Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aasrel Izei (Chief Medical Officer) in Rest and Relaxation?

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Rest and Relaxation?

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aasrel Izei (Chief Medical Officer) in Rest and Relaxation?
Posted by… suppressed (18) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Aasrel nodded. “I’ll be there with you regardless,” he said softly to her.

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany kissed him, uncaring of the other people in the room. I never doubted you would be.

Aasrel kissed her back. I love you.

“I think Aasrel had something he wanted to ask you, Dear,” Jake said. They were focusing on Bethany, but there was no reason for waiting to help Aasrel as much as possible.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Aasrel felt a bit put on the spot as he looked at Jake and then T’Jal. “Oh, yes. We were talking, while you were helping Bethany. I wanted to ask… if it would be a good idea to do the same or similar for me.”

~ Izei, CMO

“It’s possible. You’ve been through a great deal of trauma.” T’Jal didn’t need to read his file. He had been assimilated and on this same mission as Bethany. He’d watched her dying. “We would need to have a more in depth conversation before I could confidently recommend anything.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Aasrel nodded. “Of course. It’s just… Bethany mentioned it could make it easier for me to.. you know, accept the prosthetics and everything.” There would be other benefits, but that was what Bethany had mentioned so he went with it. “I don’t know, I guess I was just wondering.”

~ Izei, CMO

“It could. The question would be how much help do you need? What would be best in the immediate and long term. Would be opposed to having a more personal conversation with me? Bethany can stay or it can be just us.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“Not at all,” Aasrel said. He glanced at Bethany. Which would you prefer? To stay with me or to wait? Then back to T’Jal, “When?”

~ Izei, CMO

I’ll stay if you like, but I want you to feel like you can say whatever you need to without worrying if I will worry. Bethany grinned at him. Whatever you say falls under doctor patient confidentiality. You tell me what you want.

Bethany, we can feel each other’s minds from other sides of the planet. Whether you stay with me or not I might make you worry. Aasrel smiled back at her. I tell you everything. I always will.

I know. She just wanted him to have the choice.

“Whenever you would like. Now or tomorrow.,” T’Jal said.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“Now is great,” Aasrel said quickly. “Bethany can stay.”

~ Izei, CMO

Jake stood up, “I’ll go get that other thing ready.” He leaned down and kissed his wife and left the room. “Alright, Aasrel, tell me about your symptoms of trauma. How severe are they?” This was a type of counseling session, but she respected him as a doctor and that he was seeking this out on his own.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Aasrel glanced at Bethany, then back to T’Jal. “I have nightmares, flashbacks, I’m jumpy. I hated my implants and I feel similarly about my prosthetics. I can’t look in the mirror, because…” he took Bethany’s hand and squeezed it, “I don’t feel like me anymore.” He thought for a moment, “As for how severe they are…” he looked at Bethany as if for help.

~ Izei, CMO

“He avoids things that he used to enjoy.” That was something that could easily be seen from his personnel file. “He’s short tempered, anti-social.” She looked at Aasrel. “An officer bumped into him by accident and apologized for it. He had caught on a piece of the implant. Aasrel was not just self-conscious about it, but angry and rude about it. The man was genuinely concerned he might have hurt him, didn’t think any less of him. He’s been does not communicate with his family because of his experience. He doesn’t interact with his department much, even professionally. Even with the return of his telepathy he’s avoiding other telepaths. It was all he talked about, wanting that part of his life back, but he still avoids it. Dr Martin removed all the implants here,” her hand reached up and touched his head, brushing back the shorter new hair, “but he won’t look in a mirror.”

“I don’t know why,” Aasrel said. “I thought having it back would fix things but… it didn’t. I mean, it made things better. I feel more secure now that I can read people and sense them. I feel… more connected but not like before it happened and I don’t know why.” He looked at Bethany when she brushed her fingers against his head, “because even now, it just isn’t me and again, I just don’t know why.”

T’Jal listened while they spoke. “That’s all normal reactions,” she told Aasrel. “And recovering from such trauma takes time. It’s been two years. What do you hope to get from this, Aasrel? What are your goals?”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“I want to lessen those symptoms of trauma. I want to be able to accept my prosthetics… I mean, they’re not going anywhere. They can’t be “fixed” the way I was hoping for. I want to find some amount of joy in my life.”

~ Izei, CMO

T’Jal nodded, “That’s a good goal. You understand that this isn’t just a perfect fix. What I’m thinking is to do similar for you what I did for Bethany. To lessen the emotions but allow you to keep your memories. I can do this two ways. Through hypnotism or mind meld. Mind meld will require a very intimate connection. We will know much about each other and always have a connection. You will need to go to therapy though. Suppressing the emotions will not magically make you accept things. But it will make it easier for you to talk about what you went through. I can, if needs be, put the suggestion in your mind that the prosthetics and Borg implants are completely different and unconnected.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“No, I know this doesn’t work permanently nor does it replace therapy.” He thought for a moment, glancing again at Bethany, “That’s a good idea, I think. I’m open to whichever you think would work best. I just want to do what will help.”

~ Izei, CMO

“Hypnotism, of course, is only successful if you are willing to go under. Although you think you are, and are willing to try, your mind may resist. A meld doesn’t have that problem, unless you actively resist. It also will allow me to pinpoint more accurately what needs to be lessened and what to leave alone. I will actually experience your memories as if they are my own. Hypnotism we can try today. A meld I can do in two days. Since I have already melded with Bethany, I need time to allow that connection to dissipate. You two are very close,” T’Jal smiled warmly, “but it would allow a crossing over of all three of our personalities that would be detrimental to what we are trying to accomplish.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Aasrel nodded. That made sense to him. Betazoids couldn’t meld minds but the idea of psychic connections wasn’t foreign to him either. “I don’t want to impose on you at all. Whenever you can.” He frowned, “Hypnotism might work, but there’s certainly a chance it won’t.” He turned to Bethany, “What do you think?”

~ Izei, CMO

T’Jal grinned, “It is no imposition. Would it be an imposition to heal the wounded? No, it is your calling, and this is mine. I’m glad I can help.”

“You should do what you are comfortable with,” Bethany said. “I’ve done mind melds with the Admiral many times, she is familiar to me.” She’s like a surrogate mother really. I trust her and I’m comfortable with her. “But it is very intense, but it does work better than hypnotism.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“If Bethany trusts you, so do I.” Aasrel said confidently. Bethany could feel it was true, he was at ease with the idea. “I would tell my patient they should follow the best course of treatment.”

~ Izei, CMO

Aasrel and Bethany could both feel the gratitude and humbling T’Jal felt at Aasrel’s declaration. “Alright, so in two days we’ll meet here. Now, and this will be difficult Aasrel, but it will help the process, I need you to attempt do things that you’ve avoided. It will bring all those feelings to the forefront, and it will be uncomfortable, but it will make it easier to identify exactly what you are feeling and what is holding you back. However, I don’t want you to go overboard and put yourself in a place of panic, so don’t let him push too hard, Bethany.”

Bethany squeezed his hand and smiled, “I won’t, promise.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“I’ll do it.” Aasrel said, though Bethany felt his hesitation. Doing the things he’d been avoiding.... well, there was a reason he’d been avoiding them. But he had to for this to work, so he would. There was determination there. “We’ll meet in two days. I’ll be ready.”

~ Izei, CMO

T’Jal nodded, “Then I will see you in two days. If you run into any problems please call me.” Then there was a knock on the door. When Bethany opened it, it was Jake. “Ah I’m just in time.” He lifted a large box and brought it inside and grinned. “Ready to go dear?” T’Jal nodded and got up. “Both of you get some rest tonight. Bethany, don’t force the memories too much. Let your mind settle. Enjoy your surprise.”

They left and Bethany looked at the box with a mix of eagerness and curiosity. She stopped though, Aasrel! There’s something in there. I can feel it, but it feels…small and strange.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Aasrel grinned and chuckled. He was unfamiliar with exactly what was inside but he knew the presence of an animal. Open it. I’m thinking the Admiral and her husband have left you a… little friend.

~ Izei, CMO

The words ‘little friend’ were like an electric shock. The excitement and shocked disbelief was tangible in the room. Bethany quickly keyed the controls on the crate to open. There was a hiss of air and then the smell of hay, fruit, and vegetables. As soon as the lid was lifted, little claws could be heard scratching at the enclosure. Bethany leaned over and gasped. The absolute joy that flooded her was overwhelming after the calm the mind meld had brought. Bethany went down on her knees as she fumbled with the latch on the cage while the animal inside continued to scrabble. “Luna!” Bethany finally got the cage open and lifted out a small round fluffy ball of light grey almost blue fur. The animal had long ears that stood straight up. Bethany sat down hard on the floor, holding the small fur to her chest, face buried in the fur and cried.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS