Chapter 51
Mina
Shepard and Avitus each received a message from Atilius.
He asked for their patience, to wait at the hospital for both Garrus and himself to return. They had found out what had happened and would meet them with news.
The message only served to make both Spectre and ex C-Sec more anxious to arrive.
They landed in Cipritine space-port just as Trebia rose in the distance. The peace and beauty of the slowly awakening world at vast odds to what they were about to find out.
They were met at the hospital by Sidonis and Kate.
The couple had stayed all night with Gaius, maintaining a vigil by his bedside.
Victus had taken Hadrian and Tiberius back to his home to rest and recover. He had promised to return as soon as he could.
Arriving at the hospital room, they were then greeted by a Sec officer.
Shepard was led away to a private area while Avitus was informed of what had happened by Kate.
Shepard felt numb. She sat in the small chair while across the table was a concerned turian officer.
"Ma'am, do you understand what I just said?"
"Yes. I would like to see my son now," she croaked out.
"Of course. We are still investigating and when he awakens, we will need to interview him."
"When he is ready."
The turian nodded slowly. "Of course. Only when he is ready."
Shepard walked as if in a dream.
This wasn't real. It couldn't be real. She was going to open that door and Gaius was going to bounce towards like he always did, completely perfect and healthy.
Avitus was sitting quietly in the hallway, staring into space. Kate was kneeling in front of him, holding his hands in hers and speaking soft words of comfort.
The turian was not really listening but understood the kindness behind her attentions. He held her hands, careful not to nick her skin with his talons.
As Shepard approached, Avitus's gaze went to her and he stood up.
The two gazed at each other for a moment.
"Are you okay?" whispered Avitus.
"Are you?"
The older turian shook his head before he hissed out, "No. I almost don't want to go in there."
Shepard reached out and held his hand.
"Well, tough. Because I am going to need you to come in with me. I can't do this on my own."
He squeezed her hand in his and the pair went inside.
Shepard's free hand flew to her mouth as she stared at the tiny bundled up lump of bandages, tubes and machines that was her boy.
Avitus's grip became tighter on her hand.
She slowly led the way to the bed.
Avitus calmly informed the nurse on call of who they were. The young turian had offered her sympathies to him softly before she went over to the other side of the bed.
Shepard was staring at Gaius, unrecognizable with everything around him.
"He is asleep."
Shepard looked up at the nurse who smiled faintly at her.
"Really?" she whispered.
"We anesthetized him for the surgery and the nanites have not let him wake up yet. He can hear you though."
Tears were pouring down Shepard's cheeks.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I sometimes sing to him. You can see what songs he likes and what he doesn't. He lets you know."
Shepard let out a strangled chuckle.
"Do you think he can hear me?"
The turian smiled at her warmly.
"I think he has waited for you."
Shepard watched confused as the nurse gently moved Gaius to the side of the bed, putting tubes and wires carefully out-of-the-way. The turian double checked the connections before turning to Shepard.
"There you go. Room for you too."
"I didn't think that was allowed or..."
The turian interupted. "The nanites are doing their job but there is one thing they can't be for him. He needs his mother and you are here. You need him too, I think."
Shepard couldn't stop the sobbing that pushed its way through. Avitus went to her side and held her carefully.
Eventually she pushed away and climbed up on to the bed. She laid down beside Gaius and placed her hand carefully on his uninjured belly.
"Little bird... I am here," she whispered.
Gaius was happily exploring with Herz.
They spun in dizzying circles through vast nebulae; danced on the glittering ice rings orbiting a gas giant; hitched a ride on a comet and even sat in awe as a star burst in to life in front of them.
As the shock waves of the birth sent them tumbling backwards, both giggling happily, Gaius heard his mother's voice.
Herz grabbed his hand and the pair were suddenly in the hospital room.
He looked over at his mother who was curled up on the bed next to something really bandaged up. It took him a while to register it was him.
"That's me!" he chirped.
Herz nodded. "It is. You will get better."
Gaius saw his grandfather standing not too far from the bed, staring down his mother and himself. He seemed so sad. Gaius forgot himself and ran up to the old turian.
"Don't be sad, Pop-pop! I am here!"
Avitus's head tilted slightly and his eyes widened as he looked directly at Gaius.
Herz stepped over. Avitus's gaze went to her. A flicker of a smile crossed his face.
"He is coming back now. Don't worry. He is alright. Come and see me as soon as you can. We must talk," Herz said to Avitus who nodded slowly. Gaius looked to Herz.
"I have to go back now, right?"
"You do."
"I kinda don't want to. I like exploring!"
Herz smiled. "I will return and we can go on another adventure when you fall asleep but, for now, your mother needs you to wake up."
Gaius nodded. Herz held out her hand. As Gaius took it, the world exploded with light.
Atilius was driving a lot calmer than he had that day on the Citadel.
Garrus was slouched in the passenger seat beside him, staring at the older turian who had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
They had dropped Perdita to the clinic and then spent nearly nine hours sorting out various forms.
Perdita had been quiet the entire time. Atilius had gently moved her when she needed to go.
The doctors promised to call when they had finished assessing her.
Garrus had talked with her briefly. All she wanted was his guarantee that Hadrian would be taken care of. He had assured her of that fact before he left.
Atilius had talked privately with her too and met with Garrus at the car.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Garrus's voice broke the uneasy silence that had fallen. Atilius sniffed a little before taking a drag of his smoke.
"What was there to tell? All I had was hearsay and rumor on my side."
"You could have said something to someone."
"I did. Got shot down. Funny thing about the law. It works in such a way so people don't get falsely accused."
Garrus stared intently at Atilius. "But you knew enough to merit kicking the crap out of August. I don't just think it was for personal reasons."
"Perdita is my niece."
Garrus's mouth dropped. "What?"
Atilius took another drag before blowing the smoke out the window.
"My half-niece I suppose. She is the child of my half-sister, Mina."
"I never knew... you never said! She never said!"
"We are not on particularly good terms. Her father has always had a hold over her... for obvious reasons."
Garrus frowned. "I don't quite understand..."
Atilius hummed. " My parents divorced when I was about ten or so. My mother remarried and the first child of that marriage was Mina. She and I got on like a house on fire. She was my best friend... besides your father and Victus of course. To my absolute horror, she got involved with Marius."
Atilius's face darkened. "I watched him beat the fire out of her and there was nothing I could do about it. I tried, spirits knows, I tried. Mina didn't want my help. My Mina was reduced to just a shell of her former glory. She had Perdita and her brother, August's namesake, in quick succession. My beautiful sister killed herself when Perdita as only about six. I tried to keep in touch as much as possible but it was hard with Marius being who he is."
"How did you find out about the abuse?"
"By accident. A couple of servants were talking about it, laughing at how August had just passed the duties of the marriage bed from his wife to his daughter. This was only a few months after her mother's funeral. No one would testify. I planted surveillance devices, I harassed Sec officers to check the family home and I even tried to get Perdi to talk to me. She wasn't going to. I should have expected that but it hurt. This was Mina's little girl and she wouldn't let me help her. It was like her mother all over again. At that stage, I had nearly convinced myself that it was just made up. I mean I had zero evidence except the ramblings of two turians off duty."
Garrus hummed, "What happened to change your mind?"
"August's brother actually. Ran into him at a bar and he told me something that sent shivers down my spine. He said that August really loved having his kids over, would take them for entire weekends to keep his own kids company. He said... he said that Appius had told him that August would... show him things. The poor drunk had convinced himself that his kid just had an active imagination."
"What did you do then?"
"I had no evidence again, no way to prove anything. So I did the only thing I knew how. I beat the shit out of him."
"How did that help?"
"I didn't just beat him, Garrus. I took him away from Palaven, away from civilized society and I made him suffer. I made him scream for days on end. There was an asari friend of mine who helped link the memory of all that pain into August's sexual aspects. If he ever went near a child, or anyone for that matter, in that way..."
"He got an intense flashback?"
"Yep."
Garrus snorted. "Why didn't he get you arrested?"
"Avitus would just get me off the hook and August would get another round of beatings to teach him a lesson."
"I'm surprised you didn't just kill him."
Atilius took a last drag of his cigarette before stubbing it out.
"I wanted to so badly. Your father convinced me not to. Even though I was so damn sure, I couldn't ever be certain. Instead I made it that August could never be that type of person."
"What about Perdita! You should have told me about that at least!"
"For what? She has had plenty of psych evaluations and passed them all. No sign of any improper feelings towards kids. Your father and I both watched her carefully with Hadrian. She did nothing overtly wrong. Were we supposed to not give her the benefit of the doubt?"
Garrus hummed uncertainly as they pulled up at the hospital.
