 |
Forgot my password.
COMMAND
STAFF
SIM
LISTING
SiM
REPS
RULES &
REGS
AWARDS
UNIFORMS
TRIBUTE
SP LINKS
ALIEN RACES
SP Awards
JOIN SP
CHAT
Message Boards
RIHANNSU
DICTIONARY
You are visitor #
Our Message Boards
Level 4
Message #:2156
Time to look for the author...*** "Doctor's Dilemma" JDL w/ Dr. Ane |
Celeste had made an official appointment with the Counselor, as she was having difficulty in processing all that had just occurred on this last mission. She was hoping that he could help her make sense of it all, or at least start to.
The doctor straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath and rang the chime to the Counselor’s office. She was nervously shifting her weight between her feet as she waited for permission to enter.
"Come in," came the easy voice of Ensign Dane Nguyen. The doors slid open, allowing the doctor entrance. "Hello, Celeste."
“Counselor” she replied smiling, trying to be more confident than she felt as she entered the office. “Nice place you have here,” she added, realizing she hadn’t been in his office yet since she arrived on the ship. They usually met in her office or the conference room.
Dane gave a quick glance around his office. It was decorated with artwork he had always found soothing. He felt it added an air of calm to the office. "Thank you," he said cheerfully. "I try to keep it homey. Please have a seat." He indicated the sofa, which had a coffee table in front of it, with beverages already on the tabletop. There was a small teapot. There were two cups turned upside down, next to the pot.
Celeste nodded and sat down folding her hands in her lap. “Thanks for making time for me. Figured I should start setting up my support system here. Especially in light of our confidential missions. What I did before isn’t going to work well here.” She started babbling.
"My pleasure," the counselor replied, genuinely. "If you don't mind me asking, what was your support mechanism before?"
“Oh, mom and Nobel, usually," Ane said, referring to her mother and brother. "Luna when I needed a sister’s point of view, she knew me the best. A few close friends. I was rarely involved in anything with this level of confidentiality, and then I usually had my CMO to go to.” She shrugged. “I’ve usually found a way to stay grounded. When I got here, everything was a cluster, and then we headed out almost immediately. I haven’t had time to get all my ducks in a row.”
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Nguyen admitted. "When I first came aboard, the ship had been without a counselor for a while. My schedule built up quick, and we always seem to be getting into some tight situations. But, we do try to lighten the moods with events such as our club nights."
Celeste nodded. “that dance party helped.” She admitted. “But…”she took a deep breath. “Dane, I have not been this shook up in a long long time.”
He nodded sympathetically. "Okay, so tell me what has you the most upset." Dane leaned forward and over turned the two cups. He poured the steaming liquid from the pot into both of the cups, then took one of them, and sipped from it.
Tears started to fill her eyes, but she tried not to let them fall, yet. “I think the biggest thing was seeing Aunt April… alive. Her and Mom still together- friends after all these years. The happiness I saw in their eyes, even under the fear.” A single tear slid down her face. “And I can’t even tell Mom about it.” She wiped the tear away. “I keep thinking about all the things that I never learned from Aunt April. All the time that her kids missed with her. And Uncle Lukas having to raise the kids, live his life, without her. It’s not fair”. She said this last softly, as if she were a child whispering to a parent”
The counselor nodded. "That is definitely one of the major traumas, when it comes to universe hopping. You, possibly, see someone you never thought you'd see again, or you find out something about someone you certainly would not expect. And, gosh, keeping it from your family... that is definitely a hard one to get past."
“Yeah. At some point I will talk to Mom, and Luna. But that will have to wait for a face to face. Mom has the security clearance, and if not, I can always talk to Uncle Lukas, he definitely has the clearance, and get him to talk to mom. And Luna, well, I’ll cross the bridge later. She will find out somehow.” She reached over to pick up a cup and took a sip, smiling at the comforting aroma and warmth of the beverage. “Once again though, I didn’t get to say a formal goodbye.” The tears started to slowly fall.
"It sounds as if you have already made up your mind as to the proper way to handle this," Nguyen commented. "I know it doesn't help in the current moment, though. Does it warm your heart, though, to realize that had your aunt survived, to this day, that she and your mom would still be close friends?"
She smiled, “oh, I know even death would not separate those 2 eventually. But when I see how Luna and I are. Well I can’t help but be sad for Mom not having April around for all these years. They were the glue that held each other together.”
She took another long sip of her tea, bracing herself for this next bit. Dane, again, nodded. He remained silent, this time, just being able to see there was more that Celeste would like to get out. He took a sip of his tea, thoroughly enjoying the taste and the soothing feelings it gave him.
She finally looked up at Dane and put the cup down. “I need a big favor Dane.” She stated simply.
"Okay," he replied in a soft voice. If I can, it's yours."
“I need you to ride herd on me at times.” She put out bluntly. “With my telepathy, I will try to hide things. I push them down until I feel that they are buried, but I know they really aren’t. At some point if I don’t deal with them, they pop back up and take me down. Luna always knew when I needed to vent and she knew how to get me to do it too.
"I don’t expect all that from you. And I don’t expect I will need regular sessions. But I know you are telepathic. So I am giving you permission that if you see me being too out of character for too long, you are to tackle me anyway you need to and get it out of me. You are even allowed to ask me to lower my shields so you can scan me, if it comes to that. Most of the time if you think I need to talk, tell me. I will try to be as honest with you as I can. If I can’t be, I WILL try to tell you why, be in confidentiality or restricted information or what not. I know I will have issues and I am pretty smart to know when I need help with them.”
"Well, it does seem I have fooled you well, if not somewhat inadvertently," Nguyen said with a little humor in his voice. "I am the farthest thing from telepathic. I do try to be as empathic with the crew as possible, and, at times, I do... feel when a certain person needs me most, but telepathic?" He shook his head. "No.
"As far as keeping you in the here and now, I believe I can accommodate you there. I do not need telepathy to be able to help you there, Celeste. And, I will be glad to do whatever I can to assist you, and not because it is my job. In your short time aboard, you have gotten under my skin, and in a good way."
Celeste laughed and lowered her shields completely. “Ummm, I swear I read in your file that you have a medium telepathic score” she reached for his mind, and got an underlying telepathic hum. “I can feel a telepathic hum. I could probably teach you to scan at least myself, if you would be interested.”
The young Korean counselor raised his brows at this. He even felt something faint, like someone touching his brain. "You know, I heard Dr. Dover, at Starfleet Academy mention that, in my entry physical, but I never put any credence to it. Yes, I would be very interested in learning more about it and how to do it. So, let's make a deal. You help me, and I'll help you." He knew he really didn't have to go making any deals. He would gladly help Celeste, but if it made her feel better about opening up to him, all the better.
Celeste smiled knowing when she was being humored. “No deals are necessary kind sir! I know I am in over my head here. I’m only 22 and am CMO of a ship. That is CRAZY! So I know I will be coming to you for a rational view of things! The Captain is the only other one on board who can read me, but we know how busy HE is.” Celeste stated. “I will gladly teach you what I can, but know that I am not the most proficient at things. Luna used to pull her hair out at times when there was a minor detail I couldn’t get, but she mastered easily.”
Celeste finished her slowly cooling cup of tea. “Oh, and if the Captain comes to you with a concern about me. Please take it very seriously. He’s known me most of my life, and if he can’t get through to me, it means I’m hiding.”
"So noted," Nguyen agreed. "I think I would like to meet Luna sometime. She sounds like an interesting person, herself... So, you've been around Starfleet all your life then?"
“Yes. Luna is more stable and yet more crazy than myself. She is the yin to my yang. We have been ‘sisters’ our entire lives. When we get a chance, I can introduce you. I think you will like her.
And yes, I’ve been Starfleet my entire life. Born on the Wyld Foxx, raised on Foxx and Pasteur. The only time I lived on Earth was med school and when I started the academy. Otherwise I’ve been on ships or bases.” Celeste took a deep cleansing breath.
"Wow!" the counselor again said in a soft tone. "I was born on Earth and lived there all my young life. The first time I was in space was when we visited Starbase 001, for anti-gravity training. So, a lot of the things we see is... old hat for you."
“No, not always.” She looked away for a moment, and then turned back to him.
“Mom and Uncle Lukas tried to shelter us from a lot. We would hear about things that would happen, but we knew that we couldn’t blurt them out all over the place because it might be ‘top secret’ as Noble, Ronnie, and Ro used to dub classified materials”. A smile appeared. “And then there was the time on the shuttle for a class trip. We got sucked into a wormhole. The pilot disappeared, and our teacher was incapacitated and we had to make our way to safety, way out in the Beta Quadrant. Luna and I took care of the injured, and the boys workedOn the shuttle. It was actually Rayne, and the Eagle, that rescued us. We weren’t let out of the adults sight for a long time after that!”
Dane listened with genuine interest as Celeste told him about the class trip gone wrong. Before they knew it almost two hours had passed since the CMO had entered the counselor's office.
"I'm sorry to break this up, Celeste," Nguyen said, a genuine apologetic tone in his voice. "Troy is waiting for me, for dinner. I would love to hear more about your adventure, though."
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take up so much of your time. Thank you for the session though. I know we will talk again.” She hugged him impulsively, grinning.
He returned the hug. "Oh, no need to be sorry. I truly enjoyed this. You have a good night."
“Celeste nodded and headed out of the office, deciding to go to her own office and work on paperwork. She needed a clean break from her emotions and dry paperwork was just what the doctor ordered.
###
&&celeste&&
