Thessia

Doctor Treya Valen paced back and forth before the gates of the T'Soni estate. Whatever fatigue hounded her had dissipated with the call from the one, the only, Liara T'Soni. Treya could not deny the fact that she was nervous…if not absolutely terrified. Exactly ten minutes after Liara had ended the call, a sleek black skycar had arrived at her door. The driver, a turian, had said nothing the entire time, until he had dropped Treya off in front of the gates.

"Doctor T'Soni will be here shortly." six simple words and the car had lifted off, leaving Treya stranded in front of the palatial estate owned by the most famous asari in the galaxy.

How is Sen embroiled in all of this? Treya wondered, full of concern for her colleague. One would think she would have mentioned being friends with Liara fucking T'Soni. But no, she didn't say a word, just showed up at the hospital with Liara…and now she has need of a hospital herself. What is going on, Sen? First your lover, now you? How much ill fortune can one life sustain?

Treya's concentration was broken by the low hum of an arriving skycar. It descended, the passenger door opened, and the gates creaked as they began moving. Treya ran and climbed into the passenger seat, stunned into silence when she glanced at the driver and found herself once more face to face with Liara T'Soni.

"Thank you for your alacrity, Doctor Valen." Liara spoke, her voice holding the same smooth intensity it had possessed over the comm-link. "I apologize once again for disturbing your rest. Sen is in the back."

Treya looked over her shoulder, her throat tightening as she saw the jagged spire of metal protruding from Sen's thigh, the blood-soaked clothing on Sen's left side, and the tell-tale expression of immense pain stamped on Sen's features. She frowned at the deep bruising and swelling around Sen's eyes, the crooked line of a broken nose, and the dried blood staining Sen's lips.

"What in the void happened to her?" Treya asked, growing more worried the longer Liara remained silent.

"I have my suspicions, but must wait for confirmation." Liara replied as the sprawling estate came into view.

"Were the peacekeepers notified?" Treya questioned, wondering if she truly wanted to know the answer.

"No." T'Soni's voice was ice. "Nothing will be done by our law, if, as I suspect, a citizen of Earth committed this crime. I will handle this myself."

The sheer malice in Liara's tone made Treya shudder, and she felt now that she had done the right thing by agreeing to help Sen as quickly as she had. She felt so very out of her depth here. She had worked long into the sunrise or the sunset in order to save a life. She had endured multitudinous dressings down by Chief Ela T'Vari. She had been the first on-scene to more gristly accidents than she cared to think about. But never had she been called on to help another person…with a figurative weapon aimed at her head to assure her compliance.

"I need to know what I'm working with." Treya mustered the courage to speak. "Were…were you able to run a scan?"

The doctor's omni-tool chirped with a message notification and Treya opened the screen, her lips parting in surprise. A full medical diagnostic appeared, and Treya absorbed the details, shocked at the comprehensive quality of the readout. Her suspicions that Liara T'Soni was not an asari to be trifled with were further confirmed.

This is far beyond the level of data normally acquired by a standard omni-tool med-scan, Treya mused, wincing at the severity of Sen's injuries. In fact, most first responder's scans do not have this level of detail. Where in the void did Liara acquire access to something like this? It's not available on the market to non-medical personnel.

"What is your professional opinion, Doctor Valen?" Liara's voice shattered Treya's concentration.

Feeling the need to answer as quickly as possible, Treya looked over the results from the scan, her surgeon's mind working at a feverish pace.

"You applied medi-gel to the major flesh wounds?" Treya asked.

"Yes."

"In that case, I'm most concerned about the wound to her thigh and the internal bleeding, especially given the trauma to her ribs and abdomen." Treya answered as Liara set the car down in front of the estate. "Removing the metal, repairing the muscle, and re-attaching the tendon will require surgery, I can tell you that now."

The doors of the car hissed as they opened and Liara's famous azure gaze pierced through Treya's eyes and composure.

"I can have a full medical team here in one hour to assist you, if you think Sen can wait that long."

Treya's lips once again parted in shock.

Who are you?

Even a decorated war hero who was the last of her family and inheritor of their fortune could not command people at will. It did not seem feasible or permissible, yet here Liara stood, making such promises with what seemed like full confidence in her ability to deliver.

"Let's get her inside, let me gauge your facilities, and go from there." Treya suggested, hoping she had said the right thing.

"Very well." Liara agreed, and the surgeon breathed a sigh of relief.

For a brief moment, Treya wondered if she would wake from this and find it all to be a very, very strange dream. However, as Liara lifted Sen out of the skycar with delicate, skilled biotics, Treya realized that she must be awake, because no dream of her mind could contain this.

She followed Liara through the halls of the estate, keeping a wary eye on Sen, who she could tell was still conscious, in spite of the maiden's closed eyes and slack body. Treya's hands itched to be able to help, to touch, to comfort, to do something to ease Sen's pain. She had known the asari when they had worked together in the TCU and emergency room. Sen had always been more than competent. She had an almost supernatural talent when it came to saving lives…it was as though she had been born to heal. Treya had envied Sen her ability to not only mend the injuries, but also comfort and calm the patient's mind. And yet, unlike so many other physicians Treya had known and worked alongside, Sen did not have an ounce of the pride that plagued so many in the medical profession.

She would steal a life back from the brink of death, and not take any personal glory in it. Treya remembered the look on Sen's face when she would emerge from the operating theatre. If it had been successful, Sen's features were always suffused by a glow of content and those unusual, gorgeous eyes shone with the light of a thousand stars.

The sound of a door hissing open jarred Treya from the memories of her past. The surgeon entered Liara's med-room, in absolute awe of what surrounded her. The bio-bed that Liara set Sen down on was a model that Treya had seen at a medical exposition just this year. It was a prototype, rare and ridiculously expensive.

Capable of simultaneous full body imaging. Treya remembered the specifications. With full capabilities of super-imposition. It can make the skeletal structure more prominent than the muscular system, and so forth and on. A surgeon could stand over the body and see every single part of the interior, bones, muscle, organs, tendons, ligaments, the nervous and circulatory systems in full…everything.

"T…Treya?" Sen's voice broke the quiet. "I thought...I heard your voice. What…what are you doing here?"

Treya moved to Sen's side, pursing her lips as she noticed the sweat sheen glistening on Sen's face. Two expert fingers found the pulse point in her patient's neck and Treya's frown deepened. Sen's pulse was not yet too fast…but only not yet.

"I'm here to take care of you. How do you feel, Sen?" Treya asked, attempting to hide the worry in her voice.

Sen licked her chapped, dry lips. "I…don't want…to be awake." her words were accentuated by gasping, shallow breaths, and her eyes screamed with pain.

"We'll fix that very soon." Treya promised, noticing as Liara walked to Sen's side, how she held the maiden's uninjured left hand in a tender grasp.

Treya had seen the worry that lived in Liara's eyes before. It was the worry of someone who deeply loved. The worry that only one who possessed a soul to soul connection with the injured could carry. Treya deepened her resolve to do what must be done. As much as she could use a medical team, there simply was not time to wait.

And if anyone will remain solid in a crisis, it is certainly Liara T'Soni.

"I do not think we can afford to wait any longer." Treya caught Liara's attention. "The longer that metal stays in her leg, the higher risk of infection. I'll require an extra pair of hands, and that's you."

Liara nodded and pointed Treya towards the cabinets filled with every item of equipment and every drug that she might need. Treya did not have time to appreciate the scope of Liara's private hospital. She went to the cabinets and prepared what she would need in order to anesthetize Sen and begin the operation to remove the metal from her leg.

One thing at a time, Treya breathed deep and for a moment wished that she believed in any sort of god, for she felt the need to reach out to a greater consciousness or entity and beg for peace of mind. First the leg, then her chest. After that I will set her nose and then see about pain relief for her back. One thing at a time.

Treya turned, tray full of utensils in her hands, and watched for a moment. Liara squeezed Sen's hand and whispered words that the surgeon could not hear, but Treya could sense their intent and their tenderness. As the surgeon moved closer, Liara pressed a gentle kiss to Sen's brow, and Treya caught the glimmer of a tear on Liara's cheek.

Thinking it best not to mention it…ever…Treya set the tray on a stand, looked at Liara, and nodded. With that, Treya turned Sen's arm upward. Liara activated the bio-bed scanner, and Sen's veins were suddenly in stark relief, allowing Treya to see where it would be best to set the IV line.

Treya readied the needle and looked to her friend's eyes. "Slight pinch here, Sen." she warned, slid the needle into Sen's veins, and abandoned all other thoughts but those most immediate.