Garrus cracked his eyes open and groaned, trying to figure out where he was. He heard the beeping of a machine to his right and felt a cool hand on his arm. Liara leaned over him, her face lined with worry but she was smiling softly at him.
"I was afraid you would never wake up," she murmured, fussing with the IV in his arm. Her crystal eyes looked up at the beeping monitor before sliding back to him.
"Tali," he croaked, his throat burning. She waved her hand at him and looked over her shoulder.
"Don't try to talk," she said handing him a glass of water, sliding her hand under his head to help him gulp down the cooling liquid. She set the glass down with a click, her painted brows drawing down with a frown marring her smooth skin. "Tali, she," she bit her lip, running a hand over her forehead and taking a shaky breath, tears welling in her eyes. He closed his eyes and swallowed, his heart dropping into his stomach. Instantly his mind flashed to the moment he discovered his team on Omega realizing he had let them down, killing them all. "She's been stabilized, but I'm afraid that if we do not get to Earth soon she won't make it Garrus. Her injuries and illness are – they aren't something we can fix aboard the Normandy."
His mandibles clenched tightly against his jaw and gritted his teeth. "Is," he swallowed against the dryness. "is she conscious?" Liara's face crumpled, fat tears escaping her eyes and rolling down her cheeks as she shook her head.
"No," she whispered, her bottom lip quivering. She licked her bottom lip, looking over her shoulder again before turning back to him. "No, she's comatose." She crossed her arms over her chest, running her hands over her biceps as if she were cold. She took a deep breath, looking up before exhaling.
"Is she in pain?" She shook her head and swallowed.
"No. Doctor Chakwas assures me that she can't feel anything." Despite Tali's condition, that was good news. It would be a horrible fate to be comatose yet to be in constant pain, unable to wake up but inside screaming and writhing. The thought alone was enough to turn his stomach. "However I have asked Javik, who is fine by the way, to watch over her. It's not that I don't trust Doctor Chakwas; I just need to know for certain. Every few hours or so he reads her and says she's dreaming pleasant dreams."
He raised a brow plate at her and she smiled softly. He decided not to comment, but wasn't sure if Javik was telling the truth or only telling Liara that to make her feel better. Either way, she was alive and that is what mattered. He tried to sit up but grimaced in pain as his shoulder screamed in protest. Almost immediately Liara was chastising him. "Don't try to move, Garrus. Doctor Chakwas did what she could but until we can get to Earth you too are bed bound." He gave her an incredulous look earning a very stern and, if he were to be honest, quite scary look from his blue friend. "If I have too I will slap you with a stasis." He decided not to press the issue reluctantly agreeing to not leave the med bay.
"What about Tali's suit?" He thought suddenly. Without her suit that was a death sentence if there ever was one and he would never forgive himself.
"EDI has integrated with Tali's suit to try and fight any infections but since EDI is still not well I should say, it's as if she is fighting a losing battle and no matter what we try to do EDI will not respond to us. Doctor Chakwas believes that EDI is the only thing keeping her alive right now however minimal her help might be." Tears welled in her azure eyes and she tried to blink them back.
"Does Shepard know?" Her tears dried instantly at the question, an emotion passing over her face too quickly for him to catch before answering.
"Shepard is… aware of the situation," she said slowly. She gave him a curious look, her brows drawn down before looking to the left of him at some interesting spot on the floor. He learned long ago that whenever Liara had that look it was not necessarily a good thing.
"What is it?" She sighed, opening and closing her mouth a few times before she was able to answer.
"Nothing I just – I'm confused is all."
"About what?" She continued to look at him with confusion in her eyes.
"You're soul bound to her. It's natural that she would know about it," she said quietly as if discussing a deep, dark secret. His mandible twitched and he looked at his hands before looking at her again.
"It's more of a feeling. It doesn't work like that," he corrected her. She shrugged and her eyes widened.
"I don't know how else to explain it then, Garrus. Turian-Human bondings are rare. There are not enough documented pairs to know how many are actually soul bound and what the effects of them are." She raised her hands palm up and let them flop down against her thighs, sighing. "Turian-Turian soul bonding is different than Turian-Asari soul bonding so it is only logical that Turian-Human soul bonding would be different as well. Consider: Human genetics are the most diverse of all known species. Human bodies adapt much faster than that of any other species. Put a Human on Rannoch for a year and they will adapt then place them on Palaven for a year and their bodies will quickly adapt to the heat, though probably not radiation, and then drop them on Thessia for a year before sending them back to Earth.
"You give a Human a situation and their bodies will adapt. You introduce a new disease and their bodies will adapt. Give them a new drug and their bodies will counter it with anti-bodies much quicker than your or my body could. In two-thousand thirteen, in Human history, their scientists realized that their bodies were building up natural immunities to anti-biotics so they had to create new ones. Human viruses adapt, learn and grow based off of their bodies because their bodies adapted to the virus and built up immunities. How do you think that Humans took so well to space flight? They adapted. Their past is a litany of adaptation, often confused with evolution." She paused to look at him, to make sure that he was keeping up. He gave her a confused look, not exactly sure where she was going with this. She bit her bottom lip, trying to gather her thoughts before continuing.
"Are you saying that I altered her genetics or DNA?" She shook her and was quiet for a moment.
"I doubt it. To actually alter her DNA or genetics that would take years, look at the Collectors. Even with the Reapers highly advanced technology it took at least one hundred years to alter the DNA of the Protheans. I think and of course I cannot say with absolute certainty, but I believe that when you bonded with her, her body, her entire being, became tuned to yours and it is likely that your body is also connected to hers as well but there is no way of knowing for sure and extensive testing. She can feel when and precisely where you are in pain. Perhaps it even extends to happiness, pleasure, sadness I don't know.
"I believe, and again I might be wrong, that your bond is like what Asari do when they meld with others except for the both you, it happens as natural as breathing. It's quite fascinating really. I never had anything like that with her when we, well, were together. I wonder though," she spoke as if she was thinking out loud, forgetting that he was lying in front of her on his bed as she perched herself on a stool. "that if perhaps given the right circumstances we could provoke it. Nothing involving pain, which would be inhumane, but maybe try hypnosis. Hm."
As she continued to rattle on, lost in thought and speaking aloud reminding him of Mordin, he thought about what she had said. If it were true then shouldn't he have been able to feel her pain when she was trapped under the debris on Earth as her life slowly slipped away? A nagging voice in the back of his head told him no, because for the most part she had been asleep. When she had woken he was probably unconscious, but he remembered the strange dreams he had been having feeling as if he were trapped, unable to breath and how his limbs were broken yet somehow knowing that Elizabeth had been alive even when Kaidan had questioned him about it. He had felt her.
His thoughts drifted back to when she jumped into the diving mech and dove into the ocean in search of Leviathan. At some points when she was down there he couldn't feel her at all then at other times he had felt a cold, dark feeling sweep over him. Even on Namakli and numerous missions he had to check himself for bullet wounds feeling as if he had been shot and when he found none he had thought it was strange, but he had never even considered that it was because he was feeling what Elizabeth had felt.
Putting pain aside whenever he and Elizabeth made love his orgasm was so much more intense than it should have been. Considering she had taken him on every mission and he had always been with her since they bonded it was hard to say if the feelings he had ever had were truly his own. He found it odd, however, that he had been having those feelings before she was soul bound to him but he had given her his soul and essence before going through the Omega-4 Relay so perhaps it did make sense that he would feel her the entire time but she would not be feeling him until now. Thanks to Liara bringing it to his attention there was no way he could deny that since they had fully bonded the feelings he had had become stronger.
"Garrus," she said, her voice pulling him away from his thoughts and he looked at her. "Have you ever had a feeling but never understood why you had it?"
"Actually, yes," he said slowly fully believing that Liara was in fact a mind reader.
"Really? That is-" she began but whipped around at the sound of a groan. She turned her back to him and bent over Tali's figure doing something with her hands that he was unable to see. "Tali?" she whispered. There was no answer and Liara sighed, glancing at the monitor to check Tali's vitals.
Garrus craned his neck to get a glimpse of Tali but to no avail only glimpsing where Tali's legs were hidden beneath a beige blanket.
"Is she okay?" He should have never sent Tali into the duct on the Batarian ship without having all the details. Shepard would never have made that mistake and they would never be in this situation. His gut told him that they should have turned back but he didn't listen. Liara turned back around, giving him a sympathetic look.
"She is fine. I was worried that she was waking up, but I started another drip on her IV for the pain. Javik should be here shortly to make sure that she is truly okay." She patted his arm and opened her omni-tool. "I almost forgot. You have received more than three dozen emails while you were out. I will try to set up a network here in the med bay since you are confined to this area only, but until then I will continue mediating as much as possible. They are aware of the situation however so no need to worry."
The door opened and Javik stepped through, his arm wrapped in a sling and he nodded at Garrus before his eyes settled on Liara a small smile pulling his lips up at the corner. Traynor was hot on his heels, peering over his shoulder with a worried look gracing her dark skinned face. Quickly she darted around him and rushed over to Tali's bed, squeezing in behind Liara. Garrus lifted a brow plate at Liara who returned his look with an "I'll explain later" look.
"Has she woken up at all? Her breathing is awfully shallow. She isn't dehydrated is she? Is there anything I can do for her? Have her dressings been changed? If not, I am more than willing to do it," Traynor gasped out breathlessly her hands fluttering nervously as she looked at Liara.
"Tali is doing well. Calm down, Samantha," she said, laying a hand on the younger woman's arm comfortingly. Garrus was fairly certain that there was something he was missing as he tried to jog his memory for any information that would indicate her behavior but came up blank. He hadn't been aware that Tali and Specialist Traynor were that close, but perhaps it was one-sided. He would definitely have to ask Liara about it later.
"Her condition has not changed," Javik said his eyes closed as he laid his hand down against Tali. "She is stronger now though then she was yesterday. Perhaps the AI is helping." He looked up at them surprise written on his face. He tilted his head to the side, his eyes closing again as he drew his brows down. His eyes flew open in alarm. "Were you aware that your EDI has integrated the Quarian into her own network? When did this happen?" Liara glanced down at Garrus before looking at Javik again confusion on her face.
"I don't understand."
"You mean like when Shepard went into the geth network?" Garrus asked.
"Yes, almost precisely the same."
"What does that mean?" Traynor squeaked fear obvious in her voice. Javik tossed an annoyed look at Traynor's back and Garrus smothered a smile. His new and blossoming relationship with the light blue Asari had not improved his people skills. She looked at Liara and pointed at her accusingly. "You said that she her condition was satisfactory." Liara raised a perfect painted brow at her, crossing her arms over her chest opening her mouth to say something but Javik cut in.
"I do not trust machines but nevertheless this machine is helping your friend. By integrating the Quarian into the network she is keeping her mind strong and her body is responding to this," he paused searching for the right word before his face took on a sour expression at his decision. "treatment." Traynor turned around to look at him her anger at Liara forgotten.
"Has EDI said anything since she went offline?" Garrus jerked, not understanding.
"Wait. EDI is offline?"
"When she integrated with Tali's enviro-suit she disabled herself from the Normandy and Doctor Eva's body. As I said earlier she is not responding to us and Joker had been frantic with worry especially since she was not functioning correctly to begin with."
"It," Javik corrected, giving Liara a dismal look. She shrugged off his correction and turned back to Traynor.
The door opened and the four of them and Doctor Chakwas entered, her shoulders slumping from exhaustion and she stopped short eyeing them with curiosity her gaze lingering on Garrus with a doctor's concern.
"I believe I said that he was to rest," she chastised the three who were standing and they had the decency, including Javik who, surprisingly, had immense respect for the human doctor, to look chagrined. Liara's cheeks flushed a pale azure and she looked down at her feet, finding some interesting spot on the floor.
"We came to check in on them and when I found Garrus awake-"
"Out," Chakwas commanded, motioning to the door and giving them a stern look. "The last thing he or Tali needs is for you three to be causing them stress."
"But I had to see if-" Traynor tried speaking but bit her lip and cowered beneath Doctor Chakwas' glare.
"No. No excuses. Get. Out," she enunciated, walking towards Garrus' bed to inspect his monitors, drawing a syringe from a drawer and looked pointedly at the three of them. "Have all of you suddenly become hard of hearing? I said to leave. There will be no arguing about this. This ismymed-bay and you will respect my authority on this matter. Now out," she said, pushing a dark blue liquid into his IV before ushering the three of them out while Liara and Traynor threw concerned glances over their shoulders. "I will let you know when you can see them again. Get back to your duties. Do not forget that we have to get to Earth and our only tech expert is in a coma; that should be enough incentive to get your butts in gear." Her face softened at their concerned looks and she sighed. "I understand that you're worried, but rest assured that I will do everything in my capacity to help them." The door closed and she exhaled in obvious relief before checking his monitors once again, opening her omni-tool and presumably recording his vitals.
Gradually he felt the pain fade and his eyes became heavy, drooping of their own accord before he drifted off.