Waking Up
"Come on!" I yelled to Williams, as the Normandy landed.
As far as missions go, this was pretty much as bad as it gets. We lost Jenkins, Williams' whole platoon was wiped out, Nihlus was dead and now – because of me – the beacon was destroyed and the Commander was unconscious as I carried her back to the ship.
Her breathing was shallow as I cradled her in my arms, and I rushed to the med bay, slamming my elbow on the elevator button as it slowly made its way up. I walked quickly past the mess, but I could see a couple heads rise, and whispering and murmurs quickly filled the room.
"Dr. Chakwas!"
She was at her desk and stood immediately. "Lieutenant! What happened?"
I laid the Commander down on the gurney and helped the doctor remove her armor.
"I don't know, honestly. She was pulled in by some kind of force field by the beacon and it was… it was like something out of the old vids! She was lifted up in the air for a couple secs, before the beacon exploded. The blast threw her back and she hasn't regained consciousness since."
"Well, don't worry, Lieutenant. Nothing's broken and her vitals look good." She said as she scanned the Commander with her omnitool. "I'll run some tests, but we'll have to wait until she wakes up on her own." She turned to look at me and smiled softly. It reminded me of my mother. "Are you okay, Lieutenant?"
"I'm fine, ma'am."
"Good. You should get some rest."
"I…" I knew I was being dismissed, but I didn't want to leave. It was my fault that the Commander was here, and it didn't feel right to leave her.
"Lieutenant." I heard the Captain's voice behind me and stood at attention, while suppressing a sigh. It seemed I didn't have a choice. "At ease. How is she, doc?"
"Don't worry, Captain. She'll be fine. Now, I need you both to go, while I run some tests. I'll let you know if anything changes."
"Good. Lieutenant, I need you in the comm room for a debriefing."
"Yes, sir."
We walked to the comm room in silence, Williams already there when we went in. The Captain rubbed his forehead and sighed before turning.
"Alenko, what the hell happened down there?"
I explained everything, from Jenkins to the beacon and soon he turned his attention to Williams, and she explained everything that had happened before we landed; how the geth had swarmed the colony, how her platoon had been wiped out and she was the only one left until she met up with me and Shepard.
"This is bad… Not only did we fail to get the beacon, but a Spectre is dead, and we have no proof we weren't behind it.." He sighed. "All right, well, first things first, we have to wait for the Commander to wake up and then we'll set course for the Citadel. I imagine you're both tired, go clean yourselves up and get something to eat. Dismissed."
"Yes, sir." We both saluted and I turned to leave, but I noticed Williams stayed behind. Probably just waiting for orders.
I made my way to my locker, grabbing a towel before making my way to the showers. As the water ran warm, I allowed myself to rest my head against the wall, fatigue finally hitting me. I closed my eyes, trying to will the coming migraine away and relax my muscles, before grabbing some soap and shampoo. I was in and out in less than five minutes, and as soon as I shut the water off, my stomach growled.
I dressed quickly and walked to the mess. I grabbed a random tray, not even caring what was on it. As I gulfed down the chicken curry and yellow rice, a voice made me jump.
"Whoa, slow down there, LT! I know that thing doesn't taste nearly as good as you're making it seem." Ashley sat down across from me.
I laughed and reached for a napkin. "I was hungry."
"Yeah, I can tell."
We ate in companionable silence before she asked, "So, how's the Commander?"
"Doc say she's going to be fine… Running tests, just waiting for her to wake up."
She looked at me with sympathetic eyes. "It wasn't your fault, you know."
"What?"
"What happened to her – it wasn't your fault." I stared at her, trying to come up with something to say, when she spoke up again. "It could've happened to anyone. Hell, it would've happened regardless, to whoever was tasked with bringing that thing on board. It was just… bad timing."
I gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, thanks."
"No problem. Have you served under her long?"
"No, this was our first mission working together."
She laughed. "The woman comes barging in, shooting everything in her way while switching between five different weapons, and when she sees me in the middle of a hot zone, the first thing she asks is if I'm okay. She's definitely something."
"Yeah, and before that she had just congratulated our pilot for stealing this ship on its first test run."
"Uh… what?"
"Long story. Ask Joker."
"I will. I'm being reassigned here. Just finished speaking with the Captain."
"Nice to have you on board, Chief."
"Nice to be on board, LT."
I finished eating and stood up. "Well, I'm going to try and get some sleep. Good night, chief."
"Night, LT."
I walked to my pod and was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
I woke up the next morning at 0700 hours. I went to the bathroom for a quick shower, stuffed my things in my locker, grabbed an energy bar and went to the medbay, all in less than 30 minutes. I was eager to get to the medbay to check on the Commander. I still felt guilty she was in there because of me, because of my curiosity.
The fact that she jumped in front of it to save my ass didn't exactly make me feel better. I mean, what kind of woman jumps in front of a force field to protect a subordinate she barely knows? It should've been me…
I walked into the medbay to find Doc already awake. "Hey, Doc."
"Good morning, Kaidan."
"Any news?"
She shook her head. "No changes yet. Her vitals look good, but –"
She was interrupted by a small groan. I ran to the Commander's bed, almost sighing in relief. She was alive, awake.
"Doctor!" I called, and she immediately stood. "Dr. Chakwas! I think she's waking up." I turned back to Shepard, who was covering her eyes with her forearms, shielding them from the light. She tried to sit up and groaned before laying back down.
"No, don't get up."
"You had us worried there, Shepard. How are you feeling?"
"Minor throbbing. Nothing serious." She rubbed her eyes once more before looking at the Doc. "How long was I out?"
"About 15 hours. Something happened down there with the beacon, I think."
"It was my fault." I jumped up and she turned to look at me. "I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You… uh, had to push me out of the way."
She gave me a small, reassuring smile which brought out dimples on her cheeks. "Don't blame yourself, Kaidan. You had no way of knowing what would happen."
I felt the blush on my cheeks and was thankful when Doc spoke up and she looked away.
"Actually, we don't even know what set it off. Unfortunately, we'll never get a chance to find out."
"What do you mean?"
"The beacon exploded. A system overload, maybe. The blast knocked you cold. I had to carry you back here to the ship."
"Well, shit." She rubbed her forehead. She suddenly lifted her head, embarrassed. "Sorry. I meant, um, thanks. I appreciate it."
I couldn't help my snort of a laugh, which I tried to cover with a cough.
"Physically, you're fine. But I detected some unusual brain activity, abnormal beta waves. I also noticed an increase in your rapid eye movement, signs typically associated with intense dreaming."
"I… I don't think I was dreaming. It was a vision of some kind. I saw – I'm not sure what I saw. Death. Destruction. Nothing's really clear."
She looked troubled, almost frustrated, as if it was her own fault for not being able to figure it out.
"Hmm… I better add this to my report. It may – Oh, Captain Anderson!"
The Captain came in, clearly relieved the Commander had woken up. He immediately dismissed me, asking to speak to her alone.
"I'll be in the mess if you need me."
I saluted and the Captain nodded.
"Lieutenant!"
I turned.
"Thanks for everything." Shepard was blushing, I realized. I flashed her a smile and she smiled back. Damn, those dimples were cute.
"Yeah, don't mention it Commander."