#Hospital – March 15, 2018

Oxaris wanted to cry. The pain was almost constant, as if she was plunged into a pit of fire with no escape, the only choice to lay there and burn. But as much as she hated it, she was partly grateful for it. Because it meant she was still alive. Now all she had to do was wake up from this nightmare. She slowly cracked open her eyelids, only to immediately shut them again as even the smallest light seemed to blind

Zaylus sits quietly in a chair closest to Oxaris' bedside. Much like most of his visit to the clinic, he doesn't seem to be doing much of anything other than absently looking out the window, occasionally glancing at Oxaris for an assessment of her condition. Finally sensing the change, he turns his attention back on her now. The exhaustion of the whole ordeal has limited the enthusaism he

Oxaris she slowly lets her head lull to the side and towards Zaylus, blinking as she looks at him. "Z-zaylus?" Her voice is barely above a whisper. Quiet and exhausted, she smiles weakly to him. "How... long have I... been out?" She seems to struggle with her words, her voice hoarse.

Zaylus offers a shallow nod to her first, immediately comforted just a little by her response. Still smiling. "Since the ship? Most of the day." He informs her, not as quiet as her strained voice but low and calm. "Docs took their time putting you back together."

Oxaris nods numbly, letting her gaze roll back to the ceiling as she stares up at it for a moment. "Do you... mind grabbing me... some water?" She asks. She's having a serious case of deja vu right now, but she is parched. She manages to look down at her outfit, this time grateful that she is actually wearing a gown that fits her, rather than improvising with a human's gown. Why are they all so small? "You okay?"

Zaylus nods, having to shake out his legs a little as he rises for the first time in a while. He briefly steps away to grab her a drink while Oxaris inspects her new threads. Stylish. He returns with a shake of the head and a glass in his good hand. "Stop asking me that." He replies, letting it linger in a low grumble despite the not-all-that displeased look on his face. Quite tired, he's

Oxaris she manages a snort and tilts her head up to make the task of drinking much easier. And she spills less this time too! A few droplets make it down her chin, but she pays it no mind, instead leaning back into her pillow and looking up at him. "Not used to... someone showing concern, Velrin?" She manages a small smile before looking out to the window.

Halisi enters the recovery room, gaze locked onto her datapad, but when she hears Oxaris' voice she looks up, a small smile crossing her lips. "You're awake." she remarks as she approaches the two turians, tapping her datapad to collapse it. "How do you feel?"

Zaylus sniffs, a smirk growing as she turns to the window. He places the glass on the table beside her. As he's revving up a snappy retort, Halisi's arrival claims his attention, and he steps back from the bedside at the sight of the doctor.

Oxaris looks to Halisi and offers her a small smile. "I've... been better. But I'm alive so... I can't complain." She nods gently. "Thank you."

Halisi gives a small nod. "I'm glad to say the surgery itself went without complications. As I have mentioned, the recovery process will be fairly lengthy. We will be keeping you here until we are confident that your body is accepting the synthetic repair tissue. A physical therapy plan will be laid out in the coming days. It is vital that it be followed if you want to regain full strength. Even then, there are no guarantees that

Oxaris listens and, for a brief moment, genuine worry sets across her features. Probably hard to notice for Halisi, but not for Zaylus. However, she nods and rests a talon gingerly on her chest. "I understand," she says softly, mandibles twitching. She's put too much at risk, being so careless. She'll have to tread carefully from now on. She looks back to Halisi, shoulders slumping. "Is there... no alternatives to

Zaylus gives Oxaris and the doctor some space to talk, looking away from them momentarily. Unfortunately, he misses the look of concern on the turian's face, but not the sound in her voice, and hazards a glance back as he slowly steps toward the window.

Halisi sighs softly, shaking her head. "I'm afraid not. We're exploring all options, but quite frankly, there's no way around a challenging recovery. I assure you I will do everything I can to provide assistance. After what you did for Li, it's the least I can do." she says, offering a small smile. She neglects to mention the wrangling she's already had to do to get the Foundation to provide the synthetic abdominal tissue on such

Oxaris nods again. "Thank you. I don't mean... to sound ungrateful." She offers a small twitch of her mandibles in apology. "How is... Li doing?"

Zaylus leans over to peer out of the window, giving the illusion of not listening more than anything else. He slumps tiredly, blinking slow at the trees.

Halisi 's smile fades, her gaze falling for a moment before she clears her throat. "I... it's hard to tell. She's been through a lot for someone so young. But she's alive. Thanks to you." she says, propping her smile back up. "And she will be fine. With time."

Oxaris turns her gaze back down to her chest, sighing softly. "It was... a lot. I've seen much of what the... galaxy can do. But I was... not ready for that." She turns back to Halisi and offers a small smile herself. "Time. Yes, time."

Halisi seems about to say something else when her datapad bleeps, and she offers an apologetic smile. "Duty calls." she says, gesturing with the collapsed device. "I'll let the nurses know you're up. See about getting you some food." she adds before turning to leave, expanding her datapad again.

Oxaris smiles gratefully and leans back in her bed. "Food sounds... wonderful. If you could... maybe something that isn't paste?" She asks hopefully, but is more than prepared to gobble down a tube of paste anyway. She hungry enough to not care too much. She looks to Zaylus as he stares out the window, tilting her head faintly. "Have you... slept?"

Halisi snickers quietly on her way out. "I'll see what I can do." she offers as she disappears into the corridor.

Zaylus snorts quietly at the exchange, knowing as well as she does, she's probably eating paste. He turns back slowly as the doctor departs, resting against the window with a low sigh. He shrugs, a largely one-armed gesture for the time being, and rolls his head. "Enough." He replies dismissively. "The sound of medical equipment, well, that always does that trick." He jokes, cocking a head

Oxaris she hums and eyes him with the look a disapproving mother would give her son. "Thank you," she says after a moment, her features softening. "For staying with me."

Zaylus snickers weakly, relishing the scolding mother routine as always. He leans forward off the window and shuffles back to his chair, head down as he fiddles with his arm sling. "Yeah, well... I knew you wanted to see a friendly face when you woke up." He begins, dropping into the seat with a small huff. "Obviously we don't have any of those, so, you'll have to deal with me instead."

Oxaris manages to muster enough energy to whap him on the arm. The good one. It had no power behind it, but the point was made. "Oh shush. You're a friendly one. A constantly snarky one, but friendly nonetheless."

Zaylus laughs in surprise, the admittedly gentle hit catching him off guard. "Hey, save your strength." He scolds, "Or I'm gonna get the doctor and tell her you hit me and called me snarky. Up to you." He teases, pointing at her to emphasize his point.

Oxaris she manages a croaky laugh, a little more energy seeping into her. "Oh, grow a thicker carapace, Zaylus. I may be laid up, but I can still... put you on the ground." She smiles and turns to look out the window, sighing softly.

Vasquez clears her throat as she finds a lull in the conversation. She steps closer to the two turians, a neutral look on her face as she looks over Oxaris. She's wearing her gray Redrock jacket along with gray camo military pants, her hair tied back into its usual ponytail. "Ortoratus. Velrin." she says, offering each of them a nod, hands clasping loosely behind her.

Zaylus snickers softly, following her gaze out to the window again. It's not long before Vasquez makes herself known, and he stands at the mention of his name. He offers a shallow nod in response before looking uncomfortably between the other two.

Oxaris immediately tries to snap to attention at Vasquez's voice, but is quickly reminded of her condition. She winces in pain, but looks to Vasquez with the respect one would give their C.O. "Ma'am."

Vasquez raises a hand in a dismissive gesture as Oxaris strains. "Easy, Ortoratus. How are you doing?"

Zaylus quietly sits back down, looking between them as they speak. This time he makes no attempt to distance from the conversation.

Oxaris relaxes, but only marginally. "Not great, if I'm being honest. I'll be out for a while and going through lengthy rehabilitation. I'll survive, though."

Vasquez offers a faint, sympathetic smile and a nod. "Halisi has updated me on your status. I've got no doubts that you'll be back in fighting shape soon enough. The doc knows what she's doing. In the meantime... Redrock looks out for our own. I can promise you that."

Oxaris nods and offers Vasquez a small smile. "I got the impression, ma'am. I'm just glad everyone made it back." She nods to Zaylus at that before looking back at Vasquez. "It was... harrowing, I'll admit."

Zaylus returns the quick nod, mandibles flaring in thought as recalls those harrowing events.

Vasquez purses her lips, giving another nod. Her gaze briefly travels to the window, lingering on the backlit, cloudy sky for a moment before looking back to Oxaris. "Yes. I imagine it was." she agrees. "I believe you've both been made aware that this isn't Redrock's first time dealing with this kind of thing. I'm sure you have some questions. There's going to be a debrief sometime in the next few days." She glances to Zaylus

Oxaris shifts a little in her bed and thinks for a moment. "Perhaps I can be included via a vid call? That way I can stay up to date appropriately and it'll save you another trip." She smiles faintly before her expression hardens again. "But, to speak plainly, yes, I'm very much aware that it isn't your first encounter. It's concerning to say the least, but I haven't got all the facts. I'm sure there's an

Zaylus perks a little as the conversation developes, becoming visibly more thoughtful. "Are you going to be able to explain what the hell happened out there?" He finally asks, unable to not sound pessimistic.

Vasquez nods at Oxaris' suggestion. "I've considered the possibility, but there are some security concerns. With our only real tech off-world, well... I'll let you know how we decide to handle it." she offers, before looking to Zaylus. "We don't have all the answers... but we're going to share what we do know. I'm afraid that's the best I can do right now." she says, before sighing. A moment's hesitation follows before she

Oxaris listens along to Vasquez's initial words. "Understood." She glances to Zaylus too, smiling faintly before her attention is brought back to her employer. She dips her head thankfully and says, "I did only what was needed. We're a unit, ma'am, we look out for one another. But thank you." She brings a talon up to give her a small salute, less crisp than what the turian would've liked, but it would have to do.

Zaylus chews on Vasquez's response as she turns her attention back to the other turian. He can't resent her for the truth in her response, and eventually he accepts it and decides to just wait for the debrief. He leans back, lightly tapping his talon against the arm of the chair. The haphazard salute gets a small look from him, but he says nothing, tapping away.

Vasquez offers a sharp nod in response to Oxaris' salute, lingering in silence for a moment before nodding a few more times, as her gaze wanders briefly. "I'll leave you to it. Rest. Chances are we're going to need you back on your feet sooner rather than later." she says, some of the true heaviness of that sentence slipping through despite her attempt to mask it. "I need to get back to compiling information for the debrief."

Oxaris sinks a little into her bed, strangely not looking too opposed to getting some well deserved rest. Even if her body still feels like it is on fire. "I'll be there whenever you need me, ma'am. Although... I will need my armour repaired and weapons replaced. If you know any trustworthy armourers and merchants around, I'd... very much like to get in contact with them."

Zaylus twitches his mandibles, the forboding nature of Vasquez's statement not entirely lost on him.

Vasquez nods. "We'll be sure to make arrangements." she assures, lingering for a moment before turning to leave with a "Good work out there. Both of you."

Oxaris pops off a small salute again and smiles. "Thank you, ma'am. I think I'll rest a little more now."

Zaylus dips his head to Vasquez, having no more words for her. Boss or not, he can't quite muster the professional attitude even wounded Oxaris embodies.