Kallian woke up in a cold sweat and an arm wrapped strongly around her waist. She looked to her right and saw that Ashley was wide awake and preventing her from moving.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough," Ashley replied as she sat up. "Come on, sit up for a second."

Shepard obeyed, but her body protested the movement. Ashley grabbed her and leaned her against the wall. "Shirt off," she said. Kallian moved a little to help as Ashley pulled her sweat soaked shirt off and threw it on the ground.

"We're doing this now?" Shepard said with a smirk that didn't reach her eyes.

"Not funny, Skipper." Ashley rolled over and grabbed a pill bottle and a glass of water from her side's end table. Kallian was about to protest, but Ashley silenced her with a look. "Just take it, Kal. If you don't I'm waking Chakwas up and she can inject you with a sedative." Shepard closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, but she accepted the pill and water from Ashley and lied back down. Ashley pulled her close to her and put her arm back around her waist. She waited to go back to sleep until Kallian's breathing slowed, and she watched as Shepard's eyes began twitching in response to another nightmare. At least she wouldn't wake up this time.

Around four o clock, Shepard woke back up and turned her head to look at Ashley. Sometime in the night she had moved so that her head rested on Ashley's shoulder and her hand on Ashley's stomach. Her scars sore, she closed her eyes in a pretend sleep until Ashley woke up at six. Shepard kept her eyes closed, but Ashley didn't fall for it.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Not too long," Kallian answered.

"Uh huh. Nightmare?"

"A little bit."

"I don't believe you."

"Don't worry, Ashley, I'm getting better...and now I'm going to take a shower."

Ashley stood up and walked to Shepard's side, but as she went to help Kallian stand up, the captain shook her head. "I can do it on my own," she said, but grimaced as her legs hit the ground.

"Just shut up, Skipper and grab onto my arm." Kallian sighed, but obeyed. Ashley helped her into the shower before she messaged Chakwas to come up.

…

Ten minutes later Kallian was still in the shower and Chakwas was setting up her equipment by the bed.

"How did she sleep last night?" Karin asked.

"Not very much, I don't think. I gave her a pill around two, but with her metabolism I'm not sure how long it lasted."

"I know. Miranda is helping me find a solution to that problem, but so far we haven't come up with anything.

The door to the bathroom opened and they both stopped speaking. Shepard sighed when she saw the doctor, and allowed Ashley to help her to the bed. Ashley kissed her forehead quickly before going to take her own shower, giving Shepard privacy with the doctor. Chakwas gave her a robe and turned around to give her privacy. A few moments later she heard a sharp intake of breath and turned back. Shepard had one arm in the robe but was clutching her side with her other arm. Without speaking a word, Chakwas helped her put it on and then guided her back onto the bed.

"How are you feeling?"
"Pretty much the same, the scars ache a little."

"By little I'm guessing you mean a lot. Don't worry about the slow progress, not even the nanites in your bloodstream can make the wounds heal in only a couple weeks."

Beneath the robe scars crisscrossed the captain's right side and wrapped halfway across her stomach. Angry red lines also marred the right arm and her neck. A scar down the right side of her face was beginning to fade, but it would never go away completely. Most of her body was bruised from the many surgeries, though they were already fading from the dark purple to a bluish color. She had woken up from a coma a few days earlier to find her body broken, and she still hadn't come to terms with her appearance. Scars she had, but never such extensive evidence of her trauma.

"Guess the outside matches the inside, yeah?" Shepard joked.

"It's comments like that…the scars and bruises will fade. You can get the scars removed if you choose to. But you're right, I'm more concerned with your mental health. The lieutenant commander informed me you haven't been taking the pills I gave you or been sleeping enough."

"I've been sleeping. So what's the verdict? Am I healing properly?
Chakwas sighed. She opened the robe and applied medigel to the wounds, as it would alleviate some pain. She then had her sit up and try to lift one leg at a time and hold them horizontally. Shepard's left lug buckled, and she grunted in pain. A tear leaked out of her eye, and she closed them.

"That hurt a bit."

"Not surprising, considering the extent to which that leg was crushed. It's only due to Miranda that you'll gain full mobility back. She wants to start rehab tomorrow."

For the first time that morning, Shepard grinned. "That's great news. I've been going stir crazy. I've been in this bed for weeks."
"Yes, and for only three of those days you have been conscious," Chakwas chuckled. "Get some rest, I'm having a plate of food brought up and I've instructed Ashley that you are to eat all of it.

Kallian stood as soon as the doctor left and limped towards her closet. She was still struggling to put a sports bra over her head when Ashley walked out of the bathroom.

"Damn it, Kal. Could you have waited five minutes."

"I need to be able to do these things on my own."

Ashley grabbed the sports bra and began helping her into it. "No, you need to be able to ask me for help and accept it even when you don't ask. You can't heal on your own, and I want to help you. I need to help you." She was careful with Shepard's left leg and took note of the hiss of pain putting it in the sweatpants brought out. Finally she had her clothed and carried her back to the bed, ignoring the protests. She laid her in comfortably then went to get changed and grab their breakfasts.