Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Side sim: After-Shift Meetup

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aasrel Izei (Chief Medical Officer) in Side sim: After-Shift Meetup

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Side sim: After-Shift Meetup
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
“I don’t feel it so much when I’m with you.” The cold travelled up his implants and made his limbs feel colder. But he was being honest, leaning against her he didn’t feel it so much. He inhaled deeply and then sighed it out slowly. “I feel.... peaceful.” That was surprising to him. He hadn’t been able to say that in a long time now.

~ Aasrel

“I hope that’s a good thing. Come on, let’s get out of the water.” She didn’t seem to be in a hurry though. As they walked she spoke to the computer, and soon there was a fire blazing in a ring of stones on the sand. She sank down onto a blanket, that she’d requested as well, beside the fire.

Bethany

Aasrel moved out of the water with her and then sat down on the blanket next to her. “It’s a good thing,” he said, responding to her earlier comment. “It really is.” The fire was warm and helping to start drying his soaked clothes. “I’m having a really good time with you.”

~ Aasrel

“Good.” Her shoulder bumped his playfully, “I am really enjoying tonight and your company.” She grabbed a stick and poked at the fire distractedly. “I really am, Aasrel. Thank you. This evening has been unexpected and …” She looked at him with a grin, “peaceful. But also thrilling.” She found his hand again. “So what do you want to know?”

Bethany

Aasrel’s gloves were soaked. Water squished out of it when she took his hand. It was cold and uncomfortable, but he couldn’t bring himself to take them off. He took her hand and leaned into her. He pondered what to ask. “You have a friend who… went through what I did?”

~ Aasrel

Bethany didn’t think he could be comfortable in the wet gloves and socks. She nodded to his question. “Retured Admiral Jake Smith. He was abducted by the Borg for almost 3 years. They replaced him with a clone to serve on his ship. They were able to rescue him, his surgeries took a long time. Some of the implants couldn’t be removed. He had been assimilated for too long.”

Bethany

Aasrel nodded. His grip on her hand tightened. “It was only a few weeks for me. But they were being too hasty, trying to assimilate the crew of my ship too quickly. It’s why they can’t take mine off. I… I had more. I pushed and fought to get them removed. I’ve had a dozen surgeries in six months.” It hadn’t been safe, doing that many surgeries. But he’d managed to talk doctors into doing them.

~ Aasrel

Bethany nodded even as her hand held his more tightly in response. “His are mostly internal now. Not all of them, but mostly. The doctor onboard his ship worked a long time to help them all. I am sure you will have more surgeries. You will get there.” She squeezed his hand reassuringly. “The doctor is still around. The surgeries took awhile, trying to find ways to do it. We could ask him. I’m sure he published his work as well. We could do a search for it.”

“I have internal ones, too. At least one of them can’t be safely removed.” He frowned and sighed, “If he’s published his work, it’s likely I’ve already read it. We could ask him though. Maybe if he saw my case specifically he’d know something that wasn’t in his publishings…”

“First chance we have, we’ll ask. Or better, go see him.” With the new secure communications room she could probably reach T’Jal, bit it wasn’t worth the risk…yet.

She could tell he was uncomfortable, but hesitated and then decided it was best to say what she was thinking. He would be used to hearing her thoughts on normal circumstances. “If you want to wring the water out, it won’t bother me. I won’t look if you prefer. It can’t be comfortable.”

Bethany

It wasn’t. The cold was penetrating his fingers and toes and chilling him to the bone. The wetness was irritating his skin. She was right though, Aasrel was used to hearing the thoughts of those around him and what she said didn’t seem to upset him. “It’s… not just you seeing it.” He said. He let go of her hand and pulled off the left glove, squeezing some water out of it, then placing it by the fire. Then his left sock. As he did, he finished his thought, “It’s them being there at all. I have to see them.”

~ Aasrel

As he did she turned her face away, focusing on the lake, peering into the trees, trying to remember. The implants didn’t bother her at all, but she had offered. She reached, without looking and set a hand over his arm. “The reminder is hard. I understand. You survived though, and you’ll get through this too. Jake…he’s very open about his experience. T’Jal said he wasn’t always, but he wanted to help others. If you would like to talk to him too…”

Bethany

Aasrel started with the right sock. The one on his leg wasn’t as visible without socks as the one on his arm. He set it out by the fire. Then he pulled the right glove off. Her hand collided gently with his arm and he guided it down to his hand instead, taking her hand in his. Then he lay the glove by the fire.

He hesitated before answering and then, “I don’t know. Let me think about it.... It’s not like we can contact him soon anyway.” The idea of talking to someone who’d been through it, and for longer than him, was more appealing than to some counselor. But he still just wasn’t sure he was ready to talk about it at all.

~ Aasrel