From: Gershon <jrbowman@london2.skn.net>
Date: Sat, 3 May 1997 22:55:24 -0500
Subject: USS CHESAPEAKE: Counseling and Conversation
MD 05.1930
Scene: USS CHESAPEAKE: Counsellor's Office
Counsellor Stavay Tats-Marush had guided Doctor Ledoux back to her office;
the Officer's Mess was most certainly not an appropriate place to be
discussing the Doctor's difficulties. Catherine had remained silent, almost
unresponsive, throughout the quick journey to the counsellor's office. With
a vacant look upon her face, her sapphire eyes blank and empty, Catherine
simply followed Stavay through the ship's corridors.
Now Catherine found herself in the counsellor's office, seated in a chair,
silent and still. Clasping her hands tightly together, the vet rested them
on her lap. Taking in a few deep breaths, Catherine tried to gather her
thoughts together; this was *not* the way that she had planned on meeting
with the counsellor.
"So Doctor," Stavay said pleasantly, taking a seat opposite Catherine,
"would you like to tell me what was happening in the Officer's Mess?"
"I'm sorry counsellor," Catherine replied softly, her cheeks flushed a rosy
shade of pink. "Nothing was happening," she added, in a very unconvincing
tone of voice.
"Lieutenant Murray seemed quite concerned," Stavay ventured, still keeping
her voice pleasant.
Catherine could feel her cheeks growing warmer. "I'm... I'm sorry that we
disturbed you," she whispered in apology.
"No apology necessary, Doctor," the counsellor replied. "But Doctor,
*Catherine*," the vet looked up at the use of her name, "if I'm going to
help you, I need you to be honest with me."
Slowly Catherine nodded, her gaze firmly fixed on the floor at her feet.
"Now Catherine, could you tell me what happened in the Officer's Mess?"
Stavay gently asked, still trying that approach one more time.
"Well," Catherine quietly began, carefully choosing her words. "Anne and I
were having dinner, and talking. Talking about our mission, talking about
our studies." Pausing, Catherine brushed a loose curl off her forehead.
"After a while," the vet continued, her voice still soft, "Anne asked me if
anything was wrong. I replied 'no, I'm fine.' Then suddenly she grabbed my
wrist and contacted you. I really don't know why." Catherine's expression
was truly puzzled.
Stavay sat back in her chair. "And why do you think she contacted me?" she
inquired.
"I... I don't know," Catherine mumbled, looking lost.
"I think you do."
"But I don't!" Catherine shook her head, almost in tears.
Realizing that this wasn't going to get her anywhere, Stavay decided to try
a different approach. "That's all right, Doctor," she said, in a soothing
tone of voice.
After waiting a few moments for Catherine to regain her composure, Stavay
was ready to try another question. "How was dinner?" the Shreveshal
counsellor asked.
Startled, Catherine looked up sharply. "Fine," she stated softly, returning
her deep blue gaze to the floor.
Well, obviously the dinner hadn't been fine, or else Lieutenant Murray
wouldn't have said there was an emergency. But for now, the counsellor
decided to agree with the doctor.
"That's good," Stavay said conversationally, "and how was your meal?"
Catherine, staring at the floor, could feel her throat tightening. Although
she didn't want to lie to the counsellor, the vet didn't know what to say.
Catherine just wanted to return to her quarters. After all, everything was
fine, just fine. Nothing was wrong. Absolutely nothing.
"Doctor? Catherine?"
Continuing to stare at the floor, Catherine could feel her eyes beginning to
water. Unable to tell the truth yet not wanting to lie, the vet was caught
in a quandry. Refusing to admit that there was a problem, refusing to
acknowledge that she hadn't been eating, Catherine could only answer the
counsellor's questions with silence.
Stavay felt this was going nowhere. It was obvious that Catherine did not
want to talk. What to do, what to do? All right. We can afford to wander
about.
"Maybe Anne gets a little bit worked up at times. Our science officer can
be quite volatile."
Catherine looked at Stavay with suprise. "Do you *actually* think that,
Counselor? After all the trouble she's working through?"
"Sorry, Doctor. I just needed to get you talking." Stavay smiled, as
if sharing a secret joke.
Not breaking the smile, Catherine was forced to smile back. "Well, Anne
has no reserve when it comes to things she cares about."
"True, Doctor. The bruises haven't gone away yet. So you can see that
something that happened that would cause Anne to "break character", break
that Vulcan facade she wears so well. She must care very much about you.
So do I, Catherine. I guess people have different ways of showing it.
"Did Anne react to something you said? A confidence, perhaps, that you can't
tell me?"
Catherine realized she was walking a tightrope. She wasn't going to reveal
her problem -- the thought of more years of counseling was a terror.
"No, Counselor...nothing I said to Anne caused her to react in such a way."
Which was true. There was no particular phrase or answer Catherine gave
Anne; rather, that Anne observed Catherine's lack of interest in food.
Stavay thought that this must be true. Catherine was not the type of person
to tell a bold-faced lie. When the Doctor didn't want to tell the truth, she
just *didn't talk*. But if it was nothing Catherine said, then what was it?
"Was it something you said, perhaps?"
"No, Counselor." *Because I didn't say anything at all. All Anne needed
to do was observe*, thought Catherine.
Stavay was confused. The only conclusion one could come to was that Anne
acted irrationally, and called Stavay down to the Officer's Mess for no
reason at all. So far, the terms of the Anne-Stavay relationship stated
that Stavay was only called for very important things. What had happened
was *not* trivial. But what was it? Maybe Stavay could coax an answer
out of Catherine, after about three hours of whittling reality down to an
unshakable core.
"All right, Catherine. Well, I hope I haven't made you too uncomfortable
bringing you down here."
It was a signal that the meeting was over. Catherine was visibly relieved.
"I understand. I don't want Anne to feel uncomfortable."
"No problem. This meeting will reassure Anne," Stavay said. *When
donkeys fly*, Stavay added as an afterthought.
************************************************************************
MD 5.2030
LT Murray's quarters
The advantage was that the poker game had been moved over two days by the
Recreation Officer. With a new mission imminent, this wasn't the right time.
The disadvantage was Murray's reaction, of course.
"You did *what*?", answered Anne.
"Well, she wasn't going to spill the beans that easily. I'm not
S'tar Beman, for Goddess sake! Maybe you can tell me what upset you so much!"
Anne cursed herself for allowing Stavay to shush her away without telling the
truth. Then again, Anne thought, I should have made allowances that something
like this would happen. "I noticed that Catherine wasn't eating anything!
She didn't have enough on her plate to feed a guinea pig. I tried the
most boring topics I could think of, but I couldn't bring her attention back
to her plate."
"Uh...Anne, maybe Catherine wasn't hungry." Probably not the truth, thought
Stavay, but it would force Anne to clarify her argument.
"Counselor...I've seen that type of behavior before!"
"Ah, LT Murray. Then you have experience with eating disorders. You've
seen the signs and symptoms from a history of close observation in the
field." It
was a gentle tease, asking what other proof Anne had before jumping to so
radical a hypothesis.
"Actually, Counselor Tats-Marush...*yes*, I *have* seen that kind of behavior.
I knew some from close up." It was true because one or two of
the students with behavioral disorders were anorexic. Neither of those
two students survived; they just wasted away. Anne, however, was not going
to share those experiences with the Counselor.
"What made you decide to call me, then? Was it a particular thing that you
saw?", asked Stavay.
"It was the way she stirred her soup. It was *always* counterclockwise.
You know how most people stir their soup, they'll swish it back and forth
and up and down. The same way with her yogurt cup. Counterclockwise.
Around and around, slow, labored, as if she were killing time. Every one
and a half seconds, the spoon would hit the rim."
"You're very observant."
"Thank you. It was clearly a ritual."
"Maybe so. But I need more evidence than that--"
"--what about the anxiety that Catherine's faced since she's been separated
from Rich? Eating disorders have their roots in anxiety--"
"--maybe so, Anne. But that's not enough!"
"Yes, yes, I *know* it's not enough. We need to know how much weight she's
lost, or what her menstrual cycles are like."
"Completing a diagnosis requires four of five criteria to be met from the
FMDD-VI. I know, Counselor."
Stavay didn't doubt that Anne had sections of the Federation Manual of
Mental Disorders, Sixth Edition underlined and memorized. Once again,
Anne would have made a great counselor if she didn't have emotional issues
of her own.
"All right. But there's no need to increase Catherine's anxiety about her
eating problem, if she has one. I'll see what I can do to confirm a
diagnosis."
"Counselor, I have a science tricorder, which can calculate her weight to
a height-mean table--"
"--thank you, Anne. That will help, but I need to know if this is a problem
she's dealt with before. Tell me, Anne...does she have any friends who know
her really well? Who might be able to tell us something about her past?"
Murray wondered when the Counselor slid into using first names. "Okay...
Stavay...there's Rich, but you probably know that. I remember when we talked...
yes! Anastasia!"
"Anastasia! A sister, perhaps?"
"No...it was somebody aboard the REGENT. A source of humor."
"Hmm. I'll have to talk to someone aboard the REGENT. If a carrier wave
is available, I'll talk to a communications officer for ship to ship
communication. Tomorrow, I'll post a packet to Rich Wilson on Terra and
try to find Anastasia on the communications net."
"Fine. If you could keep me informed, Stavay...I mean, not that I want to
interfere, as long as I know that Catherine's okay."
Stavay suspected that Anne's involvement would not suddenly end. "I'd try
to make her feel as comfortable as possible for right now. Try to lower
her anxiety, just don't go overboard. The Doctor seems to be in no imminent
danger. For the moment, we can relax.
"By the way, Anne...you remember what we talked about today. I have to tell
you that Starfleet regulations require that I report what I've heard to
the CO and XO. About Mr. Mallory."
Anne remained silent for a long time. She nodded, quickly. "I see. What is
the process?"
Scratching her head, Stavay continued. "Well...I think they'll send a security
officer to get a deposition. First, however, I intend to make my own
report. It's probably best, though, if we make our reports separately.
Just report what you told me to the officer."
"How long do you think it will take before there's some kind of action?"
Uh oh, thought Stavay. *I can sense Anne going into her Vulcan mode*.
"I can't say."
"I see. Thank you, Counselor. Well...if there's nothing else to talk about...
I suggest we retire for the evening."
*An almost complete change in demeanor.* "I suppose so. Thank you, LT Murray."
"Thank you, Counselor."
*****************************************************************************
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Fontaine
LCDR Catherine LeDoux, CMO
USS CHESAPEAKE
cfontain@uoguelph.ca AND cfontaine@nac.net
James Bowman
LTJG Stavay Tats-Marush, COUNS
USS CHESAPEAKE
jrbowman@london2.skn.net AND JBowman489@aol.com
Chris: Sorry that Stavay didn't learn all of the truth. But she *does*
know that something is wrong. Now, the problem is to verify it herself....
Masako: Thanks for the review. (When I sent Masako the review, I hadn't
included the signatures. She replied, "You write Catherine as well as
Chris does!" :)
Amy, Takako: One unhappy reporter coming your way.
Lynnaea: It will probably be Clarissa Darling doing the depositions.
Melvin: Still waiting for that "special post" to come along on my part
(be afraid...be *very* afraid :)
Naomi, Fabian: Hi. :)
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