Chapter 10

Rose ran her fingers through her hair, before slipping the hair tie off of her wrist and placing it in a ponytail. It seemed like this day would never come, but she was finally getting discharged out of the hospital. Licking her lips, she began to crack her knuckles nervously. It was a month now since she had fired the Crucible, and she had spent all of it in the hospital - that seemed to be cut off from everything else, a perfect snow globe within the Citadel. She had no idea what to expect when she left. Kaidan had filled her in on what he could, but he spent just as much time in the hospital as she did.

Rose's ears perked up, as the doors to the room slide open. Doctor Carter walked through, her short blonde hair tucked behind her ears, a datapad in her hands. She looked at Rose, who's eyes turned eager. "So, last day huh?"

Rose let out a soft laugh. "It sure is. Thank god."

"Well, a few things first. I figured you wouldn't want to go through reception, so here sign this." Doctor Carter let her take the datapad out of her hands. She continued to speak, as Rose signed. "Analgesic has been delivered to the apartment address that Major Alenko provided. I need you to take them daily, at least for the next two weeks."

Rose nodded, placing the datapad next to her on the bed.

"Okay well then, any complications you know where to go. Major Alenko is waiting near the private elevators to avoid the journalists." She turned on her heel and began to fiddle with one of the large, white machines, her body language awkward.

"Thank you Doctor Carter. You don't know how grateful I - we are." Rose thought of Kaidan, as she reached for the doctor's hand. "I'll keep in touch."

Rose then walked into the familiar hallway, looking left and right scanning for anyone. When the coast seemed clear, she began to walk carefully down the hallway, limping slightly. Even with all of the rehabilitation over the past week, her left leg was still stiff, and unfamiliar. As she neared the doors near the private elevators, Rose felt her heart beat faster. The doors slide open past her, and revealed Kaidan, leaning up against a white wall. He had a small messenger bag slung across his body.

Noticing Rose, he pushed himself off of the wall, and they met in the middle of the room. Almost instantaneously, their fingers interlaced. They didn't say a word until they walked into the elevator, and the metal doors sealed behind them. As the elevator shifted downwards, Kaidan moved his face to hers, planting the softest of kisses on her lips.

He smiled tenderly, and then dug his hand into the messenger bag near his hip. He pulled out a black hoodie, and held the sleeves open as Rose slide her arms through. She pursed her lips as she fully stretched her left elbow, but didn't let Kaidan see. Rose didn't have to look down at the emblem on her chest, to know which sweater it was. Just from the mere softness of the fleece inside, and the familiar smell she knew.

"Ready to go home?" He said, finishing zipping the bag back up.

"Hell yeah." Rose paused for a moment, thinking. "Is it the same..."

Kaidan seemed to have read her mind. "No, its not your apartment from before. It was destroyed, repairs to that part of the Citadel haven't been completed yet."

She looked down at the ground, slightly disappointed. She had liked that apartment, or more so the memories she had in it.

"You'll like this one though, 'cause its ours." Kaidan's eye had a small twinkle as the words left his mouth.

"Presidium Commons." A voice spoke through the elevator speaker. Kaidan pulled the hood of his sweater over his head, and Rose matched his action. They both stole a glance at each other, before they interlocked fingers and stepped out of the elevator.

Rose's knuckles tightened after her first steps. The commons was filled with people, and compared to the quiet of her hospital the noise hit her like a slap to the face. Kaidan pulled her away from the crowd of people, and spoke in a low voice. "Pretty crazy huh? Never seen more people in one place at once."

She looked back over her shoulder at a group of humans, filing through galactic maps. One of them caught her eye, and they did a double take. "Hey, was that - ?" Rose whipped her head back around, and started walking faster. Even before all of this, she had never enjoyed the attention of being Commander Shepard - it was unsettling. Now she could not even imagine what it would be like, but as of right now she did not want to stick around to find out.

Kaidan noticed her increased pace, and nonchalantly looked around them. It seemed that some of the civilians had noticed, but luckily none of the cameras had. As they reached a staircase, Kaidan wrapped his hand around her waist taking some of the weight off of her leg. Rose leaned in to him, feeling her leg lock as she forced it to slightly bend up the stairs. She kept her eyes on her feet, concentration etched on her face. It wasn't until she felt Kaidan's hand leave her waist did she look up.

He fumbled around in his pockets, before pulling out a square white card. He placed it between his white teeth, before grabbing ahold of Rose again. By the second staircase Rose was sweating. She had down all of the necessary rehabilitation, but it couldn't have prepared her for these staircases. "Here we go." Kaidan said through gritted teeth. Shaking, she reached the top and leaned up against the cold wall.

"You ok?" Kaidan said, as he pulled the card out of his mouth. Rose nodded unconvincingly. He flashed the card in front of the door, which activated a voice.

"One moment." An artificial female voice said. They waited patiently before it spoke again. "Spectre status recognized." A green light flashed, and then the door slide open.

"That took a while." Rose breathed.

"Yeah, the scientists whipped up some fast prototypes after the Crucible you know - " He trailed off.

"Right, forgot." A lump formed in her throat, but she shook the thought out of her head.

As they stepped inside, lights automatically flickered on. "Welcome home." Kaidan smiled. He dumped the messenger bag on the floor, next to a glass table pushed up against a wall. He kicked his shoes off, and knelt down to untie Rose's. She looked down embarrassed, but thanked him anyway. Kaidan brushed his hands on his knees as he pushed himself off of the ground, and walked out of the small entryway. Curious, Rose followed him in.