Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aerin Elanor Shaw (Medical Officer) in Sickbay - Checking In (Side Sim)

Posted by Lieutenant Akane Sakai (Counselor) in Sickbay - Checking In (Side Sim)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aerin Elanor Shaw (Medical Officer) in Sickbay - Checking In (Side Sim)
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Akane slowly made her way to sickbay, not particularly looking forward to her physical and the inevitable questions about her previous injuries but she just wanted to get it over with.

Taking a deep breath she tentatively made her way through the door.

Approaching the nearest medical officer she gently cleared her throat. “Excuse me? I’m Lt Sakai, the new counselor, I’m here for my boarding physical,” she said as she unconsciously bit her lower lip.

-Lt Sakai (Counselor)

Aerin turned toward the new voice with a warm smile. “Welcome to the Manhattan. I’m Lt. Shaw, Nurse Practitioner, but that’s far too much of a mouth full so please, just call me Aerin.” She gestured toward the nearest vacant biobed. “If you’ll just step over this way?”

Lt. JG Aerin Elanor Shaw NP

Akane smiled warmly in return. “Thank you Aerin,” she replied as she followed her over to the biobed and dutifully hopped up ready for her examination. She was a little nervous about the inevitable questions that would be asked regarding past injuries but she had a well rehearsed story, in fact, if she was honest with herself, she wasn’t even sure she remembered the whole truth any more.

• Lt Sakai (Counselor)

Aerin gathered a medical tricorder and probe then turned to face the Lt. “Is there any history I should be aware of or anything out of date in your medical file?” She asked as she activated the tricorder.

Lt. JG Shaw NP

Alan’s bit her lip nervously and shook her head at first but she knew it would come up in the scans anyway and she didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot. “I had a bit of an unfortunate accident on my last posting. I tripped over a box and ended up with a fractured wrist and a couple of broken ribs…I’m kind of clumsy…” she added with a forced laugh.

• Lt Sakai (Counselor)

Aerin raised an eyebrow, tilted her head, and met the Counselor’s eyes with a steady gaze, recognizing the tells immediately, “Is that so?” She asked, in the typical Charge Nurse tone that said without words - would you care to revise that statement? - She than paused - giving the Lt a chance to reply.

Lt. JG Aerin Elanor Shaw
Nurse Practitioner/Medical Officer

Akane felt her cheeks flush as she gulped nervously. She wracked her brain to try and come up with something more plausible. She knew she would eventually have to tell her story but she didn’t want it to be the first thing that people thought about when they came to see her. How could anyone have confidence in her as a counselor if they knew the truth? She had been extensively trained in how to recognise and help someone who had been in a manipulative and destructive relationship but it hadn’t done her any good in her own situation. Truth be told it had made her a better counselor as she had first hand experience of the psychological effect of being in a toxic relationship but she certainly didn’t want her dirty laundry on display for her new crew to see. That being said, she assumed the medical staff would abide by patient confidentiality.

“I presume this is confidential?” She asked quietly, biting her lip.

• Lt Sakai (Counselor)

“Of course,” Aerin replied, her demeanor and tone softening immediately. “I only push for truthfulness because the need to hide the cause indicates you haven’t fully healed from the injury. May I?” she asked gently as she held the probe out.

Lt. JG Aerin Elanor Shaw
Nurse Practitioner/Medical Officer

Akane took a deep breath and slowly nodded. She knew that it was time to stop running from the truth about what happened. For a long time she had remained silent because she didn’t want to jeopardise his career but the more she thought about it, the less relevant it became. He had a choice on how to conduct himself and however good an officer he was, he had made that choice to treat her badly time and time again, and if he was capable of that with her, he would be capable of it with anyone.

“As you might have guessed, it was not exactly the happiest time of my life.” She said quietly as Aerin conducted her scans.

• Lt Sakai (Counselor)

“I can well imagine,” Aerin replied as she completed the scan, “Everything looks good here, physically, so from a medical standpoint you are cleared for duty. Have you spoken to a counselor about your experiences?”

Lt. JG Aerin Elanor Shaw
Nurse Practitioner/Medical Officer

Akane instinctively looked away at Aerin’s question before cautiously shaking her head. “Unfortunately that’s the problem with being a counselor, there’s not really anyone I can go to,” she said quietly. She knew it was a weak excuse and she was fully aware that she could have sought counsel if she had wanted to but she had decided to bury her head in the sand instead. She had counselled people more often than she’d care to think about who had been in a destructive relationship and she knew all the theory and techniques that worked but when it came to herself, she preferred to hide from her problems. When she thought about it, it seemed pretty ridiculous.

“I think…” she started cautiously, “maybe I’d like to talk to someone,” she said quietly, trying to maintain her composure. She knew that the medical staff would have had some training in psychology and for the first time in years, Akane finally felt ready to start working through it. She hadn’t exactly planned to do it the moment she walked into a new posting but the more she thought about it, perhaps it was exactly the right time to do it. She wanted a fresh start and she was definitely ready to leave that chapter of her life behind her.

• Lt Sakai (Counselor)