Intercept 3A

Hannah Shepard finished reading over the latest inventory report that had been sent her way, and shook her head. She dashed off a quick reply to the field doctor who had made another note that they were running low on supplies and needed them now, reminding him that his request was cleared but the supplies could only arrive as fast as the shuttle could get there.   The message was short and probably not as professional as it should be, but she didn't care.  Normally she would be a bit more sympathetic, but this was the fifth message inside the hour, and this was not the first time the doctor had tried to pull more supplies than he needed.   She already disliked the man and she hadn't even talked to him over vidcom yet.

As her terminal bleeped with a 'message sent' she took the opportunity to stretch, wincing as something in her back popped in an unpleasant way.  Damn.  She couldn't tell if that was from her recent injuries or if it was just another sign that she wasn't as young as she used to me.  She hoped it was the former. Old she could deal with. Decrepit was something she didn't want to contemplate.

There was a tiny knock on the wall behind her.  "Ma'am?"  

She swiveled around in her chair, unsurprised to see the woman standing there.  Lieutenant Dorthea Mansfield was officially classified as her assistant, but in reality they both knew she was here to keep an eye on her superior. Hannah couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of envy that the tall woman didn't look that much different than she had when she had served on her ship several years ago.  She'd gained some muscle and a few scars but still wore her blond hair shaved close and still had those stormy gray eyes that made her hard to read.  She wondered why Mansfield had even bothered to knock. Her 'office' was just a desk thrown in the corner of a mostly intact building.  There wasn't even a door left in the frame that lead into it.

"Lieutenant," she said by way of greeting, "I take it this means that I'm about to get thrown out?"

"I'm bit more polite than that, ma'am," Mansfield said, a small smile crossing her lips and making her seem less harsh.  "But I do have orders to remind you that you're 'only human, damn it.' I assume that means I'm to make sure you take a break when you're scheduled to."

"Next time Hackett gives you order like that, could you kindly remind him that I'm not made of glass and I'm not an invalid?"  Hannah rolled her shoulders a bit. "I'm only a few days away from being cleared.  I don't need a minder, especially when all I've been allowed to do is sit at a desk for days.  I doubt paperwork is going to kill me."  That seemed to be the mindset of half the people that she ran into.  They kept asking her if she needed to rest or take a break.  It had been going on for days and she was getting very, very tired of it.

"I don't know about that Admiral. I would probably die of boredom," Mansfield quipped, startling a chuckle from her.   "While I respect you, admire you, Admiral, and I have no problem standing up to Admiral Hackett for you, I do not want to face another lecture by your doctor.  Man doesn't need a gun when he can rip you to pieces with his tongue."   

She shook her head, trying to hold back a laugh at the truth of that statement. "You don't know the half it, Mansfield.   I'm the one who had to listen to him rave about me walking around before he thought I was ready.  As if I don't know my body well enough to tell when I'm pushing it to far."

"If you say so ma'am," was the polite reply, but she didn't miss the Lieutenant trying to hide a smile.

"Something amusing, Mansfield?" She sent a glare at the Lieutenant as she spoke but didn't try to hide her own smile.

Mansfield snapped up straighter. "Nothing, ma'am!" You could still see that smile though.   Hannah let herself sigh and shake her head.

"Half my men seem to think they know more than I do," she couldn't help comment as she got to her feet and found her cane.  At least the Lieutenant didn't try to help her up this time.  The one thing she had made very clear she would not tolerate that.  She was a rear admiral, commander of a ship of her own.  She didn't need a nursemaid.
"I don't suppose there's something I could offer you that would convince you to look the other way for a couple of hours?"  She was tired of being treated with kid gloves.  There had to be something they would let her work at.

"Afraid not, Ma'am," was the calm reply. "I'm here to make sure you actually make it to the hospital in time."  Hannah resisted the urge to snap at her.  She also knew, from past experience, that if she tried to hang around to do something else in another part of the building, someone else would report her to Hackett.  Then would come the lecture about her health.  She was not going to suffer through another of those.

"Fine then, let's go and get this over with." At least each visit she took to that damn place was one closer to her being released, and her daughter was there.  She would go vist after her appointment if they wouldn't let her back to work.

~O~O~O~O~O~O

The hospital seemed slightly more crowded than usual when she arrived.  She might have just waved it off as her own temper getting the better of her, but then she noticed most of the new arrivals were turian.  Even though she knew turians were being treated here, there were more than she had seen before strolling the premises. Not enough to really be alarming, but they didn't look injured or if they were there searching for friends.  They were standing in pairs talking, alert and scanning the crowds for any signs of trouble.  She knew security when she saw it, but she couldn't imagine why they were here of all places.  There was already a multi-species security detail assigned to the area.  Unless there had been a threat of some kind she wasn't aware of, the soldiers would have been of more use elsewhere.  It just didn't seem like the turians to waste manpower over something minor.
There was still no answer she could see by the time she reached her doctor, and put it out mind in favor of dealing with his 'you are working to hard' arguments.  They'd been playing this game since she was injured, and each time left her feeling like she wanted to strangle the man.  At least the end was in sight for both of them.  The man might not be happy about it, but he was letting her go in a couple of days.  Even if it was with a 'I don't want to do this but I suppose I must' attitude in his every word.  Attitude she could deal with, even if it was getting under her skin and making her want to growl.  Some of her crewmembers could be worse.  Not many, but some. She had to remember that.

"Just be sure that you have that hip looked at regularly," he warned as she stood to leave after the physical. "You keep abusing it without regular care and you are going to end up limping around for the rest of your life. Don't say I didn't warn you about that!"

"I'll keep that in mind," she called over her shoulder to him as she left the room, making way for another of his patients.  

Once outside his office she turned her steps toward the guarded wing of the hospital. Hackett wouldn't let her do anything if she headed back right away.  There was already a neat little message on her omnitool telling her that much.   At least she could sit with Lil for a time. She was allowed to stay longer now, something she actually was grateful for.
One of the various Normandy crew members that had been turning up over the last three days had been the ship's doctor.  Dr. Chakwas had argued with Lawson about the restrictions placed on visitors.  She still wasn't sure what the older woman had said to Lawson, but after that she hadn't had the former Cerberus agent breathing down her neck over how long she was there.  Granted she hadn't seemed happy the last time they had run into each other, but at least she wasn't trying to stop her.

Of course, those lessening restrictions applied to anyone cleared to see Lil. Everyone.  Hannah took a deep breath and tried to keep from frowning at the thought of how often Vakarian had been all but haunting her daughter's room.  Four days since she had meet the man and she still wasn't sure what to think of that relationship.  She would like to think her trepidation only had to do with not having a single clue about what the man was really like, but if she was being honest with herself she would have to admit that him being turian might have more to do with her feelings than she would like.   She had thought she was above the prejudice the Alliance had tried to drill into her.  Apparently she had been wrong.

She didn't even really have much reason to object to Vakarian yet.  They hadn't even had a decent conversation.  There had been a few chances for it, but neither of them had known how to start that sort of talk, and message pings from omnitools had become a welcome distraction.  She knew it was cowardly, avoiding it instead of facing things head on. Maybe there was just a part of her that was afraid of what her daughter would do if she decided she didn't like the turian.  She and Lil just weren't as close as they had been when she had been younger.  Hannah didn't want to do something that would outright drive her away. She wasn't even sure what would drive her away anymore or if Lil even wanted her in her life anymore.  She certainly had seemed to be intent on keeping herself aloof the last time they had talked.  It was an uncomfortable feeling, and one she still wasn't sure what to do about.

The gloomy direction of her thoughts was shattered when she rounded the corner that lead to the check point and stopped dead.  At least having the turian Primarch in the hospital explained the security presence in the sector.   It just didn't explain what he was doing here.  She started walking again, trying to edge around as unobtrusively as she could but something must have alerted him because he looked over at her.

"Admiral Shepard," he said soft in greeting, "I didn't think I would run into you here."

"Primarch Victus," she said politely.  She had meet the Primarch previously when he had come to see the Crucible personally, not wanting to rely on reports to describe what was the final hope for all their peoples. That was something she had to respect. "I could say the same for you.  I wasn't aware that you were injured." Not that she thought he really was. The Primarch wasn't unmarked but he didn't look as if he had any injuries severe enough to bring him all the way here.
Besides, if the highest-ranking turian on the planet had been hurt that badly she would have heard something about it by now. Gossip was one thing that all species seemed to share.

He must have known that because he made a noise she thought might have been amused. "I could say the same for you," he said, amused.  "I'm not here for myself. General Corinthus managed to get himself shot and your people have been treating him.  They've been doing an admirable job, but now he's stable enough to be transferred. I think that would be best for him. Not that your doctors haven't been doing their best..."

"But they're humans and he's a turian," she said noticing several low pitched growls that were more heard than felt. Apparently some of his men didn't approve of her cutting on their Primarch.  At least Victus didn't seem to mind.  He seemed more amused by his men's reaction than anything else. "Most of the doctors here are Alliance and more used to treating humans.  They'll probably be relieved to hand him over."

"Considering half them seemed to want to dance with joy when I told them about the transfer, I would have to agree with you on that," the Primarch chuckled. "Now they won't have to worry about accidentally killing Corinthus with levo exposure."  

"They'll probably be sending you thank you cards then," she said, "but that doesn't explain why you came personally.  I can't imagine that Primarchs normally oversee patient transfers."

That got another chuckle. "Corinthus served under me. He's a good soldier; the least I could do was see to this personally."

By now Hannah had noticed that most of his men weren't really paying attention to their conversation anymore. One still looked as if they didn't like her informal tone, but since the Primarch wasn't taking offense at it he couldn't really shoo her away.  He probably didn't have any idea that she and the Primarch had talked several times while he was at the Crucible.  Not enough for her to be able to call him friend exactly, but enough that she had some measure of the sort of man he was.  A soldier, not a politician.  "Your loyalty to your men is admirable," she said out loud.  She's sure there's more to it than that, but she's not going to push him.

He gives a slight nod. "It's the least I can do," is the reply.  The Primarchs mandibles twitch after he says it.  "What about you, Admiral?"  his gaze flickered toward her cane.  She hadn't had it the last time she had talked with him. "A personal visit?"  Curiosity was something that apparently ran across all species.  At least she was fairly sure he wouldn't laugh at her story.

"I was careless and got slammed into a wall when my ship took a hit," she answered his unspoken question. "I didn't think I was that badly hurt.  It wasn't until the end of the battle when the adrenaline started to wear off that I realized I shouldn't really be walking around. The medical team stuck me on leave the moment they got a good look at me."

"You're walking around now," the Primarch observed. "I take it that means you're recovering well? Or just avoiding doctor's orders?"

"I'll be returned to active duty in a few days," she didn't try to keep the relief out of her voice. "Which I am grateful for.  I thought the inactivity would drive me mad. I have too much to do to be sitting around all day."

That got a chuckle out of him, even if it was a strained one. "I think everyone has that feeling at the moment.  Not enough hands for everything that needs to be done." There was something in his voice that made her look closely at him.  If it had been one of her men, she would have said it was exhaustion.  Was it the same for turians? She still couldn't really read the subtle changes in their voices well, but she couldn't imagine they would be all that different from humans.  

She settled on what she hoped was a more subtle response.  "I have to keep an eye on my men because of that," she said slowly, "those that made it out mostly unharmed feel guilty about and keep pushing themselves. I have to keep remind them that pushing yourself too much will only make you wreck yourself and be unable to help anyone."  And then hoped she hadn't misread everything and made a fool of herself.

The Primarch blinked, at her, his mandibles flared, and for a heartstopping moment she thought that she had presumed too much and managed to insult him.   Then he made a soft sound that seemed like a sigh and one of his men snorted.
"See, sir?" the man, a turian with light grey skin and vivid purple markings, said.  "I told you that you need to take a rest. You haven't taken a real break since the reapers first hit.  You aren't going to last much longer if even humans are noticing."  He paused and looked at her in alarm, mandibles wide on his face as he realized what he just said.  "Sorry ma'am, I didn't mean any disrespect."

She couldn't help chuckling a little at that expression. "None taken. I will freely admit I'm not an expert on turians. Believe me, I'm sure if I have suspicions then it's outright obvious to everyone else."

"I would suspect this was a trap that my men laid to convince me to rest for a day, but I'm not sure that it would occur to any of them to recruit a human for a venture like that," he turned his gaze on the man who had just spoken, who stood a little straighter.  Then he flicked amber eyes back to her.  "What about you, Admiral?  I can't imagine that this has been easy for you either but you seem to be doing well, despite everything."  He was giving her an appraising look.

"You can thank my doctors for that.  If you think your men are bad, imagine how bad they would be when they had orders to look after your health, and taking it as their sworn duty to enforce every order the doctors had given."

The Primarch gave an amused snort in response to both her comment and the grumbling from one his men that sounded vaguely like 'We should be so lucky' before he replied. "Your men must care about you a great deal if they're willing to go through that kind of trouble. You should be honored. "

"I am," she said. "I've just been lucky to attract people as loyal as they are."

The Primarch's reply was unexpected. "Luck that you seemed to have shared with your daughter.  She was remarkably adept at finding loyal crew members."

"She still is, I imagine," was her reply. "You shouldn't count her out just yet. She'll be back." It was only after the words left her mouth that they sounded slightly accusatory and she tensed.  Her own fears were affecting her judgment now.  That was not good.  She had thought that she had learned better self-control over the years, but like so many other things, it appeared she was wrong about that.

Instead of seeming to be insulted, however, the Primarch just gave her a measuring look.  "You seem so sure of that," he said at last. "Your faith is admirable.  Almost as if you have a reason beyond just wishful thinking to support it."

Hannah felt her heart leap.  Victus was no fool.  He had already proved that during the war.  She didn't think the man would hold any ill will towards her daughter, but after all the effort they had put into keeping things quiet for this long she didn't feel like giving up the secret that easily.   "Call it mother's intuition. You've met my daughter.  You know how stubborn she is.  Do you really think even a Reaper could be able to take her out?"  

That brought on a bark of laughter from him.  "I will admit, if there's anyone who would be able to come back from the Reapers, it would be Commander Shepard. She's already come back from the impossible once."   Hannah squashed down the familiar feeling of fear and pain that shot through her whenever someone mentioned her daughter's previous 'death'.  She still had no clear answers for what had happened then and didn't like to remember the time spent mourning her.
Victus started speaking again.  "Perhaps that's why I've heard an...interesting rumor about her where about recently."  He looked directly at her as he said it, his eyes meeting hers briefly.   

"Which one?  There's been a shit-ton of rumors floating around Primarch, most entirely baseless." Was what her mouth said. Inwardly she was cursing, hoping Victus wasn't getting at what he thought he was. She had been afraid of this ever since the rest of her daughter's crew had been arriving. Secrets were hard to keep when so many people knew about them. Someone was bound to let something slip, eventually.  This secret had been hard to keep before, but now it was going to be nearly impossible.

"True," was Victus' reply.  "I've been ignoring most of them.  This one, however, seems to have some credibility."

"What makes you say that?"

"Just a feeling combined with my own observation," his eyes still held that far-to-knowing gaze. "I've seen you in action, Admiral, and I looked at your service record. Someone with your sense of duty could perhaps be able to maintain a professional calm even without news of your daughter.  Others, however, shouldn't be showing that sort of....restraint."

"You mean like Garrus Vakarian?" she couldn't help asking.  She knew, just from reading reports the Alliance had sent her about the Normandy, that he had been an advisor to the Primarch. On board her ship she had even overheard the Primarch speaking with the other turian over a secure channel when she went to place a report of her own.  It wasn't a secret that Vakarian had been serving on the Normandy either.  She could very well guess where the Primarch was going with his line of reasoning. What surprised her was that she was going along with it.  

"You know him?" that did bring some surprised into the Primarch's voice as his mandibles flared slightly.

"We've...met."

"I see," the Primarch stood a little straighter.  "Then you should understand what I meant.  He and your daughter were...close. It's unlike him not to be personally pursuing any sort of rescue or recovery mission.  The only conclusion that makes sense is that he knows something that I don't." There's a sound in his subvocals that her translator isn't even trying to touch, and she doesn't have a clue what it could mean. Not that it really mattered anyway.  She shouldn't be surprised that a turian military leader was clever as he was.  

"If he knew something important I'm sure that he would tell you," while she did respect the man, she wasn't friendly enough with him to be willing to risk her daughter.  "And I'm well aware of the relationship she and Vakarian share," she added at the end, to throw him off track. "I'm surprised you were aware of it."

"Soldiers talk between fighting, I'm sure you know that," he said after a moment. "I had my suspicions when almost all his old war stories involved Commander Shepard in some way.  You could hear it in his voice how fond he was of her. They made things rather obvious before the final push against the reapers."

It was on the tip of Hannah's tongue to ask what he meant by that, then decided it was probably better that she didn't know.  "He was serious about her?"  she asked instead.

"That would not be my place to say," the Primarch locked his hands behind his back, "but most turians would not enter into something like that lightly."  His mandibles flared again, confusing her. "I doubt Vakairan is that different.  He's very loyal, and passionate.  He tends to throw himself into things.  Which is why I say it's out of character for him not to be out searching for Commander Shepard, and demanding that anyone with authority help.  I expected that I would have to fight to keep him from taking men away.  While I wouldn't call him exactly calm in current circumstances he has been showing far more restraint than I would think." He relaxed slightly. "He's also been leaving as soon as his shift is done.  One report suggests he has been coming here."   

"There are any number of wounded here.  Perhaps he's just searching," was what she said in reply to the questioning tone.  "I have seen him around more than once.  It suggests a certain level of devotion for him to keep coming here again and again."

"As I said, turians don't make that kind of commitment lightly," he repeated with a nod. "Vakairan especially."   She was getting tired of the piercing looks he was giving her.  There was a reason that so many Alliance soldiers had been intimidated by that predators gaze back during the First Contact War. "I am curious just how you found out about his relationship with her.  Even back on the Normandy it wasn't something either of them ever announced."

Hannah froze, trying to determine how much of the truth she should say about that. Thankfully she was saved from having to formulate a real answer by a bleep from the Primarch's omnitool.   It was a struggle not to sag in relief when he checked it, sighed, then looked up at her.  
"I'm afraid our conversation will have to be cut short, Admiral.  I have something I have to attend to."

"Of course," she stepped aside for him and his men. "It was nice speaking with you, Primarch."  Well, only half true.  She wouldn't have minded talking with him if he wasn't being so damn clever. At least it had been good to see that one more person she knew was still alive.  She had already lost far too many in this war.
He gave a nod as he left, turning to speak rapidly to one of his men as they went.  She waited until he was out of sight before she slipped off down the hall to her daughter's room.  He was already too suspicious of things.  No need to give him any more fuel for the fire.

Down the hall, through the checkpoints, and she found Dr. Chakwas standing in front of her daughter's room, typing something on a datapad.

"Dr. Chakwas," she said by way of greeting. "Any changes so far?"

"Only very minor ones," Dr. Chakwas didn't even look up right away. "I do believe she's been improving but we won't know for sure until she actually wakes up."  The good doctor finally looked back up at her. "You look better yourself, Admiral. I take it you are going to push through with the chance to be back on active duty soon?"

"Of course," Hannah glanced at the door to her daughter's room. "I've had enough of being treated like I'm made of glass."

That drew an amused laugh from the doctor. "I imagine your doctor will be pleased when he doesn't have to deal with the headache either."    

She couldn't help snorting a little. "You do realize that some people might reprimand you for disrespecting a senior officer?"

"With all due respect Admiral, I have worked for the Alliance long enough to be able to tell when I can push things and when I can't," Dr. Chakwas looked up, a smile flickering across her face. "Since you haven't insisted on formality so far then I can assume I'm safe."

Hannah had developed a healthy respect for the doctor over the last few days, and had honestly enjoyed her company.  They got along surprisingly well and she found herself almost wishing the woman had been assigned to her vessel.  Only almost though.  She had been a great asset to the Normandy and she was glad her daughter had been in capable hands, both then and now.  

"Can I go in then?" she asked, nodding towards the door.

"Of course," there was a paused, "but I suppose it's fair to warn you that Garrus is already there."

"Already?" the word came out before she could stop it, then she sighed. "I suppose I should have expected it.   He's been here how often since you lifted Miranda's ban?"  she didn't mean for it to sound as accusatory as it did and forced herself to take a deep breath after it.

Dr. Chakwas gave her a crippling look. "Are you surprised?  He would be there all day if I let him.  It's probably a good thing he's assisting the Primarch.  If he wasn't then I have no doubt he would be haunting the hospital.  I'm still not entirely sure he's not taking a spare bed here at night."

"He's that worried?"

"Do I even need to answer that, Admiral?" Dr. Chakwas finally finished whatever she had been doing on the datapad. "Both of you are worried, he's just much worse at keeping it under control."  It brought a sigh from the doctor.  "The same could be said for all of us, truthfully.  That's why Miranda placed so many restrictions, I think.  It was her own way of worrying.  She has seen the Commander at her absolute worst, several times over. Unfortunately I fear that's made Miss. Lawson more than a bit paranoid. She did have the Commander's best interests at heart I'm sure, but she had forgotten that she's not all knowing. Right now, the Commander doesn't need quiet, she needs the support of those she loves."

Hannah knew that the doctor had been referring to all the various friends and crew members that had arrived.  It still didn't stop her mind from flashing to the turian she knew was by her daughter's bedside.   "It seems like I'm the only one who didn't know about them," the last said with a jerk of her head towards the door.

"Parents are always the last to know," Dr. Chakwas said teasingly, but the smile she gave was more genuine.  "Although I'm not sure I can say that's the case right now.  The Commander was very discreet about her relationships.  She always has been.  The people you've been meeting, those were the ones close enough to her that they figured things out or she felt relaxed enough to tell them.  Even most of her crew wasn't entirely sure of the truth.  Gossip runs rampant on ships, but to most it was just rumors. No real proof, no matter what they said."

"Rumors aren't just limited to ships," Hannah couldn't help saying. "I've lost track of the number of reporters that coming buzzing around me asking if Lil really was 'in bed with the aliens'.  Chased them off of course, but I thought they were just fishing.  I didn't think there was any substance behind them."   She remembered, rather guilty, saying something to the effect of 'Would it really matter if she was?' right before she'd had all but threw one particularly obnoxious reporter off her ship.  She really hadn't thought about what she was saying at the time, but remembering it in the current circumstances was more than a little uncomfortable.  "The turian Primarch seemed to know about that little relationship," she said to distract herself from her thoughts.  "Maybe they weren't as discreet as you though."

"The Primarch?"  Dr. Chakwas frowned and glanced at her. "He was on the ship for the war summit, and the Commander did say he was a friend of Garrus'.  Perhaps that's how he found out."  She shrugged, "If you're that curious why don't you try asking Garrus himself? He is right there after all."  Dr. Chackwas nodded towards the door.  Hannah had to wonder if the other woman had somehow found out about own avoidance.  

"What makes you think he would even answer?"

"Unless it's a truly embarrassing story I can't imagine why he wouldn't," was the reply. "He isn't one to lie, even without the turian heritage backing him."  A pause then. "He does want the two of you to get along, you know.  Give him a chance."

She gave Chakwas a sharp look. "Is there some conspiracy I'm not aware of?  That's the second time today I've heard Vakarian praised."  The Primarch was at least understandable. Vakarian was a fellow turian after all.  Dr. Chakwas was another matter, but they had served on a ship together.  Maybe that was the source of it.

"Not a conspiracy I'm aware of," Chakwas counter, "but I am surprised you haven't heard more praise.  Even the Alliance has to be aware of what he did during the war.  You should have heard what some of the turians we had on board had to say about him."

In answer, Hannah just stepped up to the window and looked inside.  She would see Vakarian already in a seat next to her daughter's bed, head bent down towards hers.  It was impossible to ignore the reports that were connected to his name.  She knew, on some level at least, that if it had anyone else she would have been whole-heartedly agree with that praise.  But it wasn't just anyone.  It was the turian who had somehow managed to worm his way into her daughter's heart.   That was making this so much more complicated.  She wasn't sure what to believe, particularly if certain parts of his history were to be believed.

"He's been good for Shepard you know," Dr. Chakwas said from behind her. "During the war I think he was one of the few things that kept her sane.  He has always stood by her, no matter what."

"Now I know that something has to be going on," she turned to face the doctor.  "He's a friend of yours, I understand why you feel the need to stick up for him..."

"Trust  me," Dr. Chakwas said, "Garrus is more than capable of sticking up for himself.  He's not the one I'm speaking for right now."  She turned to a message that had come through her omnitool then, and Admiral Shepard was left unsure of what to say.

Part of her wanted to be annoyed that the doctor thought she knew her daughter well enough to be able to say that about her.  Part of her knew that Dr. Chakwas had known her daughter for several years, knew what her relationship with the turian was like, and perhaps was trying to support her.  The rest of her was caught up in some many conflicting emotions about someone being able to read her daughter better than she could that she couldn't even being to decipher them all.   Instead she took a deep breath, pushed them all aside, and glanced back at the hospital room again.

"I should go see her," she said out loud. It felt like an admission of something but she wasn't sure what that would be.

"Of course," was the only answer from the doctor as she opened the door and went inside.