Liara: -Waking up disoriented, in a stretcher- Where am I?
Doctor Chakwas: Stay calm. You are in the Normandy, in the med bay. Everything is alright.
Liara: What happened to me?
Doctor Chakwas: Keeping the stasis field exhausted you. You collapsed as soon as you arrived to the med bay. You've been unconscious for three days.
Liara: -Fearing to ask the question- And Shepard?
Doctor Chakwas: He was quite badly hurt… I've done everything I could, but…
Liara: -She looks the stretcher beside her, and sees Shepard's immobile body- Is he…?
Doctor Chakwas: No, he isn't dead. He is weak, but stable. However, I can't do anything more. Now it's up to him. It will be his strength what determines if he lives… -Liara, looking more carefully, observes that Shepard breathes. Tears of happiness and emotion slide over her face-.
-O-
Anderson: -With a distorted voice- Shepard -pause-. Shepard -pause-. Commander!
Shepard wakes up in the forest on which his last dreams took place…
Shepard: Anderson?... -He stands up clumsy- Where are we?... Wait, I saw you die in the Citadel… Does that mean…?
Anderson: It isn't up to me.
Shepard: I don't understand what you want to tell me.
Anderson: Your mission may have finished, but not your duty. Shepard, I can no longer return, however you have to. I regret I can't go back with Kahlee Sanders, but my time is over. You have accomplished what I couldn't.
Shepard: Anderson, you haven't failed us. You keep the resistance on Earth united…
Anderson: I don't mean that. You found someone to fight for. And you've been alongside her. -He bows his head and sighs deeply- That's one of the many mistakes I've made, but probably the one I regret most…
Anderson comes closer to him, holds Shepard by his shoulders and stares at him very seriously.
Anderson: Commander, sometimes being a hero involves returning with those who love you and would never leave you. Those for whom your mere presence enlightens their lives, constitutes their happiness. Those whose lives would cloud without you and for whom with time the loss would be insufferable. Shepard, your duty is returning. Your time hasn't come yet. I knew you would reach far, son, but I never imagined that that day, when Hackett, Udina and myself chose you, we were saving the destiny of all organic species in our galaxy. Do me this last favor, Shepard. Not as your superior. As a friend. Come back with them. And with her…
Shepard: Anderson, wait -but Anderson was no longer there-. Anderson?...
Voice: Don't surrender, Shepard. I'm with you. You must fight. You must return. You know I won't abandon you. Never. I will always be with you. I love you.
Shepard: -Very slowly- Liara?