Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in En Route- Mental Health Priorities

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Leah Hart (Nurse Practitioner/Counseling) in En Route- Mental Health Priorities
No sooner had she finished packing did a flurry of information arrive at her console, including crew medical files. She would have time to peruse them all on her way over the next two weeks. This was not so bad a task given the ship had a fairly small crew complement, but one file had been flagged.

Leah pulled it up and began reading, and read again. The directive attached to the file requested she complete a psychological eval ASAP. The patient had bene instructed to obtain one within 48 hours, and that was 24 hours ago. Well… shit. Okay, she would figure this out.

She was due to leave in a few hours aboard the USS Harmony and so she sent a message to her apparently recalcitrant new patient, one Commander Roman Alden, who just so happened to be the ship’s first officer. It was hardly the first time she had dealt with difficult patients, but when they were at Starfleet Medical, things had already reached a tipping point that necessitated their medical leave. Here she was trying to prevent that and hopefully save this man’s career. No pressure.

Her message to Alden was simple: here was her availability while on the USS Harmony that would meet his 48 hour deadline and wasn’t during her ship’s night time (she needed sleep, after all). All he had to do was pick one and let her know and she would call him then.

When she was eventually situated in her temporary quarters, Leah grabbed her PADD and a stylus and settled in at the workstation. While she put in the call and waited, she quickly threw her thick hair into a braid with deft fingers.

~Leah Hart, NP

Roman received her message… and then promptly ignored it for several hours. He buried himself in his work instead. His way of avoiding things. He didn’t want to do this. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t be. But Doctor Kreed had (correctly) assumed he was very near that line of needing a medical absence.

It was Rand, the ship’s yeoman, but also Roman’s fiance, who picked a time, wrote a reply, and then made him agree before sending it, as him. Leah received ‘his’ reply later that day, with a time that barely complied with his directive.

As he waited for the time of the call, Roman grew stubborn, his usual way of dealing with things. Fine, he would do it, but he wasn’t going to like it. He folded his arms and waited for the call to come in.

~ Alden, XO/CSO

A woman with bronze skin and deep brown eyes appeared on the screen, the top of her white nurse’s uniform visible near the bottom. [O]Commander Alden, I’m Leah hart. It’s good to meet you, such as it is[o] she said, her Spanish accent notable but light. [o[Cutting it a little close there, are we not?[o] she said casually.

~Leah Hart, NP