Case Notes: First off, let me apologize for all the fake-outs with the notifications for a new chapter! I promise, this is the real Chapter 4!
Second, I'd love to thank OfficialWeedTesterGuy and Ateht, who have been my faithful reviewers, as well as the few ANONs I've gotten.
Finally, before you enjoy the new chapter, check my profile for an original musical work titled Dawn of Battle. I wrote it as a theme for my other story, aptly called Dawn of Battle.
Thanks again everyone, Fav, Follow, and keep those reviews flowing!
End Case Notes
A cold blast of air hit my face. I was forced to squint as I tried to look on for my sought-after prize, until finally, there she was. My favorite. Half of a leftover peperoni pizza, still in the box, on the top shelf of the break room fridge. I couldn't help but smile. Even this, day old pizza was a godsend compared to the Hospital's cafeteria food. And even then, I was a pizza fiend. I quickly swiped up the box, flipping the door closed as I fast-walked back to Visia. I couldn't help but want to see what kinds of food she had brought along for her mission, especially since it was based on her species unique type of amino acids.
I finished the now familiar walk back to her bedside, dropping down into the chair while she rooted through her pack, what I could only guess as to find a good meal. She seemed to have made up her mind with a satisfied hmph as she stepped back to the bed, hopping up and hanging off the side, getting comfortable. Looking to the small box in her hands, she noticed my confused stare only to shake her head and chuckle as she pressed a small button on the front, turning a small indicator yellow. In only a few seconds, though, the box's dimensions grew somewhat, and the light became green, before a seal gave a slight hiss and opened. Steam came in small wisps out of the sliver of a gap, and after Visia opened the lid I couldn't help but gasp slightly in admiration at the full, dinner-sized meal she had now in her lap. I had no idea what-in-the-hell anything was, besides gleaming that she had some sort of meat, a purple vegetable, and a type of roll all neatly packed in the box.
She lastly pulled over a small bedside table, the standard that comes in every hospital room anywhere, setting her box down next to her large cup of water I scrounged up for her earlier. "Hold the phone, that whole meal there, that was packed in the tiny box? I know soldiers have MREs but how?!" I asked, trying to wrap my mind around the seemingly five-star meal she now had. That sure put my pizza to shame.
"What, this? This is just a standard Turian military ration pack. These are issued to every soldier on mission, and in my case as a long-term food source. It's not bad, but if you taste Citadel food you'll have a huge difference!" she joked. "I don't know much on how it works, besides the fact that it has something to do with rehydration and then chemically heating it… and a bit of Turian dark magic…" She grinned at that last small statement, trying to guess my reaction.
"Oh ha, ha. Very funny, we all know no one can really have magical powers, it's just a myth!" I fired back, thinking I beat her to the punch this time.
"Yeah… you'd think that… until you met a biotic." She grinned even wider with her mandibles. Needless to say, my jaw dropped for the hundredth time that day.
"W-what?! Biotic?!" I stammered, nearly every truth I had ever been taught being questioned over the course of only two days.
"Yeah, biotics! They, basically due to a special element called Element Zero, are able to do things like, oh pick things up, throw things, create singularities, and… casually rip your body atom from atom like disassembling a microscopic puzzle!" She added cheerily.
My eyes bugged out, I struggled to find words as my mouth tried to form them. Oh shit, is she a biotic?! Dear God, please don't be. I almost nearly ran out of her room yet again at that, but I figured we were on speaking terms, and that I was safe for a while if she was one of those… biotics.
"Ahh… Cole don't be so worried! I'm no biotic, and even if I was I wouldn't do anything to your atoms! We're friends, I'd say. You saved me from my wreck, for one, so I owe you one in that regard." She laughed at my belief that she'd toss me around with her magical powers like a human ragdoll.
"Sure, I guess that's fair. Let's shake on it, just to be safe." This time I was the one that grinned, knowing this very human gesture would go right over her head.
"What's 'shake on it'? Why would you want me to shake around on anything?" She scratched her neck in confusion, trying to think what I possibly could have meant.
"Hah, gotcha. It's a human gesture. You take your right hand, like this," I held out my hand towards her, "then you take the other person's hand in a gentle, but firm grip," I met her hand, and she cautiously wrapped her clawed hand around my own, "and finally, shake, like this…" I finished off the cheesy gesture, and she seemed satisfied, contemplating what just happened.
That's how it went for the next several days. We would sit and talk while I was off-duty, sharing meals and stories about each other's background, what our cultures were like, different mannerisms and the like. I would only leave her side to make a quick trip home to change or shower and bring back more food, or of course when I was working. While I was out, she told me she would take notes on our talks, recording different things to take back to her people when she inevitably went back to her 'Citadel'
Over the course of the week she had been here, we had gotten to be good friends. We were nearly inseparable, never truly satisfied unless we were having one of our conversations or trading back and forth sarcasm and terrible jokes. I'd have to say that Visia became my best friend in the course of a few days, whereas other friendships, with humans, had taken years even to develop into anything meaningful.
One day, I had just gotten off shift and made my way back into her room for another chat before I drove back home for a little while. She put down a small tablet device, she had told me at one point that it was equipped with some advanced communicator. She seemed overly excited, more than I was used to seeing after getting to know her. It was no surprise that as soon as she saw me she jumped up and ran over. "Cole, Cole, Cole I have amazing news! I heard back from the Citadel, and they told me they're sending a corvette to pick me up! They'll be here in just over 2 weeks from today! I'm going to get to go home! Yes!" She jumped quite literally for joy, her feet causing a light rumble on the floor.
I was happy for her, I really was, but a part of me pained to hear that my best friend would be leaving. We had only just started getting to know each other, even though we spent nearly all our time together we had barely scratched the surface. I tried to be cheerful, but my sadness showed as I replied, "Visia, that's great! I'm really happy, you'll be home again…" I forced a smile, but she knew something was up. Her joyful smile soon turned into a sad, confused look, her mandibles drooping when she realized too what this meant. Her sadness didn't last long though before she perked up again.
"Hey, I could always leave you my data pad, this would be able to send messages between the two of us at least, and who knows, maybe I'll even get to come back for a follow up mission! I am now the… leading expert on all things human." She chuckled some, giving me a playful jab with her armor-covered elbow.
"Alright, fair enough. It still sucks though. Don't get me wrong I'm happy for you, but I won't get to see you again in person for maybe even a few years… this just sucks…" I looked away, and she made her way over to me, one of her clawed hands on my shoulder before she spoke again.
She closed her eyes and thought for a moment before telling me, "You know we still have two weeks, let's just make the most out of it, and cross that bridge when we come to it, alright?" Damn she's persuasive. I nod, moving over to sit in my now very familiar chair.
A lightbulb went off in my head right as I hit the chair, and immediately my better mood came back. Visia noticed right away, but didn't have time to ask before I told her, "Why don't we both blow out of this old place anyway? I'm sure it'd be a lot more comfortable for you to stay at my place, and it's really close to the hospital too if you'd ever need something while I'm at work. Better than spending your last two weeks on Earth cooped up inside this tiny room, right?"
"Spirits, Cole, only if you're alright with that. I'd hate to impose, really, I couldn't do that. You've been nice enough already and…" I cut her off, holding up a finger with a grin.
"Visia, it's fine! I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't sure, right? The house was made for a family of four or five, so I have bedrooms to spare. Plus, I'm sure now that you won't outright take me out in my sleep, seeing as it's been a week…" I joked, before motioning to her bags. "C'mon, get all packed up. I'm off for the day so we can leave right now. I'm sure you don't want to miss some of the scenery while the sun's still up."
While she put her bags of gear back in order, I started setting up the room to the way it's meant to be, putting back equipment, changing linens, wiping things down so it's ready to use. By the time all my extra work was done, she seemed ready enough to leave. "You have everything you need?" I asked, and she looked once more around the room to be sure.
"I'm all set!" She answered confidently, her mandibles wide with excitement. I motioned for her to follow me out, taking the path to the ambulance doors. She turned around before we left and gave a wave to my team, especially Angie, all of whom had gotten to know and like her over the past week. With that last wave, we walked out towards the staff parking lot, my small, modern sedan waiting. Little did I know was that as we walked out the door, George, the guard, was glaring at the both of us, filled with fear and hate.
Taking my small key fob in hand, I popped the trunk, helping Visia load up her bags and dropping my work bag in with them. Pushing the large trunk closed, making sure it was locked tight, I help Visia into the small seat. It was no easy task, with her in her bulky armor, but she fit nonetheless. Once she was buckled, I jumped in the driver's seat, the engine firing up with a satisfying whirr. What happened next was priceless. The radio jumped on as a result of the car starting, and my stereo was set to blare alternative rock, which made Visia jump with a slight hint of fear at the aggressive volume.
"Whoops, forgot about my music… sorry…" I quickly apologized, turning the music down to a nice level before setting off into the short ten-minute drive. Hardly any words were shared as we made our way back to my house, as Visia simply took in the view from the back roads of my small town. I wondered what she would think of all the lush, green trees and bright colored flowers, having heard that her planet was lacking in colors besides drab gray and the occasional purple-blue.
The ride was nearly done, though as I turned onto my long driveway. My modest two-story house seemingly towered over the dogwood trees that were planted many years ago when I was still very young. The flowery branches amazed Visia as I turned the car off, opening the trunk once more as we both stepped out into the warm air.
Leaving her to muse over nature, I grabbed all of her gear and my own small bag, fumbling for my key as I walked up the path to my front porch. She followed, albeit reluctantly, as she was obviously enjoying her time out in the open air. As my door unlocked and opened, she looked inside to see the main stairwell, leading up to multiple doors, a small living area immediately left, and my office on the right. A nice kitchen could be seen in the back left, and my prized possession, a leather sectional, to the back right in the larger living room.
She admired the size of it all, having only a small apartment in the wards of the Citadel, she had told me. After a few seconds of looking around her new home for a few weeks, she turned to me, "This place is amazing, Cole! Such beautiful scenery, and I love the house, too! As much as I want to explore a little, I should probably get some sleep…" She yawned, pretty subtly, and I laughed before nodding and leading her up the staircase.
"So, this one's going to be yours for as long as you're here! Hopefully you like it, it's the biggest guest room and has a nice bed too." I gestured to the moderate sized bedroom, painted a blue-gray, with dark brown and silver furnishings. A full-sized bed occupied the center, and apparently it was calling her name, as she took a couple steps forward and literally fell forward onto the comfortable mattress.
"Mhmm… I really like it… thanks, Cole" She says, catching my gaze with a warm smile before shutting her eyes. I flip off the light before setting her bags on the landing outside. Making my way over to the master bedroom, I carelessly toss my white coat on a family heirloom rocking chair in the corner before matching Visia's move with my king size bed, dropping right into the center and falling right asleep, exhausted from a long day. I dreamt of what her homeworld looked like, and what her apartment could be as the hours ticked by until my Saturday off.