"Quiet Contemplations"
[Previous post: "Memories", written by the artistic Sabrina Jones]
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Setting: USS HATHOR, Sickbay
Lea had been washing her hands with various disinfecting compounds. The CMO
seemed very intent on doing a good job. Susan, who had been watching the entire scene seemed troubled. The action she had seen her friend doing had been perfectly normal. The snag had been that Lea had washed her hands more than a dozen times since their return to the HATHOR.
The intensity with which Lea had scrubbed her hands had almost left the CMO
scared, yet she continued. Earlier on Susan had tried to intervene but her
friend had given a believable explanation. That had been eight hand-washing
ago. Now the Cns was genuinely concerned for her friend.
"If you keep it up like that," Susan said from across the room," we'll have to
call Doctor Halliwell in. She'll have to treat your hands because you will have rubbed them raw."
The CMO spun around and smiled at her friend as if all had been as normal as
could be. Then Lea lowered her eyes onto her hands which were opened palms up. As Lea studied her own hands a line from a Shakespearean play flashed in her mind. **Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?**
Lea's smile gradually faded as tears began to form in the CMO's eyes. By the
time Susan had crossed the small room, several salty water droplets had migrated onto Lea's cheeks. "I was not able to save him," Lea said referring to one crewman she had tried to save. The injuries he had suffered at the hands of the Imperians had been severe, even nasty. Lea had worked long and hard to try and save the man, but in the end it all been for not.
Susan reached for her friend and wrapped her arms around the distraught CMO. It had taken longer than she had expected but the Cns was happy to see that Lea had finally decided to open up. If not to her friend at least to the emotions that had been buried deep down.
"You did everything that you could," Susan said comforting her friend. "In fact you did more than anyone could have asked for," the Cns added, her friend now crying on her shoulder.
As she gently rocked her friend in a soothing motion, Susan thought of the other members of the crew. Not only of the HATHOR but also of the ANUBIS. Many of them had become accustomed to the harsh reality of life in Starfleet. Others though had still manage to hold on to their innocence, at least up until
recently. Under normal circumstances Susan would have ordered each and every
officer to attend a counselling session. There they would have been able to
voice their feelings, their anger and sadness. Heading towards SURIAL III had
made such a course of action difficult. Added to this the threat of the
Imperians had only made it truly impossible.
The best that Susan could do was to offer what little support she could and to
carefully select those most needy. And at the moment that had been her friend
Lea.
=-=
Susan stepped onto the bridge looking tired and relieved. Lea had been brought
into her quarters where a mild sedative had knocked her out with difficulties.
"How is she?" David asked. The question, or actually the way that it had been
asked, had made it clear that the ExO/CEO's interest had been of a personal
nature. However he had managed to figure it out, David knew that Lea had been
an emotional mess.
Susan only smiled and nodded her head as she whispered her reply to the imposing man. "She's resting."
David appeared relieved by the report and returned to his work without asking
anything more. With that out of the way Susan set her eyes on the HATHOR's FCO. Given what he had experienced and gone through Uxtar might have been a better choice for the Cns' next target. Being a Hirogen though had meant that the Sec/Tac officer had already been better equipped to deal with such situations. At least that had been Susan's analysis. Since Ens. Kea had been on the bridge for most of the confrontation and Lt. Pravat had stayed on the ANUBIS, Derek had been the next best choice.
"Counsellor," the half Vulcan man said as Susan walked up to him, "what brings
you up here?"
"Just thought I would check up on the crew," Susan truthfully admitted.
"According to my job description, that is what I am suppose to do," the Cns
added as she glanced back to the HATHOR's CO.
Serenna immediately got the significance of the glance and acted on it. "Ens.
Stormwind, everyone else on the bridge is busy and I am picking up a fluctuation in the navigational array. Could you have a look at it?"
"Right away Sir," Derek replied not for one instant questioning the order of the Romulan hybrid.
David who had not noticed the fluctuation that the CO had spoken about kept
quiet. He knew Serenna well enough not to question her openly about anything.
His suspicions were quickly confirmed when Susan offered to accompany the FCO to *help*.
The FCO shot a glare at the Cns but before he could dismiss the offer, Serenna
had already mentioned that it had been a good idea. So that he liked it or not, Derek would be spending some *quality* time alone with Susan.
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Lt. J.G. Lea Summers 2006 post #092
Stardate: 60401.2100
Setting: USS HATHOR, Bridge
Stardate: 60401.2115
Tiffany Rose {lady_tiffany_rose@mail.com}
Chief Medical Officer
USS HATHOR
