Waiting

The mess hall as deathly silent, along with the rest of the ship, all but for the sound of repair work, Ashley's whispered prayers and Kaidan's pacing. The Normandy had received substantial damage from being so close to the initial explosion. But even Joker was not concerned about his baby. They were all worried about Artemis. The shrapnel from the rocket had punched though her shields and armour, embedding deep near her spinal cord. Dr. Chakwas was now currently removing the metal and had been doing so for the last hour. Wrex was leaning against the wall near Kaidan's workplace, silently brooding. Tali was curled up next to Liara for comfort while Garrus' mandibles were still. Jules, the requisitions officer, had come up from the cargo bay and had an arm around Ashley, trying to comfort her.

The silence was cut by the deafening hiss of a door opening. Dr Chakwas stepped out, the last hour's stress evident on her face. The lines of age becoming more enhanced. Every pair of eyes focused on her , pleading, begging for good news.

"She's going to make it." An audible sigh rippled throughout the entire ship. "Though the shrapnel caused some very major damage. There is some shrapnel in her spinal cord that I can not remove without causing paralysis. She'll have to take it easy and if she puts too much stress on her body, Artemis may end up paralyzing herself." Kaidan lowered his head in sorrow.

"Doc. Will she be able to keep in active duty?" Asked Ashley, choking back a few sobs.

"For now yes. But I recommend that as soon as we get back to the citadel, she goes Huetra memorial hospital to get the shrapnel removed, ASAP." Everyone nodded solemnly, Joker had already set them on a course for the citadel. They had the co-ordinates to the Mu relay, the cipher and hopefully Artemis had the location of Illos in her mind

"Can she have visitors?" Asked Tali.

"Yes. In fact you can all take shifts keeping an eye on her. She'll need a friendly face when she wakes up." Chakwas then headed off for some much needed rest. Ashley immediately insisted on taking first watch and nobody stopped her. She sat beside Arty's bedside, hesitantly she held her hand and began to speak while watching the peaceful look on her commander's face.

"Hey skipper. I… I don't know if you can hear me but… ah screw it, I'm just gonna talk anyway. Thank you. Thank you for coming back for me, even though I told you not to. You had everyone worried back there and you've still got us worried. The council is sure to chew you out for this along with Udina, but if I ever had any doubts about you Artemis. You just introduced them to a Cain. Hell, you're like a big sister I never had. Just don't ever do that again. You had LT in tears. So don't be surprised if he crushes your ribs with a bear hug when you wake up." Ash wiped away the tears streaking down her cheeks, trying to compose herself. Then she began to read out aloud from the book Arty had gotten her for Christmas.

The Winds as at their hour of birth
Leaning upon the ridged sea
Breathed low around the rolling earth
With mellow preludes, 'we are free'

The Streams through many a lilied row
Down-carolling to the crisped sea
Low-tinked with a bell-like flow
Atween the blossoms, 'we are free'

Later, when Ashley had reached the middle of the book when Tali came in for her shift. No words were exchanged, Ashley merely finished the poem she was on then left. Tali sighed and sat down, nervously rubbing her six fingers together.

"Shepard… I cannot say how much you mean to everyone on the ship. You've given my people hope with the Geth data. You've given us a chance of getting our home world back. All by risking yourself, the Alliance wouldn't have allowed you to give it freely to me… Thank you and please… wake up because at this rate Kaidan is going to wear a hole in the floor and I am not fixing that." Soon Garrus took over. The Turian's mandibles twitching nervously as he sat down. Respectfully, he nodded the way he would when Shepard did her after mission rounds.

"Commander. You definitely had us worried there but I knew… I knew you'd make it. Until Saren's dead along with the reapers and… well if you did die on a mission, I could imagine you kicking the… damn what is it again… grem reaper? Anyway, kicking the Grem reaper in the crotch and telling him to get lost." Garrus paused to chuckle at the image in his mind. "Shepard, you know when I said that my father wouldn't liked you. Well I think he actually would have loved you. You're a spectre yet you abide by your own set of rules, your morals. You make sure the mission doesn't always come first, that you don't misuse your power. He may still have trouble with some of your methods but… he'd respect you." The door hissed open and Liara shuffled in. Garrus gave her a curt nod and went back to fixing the Mako. For the first ten minutes, Liara sat in silence, quietly sniffing. Finally, she found the courage to speak.

"Commander, I know you blame yourself for my mother's death. For destroying the only family I knew of. Please don't, as I told you I will remember my mother for who she was, not her deeds and I have found a new family on board the Normandy. Ashley, Wrex, Garrus, Tali, Joker, they are like my brothers and sisters, while you are the mother trying to keep us all in check. Lieutenant Alenko… well I suppose he would be the father, your bond mate… I'd suspected before and ,well today's events have definitely confirmed it, for myself, yourselves… and the rest of the crew. Don't worry Ashley has already talked to the crew about any impressions they have… while she was cleaning her rifle and Wrex was cleaning his shotgun. I believe they got the message." Liara stopped when there was a soft, polite knocking out the med bay door. Calling out to the person to come in, Liara was surprised when Wrex entered though the door, somewhat struggling to get though. When the Asari had left Wrex stared long and hard at Shepard.

"Shepard… And this is where you say Wrex… Come on… Shepard." The Krogan nudged her and sighed. "Right if you can hear me, anything I say, I refuse to repeat and I will deny saying it. Understood." Wrex paused waiting as if he was imagining what Shepard's response would be. " Right. Shepard. You were right. I shouldn't have given up on the Krogans so soon. As long as we are alive, we have a chance. Krogan are meant to fight and I am going to fight, to unite the Krogan people. Soon as I have seen Saren's dead body, I going back to clan Urdnot and the first daughter I have is getting named Shepard. And No! I am not going soft."

All too soon it was Kaidan's shift. The biotic had buried himself in work, building a wall to isolate himself from the memory of Shepard's breath fading fast as he carried her. Her eyes closing.. Without even thinking of the rules he picked up her hand and held it close to his stubbled cheek.

"Shepard… Commander…" Was there any point of hiding it anymore? Everyone on the ship knew now, hell even a blind and deaf Salarian could have seen that due to his panicked state when Shepard had jumped off the Normandy. " Arty. You had me w-worried there, please don't ever do that to me again." He stroked her cheek, his thumb trailing over her dark velvet skin. A single tear falling onto the bed sheets. "Please wake up Arty. For me.. Please wake up as there's something I need to tell you. You may already know what I'll say and that I'm most probably committing career suicide but I don't give a damn about for now. Artemis, I-I Love you. You-you make me feel human." Finally the dam he'd built crumbled, Kaidan buried his head into the bed and unashamedly let the tears flow.

The poem is Song (Hour Of Birth) by Tennyson. The kicking the Grim reaper in the crotch is a reference to Red Dwarf. Reviews are still welcome.
Trishata96