Huerta Memorial Hospital, the Citadel, Wednesday Evening
Huerta Memorial was a crowded hospital. Salarian, human, turian and asari doctors milled around, chatting-- the atmosphere was tense. News of Earth's Reaper invasion had just arrived, and everyone was on edge. More so now that they were aware there was a war hero lying in one of the single rooms, though the room itself was well-guarded.
Shepard paused in the doorway. He... hadn't seen a crewmate in a state like this since... well. Ash had died, so that wasn't quite the same. It was just... yeah. It was something. Something enough that he finally stepped into the room and gave Kaidan a once-over. They'd told him Kaidan was stable now - but he still looked not so great. Enormous amounts of bruising around the face, just to start with.
"Hey, Kaidan," Shepard said quietly. "Don't know that you can hear me, but since you can't tell me to get the hell out either... I'm going to take my chances."
He took a deep breath.
"Don't die, Kaidan. You've got to fight. We need you in this. Seeing you in action again... it reminded me you're a hell of a soldier. The Alliance could sure use you." ... No, not the Alliance. That was stupid, Shepard. "I could use you," he amended.
He felt a presence by his side and glanced over. A human doctor looked back. "You need anything, doc, let me know," Shepard said.
He took another deep breath that made his shoulders move. "C'mon, Kaidan. Fight."
And... he'd like to sit here, make sure that Kaidan wound up all right... but he had a war to fight, and the Council was waiting for him. He stepped out of the room, nodded at Kaidan's friends sitting in the hallway. "He's stable," he said.
Then Shepard was gone, on to do his job.
[[ for those there! speech taken from mass effect 3. ]]
Shepard paused in the doorway. He... hadn't seen a crewmate in a state like this since... well. Ash had died, so that wasn't quite the same. It was just... yeah. It was something. Something enough that he finally stepped into the room and gave Kaidan a once-over. They'd told him Kaidan was stable now - but he still looked not so great. Enormous amounts of bruising around the face, just to start with.
"Hey, Kaidan," Shepard said quietly. "Don't know that you can hear me, but since you can't tell me to get the hell out either... I'm going to take my chances."
He took a deep breath.
"Don't die, Kaidan. You've got to fight. We need you in this. Seeing you in action again... it reminded me you're a hell of a soldier. The Alliance could sure use you." ... No, not the Alliance. That was stupid, Shepard. "I could use you," he amended.
He felt a presence by his side and glanced over. A human doctor looked back. "You need anything, doc, let me know," Shepard said.
He took another deep breath that made his shoulders move. "C'mon, Kaidan. Fight."
And... he'd like to sit here, make sure that Kaidan wound up all right... but he had a war to fight, and the Council was waiting for him. He stepped out of the room, nodded at Kaidan's friends sitting in the hallway. "He's stable," he said.
Then Shepard was gone, on to do his job.
[[ for those there! speech taken from mass effect 3. ]]