Thessia

A discordant ring shattered the calm of the room and Sen glanced down at her omni-tool. Her heart beat faster as she saw the name flashing on her screen. She looked up at Liara.

"It's Treya Valen...Mira's doctor." Sen breathed, and saying the name of the trauma specialist made the ache and worry of her heart that much worse.

"I'll be outside if you need me." Liara smiled, rising from her seat with quiet grace and leaving the room.

The door closed and Sen accepted the call. Her colleague's tired face appeared on the screen and Sen's throat constricted. She attempted to speak, but the words would not move past her lips. She could not even ask the most pressing question.

"Sen, you look like you're about to pass out." Treya's eyes narrowed in concern. "Is this a bad time? I can call you back, I just thought you'd want to know."

"Know…what?" Sen managed to speak at last.

Treya's smile set Sen's heart at ease. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I'm off duty, so fuck the regulations. Mira's last scans came back great, Sen. The swelling's down and she hasn't seized since you left the TCU. She actually regained consciousness for a few minutes."

Tears spilled down Sen's cheeks and she let them fall, unnoticed and un-cared about. Treya's words had lifted the fog over her heart.

"She did?" Sen's words cracked. "Did she…did she seem..."

"She was coherent, Sen." Treya's eyes were fatigued, but lit with hope. "Disoriented, but that's to be expected. She asked for you and I…I said I would let you know."

Sen's heart tripped over itself inside her chest. The quiet worry gnawing at the back of her mind since she had learned of the accident began to mellow and the headache she had not acknowledged began to dissipate. Tears flowed freely from her eyes and her lips trembled.

"Treya…thank you." Sen breathed, reminding herself to do something kind for the trauma surgeon…to at least make the effort to know her better.

Sen felt guilt in her soul. Chief T'Vari had made her professional career so difficult, she had isolated herself from all of her coworkers. She had heard the rumors, the whispers, the accusations against her. That Sen T'Aryn believed herself to be superior. That her knowledge and her youth had given her an undeserved pride. But that had not been the case. Sen had been afraid…so very, very afraid. Afraid that anyone that she might dare to reveal herself to, dare to befriend, would betray her.

The cardiologist had a need to heal. She always had, from the moment she had been born. Her mother had encouraged that in her, and Sen had never understood why, for Zhira was still rough-edged and harsh, but a member of a race that was prided on its grace and sophistication. Sen understood so much more about her young years now. Though it may not have seemed so, on the surface, Zhira T'Aryn, too, was a woman who desired to heal.

And she did, Sen thought with a smile, my mother…my mother stood alongside one of the heroes of the Reaper War. She helped to restore Liara's sanity, helped heal her body and her mind from wounds the galaxy never knew she had.

"No problem." Treya grinned. "T'Vari's out for the day, and I've briefed my counterpart on your situation. If you want to come in, you're not going to have any issues with being allowed to see Mira."

"Treya, I don't know what to say…" Sen stumbled over her words, unable to understand why a colleague whose outreach she had rebuffed on multiple occasions would reach out yet again.

"You're a damn good doctor, Sen, and this is a shit situation." Treya waved a hand, dismissing Sen's words. "I'm just glad it appears to be turning out all right. Just remember to take care of yourself too, all right? I don't want to see you in the ER because you decided to pass out from exhaustion."

"I promise." Sen felt a tremulous smile cross her lips. "Treya, if there's anything I can do to thank you…"

"Buy me a drink sometime and we'll call it even." the trauma surgeon grinned. "And now I'm going to go, because sixteen hour shifts can do a number on you."

Sen's eyes flared. "Sixteen hours…standard?" Sen questioned and Treya nodded. "That doesn't seem right."

Treya shook her head. "It's exhausting, but doable. Besides, we're short-staffed…badly. But times like these come in waves. I'm sure it'll get better soon. Don't worry about us right now, Sen. Take care of your girl."

The link closed before Sen could say anything further, but the cardiologist could not refrain from smiling at the last words Treya had said.

Your girl…Sen's heart, aching with worry and sliced at by fear, began to beat a little stronger, with a little more surety than it had since the peacekeepers had arrived at her door. She asked for you.

A light knock at the door pulled Sen's head upwards.

"Come in." she said, eager to share the good news.

Liara entered the room, glanced at Sen's expression, and felt a peace in her spirit. "Good news, I trust?"

Sen nodded. "Treya decided to break rules again." she explained. "Mira's scans are promising and she even woke up for a little bit and seemed cogent."

"I am so glad." Liara's cobalt lips widened in a smile of relief and shared joy.

Sen rose and embraced her friend, feeling stress drain away from her as Liara's hand soothed up and down her back. New tears struck Sen's eyes and she wept from relief. Liara held her as the weeping turned to the heaving sobs of a spirit finally set at rest after being held, taut and suspended in a worried state for far too long. The matron knew all of those things too well, and knew nothing but joy in the face of the galaxy showing grace to Sen T'Aryn and Mira Dorsen.

Sen pulled away from Liara, wiping the tears from her cheeks, her eyes still gleaming with the precious fire of hope restored.

"My car is still at the hospital. Can you…"

"Take you to her?" Liara smiled. "Of course. Give me but a moment."

Liara left the room, walking through the halls of the T'Soni estate, old memories aching in the same manner as old wounds.

It looks promising, my dear. All indications are that she'll pull through.

Liara shook her head as she entered her bedroom and grabbed her coat, forcing herself not to think about that long, dark walk to heaven and hell. Instead, she looked up at the picture beside her bed, an old fashioned photograph, not a holo-display. In it, Liara was asleep, her body draped across the body of her warrior and lover.

Whoever had taken that picture had captured the true essence of Serena Shepard within it. In the bright silver eyes lay the ultimate love and content. Her lips had the tiniest smile perched on them, a smile that should not have been able to break through the pain that haunted her, but somehow managed to make its presence known. Liara drew closer to the photograph, hearing the echoes of pitched battles inside her mind.

She closed her eyes and saw the lightning flashing, heard her lover shouting orders as they raced time and chance across the Shadow Broker's ship. She remembered watching the bullets fly, throwing up barriers and singularities, trying to keep all of them safe. She saw once more the laughter and the incredulity in Shepard's eyes when Liara mentioned that the hack she had used on the Broker's door might not work.

Liara's fingers reached out and touched the picture, remembering the warmth of Serena's skin against hers. How right it had felt when they were flung together again…by force.