The first thing Shepard became aware of when she regained consciousness was that there was no way she could move her extremities. Her lower half was buried under rubble, her arms were pinned behind her in some weird position that made her certain that they were broken. When she opened her eyes, she found that she couldn't see anything and after a brief moment of panic, she realized that she was looking up at a small cave of debris that her head had managed to get stuck in.
Surprisingly, there was no noise, no sounds of life around her. Only the sound of the wind scraping against the rubble of what she assumed was what the Citadel had once been. Had the fight been won? She was so sure that her choice had been correct. She had to believe that.
The taste of grit and dust in her mouth made her face screw up in a grimace as she tried to turn her head and spit. How long had she been stuck here? How long had she been out? What happened to everyone? Her mind wandered back to James and then to the rest of the crew. But enough about that, she had to figure out a way to get out of this.
Her mind returned to her present condition and she wracked her brain trying to think of something. But all her body wanted to do was sleep. The cybernetics and biotic implants were draining her of energy just to keep up a minimal level of performance, and with no food or other source of energy, the robotics turned to her body's storage breaking down fat and protein. At this rate, people would find her body days later and realize that it hadn't been reapers or a bullet in her head that had done her in but the fact that she was starving to death. Oh the irony...the implants were destroying her body to try and keep her alive.
A massive headache slammed her head just then and Shepard let out a wince as she tried to breathe evenly. She knew this feeling very well. In fact, she reckoned that all biotic users knew it well. It happened when the implants were using more energy than was replaced, the sugar that her brain needed to function was being absorbed by the other parts of her body leaving her brain cells deprived.
Suddenly there was the crunch of footsteps growing closer to her. Something she had missed being too caught up in her own thoughts and predicament.
Shepard tensed feeling a great sense of unease at the inability to know who it was. Every instinct in her body was crying out for her to move, to do something but she was had never felt so vulnerable in her life before...except when she had stared up at the thresher maw back on Akuze moments before it destroyed everyone and everything around her.
There was a pause and she could sense that whoever it was, had stopped right beside her exposed torso. She felt a hand at her collarbone and she did everything she could to prevent herself from flinching. The hand was rough but slim and small, it grappled with something on her neck and then there was a click. She felt something light slither across her neck and heard soft metallic clinks as it was pulled away from her. Her dog tags had just been taken.
"This is a report of confirmation." a voice suddenly spoke, it was small and high but not human. Salarian most likely, "We have found the subject. I repeat we have found the subject."
Confusion flooded Shepard as she tried to remain coherent enough to figure out what was going on.
There were a few moments of silence as the unknown person was presumably listening to more orders, "Understood Captain." the voice spoke, "I will confirm her status and call in a team."
Shepard could feel herself getting hazy and start to lose consciousness once more. It seemed as though her body couldn't take it anymore, the pull of energy from her body to keep her implants working was only getting larger by the minute. For now, it was possible that whoever these people were, they were here to help. It was all she could hope for at the moment. And as her mind grew more distant, her consciousness fading, she was left with the last fleeting images of James she couldn't help but to remember as she sank into the depths of sleep.
-.-.
Waking up was not pleasant to say the least.
There was a constant beeping beside her, bubbling, the whirr of machinery, the lights were too bright, her mouth tasted of paper and chalk, her eyes felt glued shut, and more than anything there was a raging hunger burning in her stomach. Shepard tried to move an arm so that she could rub her eyes but was surprised to find that it wouldn't obey her command. Her eyes snapped open and she looked to find that it had been wrapped in a white plaster cast, she looked at her other arm and found that it was overtaken with wires and IV lines all hooked up to a large machine.
Where was she? Shepard looked around the room to find that it was suspiciously empty of everything aside from the bed she was in and the equipment necessary to keep her alive. There were no windows to show her the outside world, only a hidden door to her right, which would have been unnoticeable if it hadn't been for the faint black lines that indicated its presence.
She looked around trying to make sense of what was happening when there was a hiss and a whoosh of air laced with the scent of antiseptic and alcohol.
"I see you're awake Commander." a familiar voice greeted her cheerfully.
Shepard looked at her visitor and her eyes widened, "Kirrahe!" she croaked, her throat was drier than she had anticipated and she let out a little cough, "What's going on?" she asked. There were so many questions swirling around in her mind and she didn't even know where to begin. She was surprised to see Kirrahe in the first place, it was the last alien she had expected to see.
The Salarian's eyes crinkled as he smiled while pouring her a glass of water and stuck a straw in the cup so that she wouldn't have to carry it...not that she could anyway, "It's good to see you alive." his voice was higher than usual and he took a seat in the chair beside her, "I know you'll have a lot of questions so I'll try to answer them the best I can, before that, I'll give you the basics of what happened so far." he looked at her for confirmation and when she nodded he pushed a button on his omni-tool.
Shepard gulped in the water as fast as she could as she listened to Kirrahe. By the gods, who knew water could taste so good? She nodded in thanks when the captain refilled her glass.
"The reapers have been defeated." Kirrahe began, "But the damage to the Citadel is almost irreparable, everyone is now currently trying to regain order. Search and relief teams have been sent out and everyone is working together to clean up the damage done." he paused, "As of right now, no one knows of your survival. People are looking for you commander." his voice was serious.
Shepard was silent for a moment, "I figured." she muttered. Just thinking about all of the conferences to attend and the reports to write were giving her a headache enough to match her hunger. If she returned alive, it would be a field day for everyone. Chaos would ensue and who know what else.
"Right now you're at what's left of a Salarian earth hospital near London Alliance HQ." Kirrahe continued, "The only people aware of your survival are me and my team." he turned off his omni-tool after screening her once, probably to check her vitals and add them to a database.
"How long have I been out?" she asked as she tried to wrap her mind around the situation. She was just relieved that it was Kirrahe who had been the one to search for and find her. She could trust this Salarian, after all, he had a good head on his shoulders (more so than a few select others) and he had a friendy disposition to boot.
"A couple of days." Kirrahe responded as he pressed a button on the wall next to him, "Someone bring in some human food." he spoke into the intercom and then after a voiced confirmation, he turned to Shepard with a grin, "It was interesting to see an unconscious human talk about food while we operated."
Shepard felt her face get hot, "Well I wasn't exactly in the best condition." she muttered and looked away sheepishly...commander Shepard talking about pizza in surgery..that will get the media talking if nothing else.
A serious look suddenly came over Kirrahe's face, "About your condition commander." he looked at Shepard, "There are a few things that I need tell you."
A cold feeling suddenly came over her as she looked at the Salarian's face. This couldn't be good.
"Your injuries weren't major considering what you've been through." Kirrahe said after a pause, "We were actually all surprised that they weren't worse."
"I get that alot." Shepard murmured. Whether it was due to her upgraded body after Cerberus reconstructed her and brought her back or whether it was because she was lucky, she always managed to escape the worst parts of getting hurt.
"We had to take out the network of cybernetics implanted in your right arm, they were damaged during the explosion and were causing your energy intake and use to fluctuate at dangerous levels." he gestured to the arm that was laden with wires and IVs, "For now, those will keep your arm alive provided you don't remove them. We have a team of specialists working to procure replacement parts and building up a newer set of cybernetic implants for you."
"I don't understand why you're doing all of this for me." Shepard suddenly cut in unable to hold herself back, "It must have been difficult to locate me and even more difficult to keep me alive. You have your own place to go back to, your own planet to worry about. Why are you bothering with me?" she frowned unable to understand. It's not that she wasn't grateful, in fact she was so indebted to them she didn't know what she could do to ever repay them, "I'm sure the Alliance would have found me sooner or later."
Kirrahe paused for a moment and tilted his head to the side as he looked at Shepard with clear black eyes, "Commander, have you forgotten that you've saved the lives of me and my men?" he blinked once, "This isn't just a way to repay you. Who wouldn't do this much for a comrade?" he sounded genuinely confused.
Shepard stilled when she heard those words, "I...I guess so." she managed to stammer out. She couldn't argue or say anything back to what Kirrahe said, the way he said it made sense.
"Anyway, to continue on with your condition, there was something else that I needed to mention." Kirrahe leaned back in his chair a little bit, "Although it may not seem like it, your brain is in perilous condition."
"...My..brain?" Shepard asked.
"It's not a major problem." Kirrahe hurried to explain, "We would just like you to be careful for about a year after your external injuries heal. The thing is...after the explosion you'd been buried under the rubble approximately 3-4 days without food and water, broken bones, fractures, and infection. It took us 3 more days to locate where you were and 2 more days to correct your condition." he looked down and then back at Shepard, "During that time, your biotic implants and cybernetics had already been siphoning energy from your glucose stores taking it away from where it was originally supposed to go. But as time lengthened without food or water, the robotics depleted the glucose storage and had to move on to breaking down the fat and protein in your body."
Shepard almost yawned, she respected people in the medical field. She really did. But she didn't understand any of it, "Can I please...have the simple version of it?" she asked as politely as she could.
Kirrahe had to smile but obliged, "In short commander, there was a build up of toxins in your systems that circulated to your brain and on top of severe dehydration and insufficient glucose...well..." he sighed, "You'll be bedridden for a few weeks until your body can compensate for most of the imbalances." he looked away, "There is also potential for permanent damage to a few areas of the brain most affected by the toxins."
"Permanent damage.." Shepard echoed almost as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing, "But I'm fine right now." she protested weakly. She didn't feel any stranger than before, she could think clearly, and she was sure that if the cybernetics in her arm was replaced, she'd be able to move just like before.
"We believe that you will never be able to return to combat ever again." Kirrahe finally said and looked at her. The way he said it with this finality, there was no room for argument.
And Shepard was sure that if it was Kirrahe telling her this, it was true. There wasn't any doubt that this was something the Salarian didn't want to tell her but had to.
She had no choice but to smile, "Well...we'll just have to see how it all works out." she murmured and looked down at her broken body, "You never know until you try." she looked at the surprised captain who just let out a little sigh and smiled back.
The doors opened and a Salarian in a lab coat walked in carrying a tray of steaming food.
"I hope that's a real burger I'm seeing." Shepard eyed the food as the side table was pulled up in front of her and the tray was set down, "Now who's going to feed me?" she looked at the two Salarians with a small grin.
She'll figure out what to do once she recovered. There would always be a way right?