Monsters - Part 4

A piece of debris ruptured the seal between her suit and helmet. Gas started escaping and she was suddenly unable to breathe. She gasped and choked, trying to force the remaining air down her throat - but there was no air left. Her armour was the only thing protecting her from freezing to death instantly, but she could feel the icy coldness of space. A sensation which was slowly dying away as she struggled to fix the seal.
Her vision was fading. There were no sounds, not any more. Just silence. Deathly silence. Her muscles were refusing to function and her lungs, no matter how hard she tried, weren't inflating.
I'mgoingtodie, I'mgoingtodie, I'mgoingtodie, she thought.
At the last moment, just as she thought all seemed lost, hands grasped her from nowhere and pulled her towards the airlock of the SF-2. Then she lost consciousness altogether.

"Will Keating be okay?" Mia asked as Thomson exited the medical bay with Emi at his side.
Thomson nodded, "She will. The doctors had to replicate some skin of her neck because it was frosted up, and her lungs will be bad for a while but she'll make a full recovery."
"... I don't like Keating, but I'm glad she'll live..." Emi said, "... Suffocating like that and being lost forever would be a bad way to die..."
"Can I go and see her?" Mia questioned, "Is she up to it?"
"She's awake but she's not in a good mood," Thomson pointed out, "The loss of the Naseby has kind of hit her hard. You might be able to help her."
Mia nodded, then moved towards the door to the medical bay and opened it, whilst Thomson and Emi went to the CIC.

"Are you okay?" Mia asked Keating. It was the first time Mia had seen the Commander without a helmet. She had shoulder-length black hair and hazel coloured eyes. Her cheek had a large cut down the side, which appeared to be a scar. She would have been quite pretty by both human and Quarian standards if it wasn't for the tear on her skin, which made her look fierce and battle-hardened. She looked about twenty five.
However, now there was a tear on her cheek.
"No, Mia. I'm not... bloody okay," Keating responded, gasping and breathing heavily, "All my life has just... been ruined in a matter of... minutes."
"Why? You're still alive, aren't you?"
"I spent every... day since my eighteenth birthday building... that ship. The SSV Naseby was my baby... I built it with my own two hands with... no help from no one else. I've spent... so long on it. How would... you feel if something you had spent... so much of your life building was just destroyed? ... I worked and worked and worked for... ten hours a day trying to build it..."
Mia shrugged slightly, "I'm not sure how I'd react... but you're still alive. That has to be something, right?"
Keating shook her head and grimaced, "No. I have nothing... nothing left. That ship was all I've ever had..."
"So there's never been anyone special in your life?"
She grimaced, but it wasn't because she moved her neck, "There was... one guy. But..."
"But?"
Keating began to talk.