"Welcome back."
You never forget your worst hangover. For me – well – I'd spent a night on imported Turian whiskey that made my tonsils swell up like balloons by the next morning. I wasn't able to talk for a week. And the headache, It had felt quite literally as if I had a nail gun firing inside my skull. The first thing that I thought of as my mind began to catch up with my situation was Turian whiskey. But slowly, something else stirred in the back of my mind. It pushed through the heavy, painful fog and started to become clearer. Then I remembered.
Dad.
I sat up too quickly. My head swum and my stomach climbed into my throat.
"What happened," I demanded, but my throat was dry and it came out as a pitiful croak.
"Sarah, you were clinically dead for 22 seconds."
"What about the others?"
Something moved off to one side and I looked over to see Liam slumped against the wall, mostly asleep. He stirred slowly and took one, slow blink before waking up properly. I moved to the edge of the gurney I was resting on. The room tilted as my temples pulsed.
This is nearly worse than the whiskey.
"Hey, you're back with us." Liam put an arm over my shoulder to steady me. "Take it easy."
He said something quickly into his comm but I didn't pay much attention. I was preoccupied keeping the contents of my stomach where it belonged.
"Who were you talking to?" Liam asked.
"Sam." He frowned.
"I didn't hear him."
Now that my senses were coming back to me, I realised that I felt cold. And not the usual conditioned air of a spacecraft either. It was cooler than that. Then I registered the hum. A slow, constant baritone that made my ears tingle.
Sam Node?
Cora rushed through the door. She let out a heavy sigh, like she had been holding her breath but hadn't realised it.
"You're awake."
The doctor from before – the Asari – followed her in.
There was someone missing.
"My father," I began. "Where-"
Cora looked down, then to the doctor - T'Perro. Liam's arm tightened around my shoulders.
No one spoke, but that didn't matter. I'd already figured it out.