Haku opened her eyes, feeling terrible. She remembered Bernard and jumped, cracking her head against Shepard's. Luckily, it was her good side, and only hurt a fraction of how much it would had it been her injured side.
"Stop leaning over me when I'm asleep!" Haku said.
Shepard took a step back, and Haku realized he had changed from his normal suit.
"Wow." Haku said. "You look...Young. What did Mike have to do to get you to change?"
"I picked the clothes out, actually. Michael only chose the tie." Isabella said.
"What tie?" Haku asked, not seeing the article of clothing in question.
"Shep tossed it in the trash." Isabella said. "It was really tacky."
Haku laughed, then winced as the pain shot through to her rib. "Can't believe Shepard showed that much emotion. What happened to Bernard by the way?"
"He's dead." Shepard said, unable to look at Haku. Instead, he looked over her x-rays. "Your second rib on the left side is broken. You may not be able to perform well in combat."
"Okay, one, I know that you knew that already because you didn't say 'hm,' which is what you say whenever you're surprised or thinking. And second, how did Bernard die? I passed out as soon as he dropped me." Haku said.
"Shep, you should tell her." Tali said.
"Tell me what?" Haku asked.
"I killed Bernard." Shepard said.
"How?" Haku asked.
This time, Shepard winced. "All you need to know is that he's dead and won't attack you ever again."
"Shepard, how did he get killed?"
"Why do you want to know? Death is, one cause or another, death. He's never going to hurt your or worry me again, and that's all that matters." Shepard's omni-tool beeped, and Shepard was secretly happy for it. "I'll take this. It's good you are okay, Haku."
Shepard walked into the hallway, and, seeing that Miranda was calling him, answered.
"What?" Shepard asked, reverting to his old self.
"How are you doing, John?" Lawson asked.
"Shepard." Shepard growled, his eyes colder than ice.
"I was told you'd gotten nicer. I see it wasn't true." Lawson said, frowning. "I want to have dinner. To say sorry. I was immature, and I see that I've put you in a dark place."
"You just now see that?" Shepard asked.
"I'm trying to make you feel better, you bastard." Lawson said.
"I don't feel anything anymore." Shepard said, remembering a few moments in the hospital. They had told him that, whenever he talked to her, he would go back to square one.
'I'm back at square one already,' Shepard realized. 'I don't see her as a person, as Miranda, my ex-wife and former teammate. I see her as Lawson, the reason my life is in shambles.'
"Do you want to get some dinner with me or not?" Miranda asked, not knowing that Shepard was forcing the name 'Miranda' on her, though, despite his attempts to rename her, he still saw her as only 'Lawson.'
"Alright. Tell me when." Shepard sighed.
Miranda was more than a little surprised. "I'll send you the details. Tell Tali I said hi."
Shepard's mind immediately began wondering if Tali had told Miranda to call him after that last sentence, but he stopped himself. Of course Lawson would say something like that. She would want to trick him.
'Stop it!' Shepard thought, grasping his head, as if he had a painful headache. 'This is ridiculous! Tali and Miranda were under my control, and might have become friends.' Shepard slid against the wall, sitting on the ground. 'Is this a mental condition? Am I insane? Has the great Commander Shepard snapped?'
Shepard stood, forcing himself to act as he normally did. If he was losing it, the squad wouldn't know. Shepard's omni-tool beeped, and he looked down at the address and time.
"Tomorrow, seven pm on the dot." Shepard said, remembering how Miranda liked things to go according to plan and be on time. Shepard took a deep breath, and walked back into the room.
"Oh. Hey Shep." Haku said. "We were just talking about this movie I watched a few days ago. It's from a long time ago, and it's called Inception."
Shepard nodded, leaning against a wall and crossing his arms over his chest. "What's it about?"
"Well, these guys can go into dreams..." Haku began, then looked at Shepard more closely. "Are you okay? You're sweating a lot, and your eyes aren't focused."
"I'm fine." Shepard said. "So, the men can go into dreams?"
"Yeah." Haku said, but not with as much conviction as she previously had.
Shepard tried focusing several times but, inevitably, his thoughts went back to his ex-wife.