Two days. Forty-eight hours since Nihlus' first call, most of them spent next to the terminal, waiting for him to let her know that Garrus was still alive. Apparently neither of them could sleep much nor do anything else. The turian had promised to tell her what had happened when they returned to the Citadel - the ship they were on didn't have the necessary equipment to help Garrus, and they could barely keep him breathing.
Waiting was a torture and it seemed Nihlus was taking it as hard as she did. For all she knew, he might have a ship full of dying teammates. Shepard wished she could say something to help him, but what would she say when she couldn't even convince herself that everything will be alright. One moment she was sad, the next anxious, then angry, and sometimes a combination of all three. Sometimes she wished she could call back her hatred for Garrus from years ago so it wouldn't matter if he lived or died.
Stupid turian came in her life, changed everything, made her care, then left her alone to become a Spectre, to die… She knew what it's like to lose a comrade, a friend, but if this was the feeling of losing a loved one, Shepard wished she had never learned.
Nihlus wrote her the address of the hospital after a long silence. It was the furthest place in the wards she had gone to and it definitely could be called a turian district, although she did see few other races there as well. Glares were sent her way with every step she took, but Shepard held her head up, challenging anyone to stand in her way.
The hospital wasn't much different from human and asari facilities – patient rooms, doctors walking by hastily, anxious visitors. The furniture and layout was a bit different, but the idea was the same. At first she was confused, not sure where to go or who to talk to. She wasn't even sure someone would tell her what she needed, so to stay on the safe side she wrote a message to Nihlus that she had arrived.
"Who let a filthy human in here?" high-pitched voice asked behind her. Shepard turned around and found a turian female, shorter and more delicate than a male turian. She had a sling on her right arm.
"I'm here to visit Garrus Vakarian," she said, ignoring the filthy. "I'm…"
"I know who you are, Shepard," she said, spitting her name like it was most disgusting thing she knew. "The Alliance whore they sold to stop us from destroying your useless species. Weaklings and cowards, that's all you are. Get lost before your dirt…"
The turian couldn't finish her sentence, because she was shoved in the wall. At a different time, Shepard would have ignored her insults, but sleepless nights and worry had drained her patience and control. It didn't matter that she was wounded and probably hurt by something emotionally. Shepard needed to lash out and the female turian made a perfect target.
"Wrong human to mess with."
She held the turian's fringe with her right hand, while the other pressed her small pistol under the turian's chin. Silence descended on the room. There was no shouting or panic that would have occurred in a human hospital. She could see security officers coming her way, but before they arrived a hand landed on her shoulder.
"Shepard," Nihlus said in calming, tired voice. She lowered her weapon, but released the turian's head after another shove in the wall. He gestured for her to follow; his presence was enough for security to return to its posts.
"You can't be serious," the female said behind them. He turned his head and looked at her over his shoulder. "That's enough," he reprimanded her. Spectres must have had a lot of authority here. No one else objected that he was taking an armed, short-tempered human further into the hospital.
"Sorry for Avita. She was on Garrus' team with us. We're all… not at our best," Nihlus explained. "And your team killed her father five years ago."
"Should I send her the list of human fathers turians killed during the war?" she asked angrily, "Me and Garrus gave up our lives, careers, so that she could live, and instead of thank you, "whore" is all I get."
She immediately regretted her outburst. Nihlus didn't deserve to listen to her frustration.
"Sorry, I'm just…" she started to say, but he interfered.
"I understand."
They sat down in the third floor waiting room at the furthest corner. She took a real look at him now. It was the first time she saw him without armor and in civilian clothes. He must have been injured on his right side - he groaned when shifted to get more comfortable in the chair.
"You're hurt?" she asked.
"Just a scratch compared to what most of the team suffered," he answered, then added after a brief silence: "They're trying to save him right now. Didn't give any promises."
"What happened?" Shepard couldn't keep herself from asking any longer.
"A trap," he answered and took a deep breath. "There was a small pirate group, at the edge of Citadel space. Three months ago they suddenly started to grow at an alarming speed, attacking asari, salarians, but mostly human ships. They stole everything they could, stripped ships for parts and sold any survivors to batarians. I kept an eye on them since I got the information about their expansion, gathering people, trying to locate their base. The plan was simple: Garrus and I lead each team from opposite ends of the station and take out every pirate we see, meet at the center and kill the leaders. On our way out, free the victims and salvage valuables."
He paused to gather thoughts and remember the events. "When we entered, it turned out they had been expecting us. All we could do was to try to get out alive. My team, or what was left of it, was the first to break through and we went to get the others. Somehow there were more pirates attacking them, even a fucking gunship, which blew a rocket in Garrus' face on our way out. The ship didn't have the necessary equipment to patch him up so we came to the Citadel as fast as we could."
"How did they know? Someone sold you out?" she asked, trying to wrap her head around his story.
"No, only me and Garrus could send out messages from the ship. No one from the crew could warn them," he said, confident. "Someone wanted me to go there, made sure I was the one to get the information and would be ready whenever I came." There was fire in his eyes as he spoke, and Shepard knew he wouldn't stop until he found the one responsible and made him pay.
"I guess being a Spectre doesn't help you get more friends," she concluded, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"The Spectre position is the only reason I have any friends," Nihlus said quietly, his anger subsiding. There probably weren't many occasions when he could show this more serious side of him. "Garrus, my mentor Saren… sure, there aren't many professions more likely to get you enemies, but without it I would have died alone long ago during the war as cannon fodder."
She wanted to ask more, to see what was really inside that annoying, light-minded turian, but a different one came to them and spoke to Nihlus, ignoring her presence.
"Vakarian will live and have full functionality. He has some cybernetics and scars, but that's not too high price to pay for staying alive," the doctor explained. "He's still unconscious, should wake up in hour. I'd like to keep him here for two days to make sure the implants work correctly."
They both sighed heavily, feeling like a ton of weight was taken from their shoulders. Nihlus started to look like the turian she knew, the usual shine returning to his eyes. Shepard felt the tension leaving her body and the two sleepless nights returning in a wave of fatigue.
"I knew he'd make it," he said.
"I'd be seriously offended if he died by the hand of someone that's not me," Shepard said, smiling.
"Go to him, he'll be glad to see your face when he wakes up," Nihlus said, pointing to the patient rooms.
"What about you?"
"I'll have plenty of time later," was his answer, leading her.
Shepard entered his room as quietly as she could. He was sleeping on his left side, but his right… she could feel her heart clench. There was a huge bandage over it, parts of face, that weren't covered were scarred. It must have been so close, probably a miracle that the rocket hadn't taken off his head. She sat down next to his bed looking at his every feature like she saw it for the first time.
She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there – it could have been minutes or hours, the last few days it felt like the time passed differently – until he finally opened his eyes. Slowly and unfocused at first, but then he noticed Shepard. She took his hand and spoke before he could ask anything.
"Easy, you're safe on the Citadel," she said, leaning closer. "Nihlus brought you here after you got injured. Doctors say you'll be alright."
"Is he wounded? What about the teams?" he asked drowsy, not fully awake yet.
"Nihlus is fine, I don't know about the others. I did bump into Avita though. She looked… lively," she answered, trying to keep her thoughts about their meeting away from her face.
"Hope you didn't shoot anything, she can exasperate easily," he said, making Shepard frown. He was starting to know her too well.
"I wouldn't start a fight in a hospital," she lied.
"Right," Garrus said sarcastically, then after a moment asked: "How bad is it?"
"Could be worse. Scars suit you," she answered, meaning it.
"Good," he sighed. "Wouldn't want my wife to not like me."
"You don't ever have to worry about that," she said with a warm smile. "Do you need anything? Water? Painkillers?"
"There is one thing," Garrus said after thinking a bit, "you could come here." He pointed with a finger at the bed, the free space next to him. She obeyed, lying down; space was small and their bodies had to be close together for her not to fall out.
She pressed her forehead against his good shoulder and put an arm around his chest. "Don't ever do that again."