Okay, I have to start off with a big, fat I'm sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I try not to go more than two days without posting for you guys but sometimes I get busy. And I am also sorry to say that I won't be posting for another three days after this as well. For the first time in years my husband has three days in a row off so we are going on a mini vacation. I will still be on the look out for reviews and I love to read them. It makes me so happy to know how much some of you are enjoying this story. Enjoy and review!

Chapter Thirteen

The weeks passed, all too slowly for me, but they passed. Every day, I made my way to watch over Shepard. Every day, as I left the Normandy, Tali was waiting to see me off. She rarely wanted to join me but I offered. Joker joined me on one occasion. Walking through the busy hospital hallways was difficult as he had been off his medications for a while. Miranda had offered him a wheelchair when we arrived but he declined, instead choosing to limp beside me. I didn't mind going at his pace and thankfully the doctors and staff tended to avoid me. Most days I was the only Turian I saw in the hospital.

On this particular day, I was going alone. Miranda found me in the hallway. "Garrus. Walk with me." She turned and headed for the stairway I had gotten to know all too well.

"What's up?" I was worried. Normally Miranda sent me a message or called me to her office. She rarely met me here.

"I think she is ready."

"Ready for what, exactly?" By this point we had made it to the observation room.

"She is ready to wake up." I tried desperately not to hope too much. I failed. "Her organs are very nearly completely done growing." I looked down at Shepard and saw nurses milling about, tending to Shepard and her machinery.

"Are you sure?" I whispered.

"Yes. So long as she wakes in a calm state, she will be fine. In fact we will be able to care for her more efficiently when she wakes up."

"What if she doesn't wake up calmly?" I hated the idea of waiting even longer to see her awake. But I refused to risk her health by cutting corners.

"We can give her some mood stabilizers." She waited, expecting an immediate answer.

"Just give me a few minutes. I don't want to be hasty."

"I can show you the reports from my teams. She is ready." Miranda pulled out her data pad.

"If I were to start the process of waking her up, what are her next steps after that?"

"Well, her bones, her legs specifically, will still need time to heal. It will be a few more weeks before she will be able to walk again. The first few hours at least she will need to wear a neck brace, just to be sure her spinal cord is intact and healing well. Her burns have healed nicely. She'll need a psych evaluation to make sure the brain damage isn't too bad."

I considered her words for a few minutes. Shepard had a long recovery ahead of her. That meant a lot of physical pain. Was I ready to watch her go through that? I imagined her eyes opening, I remembered her smile, her laugh. I decided it didn't matter if I was ready, she was. I looked Miranda in the eyes. "Let's do it."

She smiled. "Come with me." She turned to lead me back down the stairs.

"Wait. I should tell the crew. They would want to know."

"Meet me downstairs when you're done."

I turned to the Comm terminal on the wall and opened a channel with the Normandy. Joker answered. "Oh, God, Garrus is gonna kill someone if she isn't ok. Tali, find Garrus for me."

"No need, Joker. It's me."

He sighed in relief. "Oh. What do you need?"

"She's ready. Miranda and I are gonna start the process of waking her up."

There was silence on the other end.

"You're serious?" It was Tali's voice this time.

"Yes. But don't come rushing down here. I'll have Miranda send updates to the Normandy. This sounds like it's gonna be a very long process." I closed the channel and rushed to meet Miranda.

She led me into a room and had me wash up, though not quite as thoroughly as last time. "She has been off the immunosuppressants for almost a week now and she is handling it well."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Just sit with her, talk to her, hold her hand. All that lovely crap you used to do. Using her name will help keep her calm and less confused."

"Understood."

I walked in and there were several nurses. Miranda dismissed them. "I figure she will be more comfortable waking in a room with only familiar faces."

"Agreed." I took a seat in the chair next to her bed.

She still looked frail, though the tubes in her throat were now gone, replaced with an oxygen tube under her nose. A white plastic collar was strapped around her neck preemptively. Her reddish brown hair had started to grow in, though it was very short. She had been dressed in a hospital gown, though the blanket still rested over her legs.

I reached for her hand as Miranda walked to a machine on the other side of her bed. She pressed a few buttons then said. "I've killed her sedatives and set her up with a dose of mood stabilizers. Her pain medicine is still going. I can up her dose if she needs it when she wakes up." She turned to me then pointed to a button on the rail of her bed. "Press this if you need anything at all. I'll leave you alone with her… Good luck, Garrus." She turned and left the room.