Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Leah Hart (Nurse Practitioner/Counseling) in En Route- Mental Health Priorities

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
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻
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

On her screen was a well built man with pale skin, neat dark brown hair, and icy blue eyes. He wore his blue sciences uniform. “Unfortunate we have to meet like this. I’m quite busy, I’d rather we make this quick,” said the man, his ‘proper’ English accent strong and crisp. He kept his arms folded and leaned back in his seat. “Commander Alden, first officer and chief science officer of the Sentinel,” he said, properly introducing himself. “You’re who Doctor Kreed requested?”

~ Alden, XO/CSO

[o]I am,[o] she replied. [I’m a Nurse Practioner with a Doctorate in Nursing and a speciality in psychiatry. I’ll be joining the Sentinel in two weeks, but this discussion was noted as a priority, so here we are. And I will say that this conversation will take as long as it needs to. I understand that someone in your position is very busy, but you would not ask someone on your ship to take shortcuts with their work, so please don’t ask me to do the same.[o] It was a matter of simple courtesy and respect.

To that, Roman huffed shortly but did not argue.

[o]Commander, can you explain the urgency of this eval? Why couldn’t it wait till I arrived? Why was it mandated to happen in the next forty-eight hours?[o]

~Leah Hart, NP

“That is a question for Lieutenant Kreed, not myself. I’m here under his directive, not any choice of my own.” Roman responded shortly. “We have no urgent missions, nor time sensitive situations. We are simply patrolling our sector. Besides our detour to pick you up, I’ve recently set in a request to alter our course so my stellar cartography department can get a better look at something.”

~ Roman

Her brown eyes took him in and she said nothing for a moment. [o]We’re not talking about your science work, we’re talking about the need for this eval. Try again.[o]

~Leah Hart, NP

Roman gave her a hard, icy look. “Ask. Lieutenant Kreed. I do not like to repeat myself. I don’t have an answer for you.”

~ Alden, XO/CSO