As requested:
Chapter 2
Feeling returned slowly. Shepard could feel himself slowly waking, and the more he woke the more he didn’t want to. His chest was sore and aching, it felt as if it weighed a ton. A warm tingling swept up his body, he was almost awake now. He became aware of a gentle pressure on his left hand, and warmth that felt like his hand was wrapped in something. Not something, he thought to himself, skin. He slowly opened his eyes, seeing the ceiling of the Medical Lab above him. He slowly turned his head to look at his left hand, and smiled. Miranda. How long she’d been by his side he didn’t know. For that matter he didn’t know how long he’d been unconscious. She appeared to be sleeping, holding his hand in hers, her head resting gently on top. A familiar voice caught his attention. “She’s been there for the last eighteen hours.” Shepard looked towards the foot of the bed and saw Garrus sitting there, arms folded across the battered breastplate of his armour. “You were in surgery for three hours before that. I think the rest of the team is sleeping, if they can that is. I couldn’t, so I came here to keep an eye on you.” Garrus looked at him keenly, “It’s not the first time I’ve seen an experienced soldier make a mistake like yours. Since the Alliance introduced medigel to the galaxy I’ve seen even experienced Turian soldiers die because they came to rely on it more and more. It’s great for keeping you in the fight just a little longer, keeping you alive until you can get proper treatment, but I wouldn’t rely on it to keep a serious wound sealed until it repairs itself.”
Miranda began to stir against Shepard’s hand. “I’ll leave you two alone for a while. I’ll be back later Shepard,” Garrus said as he got up and headed for his own bunk in the crew quarters. As Miranda slowly lifted her head, Shepard gently squeezed her head and managed to croak, “Hey.” As soon as she heard him speak, Miranda snatched her hand out from his, snapped to her feet and started pacing back and forth. “Damn it, Shepard! How could you be so stupid! You could have died, you could have left me! Damn it I’m so angry with you right now.” She sat back down and drew closer to Shepard. “What were you thinking? Did you think you could really tough anything out?” Her face drew closer to his, “Damn it, Shepard I...” She broke off mid-sentence and kissed him passionately, their lips pressed tightly together, her hands either side of his face. “Don’t scare me like that again Shepard, you hear me?” She sat back smiling, tears in her eyes, “I thought I was going to lose you. I...I was terrified. Those three hours Mordin and Dr. Chakwas were working on you were the longest of my life.” She looked at Shepard with a look of mock indignation on her face, “So don’t you do it again, understand?” She laughed as she said it, and the feeling that had weighed her down for almost a day lifted from her shoulders.
Shepard started laughing with her and immediately winced in pain, “Ah. Don’t make me laugh, it still hurts.” As weak as he felt, he still managed to smile lovingly. Miranda couldn’t even maintain her mock anger anymore and smiled back at him. “I didn’t get a chance to thank you for saving me back at the Collectors’ station. If you hadn’t dived after me I’d have fallen. Thank you, Shepard,” she said softly, smiling gently. “I couldn’t bear to lose you Miranda. I did what I had to do. I did what I wanted to do. You mean more to me than anything, and I wasn’t going to lose you to the Collectors,” Shepard replied, smiling softly in return. A wave of tiredness quickly overcame Shepard’s body and he found himself struggling to stay awake. Miranda saw him fighting to keep his eyes open. “It’s alright Shepard, sleep.” She lay down on the bed next to him, cuddling up to his left side. She looked at him softly, “I’ll be here next to you.” She kissed him on the cheek and watched as he fell into a deep sleep, then closed her eyes and followed him.