Posted by Commander Shara Calloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Sickbay- A Consultation

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aasrel Izei (Chief Medical Officer) in Sickbay- A Consultation

Posted by Commander Shara Calloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Sickbay- A Consultation
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Calloway took a moment to settle herself into a chair and give both men a studious once-over. “I don’t know exactly. I’ve never been in this position before where I was actively having to push through my symptoms without having a reprieve. This mission doesn’t allow me to utilize my previous resources, so we’re stuck with what we have here. My medication isn’t working, clearly, and I can’t say it was doing great even before I arrived on the Asimov, even though it had been increased. We don’t have time to fiddle with meds and try something new.” She held up a hand. “I’m not saying I’m not open to trying something new, but I think it’s unwise to do so now. Not when I might have to manage side effects. Trust me when I say you do not want me thrown worse off my game than I already am. That would be a disaster for the whole ship. But I’m not sleeping and the very act of being on this mission is a constant trigger. I guess I just need to know if there’s more help available on this ship, or if I’m just going to have to suck it up and hope I don’t get anyone killed.”

~Shara Calloway, Honest CIO

‘How long have you gone without sleep Commander?’

-Lieutenant Patrick McMillan: Counsellor-

Shara sighed. “I do sleep, but not consistently or through most nights. It’s not ideal but I’ve been operational on a lot less. But the nightmares wake me up more than I would like.”

Aasrel frowned and studied the Commander, elbows on his desk. It was situations like this that made him miss his empathy. Miss it more than he usually did, anyway. “Your current regiment is not working. Something new is indicated, is it not? How can we find a solution if we can’t try anything different? What exactly are you hoping we can do?” Then his expression turned serious and his frown deepened. “If we are talking about a shipwide disaster or the loss of a crew member because of your symptoms…” He paused, this always needed to be said very delicately, “Are you sure you should be on duty and working?”

~ Izei, CMO

She shook her head and pushed herself to her feet, pacing away from the desk. “I shouldn’t be, that’s the whole point!” She spun and took them in intently. “I was a covert operative for nineteen years. I left it because of my PTSD. Intelligence’s own psychiatrist’s wouldn’t clear me to go back to covert work and I didn’t want them to either. I was done with it. Don’t you get it? Here we are in a critical situation and this crew needs me to be here and doing this work. I’m damn good at it. It’s not ego either. No one on this ship has the depth of experience that I do in submerging myself in a different identity to accomplish mission goals. And I have to see this mission through,” Shara said, pounding her right fist on her left palm. “For myself, for my daughter Faye, for others like her who were used and abused by this Shadow Syndicate. They cannot be allowed to continue destroying lives and destroying Starfleet from the inside out. It ends now, with us.”

Calloway blew out a breath, softening her tone. “I’m not saying we can’t new things, I’m saying we won’t have the time to judge effectiveness and unless you’re certain it won’t make me worse in the interim, it could be risky to change my antidepressant. Surely we have other options that will help me feel more level and in control. I just need to make it through to the end of this and then my husband has promised me R&R back at our cabin in the mountains, and with our kids if we can swing it. So please, help me get there. I promised my girls I wouldn’t disappear on them again. I’ve broken far too many promises to those I love over the years. I don’t want this to be one of them.”

~Shara Calloway, Desperate CIO

Paddy crossed his hands across the desk, “Would you be opposed to an approach that could closely analyse your psyche? Your remarks about that cabin in the mountains makes me think an approach like hypnotherapy might be a good avenue to consider?”

-Lieutenant Patrick McMillan: Counsellor-

She inhaled and blew out the breath with partially open lips. “Maybe? I’d have to understand in detail how it works, but I’ll be honest that I’m an Intelligence agent. We’re trained against subconscious manipulation. I might be very resistant to it, even if I agree to it in principle.”

~Shara Calloway, CIO

“What about Prazosin?” Aasrel said suddenly, just coming up with the idea. “It has minimal side effects, dizziness, headache, nausea, drowsiness. There’s less than ten percent chance of any of those happening and if they do they’ll last two to three hours.” He looked at Calloway, “But it’ll stop your nightmares and let you get good rest.”

~ Izei, CMO

“Tell me more,” Shara said. “Is it a sleep aide? Antidepressant? Something else? And will it conflict with the antidepressant I’m on already, or would I need to switch?” The idea of the nightmares stopping was a big part of why she was seeking other options and Calloway knew she might need to concede a little here and there. No solution would be perfect, and certainly not under their current circumstances. At some point she could have to make do with ‘good enough’, so long as it was better than how things were right now.

~Shara Calloway, CIO

“It’s not a sleep aid. You’ll be able to take it alongside your antidepressant with no changes to your current dosage.” Aasrel explained patiently. “It’s an alpha blocker, a different class of medication.”

~ Izei, CMO