I opened my eyes, and closed them back just as quickly. The white light was blinding, and my body was still in a world of hurt.

Heaven shouldn't be this painful.

"You awake, Harry?" a familiar voice called out. I carefully opened my eyes and looked to the side. Jeff was staring back at me, looking more concerned than I've ever seen him be. I was at the med bay, back in the Normandy. Dr. Chakwas, seated in front of her terminal, looked up at me when she saw me move.

"Hey, Jeff. I'm… alive?"

"Unfortunately you are." he replied, with a grin.

I tried to laugh, but everything hurt too much.

"How long have I been…? Where's Jane? Is she okay? What about the oth-"

"Calm down, Harry. You've been out for almost five hours. Everyone got out okay… well, except you, of course. Karin fixed you up pretty good though."

The Doctor approached me on the other side of the bed and, scanned my legs using her omni-tool.

"You'll have trouble walking for the next for the next few days, Douglas, but you'll be fine otherwise," she spoke, with a pleasant voice. "You were lucky, it's just external wounds, and a minor concussion. No broken bones or anything. Your armor took the brunt of the damage from the rocket. It saved you."

"In more ways than one," Jeff added. "You might owe the Alliance a new helmet."

"Your actions were quite heroic, if I might say so," Dr. Chakwas spoke, still smiling. "That was really brave, for someone who isn't even a soldier. You saved the Commander's life by risking your own. She'll be very grateful."

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll find a way to… 'reward' you for that, Harry. If you know what I mean."

"Jeff!" I groaned. "Come o-"

"Don't even bother," Jeff interrupted me, with his trademark cheeky grin. "She carried you all the way here, in her arms. Didn't let anyone else touch you. It was real romantic. I'm telling you, some of the crew were crying…"

"Hey, save the teasing for when I'm not half-dead in a hospital bed!"

"Half-dead, sure," he deadpanned. "And yeah, there might not have been any crying involved. But she did carry you here." He stopped smiling for a moment. "Maybe you should talk to her. She looked pretty shaken. I haven't seen the Commander like that… ever."

I stayed silent, not knowing what to say.

"Anyways, that reminds me, I should let her know that you're up. Also, the ship needs its pilot." He moved towards the door. "Good to see you're fine, Harry."

I smiled and nodded my head, as he walked out, the door closing behind him.

"Now, Douglas…"

"You can call me Harry, Doctor." I turned to look towards her, with a smile. "And thanks a lot for taking care of me."

"Just doing my job, Harry." She returned my smile and started to walk back towards her terminal. "You're free to go, unless you want to rest some more. Just drop by every morning for the next few days so that I can keep an eye on the wounds. And try not to put any stress on your legs. No running, no dancing, no heavy lifting."

"Yes ma'am." I had already gotten up from bed the moment I heard 'free to go'. I opened the door, and walked out, carefully. Before I could decide where to go, my omni-tool buzzed.

Your girlfriend's in the briefing room. Might want to surprise her. ;) - J

I made a mental note of punching Jeff in the face as I walked towards the elevator.

I entered the briefing room and saw Jane facing away from me, talking to Admiral Hackett on the comm. Cursing myself for not knocking, I tried to quietly turn back and leave, but the booming voice of the Admiral's hologram stopped me.

"Douglas! We were just talking about you."

"Sir!" I gave him a salute, and he reacted to it with a nod.

Jane turned to look at me for a second, before quickly returning her attention to the Admiral. As usual, I couldn't read her face.

"At ease," the Admiral declared, looking at me. "Good job disabling the VI. And it's good seeing you, all grown up. Your father would have been prou-"

"Good to see you too, sir," I interrupted, with a straight face.

The Admiral smiled at me and turned towards Jane. "That's all for now, Commander."

As Hackett's hologram faded out with a buzzing sound, my body was immediately pulled into a really tight embrace. I put my arms around Jane, returning the hug. We stood there wordlessly, neither of us wanting to let go. After what seemed like ages, she pulled back a little to look at me. Jeff was right, she looked… shaken.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I promised I'll keep you safe. You could have died out there…."

"But I didn't, Jane." I smiled, looking into her eyes. "You did keep me safe."

She looked down at her feet. "I… can't even explain it; the way I felt when I saw that drone approach you. I've seen a lot of death, Harry. I've watched soldiers serving under me get gunned down and blown up. I've felt guilt, anger…. sadness. But nothing like what I felt back there, on Luna. I don't know how I would have handled myself if…" She tightened her grip on my arms, making me wince. "Why did you risk your life like that? Why?"

I pulled her even closer to me, which made her loosen her grip. "You're far too valuable."

"…to the Alliance?" Seriously, Jane?

"Well… yes, of course. But I meant…"

A smile escaped her lips. "I know."

We stared at each other, as our bodies got as close to each other as they could. She was breathing heavily as she looked at me with longing. I wanted to kiss those lips, right then and right there, till eternity….

"Keelah!"

Both of us turned around to see a visibly embarrassed Tali standing near the door, trying to look away. Behind her, Liara looked shocked.

Jane quickly pulled away from me and turned to face them, blushing really hard. "Ah, yes… Everyone's here?"

Liara spoke slowly. "Lieutenant Alenko is on the way. Of course, we can come back later, Commander…"

"No… We need to talk about Noveria. We'll be docking there any minute now." Jane shot me an apologetic glance as she opened up her omni-tool.

I got the hint. "I should go."

Jane smiled at me. "We'll talk later."

"Yes, ma'am."