Garrus sat with his father in the mess hall, while Dr. Chakwas saw to Shepard. She wouldn't say anything to anyone, but she'd kicked Alenko out of the medbay first things first. That was why Alenko was drooping at the next table over, while Palmer eagerly prepared the evening meal, counting on the crew who had been on the ground to come back to eat it.
That she worked so hard, and so stubbornly didn't look at the medbay, told everyone what her concern was.
Across from Alenko sat Burns with a cup of coffee. Apparently, the Council was already in talks about how to proceed and move forward; already, the salarians were arguing about a new councilor. Naturally, the dalatrasssi wanted one of their number…but the military, the ones who had been most constructive during the war, had a different opinion.
It made Garrus appreciate what a rarity Valern—ineffectual leader though he was—had been in the grand scheme of things.
"So tell us what happened again," Alenko announced.
Antilles sighed. "I've told you twice already."
"Tell me again."
"He's her bondmate," Garrus murmured in an undertone that pleaded for patience and understanding.
Antilles sighed again, then re-told the story. How he'd stayed close to Shepard, but not as close as the krogan. How the krogan had charged her out of the way of the Reaper's laser, then grabbed her and rolled with her to get her out of the way.
That suggested most of her injuries were probably from the crushing weight of the krogan, and from lack of real medical attention. Unless the laser had gotten though her shields. Even a glancing blow would be horrific…
Garrus rubbed the scarred side of his face until Tali dropped into the seat beside him and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Turians were not usually publically affectionate, but quarians definitely were. She understood the differences between their cultures, so when she wanted something she generally made it quite clear. She didn't even have to say it out loud.
He even felt a little better for having her there, solid under his arm. He didn't miss the pained look Alenko gave them before returning his attention to his coffee, plainly wondering if he would ever be able to sit like that with Shepard.
"How bad is it?"
Several people jumped at the crisp demand from Miranda Lawson, apparently just arrived. Perhaps even called in by Dr. Chakwas? After all, Miranda had been a major player in Shepard's…resuscitation.
"We don't know," Alenko answered in a tone that made Garrus think he was trying not to be short and truculent with everybody out of sheer convenience.
"Hm." With that, Miranda disappeared into the medbay. When she didn't reappear it was clear she had not been asked to leave.
"She's in the very best hands," Liara pointed out to Alenko. "And if it was, you know, truly life-threatening, they'd have taken her directly to Huerta on the Presidium. Better equipment."
Garrus hoped that was true. Already, people were being shuttled to the Citadel for care, treatment, or simple shelter.
Tali suddenly straightened. "Yes, Horatio?" she listened for several long minutes, then in a hard voice, "Destroy it. She wouldn't want anything like that to be salvaged. It needs to be trashed completely, so tell Wrex its open season."
"Anything interesting?" Garrus asked, when it became apparent the conversation was over.
"No," Tali answered simply. "Horatio simply wanted to know if the krogan should be allowed to blow off steam on something…non-essential. I told him to let them."
Garrus was sure this wasn't the whole truth, but clearly the truth wasn't something Tali wanted to drop in this room.
"How long does it take to know if someone's going to live or not?" she asked, effectively bringing everyone's mind away from her conversation and back to the question they were all brooding over.
"As long as it takes," Traynor muttered morosely, though whether this was a complaint or simply an answer, Garrus wasn't sure.
The mess hall did have something of the aspect of a hospital's waiting room. Lots of anxiety, people trying to keep one another's spirits up. He hated hospital waiting rooms; they reminded him too much of his mother's last declining weeks, and of his own helplessness. Maybe he should have studied to be a doctor rather than being a Citadel cop.
No one asked EDI for information. The AI undoubtedly knew exactly what was wrong with Shepard and how bad it was, but EDI wouldn't cross Dr. Chakwas. Especially not when her mobile platform was in the shop. Apparently, something about the Crucible had severed the connections between EDI's consciousness as the mobile platform. EDI though it would be more than possible to fix the problem, but would need time.
That was probably one reason for her silence: she was trying to get her mobile platform back up and running without delay. She had politely refused several offers of assistance (one of which earned Donnelly an elbow to the ribs and a deprecating look from Daniels).
If anyone hoped that Miranda or Dr. Chakwas would come and put an end to their anxiety before dinner, that hope was false. Many of them struggled through the meal only because Palmer had put herself out to fix it.
If anyone hoped that Miranda or Dr. Chakwas would relieve their anxiety after dinner, that hope was also false. As was the hope that there might be word before end of shift.
At the end of the working day, Tali got up and stretched, then disappeared into the medbay, through which she had to travel to get to the cleanroom that served as her quarters.
Most of the ship's occupants were still in the mess hall, waiting for the outcome of this invasion of the medbay.
A few minutes after Tali entered, she came back out. "She'll live."
Garrus suspected her hasty retreat was to spare everyone hearing her break into relieved tears.