Do you know what's funny? It took me all of five minutes to decide to go to the Citadel to see Toombs, but it took me that whole car ride to talk myself into walking in an Alliance hospital. I guess...I was afraid. Afraid of a place of healing. How funny is that? You'd have something meaningful to say right now. I know you would. You'd probably have something to say about me leaving Omega too. But we both know without you...Omega will never be the same.
Lauren stared at the hospital from the walkway. She had her hands jammed in her pockets and a cigarette hanging loosely from her lips. Her father was close-by, talking to someone on his omni-tool in a quiet yet angry voice. Lauren betted that it was either Anderson with bad news, or it was Udina being Udina. The other three marines stood near Lauren, afraid to go near their commanding officer in case he lashed out at them. He was known to do that if he had been talking to the human ambassador to the council. But then again, no one could blame him for doing it. Udina was an asshole.
One of the marines cleared his throat. Lauren glanced at him with narrowed eyes. He wasn't brand new - Lauren could tell from the way he stood out from the other two - but he wasn't anywhere as experienced as Lauren was with the Alliance. If she had to place him, she'd guess that he wasn't an officer, but the highest ranking of the three.
"What?" she asked him irritably, removing the cigarette from her lips. She blew a small smoke cloud.
The marine looked at her. "Admiral Hackett said that you were a Commander once, ma'am."
She'd guessed right, he was fishing for a conversation. "Spit it out, Corporal." The man looked at her and blinked in surprise. "I wasn't a Commander because I looked pretty; I was one because I was good at my job."
"Why did you retire, ma'am?" he asked.
Lauren took another drag of her cigarette. "Who said I retired, Corporal?"
"She was honorably discharged," Admiral Hackett came up next to Lauren. He looked irritated.
"Something wrong, sir?" the Corporal asked him.
"I've been ordered back to Fifth Fleet and am to leave immediately." He looked at his daughter. "Will you be alright by yourself?"
Lauren nodded. "I have a gun, don't I?" She patted the sidearm affectionately through her jacket.
Her father stared at her for a second. "Right. Be careful."
"Oh but of course, Admiral." Lauren put out her cigarette. "It's only a hospital - whats the worse that can happen?"
Her father groaned a little at her sarcastic tone. "Promise me that you'll be careful Lauren."
Lauren turned to face her father, standing a foot from him. "I promise I'll be careful."
Her father shook his head and pulled her into an unexpected hug, wrapping his arms around his daughter. "Try not to kill any nurses, okay?"
"No promises."
Hospitals always smelled so clean that it gave Lauren a headache. Something about it just made her nerves behave as if she had been drinking. She'd walk inside and she'd have a hangover. She didn't get it. She walked up to the front desk and gently tapped the surface of it, getting the attention of a brunette nurse. She smiled sweetly and tilted her head, giving Lauren the most god awful feeling in her chest.
"Can I help you?" the nurse asked sweetly.
"I'm here to see Corp - a patient named Toombs." Lauren rested her weight against the desk. "I'm expected."
The nurse tapped on a nearby computer terminal and frowned at it. After a few more taps she smiled. "Oh yes, patient Nathaniel Toombs. He's in room 318 on the third floor. You must be Lauren. His doctor has a notice saying you'd be visiting. I just need your ID and you can go on up."
"My ID?" Lauren asked.
"It's standard procedure, I have to make sure that you get a pass. The ward has a higher security." The nurse explained.
Lauren sighed and reached into her pocket to pull out the old ID. She handed it over to the nurse, who stared at it. She looked up at Lauren and then back at the ID. Lauren raised an eyebrow at the woman.
"Is there a problem?" she asked.
The nurse looked at her. "No, there isn't one. It's just...your ID says you're Lauren Hackett."
"So?" Lauren asked irritably. "What about it? If its about my last name I can always go outside and find my father. He probably hasn't left yet for Fifth Fleet-"
"Oh no! No, everything's fine." The nurse handed over the ID and a red pass. "Third floor, room 318. Just swipe the pass at the reader in order to get past the security door."
"Thank you," Lauren snatched the ID and the pass. She stuffed them in her pocket and headed down the hallway. She didn't want to dwell on why the nurse had done a double-take at her ID. She just wanted to get up to Toombs room. She wanted to see him. To talk to someone that actually understood what she'd gone through better than even she did.
She just hoped that they were keeping him lucid enough to talk to her. She walked up to the security door and swiped the pass at the reader. It beeped and the door unlocked. She pushed it open and walked inside the ward, only to be greeted by the sight of an empty hallway. She glanced around and stuck her hand in her other pocket, touching her gun for reassurance. The nearest room read 312, so she would have to walk three more doors down.
She walked quietly and calmly down the hallway, her eyes darting to every closed door that she passed. She reached 318 and stared at the sign on it for a few seconds.
Room 3-1-8, Toombs, Nathaniel Resident Physician: Dr. R. Vereza Please knock before entering
She touched the door handle and knocked softly at the door. A faint rustling sound came from behind it. She pushed it open and gently stepped inside, her eyes instantly scanning the room before it settled on the person lying the bed in the middle of the room. The bed itself seemed too small for the man who was lying in it, the sheets pulled up to his chest. His arms lay folded in his lap and his head lolled to the right, as if he fell asleep staring out the small window to the outside of the Citadel. He reminded her of the young Toombs she used to know, the Aliance romantic. But this man...he looked so much older than Toombs was. Gray hairs dotted his dark hair and his face was weathered and he had wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. Lauren gently shut the door behind her and the man shifted in his bed. She froze and doubted if this was a good thing to do.
Wether she was ready or not to talk to him, the man opened his eyes. They were dull and dark, swimming as he attempted to focus on her through his sleepy haze. The doctors had him sedated, but not enough to impair the man's most instant memories. He scrunched up his eyes as he tried to place the familiar blonde woman. Her eyes were a bright blue and were swimming in sympathy, pity and...shock? He wasn't sure.
"If you're a nurse you can get the hell out. I already said I wanted to fucking sleep today," he guarded himself, wary of the nurses on every level.
The woman's mouth tugged up in a smirk. "They can be a bitch, can't they Corporal?"
Toombs sat bolt upright, his hands gripping the white sheets on his bed. The way she said Corporal, the way she stood and the way she looked. Could she be her? No, he thought to himself. She would never wear anything that revealing, she was Alliance...But then again his doctor told him that she was a mercenary now. No. It couldn't be.
"Commander...Hackett?" he asked quietly.
Lauren nodded slowly. "Yes, that's my name Corporal."
"I'm not a Corporal anymore." Toombs said quietly.
"And I'm not a Commander anymore," Lauren said briskly as she walked to the foot of his bed. "Doesn't stop familiar people from calling me it."
Toombs looked at her, disbelief crawling across his bones like ice. The stories about her were true. Everything he had heard in the course of his search, all the rumors about her leaving the Alliance. He had been told it by several people, including his doctors and Commander Shepard herself. But he had never believed it until now.
"Are you alright, Toombs? I can leave if you're tired."
"No," he said quickly. "Please...it's just...it's been tough."
Lauren's face went cold, her eyes going from bright to completely dark in an instant. "I heard what happened to you...Goddess, Nathaniel. Are you alright?"
Toombs's face turned cold as the ice still crawling across his bones. "No."
Lauren went silent. Her response caused the ice to melt and was instantly replaced by a sudden curiousity.
"Good, then that makes two of us."
Forecast: Next Chapter: A black storm full of regrets, depression, disallusionment, and Lauren regretting every decision she's made since she's left the Aliance.
Chapter After the Next: The Battle of the Citadel.
STAY TUNED FOLKS WE WILL RETURN AFTER THESE MESSAGES, BUT FIRST A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR: Thanks to my beta-reader goldenpath for previewing this chapter and giving me good feedback! You're the best!
