There I was, engulfed in an inferno of fire and shrapnel. The sensation was agonizing, like I had skipped death and went face first into hell itself. If I believed in such things, I probably would have. Then, it all... Vanished. The feeling, the pain, the bleeding... It was gone.

"Shepard? Shepard, are you conscious?" said a voice. Everything was still a little hazy. Was I a celebrity in the afterlife too? I can't be dead. Everything I've been through? I won't let this be the end of me. I try to open my eyes, but they feel like they're glued shut. Involuntarily, I feel my left arm jerk, and pain spiked through it. My head feels like it's going to split at any moment.

Once more I hear that voice, "Shepard?" Still unclear, but I could tell that it was female, even a little familiar sounding. Slowly (and painfully) I manage to open my eyes. Maybe perhaps I wasn't in hell after all. It was her, Miranda Lawson, just as beautiful as she had ever been. She looked at me with tears emerging from her eyes. She looked a little ragged, as if she hadn't slept in a week. Was she here by my side this whole time? Looking around me, I could see that I was hooked up to a staggering amount of medical equipment. The IV tubes in my arms prevented much movement, but I could inch around a little bit.

She began to speak again, "Oh thank God, Shepard, you're alright. Even I wasn't sure you were going to pull through this one."

My jaw was a little stiff, but I managed to croak out a few words, "You know me Miranda. Some burns aren't going to take me down."

Half jokingly, she responded, "Burns? Try burns, gunshot wounds, fragmentation, and blood loss. I don't even want to mention the other kinds of physical trauma you endured before I found you." I was a little dumbfounded, to be honest. How did I manage to survive all that? Hell, when I crash landed on Alchera, that killed me.

"You found me? Damn, I guess that means I didn't keep my promise," I said.

"Heh, I guess not. It's not important anymore. What went on up there, Shepard?"

"I walked into an explosion," I explained bluntly. It was as insane as it sounded. I'm not too sure of my sanity at this point myself.

There was a short pause. Miranda looked at me in disbelief. I can't say I blame her.

"You what?"

"Yeah. I walked into an explosion. Not quite sure what I was thinking."

"I must say Shepard, I'm very angry with you, taking a stupid risk like that."

I couldn't think of anything to say. I was able to move my right arm with relative comfort, so long as I didn't disturb the tubes too greatly. I took Miranda's hand and lightly squeezed it. I could see tears beginning to streak her cheeks. She sounded angry, but she was relieved to see me alive. I was relieved to see her too. Weakly, I asked, "You said you found me? How did you do it?"

"It wasn't too difficult, really. We could see the presidium tower exploding from miles away. Ever since we had remade you during project Lazarus, I've had your cybernetics' EM signature logged into my omni-tool, so Cerberus could keep close tabs on you in case you ever defected. It led me straight to you. My squadron told me there was no way you would have survived it, but I knew better. I proved them wrong," she said.

With a weak smile, I said, "Ha, that's one thing I love about you, Miranda. You have habit of doing that. Errm... How long have you been by my side?"

"Six days," she said, sounding weary, "I needed to know you would be alright."

Once again I found myself at a loss for words. She really spent a week by my bedside? Finally, I manage to form a coherent sentence, "Seriously? I... I don't know what to say other than that it means a lot that you would do that."

She placed her other hand over my own and looked down at them. I could feel her tears splashing down on my fingers. I could feel the utter pain and sadness she experienced during her six day wait. I put her through a lot. Eventually, she began to smile. The tears became less frequent.

"Miranda... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I made you worry like that. When I get out of here, I'll make it up to you, I promise. This time, I intend to keep it too," I declared with a renewed sense of vigor. Miranda smiled and looked at me.

She chuckled, "Damn right you will," she said. "You owe me, big time."

I shared in the moment, "Yeah, this makes two now, doesn't it?"

"The doctors say you'll be in here for another week or so, then into physical therapy. Your cybernetics sped the initial trauma recovery by a great deal. We're going to have to run a full diagnostic on them when you get out. I looked over everything. Your vitals are in check, but some of the other parts look fried. We may have to get some replacements," she explained to me.

"That sounds... Unpleasant."

"Oh, it will be. The last time you had them implanted, you had the benefit of being dead. I'm afraid you won't be so lucky this time."

"You sure know how to comfort me, Ms. Lawson," I said.

"Relax Shepard, I'm only joking. It should be painless. Like I said, nothing vital is out of place. At the worst, you won't be heading to the Armax Arena any time soon," She said. She let go of my hand and stood up.

She stretched her arms and looked around. "Well, I had best be getting out of here soon," she told me, "I've got some business to take care of. Still trying to find Oriana some living space. We've been more or less drifting ever since the Crucible was fired. Some prefabs were set up, but they filled like you wouldn't believe. If we could get our hands on a shuttle, we could get back to the Citadel. The Silversun Strip is still almost entirely active. Only the presidium and two of the wards are out of power."

"Really? How does the remainder of the station have energy," I asked her. I was more than a little shocked to hear this.

"Well, the Silversun Strip is one of the wealthier sides of the Citadel. It's possible that we simply installed some very large backups," she told me. It made sense.

"Yeah... Well, I'll let you go then. See you in about a week, Miranda," I said.

Before she left, she leaned over and she kissed me. It was long, sweet, and full of conviction. I would have it no other way. Following that, she looked at me again.

"Goodbye Shepard,"she said.

I had been given not only a second chance, but now a third chance. I was not going to let it go to waste.