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Shepard scrolled through the blueprints on her screen. "We could enter here," she suggested, pointing.
"Too exposed. Back here would be better." Thane leaned over her shoulder, bringing her attention to another location farther up the screen.
"Oh, good point. So we enter there." She frowned. "How do we know where they're holding her?"
"They're batarians. They will be holding her in the most unpleasant place possible," he said dryly. He gave a little cough of a kind that had become alarmingly frequent recently.
Shepard resisted the urge to look at him with concern. He hated that, and she didn't want to upset him again.
"Are you certain you want to do this, Siha?" he asked her. "Surely Admiral Hackett can find someone else to take on this task."
"He didn't seem to feel that way. Besides, it's a simple in and out job. Get in, rescue this Kenson woman, and we're done."
Thane subsided. He had objected to the mission's parameters to begin with, specifically the restriction that she couldn't take a crew with her, and only Shepard's promise that he could stow away aboard the transport—child's play for someone with his experience—and accompany her had mollified his concerns even a little. She didn't disagree that it felt like a trap, but she had promised Hackett, and she would do her best for him.
Even mollified, Thane had continued to find objections, and she was surprised at his continued silence, until she turned around to find the crinkly skin of his neck, normally a vibrant red, had faded to a pale pink, and his eyes were closed, his hands gripping the back of the chair tightly. "Thane!"
"I am … fine … Siha," he said, but he clearly wasn't, the words coming with difficulty, the endearment little more than a breath.
Immediately Shepard hit the comm button for the sick bay and called Dr. Chakwas up, before standing and helping Thane to the bed. Half-carrying him, really, and her heart pounded with terror at the slackness in his muscles and his glazed-over eyes.
By the time Dr. Chakwas arrived, he was breathing normally and protesting with unusual irritability that he was fine, but the doctor refused to be put off. Shepard kept silent while Dr. Chakwas worked, difficult though it was not to demand immediate answers.
At last, Dr. Chakwas stood up, looking down at Thane where he lay on the bed. "So here we are."
"I am fine."
Neither woman paid attention to his protest. "How bad is it?" Shepard asked.
"I'll want to run more tests, naturally, but it seems as though he's entering the next stage of the disease. His heart isn't pumping enough oxygen. It's not the end stage," she hastened to assure Shepard, "but I believe he'll have to be much more careful going forward."
"Thank you, doctor."
"Of course. Thane, I will see you first thing tomorrow morning to run the full battery of tests."
He didn't argue, which sent a cold chill through Shepard.
When the door slid closed behind Dr. Chakwas, she sat on the bed next to him and took his hand, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't scream her terror at the thought of losing him. She had thought there would be more time before the realities struck in force. She wasn't ready.
"Don't go, Siha," he said abruptly.
Shepard tightened her grip on his fingers. "I'm not going anywhere."
He nodded, acknowledging the support. "I meant on Hackett's mission."
"Oh." Of course, he was in no shape to go, and it couldn't be put off. Kasumi might be as good at following her unobserved, but if the thief got caught, Hackett would never understand. Thane at least could have pretended to have snuck along on the trip out of concern for Shepard. "I'll be fine," she assured him.
"Siha."
"Thane, I have to do this. It'll be all right, I promise." She leaned over and kissed him. "Rest now. Don't worry about me."
He wanted to protest, she could see, but he was exhausted, too, and she sat with him, holding his hand, as his body surrendered to sleep.