Chapter 13
Liara looked in askance at Dr. Chakwas.
"I am not military, therefore you can not order me to rest" she stated primly.
That might have worked on Pressley, but it won't work on me, young lady, the Doctor thought amusedly to herself.
Chakwas just nodded at this and reached for a syringe.
"Dr. T'soni, if you do not go and rest voluntarily, I will sedate you" the medical doctor replied.
"You have no grounds for that Doctor Chakwas" Liara replied crossly, folding her arms across her chest.
"On the contrary, Dr. T'soni, I will just say that you became hysterical" Chakwas began to fill the syringe, when the Chief walked into the room.
"Go rest, Liara" she said, upon seeing the two doctors facing off, "I'll stay with the Commander until you return."
Liara looked at the Chief, who just nodded to her and then at Chakwas, who grinned evilly at her.
"Remember, in the medical bay I am God," Chakwas said to the retreating form of Liara, "I always get my way down here"
Liara muttered something under her breath as she closed the door to her sleeping area.
Sure that the door was closed and that Liara was not going to come back out, Chakwas turned to the young Gunnery Chief.
"Thanks for coming down, Chief. I really didn't want to sedate her" Chakwas said, as she adjusted the blankets covering the Commander.
"No problem, Doc," the Chief replied, wincing slightly as she attempted to shrug her shoulders.
Chakwas looked closely at the young marine in front of her, she wouldn't admit aloud but she had been worried about this particular crewmember since Virmire, "did you get that shoulder seen to?" she asked, frowning at the young woman.
"Yes, ma'am" the Chief replied quickly attempting to hide the grimace which the action had caused her.
The Doctors frown deepened, "I don't believe you, chief" she answered, "remove your shirt for me please." she said.
"Seriously, Doc, it's fine" Ashley protested, "just a little stiff"
"That wasn't a request, Chief" the Doctor replied formally.
"God damn it" Ashley swore under her breath, as she began to carefully remove her shirt for the Doctor.
Chakwas silently laughed as she examined the wound in front of her.
"Who treated this?" she asked.
"Ah," was all the reply she got, "Can't say I exactly remember, things were kinda crazy, you know Doc"
"Who?" the Doctor demanded again, she had been at this job long enough to know when a soldier was avoiding the truth.
"Some nurse" the Chief replied slowly, hoping that this would be the end of the conversation.
"A nurse," Chakwas said, the disbelief clear in her voice, "no nurse on this ship or on the Citadel treated this wound, Chief"
The Chief hung her head in defeat, she looked down at her Commander, lying prone on the bed in front of her, and she just didn't have the energy to argue with the Doctor, not after everything that had happened.
"I had an argument with the nurse treating me" she explained, " she said some things about me," Williams shook her head, " I guess, I got a little hot headed with her, the Captain heard us and took over from her"
"The Captain," the Doctor demanded again, "as in Captain Anderson?"
"Yes ma'am" the Chief replied dejectedly, she was so tired; the adrenaline had suddenly worn off, leaving her thourghly exhausted and feeling a bit emotional.
Ashley rubbed her forehead with her good hand, in an attempt to stop the headache that was beginning to make itself felt.
Chakwas, who was looking closely at the young woman in front of her, noticed the change in the Chiefs body language and saw the young woman rub her forehead tiredly.
Ah, here we go, she thought to herself, the come down.
She took pity on the marine, understanding only too well the effect the past twenty four hours was having on her. Chakwas went to her office and came back with two tablets and a large glass of water.
"Here," she said gently, "take these" she handed the Chief the tablets, "they'll help with the headache" she explained.
Ashley took the tablets gratefully from the Doctor and swallowed them in one go.
"Thanks Doc." she said handing the glass back to the Doctor, "the past few hours have been crazy"
The Doctor smiled at the young woman, and turned her attention back to her wounded shoulder.
"So, Captain Anderson fancies himself as a bit of a medic, does he?" she began again.
Ashley attempted to turn her head to face the Doctor.
"Hold still, "the Doctor ordered sharply, "or you'll reopen the wound"
The Chief did as she was told. She was watching the Commander as she breathed slowly in and out, she looked at the machines surrounding her CO and felt the tears begin to form in her eyes.
"That man," the Doctor said exasperated, "he never learns"
Ashley didn't hear the Doctors comment; the tears flowed freely down her face. A deep shudder racked her body. Chakwas paused in her rant.
"Chief?" she asked gently, getting no response, as the other woman continued to cry uncontrollably.
"Ashley, hey," she said softly, coming around to kneel in front of the other woman, "it's okay, it's over" she soothed, wrapped her arms around the distraught marine and pulled her close to her.
They are all so young, she thought to herself, looking at the woman whom she was comforting and thinking about the one that she had ordered to bed and of course there was the Commander to consider.
So young and so broken, she concluded sadly.
Chakwas had been around long enough to know what long term effects events like these had on their participants, she just hoped that the Alliance made the necessary counselling available, not that the Commander would go voluntarily or anything, that didn't worry Chakwas too much though, I'll just order her to go, again.
The Chief laid her head on the comforting shoulder of the Doctor and continued to cry. She couldn't help it, it was as if all her fears of the past day or so suddenly broke free and overwhelmed her defences. She cried softly in the CMO's arms for several more minutes.
Eventually she looked up.
"Sorry ma'am" she said, embarrassment creeping into her voice.
"Nothing to apologise for Chief," the other woman said kindly, with a dismissive wave of her hand " as you said yourself, the past few hours have been crazy." she handed the other woman a tissue from a box beside the Commander's bed. She had placed them there earlier, for Liara.
Ashley accepted it gratefully and began to wipe her eyes. Chakwas walked into her office and came back with another glass of water for the Chief. Handing the glass to the woman, the Doctor then returned to tending the marine's shoulder. Ashley slowly drank the water, taking the opportunity to calm herself down.
"It will heal" she said to Williams, "although it's going to leave a scar"
Ashley just nodded, not really listening. She was watching her CO again.
"Is she going to be okay" she asked the Doctor in a quiet voice.
Just like children looking for reassurance, she thought to herself, hearing the fearful tone in the Chief's voice.
Once again the Doctor came into the Chief's field of vision. She walked towards the Commander and pulled down the sheet covering the Commander, exposing the other woman's shoulders and clavicle. A vicious looking scar ran from just under her right collar bone and across the woman's chest disappearing over her left shoulder.
"A knife wound" Ashley guessed, trying to wipe the tears from her face, "somebody tried to cut her throat, but she was too tall for them" she surmised, " nasty" she said shivering involuntarily, as she imagined the type of person who would do this to another living being. She also wondered at the type of people Shepard had been exposed to.
Explains a lot about the Commander, she thought to herself, if the only people she's used to dealing with, are the kind that do this, guess I wouldn't be so great with making friends either.
Ashley looked closely at her CO, noting all the small and not so small scars visible to her, and these are just the physical scars, she thought, nope I wouldn't be so great with people either.
"Exactly," the Doctor said, unaware of the Chief's thoughts, "it happened groundside, about a year ago, we almost lost her that time too" the Doctor said fondly, brushing a strand of hair off her Commanders face, "the point is Chief, we didn't"
She looked at the other woman.
" Look," the Doctor said, " I've served with the Commander on several missions, I've been part of Captain Anderson's crew for almost ten years now and she's been his XO for almost five years, for a year before that she served as his Lieutenant," she explained, " I've patched that woman up more times than I can count" she said looking at her young CO, "my point is, Chief" she said returning her attention back to the young marine, " is that Commander Shepard will die someday, but when that day comes it will be on her terms and when and how she decides"
"Do you really believe that Doctor?" the Chief asked.
"Yes" the older woman replied.
"Why?" Ashley asked, "Nobody knows the time and place of their death"
"I know Ashley, and that's not exactly what I meant either," the Doctor replied, "but your right, after all" she said, " that is what the good book teaches"
Williams just nodded at this, filing away in her head that Chakwas was also religious, strange thing for a Doctor to be, she thought absentmindly, no stranger than a marine being religious though.
"I believe it," she said, "because that is what the Commander said" she looked at the young woman on the bed, "and as you know better than most, what the Commander says, goes."
"You really believe in her that much?" Williams asked amazed.
"Yes" the Doctor replied, "don't you?" she asked, turning her gaze back to the Chief.
"Yeah," she said, "of course, but I'm different," she explained, "I'm part of her assault team, I have to trust her"
"To watch your back, to look out for you and to protect you, just as you watch her back and protect her" Chakwas finished.
"Yeah" Williams said again.
"But you don't have to believe in her, do you?" the Doctor asked, "There's no written rule that says you have to believe in your CO"
"No" Ashley said, getting confused.
She often found this with the Doctor. Chakwas had a tendency to talk around in circles.
Or maybe your just too dumb to follow what she's saying, Williams, she thought.
"But you do believe in her, don't you Ashley?" Chakwas asked, aware that she was beginning to lose the other woman.
"Of course" the other woman said emphatically, "I just never thought that anybody aside from her assault teams believed in her that much"
"Ashley, there's no one person on this ship that doesn't believe in the Commander as much or more as you do" Chakwas told the other woman, " the Commander is the glue that holds us together and the light that keeps the darkness from our lives"
The Doctor stood up and checked Williams shoulder, she then handed the Chief back her shirt. Ashley accepted the garment slowly considering what the other woman had said. Chakwas smiled when she saw the other woman's amazement.
"Today the rest of the galaxy got to see what you, I and every other being on this ship already knew" she said smiling at the other woman, "Shepard means what she says."
Ashley just nodded at this.
"Now put on your shirt, Chief" the Doctor ordered, "or you'll catch your death," she watched as the other woman threw her shirt back on, " I'm going to the mess for a bit, I'll bring you back something to eat," she said, " and when Dr. T'soni returns, your to go get some sleep"
"Right you are, Doc." Williams replied, smiling as she watched the woman leave the medical bay.
She looked down at the woman on the bed, "don't make a liar out of her Shepard" she said to the silent woman on the bed.