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14. Huerta
The hospital is quiet.
Arianna supposes this is normal, but it's still slightly unsettling after the overcrowded citadel docks. Refugees have been pouring in steadily since the last time she's been here and it's now almost impossible to navigate without careening wildly into someone. The hospital is an island in the storm; it's oddly comforting.
She doesn't really know why she's here; she's avoided the place like the plague since they'd first brought him in. She's visited Thane a few times but never ventured past those ominous doors at the other side of the lounge. She sighs as it occurs to her that it's easier to talk to Kaidan when he's unconscious. He's sent her a few emails now though, and now it's becoming trickier to avoid him.
There's a horrific crushing noise as the mechanoid curls a deceptively strong hand around his helmet. Arianna stares, her mouth open in shock as the robot picks him up as though he weighs nothing more than a feather, and hurls him repeatedly into the wreckage of the shuttle. He crumples to the floor like a ragdoll.
Arianna swallows dryly, rearranging her fingers around the handle of the freezer box she's carrying. She's never been quite so scared in her entire life, and it's a life containing plenty to be scared of. She supposes it's a different sort of fright, the fear for someone rather than of something. She's much more used to the latter.
She's staring at him, brain numb. She's never seen him like this before. His face is deathly pale where it's not bruising and his eyes are firmly shut. He's barely breathing.
"Kaidan?"
Fingers hesitate over his hand then close around it, gripping it tightly.
"I don't know if you can hear me but," she smiles a little, "since you can't tell me to get the hell out either, I'll take my chances." She takes a deep breathe, "You've got to fight, Kaidan, we need you in this."
And then he'd woken up.
Dr Michel had sent her a message saying he could take some visitors about a month ago now but she'd never turned up. She told herself she was too busy. Hackett had her jumping all over the galaxy, searching for assets and resources. Truth is, she's not sure what she's going to say. They've been skirting around each other for so long now, she has no idea how to even begin.
Well, she thinks, maybe his being made a Spectre is a good place to start.
She is proud of him, what he's accomplished since she's been gone. She always knew he was more capable than he let on; he's always been content to hang in the background and provide support.
"Some people are born to command," he'd told her one day, years ago, "like you. I'm good at it, sure, but that doesn't mean I like it. Give me a choice and I'll take the underpaid slave monkey job any day."
And then they'd made him a teacher. From what Anderson had told her, he'd excelled at it in leaps and bounds. His Spec-Ops team followed him without question and it seemed like overnight, Major Alenko had made a name for himself. A name that is respected throughout the Alliance and, it seems, the Citadel. And that's part of the problem, she realises. Not that she begrudges his success one bit; it's just that she hasn't been a part of it. She hasn't been able to share it with him. She doesn't know him.
She peers through the glass and sighs. He's standing at the window, arms folded, leaning against the frame in a position so familiar it almost hurts. She can't see his face, but she knows it's creased with thought, his brain ticking over options in its never-ending critique. It occurs to her that maybe she only needs to catch up, not relearn who this man is.
The doors hiss open and Kaidan jumps in surprise, jolted out of his reverie.
"Catch." Arianna says with a smile, tossing him something lightly.
The small pot of chocolate chip ice cream sails through the air and Kaidan, startled, automatically fires up his biotics to catch it. It's a finely honed reflex that does him absolutely no good this time around, the container bouncing off the window and then the floor a few times before rolling to a stop underneath his hospital bed.
There's a slightly embarrassed silence.
Kaidan screws up his face in frustration and sighs. Arianna stares at him, open-mouthed.
"What the hell was that?"
He's a little rankled to see the beginnings of laughter creeping into her green eyes. He bends to fish the pot out from under his bed.
"They took my implant offline." He explains, standing up and licking his fingers of the thankfully small amount of spilled ice cream.
Arianna makes a face at him, "Kaidan, that's gross."
"What? It's a hospital, the floor's clean."
He's undeniably pleased with himself as Arianna laughs lightly, her green eyes crinkling with amusement. "Sure."
She hands him a spoon and studies his face. "How are you feeling?" She asks, tearing off the lid of the container, "You definitely look better."
It's true; there's barely any sign of the horrific bruising around his face that had been there the last time she'd seen him.
He laughs his odd half-chuckle, "Yeah, like that's hard." He swings his legs up onto the bed so he's sitting cross-legged.
Arianna smiles and settles herself into the chair next him, her feet propped up on the edge of the hard mattress. She's silent as she absently digs around in the rapidly softening tub. Kaidan watches her, a small frown playing across his face. There's something stirring, hidden behind her eyes and there's a sort of anxious set to her features. He's never seen it in her before; not even when they were en route to is deep-seated, not at all the same nervous awkwardness they've been feeling around each other. No, this is different and it's intensely unsettling.
"So when are they letting you out?"
Kaidan snorts derisively, "You can't see it now but I'm tied here by medical red tape." He sighs, "My implant got," he pauses, looking for the right word, "rattled. So the Doc wants to run some more tests before I get the all clear."
He's beyond frustrated at being cooped up, she can tell. "Need me to break you out?"
He laughs, "I'll let you know."
There's a half awkward silence as they trail off. Arianna stares out of the window at the hovercars whizzing past. Their old apartment is not far from here, she remembers with a jolt of something she can't quite put her finger on.
"Thankyou for coming to visit Ari." Kaidan's voice is soft, a small, uncertain smile playing across his face.
She sighs and gives up all pretence at being able to eat anything, putting the tub back into the freezer box. "You nearly died Kaidan, on my watch." She picks at a loose thread on her trousers, trying to keep her face expressionless.
Kaidan watches as one hand travels inevitably towards her mouth and she chews her fingernails, her eyes betraying some of the emotion she's trying to push into a corner. He frowns, just how much has she been bottling away lately?
"Ari?"
She stands up, suddenly uncomfortable and fidgety. "I should go, Bailey wants me to…"
"Arianna."
Her fists are clenched shut, he notices, and she's stubbornly staring out of the window. He sighs, resigned to the fact that she's not going to talk to him; he lost that right the minute he doubted her and it's going to take more time to get it back.
"Thanks for coming to see me. It meant a lot." He says, finally.
She just nods, picks up the bag and then she's gone.
He huffs out a breath in frustration and not a small amount of worry. If she doesn't find someone to talk to soon, like they used to, she's going to implode.
The hospital is quiet.
Emotional explosion in 3...