Chapter 2: Hello Again
Today – St. Thomas Hospital, London – Earth
"Any updates?" Liara asked the hospital representative again, her voice tight with worry.
The hospital representative sighed, clearly weary. "With all due respect, Doctor T'Soni, if
I had news, you'd be the first to know. They're still in surgery."
Liara sighed as well, rubbing her tired eyes.
"Just leave her alone, Liara," Joker muttered. He was sitting nearby, adjusting a splint
on his leg. His tone was sharper than intended. "They've been at it for twenty hours, and
we basically brought the Commander in a picnic cooler."
The crew groaned at the grim joke. Even Joker winced, realizing too late how
insensitive he'd sounded.
A flurry of exhausted doctors and nurses suddenly swept through the hall. The hospital
representative stepped out to intercept one, leaving the crew to exchange anxious
glances. Garrus watched as Liara activated her omni-tool, her fingers trembling as she
read the notes from the surgeons.
The tension was unbearable. Silence hung heavy in the air as everyone held their
breath. Then, finally, Liara looked up. Two words fell from her lips, quiet but seismic.
"She's alive."
A collective exhale rippled through the group, followed by elated chaos. Samara
dropped to her knees in prayer, her composure breaking. Kasumi and Traynor threw
their arms around each other, crying openly. Wrex and Grunt embraced like father and
son, roaring their relief. Tali and Liara clasped hands, sharing a quiet, tearful moment of
gratitude. James practically tackled Kaidan in a bear hug.
It was a tableau of unrestrained joy, yet Garrus stood frozen in place. He simply closed
his eyes, tilting his head back as the weight of those words sank in.
Shepard was alive.
He didn't know what remained of the woman he loved, but for now, it didn't matter. She
was breathing. Her heart was beating. That was enough.
Memories flooded his mind—the first night they had spent together, how he'd stayed
awake just to watch her sleep. Her chest had risen and fallen in a gentle rhythm under
the thin silk sheets. He'd matched her breathing then.
Up. Hold. Down. Hold.
The memory shattered.
"Shepard!? Annie?! Commander? COMMANDER?!"
Garrus was thrust back to that moment—the rubble of the Citadel, Kaidan's panicked
screams slicing through the chaos. They had lived the scene less than 36 hours ago.
But it felt like a lifetime.
The squad had raced into the ruins, desperate to find her. Tali's radar had detected faint
life signs in the western quadrant, and that was all they needed. The entire team had
scrambled over debris, digging with raw hands and broken tools. Even Javik had joined
the frantic search.
Garrus's legs had carried him without thought, the fear numbing any sense of
exhaustion. Hours bled into each other as they tore through the wreckage. They found
nothing. Corpses, yes—but not her.
Then came Kaidan's scream, raw and unfiltered. "Shepard!? Annie?! Commander?!"
Nobody called her by her first name. It felt almost sacrilegious. But Garrus knew. They'd
found something—her.
Kaiden knelt, his hands trembling as he uncovered a broken hand, two of its fingers
bent unnaturally.
"How do you know it's her?" Garrus demanded, his voice sharp with alarm.
Kaidan pulled on the wrist, revealing a sleeve with the unmistakable N7 stripe.
"Spirits…" Garrus dropped to his knees beside Kaidan, grasping the cold, lifeless hand.
"Shepard! Shepard! Annie? Can you hear me?"
Liara's voice rose in the background, frantic but commanding. "By the Goddess, get Dr.
Chakwas! Don't just stand there!"
The crew worked tirelessly, shifting rubble piece by piece. Jack surprised them all by
using her biotics with an almost surgical precision, sweat dripping from her brow as she
focused on freeing Shepard.
Dr. Chakwas hovered nearby, her frustration evident. "I can't get a reading—she's too
buried."
"She's alive," Tali choked out through tears. "Keelah, please. Let me be right."
Garrus moved aside a bloodied clump of hair, revealing the battered remains of
Shepard's ear. Metal and flesh melding into its shape. He spoke softly now, his
desperation tempered by hope. "Shepard… if you can hear me, if you're still fighting…
show me. Squeeze my hand. Prove your crazy boyfriend right."
He squeezed her hand tightly, willing her to respond. Seconds stretched into eternity.
Then, faintly, her fingers curled around his talon.
"She's alive!" Garrus shouted, his voice cracking. "She squeezed my hand! Call
Hackett—we need to get her medical attention now!"
Back in the present, a gentle touch on his shoulder waking Garrus up from his
impromptu nap. He blinked and looked up into Liara's concerned eyes.
"How long was I out?" he asked, realizing he'd sunk to the floor.
"About an hour," Liara said softly. "You didn't miss anything. She's out of surgery, but
they're not allowing visitors. The rest of the crew has returned to the Normandy to rest."
"I'm not leaving her," Garrus said firmly, adjusting his under armor. "Not now. Not ever."
Liara's lips curved into a small smile. "I wasn't going to suggest that. I was going to ask
if you wanted to see her."
"But you just said—"
"They don't know Archangel and the Shadow Broker are among the visitors," she
interrupted, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Together, they stood outside Shepard's darkened hospital room. Liara typed in a code
on her omni-tool, unlocking the door. Garrus pressed a hand to the glass, taking a deep
breath. He braced himself for whatever lay beyond.
The door slid open.
Liara was already crying.
They stepped inside together.