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Tearing herself away from Thane in the morning was as hard as Juniper had imagined it would be. Every moment with him seemed so precious. She had lain awake next to him the night before listening to his breathing, so much louder than she remembered it being, thinking of the hesitation in his speech now, as if he wasn't sure when he began a sentence if he would have breath to finish it, and she knew the end had begun. But how long it would take, at what point he would cease to be the Thane she remembered, she had no idea.

Damn the turians, anyway, she thought irritably, getting up quietly to put her few things together. Damn the Council. Couldn't they have just said, "Yes, Commander Shepard, you've done enough, we'll take it from here"?

She caught herself, smiling at her own foolishness. Of course they couldn't. She wouldn't want them to, in fact. This was her fight, her war, and the Reapers owed her. She intended to collect on that debt with tremendous interest.

"They will rue the day they chose to attack while Commander Shepard was still living," Thane said.

Turning, she saw him sitting up in bed, his still-muscular chest bare above the sheets. Shepard took a long pause to look at him there, committing everything about him and the look on his face and this moment together to her memory as best she could.

"You will not forget, Siha."

"No. I won't forget. Thane, I— You've been—"

He shook his head, holding one hand in the air to ask her to wait while he coughed. "Not now, Siha. There will be time. I promise."

Shepard knew he couldn't possibly predict when she would be back any more than she could, but the promise was what she wanted to hear, so she took it. "Good. I'm not done with you yet," she purred, bending down to give him a long, lingering kiss.

He responded in kind, soft and sweet, and if Joker hadn't beeped Shepard's comm link to find out what the hell was taking her so long, the kisses might have led to more.

Shepard smiled ruefully as she pulled herself away. "Hold that thought."

"As long as necessary."

She was smiling as the door slid closed behind her. The Normandy was ready and waiting, Joker reported, everyone aboard but its commander, so she needed to get moving … but there was one more thing she needed to do before she left.

Kaidan was unchanged, his form still under the sheets, his eyes closed.

A familiar face appeared in the room as Shepard stood there looking at him, feeling helpless and responsible. Dr. Michel had been working in one of the less savory areas of the Citadel when they had first met. She had apparently moved up in the world since then, working now at the finest hospital on the Citadel, possibly in the galaxy.

"How is he, Doctor?" Shepard asked after the pleasantries had been exchanged.

"He is healing, but … it is hard to say how long that will be."

"You'll keep an eye on him for me, Doctor?"

"Of course."

"You can reach me on the Normandy in case anything … changes." She hated even saying the words. Kaidan deserved better than this, to be sidelined in a hospital room by a robot when the galaxy needed him.

Dr. Michel nodded, sympathetically, and Shepard took her leave.

As she strode purposefully across the lobby of the hospital, she heard her name called in a crisp, commanding voice. Only one person she knew spoke to Commander Shepard that way, and she was already smiling as she turned around. "Dr. Chakwas! What are you doing here?"

"I came up to check on our young man. But Dr. Michel seems to have him well taken care of. And you? I imagine you're here to get aid for Earth?"

"Well, that was the plan. The Council had other ideas. I'm heading for Palaven right now on an errand for Sparatus."

"Naturally."

"Nothing ever changes." Shepard hesitated. Dr. Chakwas was also hesitating, she noticed. "If you're not busy …"

The doctor gestured to the duffel bag behind her. "I thought you'd never ask."

"Then welcome aboard." Shepard reached out to shake her old friend's hand. "This is the best thing that has happened in a long time. The Normandy wasn't the same without you."

"I wasn't the same without the Normandy. I suppose Jeffrey is still aboard?"

"You couldn't blast him out of that ship. And people have tried." It was strange to be able to joke about the day she died … but a lot had happened since then.

"No doubt he's been forgetting to take his medication."

"No doubt," Shepard agreed, and the two women stepped into the elevator.