Jane returned to Nalah's place that afternoon, and with only a couple hours of sleep under her belt, plopped onto the sofa bed and set an alarm for 8 PM. That way she'd be able to watch over Garrus during the night shift.

As it turned out, she needn't have bothered. Nalah clambered home around seven, and started cooking noisily, the bang of pots and pans serving as a wake up call.

Jane rubbed her eyes. "You don't have to fuss."

"Nonsense. I miss having people to cook for." Another clank. The tapapapa of a knife against a cutting board. "How's Garrus doing?"

"Alright. I'm heading back there tonight."

"Oh! That reminds me." She reached into the paper bag and pulled out a lump wrapped in white butcher paper. "This is for him, if he's eating solids. If not, you can make a broth from the bones. Get some better nutrition in him than whatever the hospital has."

Jane took the parcel and unwrapped it, recognizing the gadabae meat laying next to several, thick bones. She picked up a bone and marveled. It was incredibly heavy, the density straining her grip. Lines of gray, stained with blue blood, streaked up the otherwise white bone, making her scratch at it in wonder.

"Those are trace metals." Nalah answered, without a word of inquiry. "It's part of the reason dextro life is so strong, and also why it's a big deal when they break a bone. Healing that is… difficult. Thankfully, the same hardness that creates healing issues also means it's very difficult for the bone to break in the first place."

That gave the nickname The Steel Predator a whole new meaning. "I haven't seen it yet… but they had to reattach his mandible. I assume that's a bone, right?"

"Yes, but a small one. It'll be much easier to heal than, say, a leg."

"Could it be healed after today? I left when they took him for a bone-treatment thing. Still don't get why they couldn't do it in the room."

"The dextro bone regenerators are a little intense. It has to be done in a sterile environment."

Jane groaned. "I never should've left."

"You needed rest. And you'll be back tonight when it counts." Nalah harrumphed. "I never trust the night shift."

The water had begun to boil, Jane plopped the bone in the pot. The thing was so huge only half of it fit.

"You'll need to remove the bone in twenty minutes and boil the broth separately for five."

"I once watched him eat raw steak whose origins were… very unknown."

"Things are different when someone is fresh out of surgery." Nalah was lining a glass dish with potato slices, ham, diced onions, and cheese.

Jane hit the timer above the oven. "Ooh casserole I missed that."

"You don't have an omni-tool?"

"Eh. It's broken. Won't even turn on anymore."

"Hm. I'll pick one up for you on my way home from work tomorrow."

"No it's alright. I want to get one of those combat ones, you know with the blade."

Nalah froze, both hands hovering over the casserole with fistfuls of shredded cheese.

"Hey," Jane stepped closer, brushed a hand across her shoulder. "I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine."

Nalah slapped the cheese onto the casserole, wrapped the dish in foil, and roughly shoved it in the oven. "Why are you so insistent on fighting? Why not lean into your music? You have so much talent."

"Everyone I know is going on this mission! Including my brother, who has a really bad track record for staying alive."

"Does he know about this? Because he was pretty adamant about you staying here."

"And he's taking Garrus and Tali. I won't be left behind."

"So he doesn't know." Nalah was way too triumphant about that.

Jane didn't answer, and while waiting for the casserole to cook, Nalah went to work browsing the extranet for omni-tool models. Great.

Dinner was delicious though, and their disagreement was shelved in favor of melt-in-your mouth potatoes and cheese.

After, Jane gathered an extra blanket, a carton of bone-broth, and set off for Huerta. Garrus was understandably out of it, apparently they doped him up for the bone regenerator too, and he spent most of the night trading off between sleeping and sipping the broth.

That's how the next five days passed. Jane would spend her nights watching over him, ensuring the night shift didn't forget he existed, while her days were spent catching up on sleep, organizing Nalah's boxes, cooking bone broth, and whatever else she could find to pass the time.

The thing was, she couldn't get what Jiarnis said out of her head - how sex with Garrus was possible. Her time in the brothel revealed that asari were mostly the same down there, but they had that mental-brain-sex thing, so she always assumed the turian-asari couples she'd seen were engaging in that, not the physical stuff.

Of course, sex didn't mean anything to her, it was just a tool, a means to an end. She wasn't searching for anything. But Garrus was so damn depressed, she wondered if that would pull him out of it.

There was also a part of her that lived in shadow, a part she refused to drag into the light, acknowledge. A part that wanted to be closer to him, to feel the way she did laying next to him the other night. Safe. Warm. Whole.

It was another one of her hidden things. Everyone knew she was always cold, but they didn't know how far that went, and that it had nothing to do with temperature. There was this sensation of ice that lived in her chest, settled under her skin, made her shiver. Even in the unquenchable heat of Tuchanka, it hadn't abated. How can you be cold when you're burning? But somehow, her body found a way.

One day she'd learn that it was pain, beaten down and compressed so that she could survive, but she didn't have words for it yet. She could only describe how it felt, cold.

Yet when she laid next to him, it melted, she melted, making her feel alive, no longer dead inside. It was something that, until that moment, she didn't know was possible. In fact, she thought the cold was normal, that everyone felt that way. It wasn't until it was gone that it occurred to her this sensation may not be normal.

That was the part of herself she was denying – the desperation to feel that again. To be near him. To be warm.

It happened the day Garrus was moved from the CCU, critical care unit, to the main hospital.

Jane was at Nalah's, sound asleep on the couch, when her new omni-tool began buzzing. Her first thought was how much she hated the thing. For one, she was exhausted and had only been asleep for an hour. Two, the damn thing couldn't translate speech-to-text Rishini without more errors than manual typing, and now Jim thought she was an idiot. Okay, she was an idiot, but that didn't mean she wanted people to know.

The buzzing stopped. She turned over, fully intending to go back to sleep, only for the blasted thing to start up again.

Her mind was imagining the wonderful, and glorious, Wusagi and all the ways she could smash it to bitsies, when her eye caught the caller I.D.

Solana Vakarian.

She answered immediately. "Hello?"

"Is this Miss Jane Doe?"

"Miss," she snorted, "uh sorry, yeah this is her."

"I… I can't understand you."

She hit the button to send a file-transfer request. A moment later, it was accepted. Unlike most, however, Solana didn't remark on the unusualness, not a word was dedicated to asking about the language or it's origins.

"Sorry to bother you," her voice was several octaves higher than her brother's, but rumbled all the same. "But I can't get ahold of Garrus. He gave me his team's numbers in case of emergency. No one is answering. You're the seventh person I've called. What is going on?"

So, Solana knew nothing about Garrus's life. Not the attack, the loss of his team, his injuries. He walked alone. Her blood froze, her mind panicked, stomach roiling in similarity, caught between loyalty to his secrets and straining his familial relationships further.

Solana continued, her rumbling drawl traveling through the air. "I need to speak with him. I wouldn't be hitting up his entire contact list if it wasn't urgent."

"I'm sorry…" she struggled with indecision, "Garrus is… unavailable at the moment."

"Unavailable… you tell that thick plated, air brained, mutum that it's a family emergency!"

Silence.

"Jane? It is Jane right?"

"Yes."

"It's our mom Jane, he'll want to know, to come home. I've tried his com more times than I care to count, it's always the same, straight to voicemail. I need to speak with him, NOW!"

"He can't."

"What do you mean he can't?"

"There's been… an accident."

"An accident… how bad? What happened?"

"He was injured when his omega job… ended. He's going to be alright, but he's fresh outta surgery."

Several minutes of silence stretched on, two strangers fumbling in the darkness of unfamiliarity.

When Solana spoke again, her voice was flat, but Jane could hear the sharpness in her subvocals. "Our mom took a bad turn… I don't know how long she has."

"Shit. I'm sorry. But the ward he's in doesn't allow electronics. He's supposed to be discharged in a few days though."

"No! You don't understand. She's deteriorating. Fast. This may be his last chance to speak with her."

Her voice caught for a second, fearful. "Alright, what do you need?"

45 Minutes Later
Huerta Main Hospital
Status: Crowded

How ill at ease she was. Never in her life had she walked up to a stranger, and negotiated using words and only words to get what she needed. It had always been a dance of seduction or a show of force. The closest thing she had to draw on was that time she bribed city urchins with food she didn't have.

Clan life had helped. Some. But things were simple there, her role in the world, and what was expected of her, a clearly defined path. Here? Here she was alone and adrift without a compass or a star to guide.

Jane breathed. In one, two, three. Out one, two, three. She spent a good ten minutes in Huerta's foyer, breathing. Watching a variety of species come and go, hoping to find one that would both be sharp enough to pick up on the language barrier, and trusting enough to accept a file transfer from a stranger.

It. Took. Hours.

People shoved her. Humans made weird faces at her that she didn't understand. A raging, dark part of her thought about how foolish these ankibo were, they hadn't the slightest idea what she was capable of. But violence would defeat her goal. And if the other night was any indication, yelling would too. So she grit her teeth, and started approaching every person around, unsure how to distinguish staff from visitor, realizing that it didn't matter. All she needed was someone to translate the sentence, I speak Rishini please install a data packet, to the right person. (Who that was, she had no idea.)

Unbeknownst to herself, she had sunk deep into her mind and began walking up to people with the wide, pathetic eyes of a child, catching strangers' glances, silently begging, someone please help me I don't know what I'm doing, all while terrified Garrus's mom would expire while she couldn't complete an extraordinarily banal task.

She was sitting in the waiting area, exhausted from her despair, trying to pick out who she should approach next, or rather who she hadn't already approached, when a salarian boy walked up to her, speaking in dialect.

"Are you lost?"

"You can understand me?"

"Oh yes. I'm studying to be a linguist."

Apparently he was from University and nine years old. The word held no meaning to her, in fact she thought it was a town, that he was Bostop Mozomo from the town University, but he helped her find a staff member, and explained her language issues. People were far more willing to install the data packet then.

When the asari they were speaking with said, 'no we can't bring coms into the ward,' Jane activated her omni-tool, brought up the spectre-affiliate verification Jimmy had given her, and said in the most important-Jimmy-voice she could muster, that this was spectre business.

Things started moving then. She was ushered into a private room, Bostop too as no one realized that they weren't together, and sat at a large conference table. Pastries of all assortments, and if she could guess, species-palatable foods lined the table. It was ridiculous. Was this a hospital or a food store?

Bostop immediately helped himself to a bowl of green cake things in the center, chowing down on their crinkly forms. His salarian cheeks puffing out between mouthfuls.

He swallowed, somehow didn't choke, and said, "seaweed corupas, you should try it."

"Don't eat things from people you don't know."

"I know Huerta quite well. And they're good. Seriously, try one."

"Aren't you a kid? Is someone gonna come bash my brains in because you're missing?"

"I'm in university."

"Thank you for the help, now please go home before someone from university bashes my head in."

He looked at her, smiling as his bottom lids blinked upwards. "Do you know what a university is?"

"A town? Or are they called wards here?"

Another seaweed-thing found its way into his mouth, and he chewed loudly, continuing his staring with a jovial amusement she associated with Salarians.

Before she could respond, the conference room door banged open and in walked a human and another salarian. At first she thought, oh boy here it comes, but they barely acknowledged Bostop's presence and immediately addressed her.

Somehow, she figured that the death of an old woman wouldn't be cause for concern, so she steered away from why Garrus needed a com, and focused on the whole 'spectre business,' claim. More than once she parroted Jimmy, not quite understanding what many of the words meant, their meaning was hollow, but she had listened to how he said it and saw the results. Things worked. People gave him whatever he needed.

And that was exactly what happened. They brought in some techs to ensure the call wouldn't interfere with machinery and, within the hour, Garrus was set up in a new room, complete with conference call equipment.

Jane watched from the hall as they wheeled him into the room, rehearsed the words, Solana called. Your mom is… dying, hoping they wouldn't stick in her throat when the time came.

On hearing the news, Garrus seemed more resigned than upset. And, after ensuring he had everything he needed, she went to wait in the hall, unsure of her place in this, wanting to give the Vakarians privacy. As the door hissed shut behind her, two rumbling drawls chased after. His father and sister she assumed.

Her knee-jerk reaction took hold first, and she ran down the hall, nearly colliding with the main door in her desperate need to flee. But then… she couldn't take another step. Her body froze, a violent shake coursed through her, as if summoning the trembling that came after. Her shirt clung around the arms, heavy with sweat. Why did she always sweat when she was cold? Now she was wet and cold, and the colder she became, the more she sweat.

I can't leave… but if I stay… I'll see him … overcome? Broken? It'll be horrible. Would he ever be Garrus again? Or would my mind gray him out the way it does everyone else? Weak. Gonna die anyway. Don't get attached. Tears welled in her eyes. The mere thought …

And yet she couldn't leave him. She couldn't go back either. She stood, frozen to the ground, while people milled around, growing terse. Angry. What the hell's wrong with you get out the way! Until her legs found the strength to carry her back to the hall.

Bostop was there, sitting on a bench, a note pad on his knee, a data-pad in one hand, and a pen in the other. He put it all away the moment he saw her. "Your boyfriend alright?"

"My…? Why does everyone think that?" She sat beside him on the bench, grateful for the distraction.

"My bad. It's just how you act."

"Why are you still here?"

His jovial, watery eyes observed her for a moment. "You have to be the most fascinating person I've ever encountered."

"I'm not interesting. Trust me."

"The burden of being a linguist specializing in rare, alien dialects perhaps. But the way you walk, the way you talk… I can tell you're a different breed, even among your own kind, aren't you?"

"You're after something."

"Knowledge."

"Of… me?"

"Not necessarily. I just like knowing things other people don't."

"You're a weird kid."

"I'm salarian. We reach adulthood at eight years, four months, and twelve days."

"Huh. Well, at least no one is gonna bash my brains in."

Jane leaned back in her seat, rested her head against the wall. One eye was cracked to watch the comings and goings of the hospital's various inhabitants.

A loud flanging sound caught her attention, Solana's elevated voice carrying through to the corridor. "You're too ashamed to show your face, even now!?"

There was a deeper rumble that wasn't decipherable, but she could tell it was Garrus.

"Families." Bostop interrupted. "Always complicated."

Too preoccupied with staring at the door, Bostop's voice became nothing but sound, bumbling in the background. Her mind stirred only when Garrus shot her a text message:

Hey, if you're up for it, I wouldn't mind company.

She stood, absentmindedly thanked Bostop, and entered the room.

There were two, squishy chairs in the corner, along with Garrus's hospital bed, equipment, a couple stools. The room was fancy, but did little to abate the dismal atmosphere.

She pulled a stool up to the bedside. It rolled with ease.

Garrus's head snapped towards her. A flex of the mandibles. He was… surprised? "Sol, my friend's here. And you're on speaker."

"Good! Let the whole galaxy know you're refusing to come home for the funeral."

"I can't. You know I would if I could."

"Right, you're off playing spectre again."

"It's more important than you can imagine."

"This is important! Mom just died!"

Jane blinked. That was… fast. It had only been a few minutes. Yet, when she checked her omni-tool, the time read several hours later.

"Mom died years ago," Garrus answered, voice level. "I-I did everything I could."

Solana's subvocals grated in a turian scoff. "Whatever. I need to go."

"I didn't mean it like that… Sol.. I'm…" She hung up. "Sorry."

For awhile, the only sound in the room was the monitor beeping.

Garrus turned to her. "Sorry you had to hear that. I… thought you went home. That it'd take you awhile to get here."

"Oh," she fidgeted, "I didn't mean to intrude."

"You're not. Thanks for coming."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Maybe it's … terrible to say… but I'm more relieved than anything. My mom suffered for years. It's over now."

And yet, somehow, I don't believe you're perfectly fine.

They stayed up all night playing a human card game, rummy, chatting about his mom. How she used to take him and Solana for sweet marrow cakes at the end of the school week. Her penchant for hiking, the adventures they had exploring the Cipitrine outskirts.

The following morning…

Jane's eyes were heavy, her movements slow. She had been awake for 36 hours. Too afraid to leave Garrus alone, she slumped in a chair, like an incongruous blob.

A turian nurse came in earlier and administered a sedative for Garrus. She had to admit to a bit of jealousy. There was no danger, but her mind was on constant alert. Too many people. Too many noises. All threats to her subconscious.

The door swung open. Enter Jiarnis. Which meant that another hour had passed while she was in a daze.

It happened accidentally. Normally Jane wore a jacket, but in her rush to reach Garrus in time, she had forgotten it.

Jane was pretty sure it was the burn-scar that caught Jiarnis's eye. But when she moved to brush some hair out of her face, the asari gasped, and she knew the woman had spotted her tattoo. Automatically, she moved to pull her sleeve down, then realized all she had on was the T-shirt.

Jiarnis suddenly became fascinated with Garrus's chart, practically stumbling over herself to get away. Her fingers rapped against the metal board as she flipped back and forth between the pages, staring. Her eyes were still. It was obvious she wasn't reading.

Then she spoke, eyes darting between her burn, her scars, the tattoo, and what Jane assumed was incredibly uncomfortable eye contact. "He's doing well." Purple eyes snapped to the scar she got knifing a guy… who happened to have a knife she didn't notice. "We gave him a sedative to prep for the bone regeneration." The burn from a flamethrower was being stared at now. "He should be ready for P.T…" she choked, glanced at the tattoo… "soon." Her voice trembled. She backed into the doorframe, not taking her eyes off Jane for a second, and borderline ran from the room.

It was the last time she ever saw her.

Jane wondered if it was the tattoo that spooked her, the scars, or if something clicked in her head. Maybe she saw what Jane knew, but could never articulate. After all, how does one know what's missing if one never had it?

Whatever.

Ten minutes later, a different nurse came to cart Garrus off to the bone regenerator.

He didn't return until the afternoon. Alert, but clearly in pain. When he saw her though, he seemed to forget all about it. "Spirits you look exhausted."

"I'm fine."

"No. I'm fine. That was my last stint in the regenerator. You need to go home."

"I don't want to go back there." She said emphatically, surprised at the force in her voice. "I mean… I'd rather stay. Unless you want me to go. Oh crap, you probably need time alone right? I'll go."

"It's not that. I mourned my mother years ago. Truly, I'm alright. But, weighing you in the other talon? You look like hell. You need rest… maybe some food?"

Jane rubbed her face in an effort to wake herself up a little. This was going nowhere. "If you insist." She said as she stood, and suddenly the whole room swam, her legs wobbled, blood pounded in her ears, while bright green dots blotted out her vision.

There was a flanging noise, and when she came back to herself, Garrus's talons we're wrapped around her shoulders, supporting her. "Jane? Jane? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah."

"What the hell just happened? You nearly fell face first onto the floor."

"Should you be out of bed?"

"I've been walking twice a day around the ward… dammit that's not the point! What happened?"

She shrugged, or tried to. His grip was iron and everything felt heavy, like she was being pulled to the ground.

"You're not getting out of it. What happened?"

"I…dunno. Everything went green and gone."

He pressed a talon to her neck. "I can see your heart beating. Where's my damn visor? That cannot be normal."

Despite her protests, I'm fine, I just need some rest. I smell like crap. Garrus dragged her over to the bed, made her sit within arm's reach. That quickly turned into her curling up beside him, too tired to register much of anything, or care if it was weird.

"Jane?" A rumble, from somewhere above.

She sat up, suddenly aware of herself. "Shit sorry."

"No. You're fine. I thought about it, and honestly, it's no different from Omega, when you used to fall asleep next to me on the couch." He paused, she could feel movement through the covers as he shifted. "It's just… why are you so worried about me? You've seen worse, a lot worse."

"It's not a competition. You lost your family. No one should be alone with that."

The mattress lifted and sank like a gentle wave. "Jane?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you. I… know what a big deal that must've been for you. Braving the crowds, managing to get a private com-room. I'm stunned honestly." A warm rumble. "You're always full of surprises. I stand by what I said, I'm grateful you went to Tuchanka. But I missed your company."

She was already asleep.