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10-2-2184
[ SERPENT NEBULA | CITADEL | KITHOI WARD | ULLISON MEDICAL CENTER | 8TH FLOOR | ROOM H-8
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"How's it feel?"
"Definitely better than the last one," Juel said when he flexed his machine fingers into a fist, "It's awesome."
Tali nodded happily and Juel gave her a serious look.
"Thank you." Juel mumbled.
"No need to thank me." Tali said, "Thank Liara. Without her good grace, we'd still be stuck getting new patient paperwork."
He nodded at that and kept staring at his new arm.
"Yeah."
"How long's the therapy?"
"A week." The salarian doctor next to her answered for Juel as he typed something into his tablet, "About eight hours each day with breaks in-between. After that, he'll be discharged from the hospital."
"Good." Tali said with a small smile before taking a few light steps backward to the door to leave, "Juel? Rest and listen to the doctor, okay?"
"Don't worry." Juel said as he rolled his eyes, "I will."
Both the doctor and Juel watch her leave.
"She yours?" The doctor asked.
"Mm? Oh. No. Not at all. Not ready to be making jumps like that in my life."
"Why not? She seems lovely."
"Last girlfriend got atomized in an explosion. Really not interested in love right now."
"...Oh." Is all the doctor could mumble before burying his attention into his tablet and keeping his mouth shut for the rest of the check-up.
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A day later.
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"John?" ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ
Her whisper tore through silence. A blade slicing his mental fabric.
Agony. Raw and unrelenting. He screamed something primal. A harrowing sound that shred his throat.
"...You promised." Her voice was a symphony of pain and an ache of her shattered dreams.
He fell to his knees, hands clasped against his ears that bled to stanch the pain tearing into his soul.
"Stop. Please!" He bellowed. Blood flowed freely from his nose and his eyes were squelched of sight.
"How could you...?" Her melody was betrayal and it echoed into him, "How…?"
Blood flowed freely. A crimson river down his pale face as he curled himself into a broken ball. Hands pressed harder against his head to seek refuge from her relentless whispers and piercing cry.
"Please! Stop! You're killing me!"
And then, the void claimed her. She was gone, leaving behind only echoes of emptiness.
Silence followed. But Saren soon emerged from an encircled darkness. Gaze distant. Eyes hollow and devoid of mercy.
𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉.
Vision swimming, John met Arterius' hellborn stare. Beyond Saren's spectral form, was Tali, staring lifelessly up toward a reaper that loomed.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝘽𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙙.
She was soon consumed by fire and destruction and John's scream pierced the chaos.
He staggered to his broken feet and pushed past the spectre that haunted him.
Saren's smoke parted, revealing something broken. Blood drained from his tone and John was left to witness moments before an end.
"John." Her hand reached up and it trembled with life that began to fade, "Hold me."
Saren's ghost reappeared, looming over John's shoulder, his stare a void that threatened to consume him.
𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝘿𝙞𝙚.
And John, in the heart of his storm, felt the universe die around him.
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"There. On the monitor. Something's wrong."
John's labored breathing from the lab forced Wilson to look up from his work.
As Shepard's eyes opened, he could see Wilson and Miranda walking around him.
"God. He's reacting again... I think he's waking up." Wilson set down his tablet on the counter behind him in a hurry before facing John.
"Wilson... give him the sedative! We can't risk another accident like this!" Miranda ordered harshly.
"Go!" Wilson said, "Get the techs and the crash cart!" Wilson firmly pressed Shepard's arm back down onto the table. "Do it, Miranda!" He yelled before turning back to John, "Commander, calm down. Lie still. You were just dreaming. Nothing happened."
John didn't relent and Wilson leaned over him more. "Shepard? If you wanna stay awake, you need to calm. down."
John did his best and started taking deep lungfuls of air to get himself to calm down.
"...Good. We're here to help, okay?" Wilson set a hand on his shoulder as Miranda came up from behind with a look of what John could only guess as 'almost shocked'.
"My name's Doctor Wilson. You're in a medical facility. We'll answer any questions you have as soon as possible, okay?"
John tried to open his mouth to say something, but Wilson interrupted him quickly by raising a hand and giving him a serious frown.
"Don't talk. We had to repair some stuff in there. It's healing. You thirsty?"
John nodded and pain shot up like needles into his skull. He felt like groaning, but he stopped himself from doing that too.
"Okay... Don't move or you'll be on that bed for another three months. Got it? ...Good. I'll be right back."
Miranda kept staring at John and he ignored her. He looked up to see several cameras and over a dozen instruments hovering around and above him.
His back felt damp and his skin moist. That nightmare he had just moments before really took it out of him.
Seeing Tali like that...
He didn't even want to think about it. So he kept staring at the ceiling and tried thinking about the last thing he could remember.
The collectors flashed into his mind. Ullipses. The crash landing.
It was all coming back to him. But the very last thing he remembered however, was being sucked out of the Denmark's cargo bay into space.
...Things got a little fuzzy after that. But the question remained. Where was he now? How long was he out?
...Did anybody else even survive?
What about Tali? Or Garrus, Wrex, Liara, Ash, and everyone else in his crew?
"Back." Wilson said with a pitcher and cup full of water. That Miranda woman still stood by him, staring.
"I'm going to put the straw in your mouth, Commander." Wilson said as he put the cup near his mouth, "Drink slowly. I cannot stress that enough."
Just as he said he would, Wilson put the straw in John's mouth and he began to drink. When John looked satisfied, he pulled the straw away and set it beside him.
"Here's a notepad. Go ahead and write your questions down if you have any." Wilson handed him a paper and pen. "After, we'll ask you some questions too."
John scribbled sloppily on the paper and handed it back to Wilson to read.
-crew. where are they-
"God. He still remembers." Miranda said, completely astonished.
John furrowed his brows in worry. What the hell is that supposed to mean?
"Anyone who survived the events of Ullipses were posted elsewhere..." Wilson handed him back the little notepad.
-who survived-
-Only half your crew lived, Commander." Miranda answered evenly, but under a tone of slight caution and understanding, "As for the non-Alliance crew? They came out alive. All of them."
John felt himself relax slightly.
-how long-
Both Wilson and Miranda exchange glances.
"...A long time." Wilson said quietly.
John wrote the words again before underlining them repeatedly.
-HOW LONG-
"...It's the second of October, 2184, Commander. It's been almost a year."