Hello all once again! I hope life has been kind to you thus far. If not then perhaps you can find momentary release in the form of this chapter. This chapter will have quite the….twist…..ha hah ha!
It was sudden. Painful and very surreal. It was a moment she would never forget.
When she let go of Jane's hand she saw the horror in her eyes, her arm still reaching out to her, trying to save her from pain. The realization and disbelief. The panic in Shepard's eyes when a thought came blazing to life in her mind. Kristen could die from the explosion. She wore no armor, no protection, only the tattered remains of her clothing. Yet...she felt it was acceptable that she could die right here right now. She wasn't meant to be here, to exist here in the first place. She would only mess everything up.
The hours she spent on Eden Prime had been one of the most horrible experiences of her young life, but also one of the best. She was inside one of her favorite video games and had gotten to meet with some of the original crew that would at some point save the universe. Kaidan, although they hadn't had much interaction, Kristen knew that he was a big brother type. His caring attitude would take the crew far. Ashley is like a best friend she never had the pleasure of knowing from her time on Earth. She was someone that Kristen could spend all hours of the day with and wouldn't get bored with. Then there was Jane Shepard. A woman she had admired the second she got to know her possible past and future actions no how the game was played. That admiration only grew when she saw the woman in the flesh. The air of confidence and authority she held was strong and magnetic. Just as portrayed in the games Kristen knew that Jane was a sort of magnet. People would be gravitate and be drawn to her. It was partly the reason why she was so successful in her career. How she would eventually have a large crew that would grow to be her family.
Kristen was glad she had been able to meet them.
"What are you doing!?" Jane yelled to her. The hum of the beacon loud and droning in her ears.
From the single hand that connected her to the girl Jane could feel Kristen's hand slipping away from hers, even with herself squeezing it as hard as she can. She's so close. Why can't I pull her out! When she lifted her other arm to latch onto the girl it was repelled by an invisible force. One that she knew all too well. It was being shielded and she couldn't get in. She knew that it was possible that the beacon's security field was somehow tripped, by what, she didn't know. What she did know that was that she had to get them away from it now. Jane had no idea of security measures it had. But….It can self destruct. Kristen isn't wearing any armor! Her heart skipped a beat when she looked up into Kristen's eyes. She saw acceptance.
"Trying to save you." NO! Kristen released her hand, palms sliding past each other, fingertips brushing away. The beacon exploded.
Fire, electricity, metal, it was everywhere. The explosion started at the base of the beacon working it's way up to the top. Shepard was the first to be hit by the debris and got propelled back to the wall by the stairs. Pieces of metal raining on her shield, bringing it down a by thirteen percent. If the Commander alone the explosion wouldn't've fazed her in the slightest, she wasn't even damaged, but she wasn't alone nor was she far away from the explosion. Neither was Kristen. Thirteen percent wasn't a matter of concern for someone so well equipped as she was, but Kristen only wore torn clothes. She was at the most a foot away from it.
Hitting the wall wasn't something her shield could protect her from. Jane felt the impact in full force, air leaving her lungs then landing on the ground, a faint ringing in her ears.
When the beacon exploded with the Commander and Kristen in close proximity Ashley couldn't hold in her exclamation of "Oh fuck!" and bent over Kaidan to ensure that even his shield was not affected by the blast. She watched beacon explode in a bright flash with partially covered eyes and barely saw the Commander fly past her, unable to see anyone else. She heard the thud of a second body and uncovered her eyes. Getting up she stood tense scanning the area and froze when she saw a faintly smoking body.
"Oh no."
She was numb. She couldn't smell anything, barely feel, hear, her eyes felt far too heavy to open. What she could hear was garbled and warped. She could only hear bits and pieces of anything.
"-epard we ne-"
"-ow - evn -ive righ-"
"-er- t- Norma- Dr. Cha- ime to- lose"
She screamed when hands touched her, scraping her burnt flesh. She didn't know how loud she screamed. She couldn't hear how loud she was or if she even made a sound, but the hands were taken away as fast as they touched her.
"-o- ckin- ative to carr-"
"-st- carry her! She could d-
Then there was a stretch of silence before she withered in pain when she was fully picked up. Every step, every second the hands touched her brought agony.
"Shepard! My g-"
"-kwas, we- med- ove!"
"-n't worry Kristen- ruta Memorial Hospit- e can- old on."
For a sometime after it was quiet and cold. She was alone. Every now and then she would hear voices, but not for long.
"H- she? Wh- her status?"
"-aniy- unrespo- brain activity is-"
"So sor- happened Kristen."
The sterile smell of a hospital stung her nose. If she could she would have wrinkled her nose in distaste. She could see the lights behind her closed eyelids and could feel a thin blanket tucked around her. Her sluggish mind snapped to attention at the sound of clicking heels approaching her area. The click clack of heels got louder and a soft swish of metal and a beep told her that someone just entered the room she resided. Mustering what strength she could Kristen inched her head to the side on opened her eyes to barely visible slits. From what she made out with her blurred vision a woman was standing at the side of her bed, tall, black hair, and pale skin, but what caught her attention the most were the steel blue eyes that stared into hers. A hand reached out and smoothed a strand of hair back behind her ear. A soft accented voice soothed her mind.
"You are under my care now, Kristen Anderson."
So…..I just decided to get this short chapter written and out as fast I could. It's been a thunderstorm filled past few days so I thought, why not? Please leave me your comments and thoughts in the review section.
