Is there anything else that needs to be mentioned?" she asked flatly.

"There is," Dr. Hinato said. The warm smile that had been on her face throughout the whole exam was now gone. Shepard knew she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear. Even so, it was best to get it over it now than to hear it later.

"As you know, your recovery was and still is a long one," Dr. Hinato proceeded. "The bolts and rods are doing their job and it's possible that with further surgery, there will be improvement. However, not all surgery outcomes are what we expect."

Shepard squeezed her own arm a little, feeling dread coming over her. "Are you saying that I might not be able to walk right again?"

She could tell Dr. Hinato was a bit taken aback by her bluntness by the way her dark eyes widened a little. The truth was that Shepard didn't like jumping around the subject and preferring to get to the point. She was pretty sure that Dr. Chakwas didn't tell her colleague that part.

"I'm not saying there's no hope," Dr. Hinato continued. "But you don't want to set yourself up for disappointment, either. Each case similar to yours has different results. Sometimes, the body will recover completely and is able to adjust to the bolts and rods like it was a part of who the person is physically, like they were born with it. Others, however, don't always see that result. In the end, it depends on how your body adjusts in the aftermath of a traumatic injury. You also need to take into account that you took a lot of damage; broken bones, third degree burns, lacerations… some that were infected when you were found… they said it was a miracle when you were found alive."

…Multiple bone dislocations and fractures in the legs and hips, five broken ribs, third degree burns on 45% of her body, mostly on her left side, and lacerations with infection trying to make its way in.

The doctors at the hospital also said it was a miracle… Shepard personally called it, 'pretty damn lucky.'

"But… even if you do full recover in the end," the doctor continued. "There's a possibility that it would take years for it to happen."

As Dr. Hinato spoke, Shepard was slowly standing herself up, using the exam table for support. She was on her feet by the time the doctor was done. "So… even if I bust my ass in physical therapy…"

"There will be improvements," Dr. Hinato reminded her. "But again, it all depends on how your body adjusts to it."

Shepard sighed, her face remaining neutral. "Thank you, but I think that will be all."

Dr. Hinato frowned as she nodded. "If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call me."

"Sure."

Shepard then left the exam room and made her way out of the clinic as quickly as her legs could take her, placing her hood over her head the minute she stepped outside. She didn't stop walking until she felt the muscles in her legs protest from all the strain it was no longer used to only a year ago. There was a park not too far from her and she headed there. The park still contained debris and fallen trees from the war, but she didn't care how it looked at the moment. At least she would be away from the streets.

It didn't take long for her to find an empty bench to sit down, her legs and hips feeling relieved once the pressure was taken off. She took a deep breath for a moment before activating her omni-tool to send a message;

13:54 – Shepard: I'm sitting at the park one block east from the clinic.

She received a reply not long after.

13:57 – Vakarian: I'm just finishing up here. I'll be over in a few minutes. There's a levo-dextro restaurant on the other side of town if you're hungry.

13:58 – Shepard: That sounds good. Hopefully they have some good sandwiches. I'll see you soon.

Figuring that Garrus wasn't going to reply to her last message, she closed her omni-tool. She then leaned back a little against the bench and let herself relax, forcing herself to not think about what she was told at the clinic today. Feeling a bit tired, she decided to briefly close her eyes until Garrus got here.

Five minutes later, it turned out that closing her eyes was a mistake.

She suddenly heard footsteps close to her and she ended up jolting out of instinct. Before she had the chance to comprehend what was going on, a news reporter was suddenly right up in her face with her camera man just behind her.

"Commander Shepard!" the reporter called. "Kimberly Tanner, XLSixteen News."

'Great…' Shepard thought. She heard of them before… they were a 'news source' that was well known to be more interested in 'confirming' gossips and rumors rather than, say, being concerned about the aftermath of a galactic war.

She took a deep breath before speaking. "Look, if you're here for an interview-"

Tanner cut her off quickly. "The galaxy thought you disappeared, yet, here you are sitting her at the park admiring the view."

Already, Shepard felt the urge to punch her. That's a new record, she realized.

"Is there any reason for disappearing right after the end of the Reaper War?"

Shepard shook her heard. She also noticed a small crowd that started to gather nearby, hopefully out of simple curiosity. "Look, I was in the hospital for eight months-"

"And then what happened afterwards?" Tanner pressed. "Do you feel that now that you've done your job that you think that its 'unnecessary' for you to be further involved with helping the galaxy?"

Shepard found herself taken aback by those words. The urge to punch her was even fiercer, but she realized that's what this kind of 'news source' wanted to see. If only she could get out of here… but her legs, unfortunately, wouldn't carry her far enough. For the first time since waking up at the hospital, she felt trapped.

Still, she took a deep breath before speaking again. "Let me answer that with a couple of questions. What are you doing about the recovery efforts? What is XLSixteen doing about it? Clearly, the money that could be spent on helping refugees is instead being used to pay 'reporters' like you to deliver cheap gossip with poorly asked questions to the public."

She tried not to smirk in satisfaction as Tanner's jaw dropped open in shock by the question. She quickly regained herself before opening her mouth again. "But the people are aware of what's going on. We can only remind them so much. They need to know what else is happening in the galaxy."

"But not everyone watches other news sources like the Alliance New Network," Shepard pointed out. "I'm sure you have viewers who only watch your show and the best thing you can do for them is let them know what's going on here on Earth. Get them more aware of how things look as we try to get ourselves back together."

She could tell that Tanner was getting even more annoyed with her by the way she pressed her lips into a thin line. "Is this what we can expect from you from this point on, Commander?" the reporter pressed after a few seconds of silence. "Do you still think you have the right to command the people over what they can do while you sit here admiring the view in front of you?"

That was enough.

"This is over," Shepard said while standing up. Unfortunately, her legs only got her two feet (which she expected, but damn if she didn't at least try) before Tanner and the camera man got in her face again.

"Is sitting here your way of 'honoring' the billions who lost their lives in this war? What about those who died in the Bahak system before the war?"

"Get away from her!" a voice yelled out. Shepard let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, thankful to finally hear Garrus' voice. It didn't take long before he put himself between Shepard and the camera.

"Sir, we're in the middle of an interview," Tanner said trying to act casual.

"The hell you are!" Garrus growled. "I assume that intruding and harassing people is your way of getting what you want?"

"I-"

Garrus got into Tanner's face then. "Enough! When's Shepard's ready for an interview, she'll let you know, though I'm sure it won't be with you."

He then proceeded to confiscate the camera, which unfortunately only worked by offering money. By then, Shepard had made her way to the skycar, wanting nothing more than to get away from the scene. She was settled in the car by the time Garrus got into the driver's seat.

"Next time we're flying, remind me to make sure to space this thing," he said as he put the now-broken camera into the back of the car. He then drove off in hopes that no one attempted to get a picture of them as they left.

Shepard casted her eyes down. "I never thought I'd see the day when I realize how much I miss Al-Jilani's 'friendly' nature…"

A sigh escaped Garrus as he took Shepard's hand. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner."

Shepard shook her head before whispering her next words. "It's not your fault… I was caught off guard. Though I'm sure if I tried to get away again, I would've barely made it three feet before they caught up with me."

"Shepard…"

"Can we… get our food to-go and just… go home? I… don't want to be here anymore."

Garrus released another breath. To think that they were both in high spirits just this morning and now it's all gone to hell. He couldn't even begin to think about what happened at the clinic, but he had to guess that it wasn't good. In the past, she never let the reporters get to her like this, but it was obvious that more happened besides being harassed by news people.

The turian gently squeezed her hand. "Okay."

They left Toronto after picking up their lunch. Shepard got herself a pastrami sandwich on a roll with mustard, but she barely ate the first half of her sandwich before wrapping it up and putting it back in the carry-out bag.

There was nothing but silence for the rest of the ride. Even the music was turned off, and Garrus suddenly wished he was listening to those bad human lyrics from that system if only to ease the tension that hung in the air.

The sun was just setting by the time they got home. Garrus tried to help Shepard get back to the house once he parked the skycar on the driveway.

"I don't need to hold someone's hand every time I have to get up," she said flatly.

That pretty much confirmed his suspicion that something did happen at the clinic today. However, he decided not to press the matter at the moment. He can only watch as she got out of the car and made her way up the porch stairs.

When she reached the door, Garrus sighed. What would've normally taken less than minute… just simply getting out of the car to get to the house… ended up taking five minutes for Shepard by herself. He figured weeks ago that the possibility of living like this for the rest of her life might eventually take a toll on Shepard. He was just hoping that it didn't happen so soon after leaving the hospital.

The house was quiet for the remainder of the night…

Three Days Later...

Every Monday morning, Garrus would work on cleaning, fixing, and calibrating whatever he could get his hands on. He would always start his work around the time Shepard's physical therapist came over for their two-hour session. The routine was the same on Thursdays as well.

Today, Garrus worked on adding upgrades to the M-98 Widow sniper rifle that he owned and the Black Widow that belonged to Shepard. Back when the Normandy SR2 was a Cerberus vessel, Shepard purchased them both (with Cerberus' money, might to her amusement) with the M-98 being a gift to him during shore leave.

On that same shore leave however, Shepard got bold (which shouldn't surprise him) when she decided to try out the M-98 at the shooting range. The weapon was known to have such a kick that it would shatter human bones. Shepard figured that she could withstand the punishment due to her cybernetic implants courtesy of Cerberus.

The recoil ended up dislocating her right shoulder.

Garrus had helped her with pulling her shoulder back in its socket and placing some medigel on it. Dr. Chakwas also put her out of commission for a few days to give her shoulder a chance to heal. Despite recovering, Shepard was left with a kink in her shoulder that she always had the urge to stretch out. She also never touched the M-98 again and stayed with the Black Widow.

As he added the upgrades, Garrus heard footsteps just outside the open garage door. The steady steps told him that it wasn't Shepard who was approaching since hers were more like shuffles these days. He turned around and soon saw Shepard's physical therapist, Cyrena Linard. She was one of the town locals who lived here for about ten years with her human bondmate. Shepard wasn't the most patient person in the world, but she actually liked Cyrena enough to cooperate. However, the turian had a feeling that today was different if the weariness on the asari's face was anything to go by.

"Hi Garrus," Cyrena greeted him. "I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment."

Garrus nodded. "What can I do for you?"

Cyrena let out a slow breath as she folded her arms in front of her. "I know I'm just her physical therapist, but I couldn't help but be concerned for her. She was impatient during our session today."

"This past weekend wasn't… the best," Garrus said.

"I heard about XLSixteen station ambushing her," Cyrena admitted. "I don't know if you know, but witnesses reported what happened. The station's president actually suspended that reporter without pay. To be honest, I think it really stems from the mention of the Bahak system on a human gossip show and getting a few threatening calls from the Batarians once they heard about it."

He wished he could buy those witnesses who reported Tanner a round of drinks for helping out.

"Still, that's good to know, thanks," Garrus replied. "Shepard and I chose to avoid watching TV and looking at any news sites since it happened, at least for a couple of weeks."

"I don't blame you. Anyway, I did try to bring that up to her, but she shrugged it off like it was nothing. Honestly, I think she's still hurt over what happened."

"Normally it wouldn't," Garrus admitted. "But a few minutes before the reporter came along, she had left a medical clinic after being told not to get her hopes up about fully recovering."

Cyrena frowned. "I'm trying what I can to help her. The least I can do is ease discomfort as much as possible. I'd like to try to see if I can get her to walk for as long as possible before her legs and hips protest against the pain. For now, I'm trying to get her to focus on getting her muscles used to movement again."

"We appreciate any help from you," Garrus said and began resuming his work on the rifle upgrades.

However, he noticed the asari still standing there as though she wanted to say more. He turned back to her. "Did you need anything else?"

"Well, I had an idea," Cyrena said. "You two have been here for over a month. We see you around town a bit, but no one else has really seen Shepard all that much."

"Walking around town is difficult for her, though she's tried," Garrus said. He thought about the last sentence the therapist said. "But to be honest, I don't think Shepard's ready for any kind of group gathering."

"Oh no, that's not what I was thinking," Cyrena said. "But I would like you two to come over for dinner at my house on Friday night. My husband Jason would love to meet you two. And I think it would be good for Shepard to get out of the house for something that's not errands."

The truth was that Shepard didn't go out as much, especially in the last couple of weeks. She did do some shopping in town when they first came here, but now she's mostly sticking with ordering items from the extranet.

"I'll talk to her about it," Garrus replied. "We'll let you know our decision by Thursday."

Cyrena smiled. "Great! And if you both do come, don't worry about me trying to figure out dextro meals. My father was a turian so I learned how to cook turian cuisines a long time ago."

"Good to know. See you Thursday."

With a wave, Cyrena headed towards her car and soon left. Garrus had already started focusing on those rifle upgrades.

An hour later, Garrus decided to take a break and began heading back to the house. Upon entering, he didn't see Shepard around and figured she might either been taking a bath or watching a vid in the bedroom. He headed over to their shared room.

He was right about Shepard being in the bedroom, but instead of watching a vid, she sat at one of the two chairs facing the large lake behind their house. Garrus went over to her side and soon saw the distant look in her eyes. His mandibles flicked a little against his face, feeling a little anxious suddenly. Clearly she had a lot on her mind. He can only hope that she wasn't experiencing a flashback from the war.

Garrus leaned down to press his forehead against hers. He noticed her blinking rapidly a couple of times before she turned her attention to him.

"Hey," she whispered. "I didn't hear you come in."

Garrus quietly chuckled. "Guess I'm much stealthier than I thought."

"No, I'm just… tired."

He knew it was more than that, but he decided to not press the issue right away. He pulled back from her before settling himself down on the other chair next to her. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"I haven't slept well this whole weekend," Shepard admitted. "I don't know if it's stress from what happened or what."

"I might be," Garrus guessed.

"I saw Cyrena talking you earlier. I guess she brought up how irritated I've been with her today."

"She was actually worried about you. She heard what happened on Friday."

Shepard let out a small puff that closely resembled a humorless laugh. "I'm sure the entire galaxy knows."

"If it makes you feel better, the station suspended that reporter."

"Good."

"Cyrena also mentioned wanting the both of us to come over for dinner this Friday."

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "And was there a reason she didn't ask me directly?"

"Probably because she felt it wasn't the right time to ask you given how you've been feeling today, so she asked me instead."

"Well… either way, we're not going."

Garrus turned his head to her, not expecting that kind of answer so quickly. "Why not?"

"I don't need a reason. I see Cyrena twice a week, that's good enough."

"Her husband wants to meet you."

"So does the rest of the galaxy."

Garrus took a deep breath as he started to feel his patience starting to wear down. "Everyone in this town knows we live here. Cyrena said it herself. She just wants us to mingle with them."

"Sure, it'll be nice, at least until one of them accepts the large chunk of money waved in their faces by people like Tanner for information leading to our location."

Garrus tapped a gloved finger on the armrest of his chair. "At this point, that's not going to happen. If they had those kinds of intentions, the reporters would've knocked our door off its hinges by now."

He saw Shepard clench a fist in frustration. "It didn't stop them in Toronto. I'm sure someone at the clinic reported my whereabouts with the stares I got there. Who's to say someone around here won't give into that temptation eventually?"

Garrus shook his head. "Listen… its fine if you don't want to accept that dinner invitation, but I'm also not letting you become a recluse just because someone here might give away our location."

Shepard turned her head to him, anger suddenly flashing through her eyes. "Who says I'm becoming a recluse? I don't know if you've noticed, but I can't exactly walk around town very much!"

"I know that, but we might be living here for a while and I thought maybe meeting some of the people who live here might be nice. We already know Cyrena and I thought accepting her dinner invitation would be a good start."

"Cyrena's a good physical therapist and I like working with her," Shepard said. "That's good enough for me. She'll help me start walking like a normal person again."

Garrus growled in frustration. "And what if doesn't work out like that? What if there is no improvement and you do walk like this for the rest of your life?"

The anger in her eyes was still there, but now he was seeing her lips in a tight, thin line. It was a sign that she was on the verge of screaming out, but was doing everything she can to hold it back. It was also a sign that Garrus knew he crossed a line.

'Damn it,' he thought, feeling mad at himself for letting this conversation go in this direction.

Shepard buried her face into her hands. "Get out," she growled through clenched teeth. "Just… get out."

Garrus wanted to argue against being pushed, but he quickly realized by this point, any attempt to soothe things over would end up in a shouting match. So with a grunt, he got up and left the room, closing the door behind him with a little more force than he intended.

That night, he tried to talk again, but the result was the same as before. He ended up sleeping in the guest room that night.

The next day…

After eating breakfast and getting updates about the mass relays from Primarch Victus, Garrus went outside to see what he can fix up today. Since he had already did some work on their rifles, he decided to go see how he can improve the functionality of the skycar.

Garrus ended up losing track of time and barely took any breaks as he focused on improving the engine, cleaning any muck and dirty he found, and double checked the fluids the car required to keep it running.

The sun was just beginning to set by the time he decided to call it a day. He wiped his hands with a rag before placing the equipment he was using back into the toolbox. He then started to head to the garage to put the box away when he noticed movement at the corner of his eye on his right. He only turned his head in time to see Shepard standing on the porch before continuing his way into the garage.

Garrus placed the box back on the wooden shelf that was built within the garage's wall, most likely constructed by a previous owner some years ago. He then turned back and pressed the button to close the garage door on his way out.

As he headed back to the house, he saw that Shepard was in the process of going down the porch steps. He was about to ask her what she was doing, but instead, he found his heart leaping into his throat as Shepard suddenly tumbled forward. Her foot ended up too far off on her step down, causing her to slip and fall. She then felt the wind knocked out of her as she landed hard on her back.

"Shepard!" he called out as he sprinted towards her. When he reached her, he bended down and saw the stunned look on her face as she stared up at the sky. He started to extend his arms to her. "Are you-"

"Don't!" she yelled out suddenly, cutting him off. "Don't help… let me do it myself."

Once more, Garrus found that he wanted to protest, but before he had the chance to say anything, Shepard started to sit herself up. That part was always easier for her. She would place the palm of her hands flat down on either side of her against the surface and use her upper weight to push herself up.

It was the second part that was always hard, even when she was simply trying to get up from bed. Usually, she would use her arms to force her legs to swing over the bed to make the process easier. Then, she would support herself on the nightstand to stand up.

This time, however, it was going to take more than just her arms to get up from the ground. Worse, anything that would help pull her up, including the stairs, were out of her reach. Garrus had offered his hand to help her up, but she completely ignored him as she tried to use her legs to get back on her feet. However, as she put weight on her legs, she let out a small cry of pain and landed back down in a sitting position. Whether the pain was from her injuries or her recent fall, Garrus wasn't sure. Either way, the scene before him bothered him greatly, especially since she wouldn't let him make the situation better for her.

"Shepard, let me help, please…" he quietly begged.

Shepard quickly shook her head. "Don't! I'm not helpless! I'm not useless! I'm not-"

Her voice suddenly cracked as she slumped forward and buried her face into her hands. The dam was holding in everything these last few days was now starting to break.

Despite knowing that he wouldn't hear the end of it later, Garrus reached out and scooped her into his arms before straightening himself back onto his feet. He then walked up to the house and went inside.

The moment the door closed, he felt Shepard bury her face into his neck, muffling a wail that emerged from her throat. He walked over to the couch and carefully sat down, still keeping Shepard in his arms. Once settled, the turian shifted his arms so that he could hold his human closer to him, letting her release her anger, doubts, frustration, and whatever else she was bottling up since she left the clinic… or the hospital she stayed in for eight months, he wasn't sure at this point. Garrus said nothing and offered comfort by gently rubbing her back with one hand to remind her that he was here.

When her sobs finally subsided, the room had darkened a bit from the lack of sunlight. Shepard soon pulled back, her reddened cheeks still streaked with tears, her eyes red, and her breath hitching as she tried to calm herself down.

Garrus wiped the tears that remained on her face. "Talk to me," he whispered, cupping her chin between his thumb and index finger before pushing up a little so that she looked at him. Talking… it was something they should have done over the weekend after what happened in Toronto, but at the same time, he wondered if pushing her to talk then would have made things worse. It didn't matter now.

Shepard closed her eyes, taking in a deep inhale before opening them again, looking down. "I feel… useless."

"You're not useless."

Shepard barely shook her head. "I should be out there helping the galaxy put itself back together-"

"Stop right there," Garrus said firmly, tracing a finger over her lips. "You're the one who lead us all to fight against the Reapers and won." His finger then moved to trace the outline of her jaw. "The best thing you can do now is to take it easy and let us do the rest. You've earned it."

"… Even at such a high cost?"

Garrus sighed, knowing that she meant the Geth. "I know… but once they joined us, they were willing to lay down their existence as much as us organics. You once told me that EDI would fight to the death, remember?"

"Yeah… but it still doesn't make it easy. It's even worse when you can't remember what happened up there."

"I know it doesn't, but the Quarians are doing all they can to bring them back. Some of their software survived the blast, and it's going to help. Not all is lost."

Shepard snorted a little with barely any humor. "Yeah… except maybe the use of my legs."

Garrus took a deep breath. "Even if you don't walk normally again, that still doesn't make you useless. I mean, look at how nice you made the cabin the last few weeks."

That got a dry chuckle out of her as she slowly lifted her head to take in their surroundings. "Well… I guess I'm flattered… I don't think anything really matches around here."

"No, but you worked hard at it," Garrus reminded her.

"And it's only just decorating. That's so small compared to helping with, say, clearing out rubble on the streets."

"So what? The point that I'm trying to make is that you're not just sitting around doing nothing at all."

Garrus then had a small suspicion over where Shepard was getting this 'I'm-useless' idea from and decided to confront her about it. "And if it has anything to do with that reporter, don't listen to them. They can guess and speculate and ignore the fact that you've been injured all they want. If they can't see that you've done the biggest job in the war, they're idiots. You and I both know that they're just trying to get a rise out of you for ratings and money. The next time some tabloid journalist harasses you, you tell them how they should focus on the real issues of the war's aftermath."

Shepard snorted again. "I gave them that advice and they completely blew it off."

"At least you tried. All you can do now at this point is to take comfort in knowing that putting them in their place like that makes them look bad, not you."

Shepard sighed. "I guess."

Garrus leaned forward to touch his forehead to hers. "You've done your part, Shepard. Now be a little selfish for once in your life and rest. Don't worry about what everyone else thinks. They don't know my girl like I do."

That last sentence provoked a small smile from her, which was what he was going for. "They sure don't."

"Just rest tonight. Tomorrow, we'll go out and do something. And… if you still feel like you want to help with getting the galaxy back on its feet, I have a small idea. The guy that owns the local market in town has been very active about helping out the refugees around this part of Earth. I'm sure he might have a few ideas on how you might be able to help besides giving out speeches."

Shepard seemed to think about it for a moment before she slowly nodded. "I guess that's a start… but let's try not to attract a crowd while we're there."

Garrus placed his mouth plates on her lips in a quick kiss. "It's a deal. Now, I'm hungry. I'll go ahead and make dinner."

Shepard suddenly gasped as though a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Shit!"

Garrus gave her a confused look. "What's the matter?"

She shook her head, but a small smile played on her face. "You know, the whole reason I was trying to go down the patio steps was to tell you that dinner's ready. Now the food's probably all cold."

Garrus chuckled at that. "You know you could have just yelled out my name to get my attention." His blue eyes became serious. "Don't try to go down those steps like that again. When I saw you fall down…"

Shepard slowly nodded. "Okay. And I'm sorry I scared you like that. And for the way I acted these last few days."

As she spoke, Garrus had shifted her so that she was now sitting down on the couch. He then got himself up, briefly giving her another kiss before pulling back and headed to the kitchen. "I'll go ahead and reheat our food."

"Get me a root beer while you're at it, will you?"

"Sure."

"Oh, and one other thing."

"Yes?"

"When Cyrena comes over on Thursday, I'll go ahead and accept her dinner invitation. I guess it's about time we try to get to know our neighbors."

That earned a turian grin from Garrus. "Glad to hear it."

A/N: The song mentioned earlier in the chapter while Garrus and Shepard headed to Toronto was Bruce Springteen's 'Glory Days.'