Chapter Text
After the launch bay doors closed, James brought Kaidan to the Medbay. He felt bad for Kaidan; everyone knew that he and Shepard were together; now because of an injury, Kaidan wasn't going to be there to make sure she got back. With all she'd done for him, James wanted to be there too. Kaidan didn't say a word and was visibly upset the whole way there.
When they walked into The Medbay, Dr. Chakwas met them at the door and helped get Kaidan seated on one of the beds. Using her Omni-tool, she started applying medi-gel and ran scans to determine the extent of his injuries. She tried talking to him, but he didn't respond. His eyes were downcast and his expression was that of a defeated man.
Dr. Chakwas was worried about him. She was aware of his relationship with Shepard. When she'd been declared dead after the attack on the first Normandy, everyone had been upset. Joker had felt responsible; she'd gone to the bridge to get him off the ship. Kaidan had taken it the hardest. Chakwas had suspected there was something between them back then and it was confirmed when he'd taken her death so hard. The way he looked now was worse than the first time. His injuries were fairly minor and it didn't take long to finish up his treatment.
James had been watching Kaidan while the Doc worked on him and he could see that Kaidan wasn't doing well. He was worried about Shepard too, she's the one who convinced him to join the N7 program and had listened to him when he'd needed to talk. Hell, he’d been her guard when she was accused of war crimes; he’d seen her curled up on her bed having nightmares. He’d also just seen her get them through the Reaper infested streets of London so they could get to the beam and save everyone. Based on her words and her example, James was excited about being part of the N7 program, but now no one knew where Shepard was and he was worried.
Kaidan felt like someone had kicked him in the chest and it had nothing to do with being injured. They had almost won and then that damn Reaper flipped the Mako and he'd gotten injured. Shepard had called the Normandy in for an evac. At first, he'd thought it was for all of them, but when she'd handed him off to James saying, "Here, take him," he knew she was planning to get to the beam alone. He wasn't going to leave her, not again. He closed his eyes as those moments played out in his head:
"Shepard!"
"You gotta get out of here."
"Yeah...that's not gonna happen."
"Don't argue with me, Kaidan."
"Don't leave me behind."
"...No matter what happens...know that I love you, always."
The words echoed in his ears. He'd said the same thing to her and now he had no idea where she was or even if she was alive. Watching her walk away was the worst moment of his life; it was eating him up inside. He heard Dr. Chakwas talking to him, but he didn't want to talk.