Chapter 19

"Wow" Garrus said looking into the medical bay from the galley. He saw Sean laying down on one of the medical tables in a sedated sleep, and Tali sat beside him resting her head on his shoulder. "I still can't believe Sean made it out of there alive. Spirits, that kid must be the luckiest person alive!"

"Sean sure does flirt with death a bit too much." Shepard said standing alongside Garrus, her hands clasped behind her back, "Perhaps I should keep him away from the frontlines for a while."

Garrus let out a loud laugh, "Keep Sean away? Ha! It's like, oh how do you humans say? 'Telling a dog to stay away from its bone.' Right?"

"More or less." Shepard said, trying to keep a straight face. This was something she always looked forward to. She enjoyed listening to the ramblings and the conversations with the crewmembers after every mission. It reminded her of a simpler time where people were not overwhelmed with the horrors of the war.

"I'd use one of the turian sayings, but unfortunately that'll go far over your head. Though human sayings are very simplistic… easy to grasp." Garrus said, his mandibles twitching as he rambled.

Shepard couldn't help but smile at Garrus' attempts to relate to her culture. "Go ahead and get some rest Garrus. You deserve a bit of time off after what happened today." She said patting him lightly on the back.

"I'm just warming up. I usually liberate three to four planets a day." Garrus joked. He turned to his room at the forward batteries and gave a quick wave, "See you around Commander, and it's good to have Sean back."

Shepard smiled and nodded politely before approaching the window of the medbay and looked in. She had seen Sean on that bed too much. She hoped that this would be the last, but knew it could never be. As long as Tali and Sean were together, no mission would be too dangerous for him. Sean would do anything to keep her safe and that worried Shepard. He never knew when he should stop, and when was too far, but still it was good to have him back in one piece. Shepard's eyes glanced over Sean's sleeping form and saw that his body seemed to be making a relatively fast recovery. The seared skin on his left arm was quickly being treated by the skin grafts. His outsides were making a quick recovery, but how were his insides, or even his mental state?

As if sensing her call, Dr. Chakwas exited the medbay and headed in the Commander's direction. She stopped by Shepard's side and turned to face the direction Shepard was already facing. "Evening Doctor." Shepard said calmly.

"Here to see how Sean's doing, or perhaps Tali?" Chakwas asked, a hint of a smile appearing on her face.

"How's he doing?" Shepard asked, choosing to ignore the comment.

"Well, it's next to a miracle that he survived." Chakwas began readying her omnipad. Lists and medical jargon began to flood the screen and Chakwas continued, "The medigel that he had injected himself momentarily slowed his loss of blood, but what baffles me is that medigel doesn't last three days. It should have worn off within a few hours and he should have bled out. Yet somehow his heart slowed down enough to keep him alive, just barely. But this just begins to scrape the surface of what happened."

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked, intrigued.

"Well when I first got Sean on the operating table his skin showed a lot of pressure from all his internal bleeding, but when I relieved the pressure I couldn't find the source of the injury."

"Could that have been brought on by the medigel?"

"No. Medgel temporarily relieves pain and clots the wounded areas. When it wears off the person who took the medigel returns to their previous state. Sean's body seemed to heal itself at a super accelerated rate that I have never seen in anyone, except for krogan, before. It's almost as if his brain knew more about medicine and healing then I do."

"Are you implying that Cerberus-"

Chakwas raised her hand to stop Shepard midsentence, "I'm not implying anything. It is just something I should bring up, as his doctor."

Shepard took a deep breath as she began to examine Sean's situation. Could Sean still be working for Cerberus? No. She lightly shook her head trying to remove the mere thought of that, yet it still clung on. The thought of someone she put so much trust in betraying her hurt her. She couldn't imagine anyone on her ship doing anything like that. Liara, Ashley, or even Garrus looking for a chance to stab her in the back. Those very thoughts chilled her to her core.

"I need to get some rest, but thank you for the information Doctor." Shepard said trying her best to conceal her inner worries.

"I understand. Anyway I should go back and check on Sean, his sedatives should be wearing off soon." Chakwas responded with a quick nod.

Sean's senses returned to him like a hammer hitting a nail. As his eyes fluttered open he couldn't help but chuckle at an all too familiar sight. Here he was, again, laying on one of the tables on the medbay. The same fluorescent lights shining down upon him as the disinfected walls kept his healing process at the safest level attainable. He took a deep breath and savored it. There was no piercing pain inside of him and his head was not swimming in trauma, which came to him as a good sign. As he overlooked the aftermath of his body, he quietly laughed. He had to hand it to Chakwas, she was an amazing doctor and he probably owed more than his life to her.

Sean paused momentarily as he reviewed what happened after the blast. Everything seemed so clear to him as he replayed it in his mind. The pain, the horror that went through his mind, and the emptiness, but one thing lingered in his mind who, or perhaps what, he had talked to in his final moments. Was it his mind messing with him or was it really something else talking to him and what did it mean he was important? The mere idea of a god like figure descending to talk to the man at death's door about how their life could affect the future reeked of the movies and sounded about as cliché as it could get, and yet he couldn't deny that it happened. His analysis slowly faded away as he looked to his right. Tali's head gently rested against his shoulder that quickly brought a bigger smile to Sean's face. He knew what he went through, but he could only begin to comprehend what Tali went through mentally. Right now all he needed to focus on was the present, as soon as this war is over then he can delve into his past. Sean leaned his head back and watched as his eyes slowly lost focus. He could only thank Chakwas and whoever was watching over him at the time of the blast for saving not only him, but Tali as well.

A hissing caused Sean's eyes to snap to the door. He let out a quiet sigh as he saw the doctor reenter the med bay. "Hey Doc, how'd it go?" He asked, his voice weak and raspy. Chakwas quickly rushed over to his side, grabbing a needle and prepping it. "Not supposed to be awake quite yet?" Sean asked a small smile creeping across his face.

"For all you've been through it's a miracle you're awake. I did my best to patch you up, but for now I need you to relax and let your body do the rest." Chakwas spoke softly injecting the sedative into Sean's IV. "No do me a favor, don't try and run out of here the moment you wake up again, for my sake and Tali's."

"I understand, don't worry I think I have had my fill of action for a while." Sean looked over as Tali began to stir. Still in a deep sleep she shifted her head slightly into the crook of Sean's arm, and Sean did his best not to laugh. Somehow in her sleep Tali still made Sean feel better. He lifted his right arm and did his best to wrap it around her neck, quickly leaning in and giving Tali a kiss on the top of her head. With a long sigh of happiness, Sean leaned back and closed his eyes, his mind focusing on the head generated by Tali slowly warming his body, and fell into a deep, welcomed sleep.