The first thing Vega noticed when he woke up was that he was feeling sore as hell, the pain almost put him out again, the second was that he was naked waist up, and the third was that there was a familiar figure sitting in a chair next to him with her legs crossed with a frown on her face as she scrolled through some messages on her omni-tool.
"Hey sexy lady." his voice was rough and weak from pain and dehydration and he looked at Shepard's startled face with a weak laugh. He didn't attempt to move, he already knew he wouldn't be able to.
"You're awake." was all she said dumbfounded and she shut off her omni-tool. Her face grew pink and her mouth opened and closed as she tried to find the right words. Should she get mad first? Relieved? Happy?
"Um..yeah." James blinked at her, he paused,"How bad was it?" he asked seriously. How long had he been out? God, his back was killing him. He remembered taking a rocket in the back for Lola and then passing out on impact. Hell, he had been prepared to die but being alive and awake right now was a good feeling too.
"Do you have a deathwish?" Shepard's face turned red, all shock receding from her face and replaced with anger, "This is the second time Liuetenant Vega. If this happens again, I'll leave you on some forsaken planet like Parnack with the Yahgs. I could turn you in for insubordination."
"For saving your life?" James readied himself and pulled himself up with a groan. Oh man, he was so out of shape now. He could already feel the weakness in his shoulder and arms. Of course...he had been out for a while. Why did he try to move? He winced and blinked back the sudden watering in his eyes resulting from the pain.
"What are you doing? You're supposed to lie on your stomach!" Shepard yanked him down again and he grunted when his face smacked into the bed,"And I never asked to be saved by you!" she was standing up and glaring at him,
"Well isn't that a fine way to thank me." James replied sarcastically. He immediately regretted it. It sounded as if he wanted to be rewarded or recognized for saving the famous Commander Shepard, like he was trying to gain a name for himself by using her.
Shepard's face went devoid of all emotion and she looked at him through hard eyes,"You want me to thank you? Then get off my ship." she replied coldly,"I'm sure that you'll be welcome just about anywhere now."
There was a pause and then "You know that's not what I meant Lola." James sighed and looked up at her through bleary eyes. It must have been really bad if she was this pissed.
Suddenly she sighed deflating a little and the usual smile lit on her face,"I know lieutenant." she sat down in her chair,"I'm sorry for the dramatics." she laughed a little,"You just gave everyone a big scare. Hell, you gave me a good scare." she stood up to press a button,"I should tell the nurse that you're awake, we'll talk after okay?" she ignored his protesting with a smile and pressed the button before walking out,"We'll visit you later." she waved and turned her back on him walking out through the doors.
James sighed and closed his eyes, what a day, he thought to himself. He didn't think that the first person that he'd see was Lola.
"I've been out for almost a month?" James looked at Liara and Garrus almost in disbelief, he was still lying on his stomach. Two days had passed since he had awakened and his very first visitors (besides Lola) were the asari and turian,"What'd I miss?" he demanded to know and looked between the aliens.
Garrus shrugged,"Not much actually." his voice drawled out,"We just ran around the galaxy running errands for the council and gathering war assets." he was sitting down in a chair next to James.
"You weren't supposed to wake up actually." Liara said in her soft voice,"You lost too much blood and the damage was too extensive. There was almost no chance that you would have survived." she looked at him carefully before continuing,"The doctors also said that your mental state had further convinced your body that you had 'died'...or I guess that the simpler term would be that you had given up on life."
There was a peculiar silence in the room now as Liara cautiously looked at James unsure of whether she had offended him in some way or not,"I'm sorry." she burst out and apologized,"I said something that I wasn't supposed to say." she looked regretful and almost tearful. It was reminiscent of how Liara had been back before she had gone through her own share of trials with the Shadow Broker.
"No worries." James reassured her with a grin,"It's nothing like that." he laughed and then winced when he strained his back a little too much. He couldn't help but to think about what Liara had said though...it just got under his skin for some reason. I mean...come on..did he really give up on life? He was way past that thanks to Lola. Right?
"Hey guys." a new voice cut in almost too cheerfully causing everyone to look at the newcomer.
"Shepard." Liara and Garrus nodded at her and then stood up to leave when she entered the room.
"Oh you guys can stay." Shepard stopped them but they just shrugged.
"We've stayed for too long anyway." Garrus looked over at James,"See you later Vega." he called out as he walked out.
"Hope you get well as soon as you can." Liara gave him a soft smile before exiting.
Shepard frowned but when the door closed she turned back to James,"How are you feeling?" she asked and took the seat that Garrus had been sitting in.
"Like shit." James replied still thinking about what Liara had said. Rehabilitation was a pain but it felt good to move around again. When he woke up, the nurse had come into the room and given him a general overview of his condition.
An extensive network of cybernetics had been placed in his back where the rocket had hit. He had received damage to parts of his spine, ribs, part of his kidneys, lungs, his arteries and veins had been disintegrated by the extreme heat. His shoulder blades were luckily unharmed but his back muscles were burned out and had been nothing but a black charcoal mess. They'd had to regrow parts of his organs, had placed multiple skin grafts on his back via surgery and now there were robotics placed inside of him to make sure that his muscles and nerves all functioned correctly together and wouldn't reject the new tissue that was now a part of him. (Yes...complications could still occur even if the tissue was technically him)
His bones had also been reinforced (some replaced) with titanium alloy since most of his original bones had been shattered or broken by the impact. He was as good as new, maybe even better now with his upgraded body, though it didn't stop hurting since he was still recuperating from his extensive surgeries. He was lucky that the rocket had hit his back and not his head.
It was a miracle that he had survived and recovered so well.
According to the nurse Shepard had also had a checkup (he was sure it was because Garrus and Liara forced her to) and he was told that she was lucky to get away with minor bruises and burns. It's not that they didn't trust Chakwas, it was just better to be safe than sorry.
"Did the doctors say anything about when you'd be released?" she asked curiously and looked him over. He was skinnier than before and there was a giant red-pink circle shaped scar on his back, but from what she could tell, he was healing up nicely.
"In about a month." he replied easily,"Miss me that much?" he grinned at her cheekily.
Shepard rolled her eyes,"Oh please, like I have time. I have a war to win in case you haven't noticed." her face was relaxed as she sat back in her chair.
"Ouch Lola." James said,"Can't you put down a guy more gently?"
"Just be ready until you get discharged." Shepard laughed,"No mercy for you once you get back on the ship." he looked at her, there were no signs of trauma on her face, they had likely been healed by medi-gel and Dr. Chakwas's diligence in checking up on the commander's health.
He felt a tiny prick of relief at realizing that he had protected her. He had saved the commander. No, it wasn't gloating or pride, it was relief that she was there well and alive talking to him. For once in a very long time, he felt accomplished, he had done something worth every bit of pain and injury he had received. It was a purpose...well, other than fighting the reapers and saving the galaxy alongside Shepard.
She didn't need protecting. The woman was more than capable of doing that, there was no questioning her strength or her capabilities, but what he wanted was to be beside her and fight like hell to survive with her. Only the best remained at her side, and only the best was needed by her. He wanted to be there.
They talked for a few more hours, exchanging sarcastic comments and personal battle stories, expressing opinions on just about anything and everything they could think of and for a few moments, James forgot that he was talking to a superior officer. He was just talking to a fascinating and beautiful woman.
Shepard made it so easy for him to forget that. Her open personality, the way she joked around with everyone, and the way she didn't demand respect from her subordinates. Of course she did have her moments, but those moments weren't without good reason either.
"Seriously Vega?" Shepard raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms, "You're really going to try and one-up me? Commander Shepard? You know, the first human spectre?"
"That doesn't count Lola." James chuckled, "Technically Anderson was the first human spectre, so there's nothing you can say about that."
Shepard frowned for a moment as she thought about it, "Fine." she conceded, "But I survived a suicide mission into the Omega-4 relay, blew up the collector homeworld, defeated a giant human reaper, and managed to come back with all of my crew members."
James paused for a moment, "A giant human reaper?" he asked half serious and half ready to come out with a sarcastic one-liner. There's no way. All of the reapers he had seen were all those weird prawn looking things.
"It was a work in progress." Shepard suddenly looked a bit sheepish. She wasn't the type to boast about her achievements and it was starting to bother her a little bit, "That's one of the reasons why the collectors were harvesting humans."
There was a moment of silence as James let that sink in. Harvesting humans to make a reaper, "Well, now I'm a thousand times more creeped out." he gave a little grimace thinking about the reapers. All made up of dead civilizations. Dead races. Then he looked at Shepard with a half smile, "Alright, I guess you win this round Lola." he let out a little chuckle as they went back to their previous discussion.
"Of course lieutenant." she stood up and smiled, "There's no one on the Normandy who can win me." her omni-tool blipped and started blinking indicating a message, "Now I gotta go take care of a few things. Rest up." she ruffled his hair with a hand and laughed when he tried to move away, "It was nice seeing you. The Normandy will be back on the date of your release."
"No rest for the weary huh?" James murmured to himself as he watched Shepard walk out of his room. He had almost forgotten that he was at Huerta Memorial Hospital for a moment...