Shakarian
(takes place in ME1)
••After losing her lower leg in a grenade explosion, Shepard faces an uphill battle to recovery. However, she doesn't have to recover alone.

Shepard saw the grenade before she felt it. A sniper had just taken down her shields in that split second before it exploded, engulfing her vision in white light.

White light gave way to doctors hovering over her, yelling things she couldn't understand. It was like her head was in a bubble. Their mouths were moving, but the words that came out weren't much more than gibberish. Her body appeared to have a mind of its own, thrashing her limbs against the cold metal surface of the table. Blood splattered across the uniform of one doctor as he stepped around the table. She was bleeding. Where was she bleeding?

There was something in his hand. A needle. Another doctor had given it to him.

No. Needles brought pain. Too much pain.

"—art rate rising!" A salarian shouted. What was he saying?

She struggled harder. A nurse appeared to her left and pressed her shoulder against the table.

"—ep her sti—!"

She felt a sharp prick in her arm. Seconds later, darkness swallowed her vision. Her body stilled as the sedative coursed through her veins.

......

"—ommander? Shepard, did you hear me?"

Shepard's vision abruptly came back into focus and she blinked to reorient herself.

Medbay. Normandy. Right.

Garrus appeared in her peripheral vision, looking concerned—well, as concerned as a turian could be with rigid faceplates. His grey-blue eyes studied her in a way that reminded her of how he studied citizens when gathering information. A firm gaze that meant business, but just soft enough to give off a more personal, friendlier feel. It was meant to encourage people and make them feel comfortable with talking to a C-Sec officer, but with her, she felt that there was something else—something deeper.

"Shepard, we don't have to do this right now if you don't want to. You're still recovering in more ways than one." Dr. Chakwas' tone was gentle and understanding, though Shepard could sense her hesitancy.

The sequence of events on Virmire played out like a bad movie in her head, only she had memorized every second of it. The krogan breeding facility. The indoctrinated salarians. Sovereign's ominous message. Saren's vicious attack. Leaving Ashley behind...

"No." Shepard suddenly spoke. She lifted her gaze to frown at Dr. Chakwas. "I have to do this. Saren isn't going to wait. I need to get back into fighting shape as soon as possible, and that starts with walking."

Dr. Chakwas opened her mouth to protest, then closed it, simply nodding in response. "Yes, Commander. Would you like me to help, or will you two be alright by yourselves?"

"I think we've got it." Shepard said.

"Alright. I'll be at my desk if you need me."

Garrus leaned forward and placed a gentle hand on Shepard's shoulder. "You sure you're okay with this? I can go get Wrex, if you want."

That coaxed a smile out of Shepard. "I'm fine, thanks. He'd probably pull my arm off trying to catch me."

"True. Graceful isn't a word I'd use to describe him. More like... ungainly." Garrus said, amusement lacing his subvocals.

"Don't let him hear you say that. I won't be there to keep him from manhandling you again."

"Wouldn't it technically be kroganhandling?"

"Oh, shut up."

Shepard's fingers curled around the edge of the examination table as she let out a steadying sigh. In one movement, she slid off the table and landed firmly on her boots. The prosthetic blended in nicely under her sweatpants. No one would know half of her right leg was robotic until they saw her try to walk. Even with medi-gel and advanced medical equipment, recovery could only be shortened so much. Some of it just had to be done the old fashioned way, and learning to walk was one of those things.

Garrus hovered nearby, prepared to catch her if needed. "You gonna try to make it to the CIC this time?"

"And go up those stairs? Hell no. I need to make it past the crew quarters without falling on my ass before I even think about attempting that."

Leading with her prosthetic leg, Shepard used her left leg to keep herself steady until she planted her other foot. She'd been making steady progress over the past few days, slowly making it further and further without falling. It wasn't as fast as she wanted, though. She needed to be running as soon as possible and more time spent walking was less time she'd have to put towards other things.

"I can't help but feel like I'm teaching a little turian fledgling how to walk." Garrus said, moving alongside her as she made her way out of the medbay. Shepard thankfully didn't know how to read turian subvocals, but he ended up giving away his amusement by accidentally letting a snicker slip out.

"Once I figure out how to use this thing properly, I'm gonna kick your ass with it, Garrus."

The brief lapse in concentration proved detrimental. Shepard planted her foot wrong and quickly lost her sense of balance. Her arms windmilled by her sides as she felt herself falling forward, only for Garrus to swiftly move in and catch her. His strong hands held her steady while she reoriented herself, and it was at that moment that she looked up and realized just how close they were to each other.

His face was mere inches away; close enough that she could see the surprise in his eyes. He cleared his throat and stood a bit straighter, but made no move to pull away.

"You, uh... you alright?" He asked. The awkwardness of his tone was terribly obvious.

An unfamiliar warmth bloomed across Shepard's cheeks upon being reminded of the height difference between them. She quickly averted her gaze. "Yeah. Thanks for catching me."

Garrus withdrew his hands once he felt they were no longer needed, not wanting to overstep. Shepard could do this on her own. She didn't need him fussing over her.

As much as he enjoyed doing it...

"Try not to fall this time, okay?" He went straight back to teasing in order to hide his flustered state.

Shepard only gave a small huff in return, shifting her focus back to putting one foot in front of the other. Every time she managed to convince herself that there was nothing between her and Garrus, something like what just happened brought her feelings back to the forefront. She supposed it wasn't all that bad.