Posted by Lieutenant Séan Iven (Counselor) in Everyday Work

Posted by Lieutenant Tandra Mika (Chief Mental Health Officer) in Everyday Work

Posted by Lieutenant Séan Iven (Counselor) in Everyday Work
Posted by… suppressed (43) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<snip>
Mika grinned, “I didn’t socialize much when I first got here, either. Do you need a couple minutes to finish up what you’re doing?” She asked.

~ Mika, CNS

Séan shook his head, thumbed off the PaDD and set it down on his desk, then stood up and stretched his arms above his head. He moved around the desk and closed the distance to stand about a foot from Mika. He looked down at her with a smile and asked, “Where were you thinking of going for lunch?”

Counselor Iven

“I hadn’t decided yet,” Mika replied with a shrug. “Sometimes I just get something from the hospital cafeteria, sometimes I go down to the food trucks. So… Whatever you feel like doing is fine with me.” She started heading out of his office and towards the elevator.

~ Mika, CNS

Séan followed along with Mika after he shut and locked his office door. The elevator arrived and the both entered, standing facing the door. Anyone else entering would likely be surprised at the disparity between their sizes. “Are you feeling like a sandwich?” He asked to make conversation and get feedback on where they both might have a satisfactory lunch.

Counselor Iven

“A sandwich would be fine,” Mika replied with a shrug. “I’m not picky today.” She pressed the button for the ground floor and the elevator doors closed. The elevator started moving down. “Then we can sit outside?” There were tables outside by the food trucks for people to sit at.

~ Mika, CNS

“Of course.” Séan replied with a soft smile. “Some fresh air and some sunlight sounds wonderful. I haven’t been out really since my first night here. Too much to do and information to look up.” The elevator reached the ground floor and the doors parted with a chime. He waited for Mika to exit first then he would follow.

Counselor Iven

Mika stepped out of the elevator and headed for the entrance of the hospital. “No kidding. I feel like all I do is paperwork, see patients, and research stuff.” The weather was, like always, lovely, and the square was decently busy, but not packed.

~ Mika, CNS

Séan followed Mika out of the hospital and he stopped to look up, close his eyes, and just enjoy the sunlight on his face. “Mmm.” He vocalized his pleasure.

Counselor Iven

Mika looked up at him questioningly. “What are you doing?” She asked curiously. They’d barely stepped out of the hospital when he stopped, and she couldn’t quite see that his eyes were closed, so she looked up at the sky to see if something was up there.

~ Mika, CNS

Séan enjoyed the sunlight for a moment more as he answered Mika’s question. “I’m just enjoying the sun on my face.” He looked towards where her voice came from while his eyes were still closed then opened then while he grinned. “It is a beautiful day out and this weather is simple astounding.”

Counselor Iven

Mika smiled and then shrugged. “I guess I haven’t appreciated it much. There’s not really weather here yet, so it’s always decent out like this. I kinda miss the rain.”

~ Mika, CNS

Séan had a look of reminiscence for a moment. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a rain shower. I can barely remember it. I was still on Alpha Eridani as a kid at that time.” He shook his head to clear his thoughts before he gestured toward where the food trucks were. “Shall we continue on our quest for sustenance?”

Counselor Iven

“That long, huh? I can’t imagine never, ever seeing rain.” She nodded, and started walking toward the truck with the sandwiches. “In Colorado, it doesn’t rain that often, but every year there’s at least one good rain.”

~ Mika, CNS

“I’ve been to Earth to go to the Academy but I’ve never been to Colorado. I could roughly point to it while in orbit though.” Séan joked a little while they drew closer to the sandwich truck. “So what kind of sandwich do you normally get?”

Counselor Iven

Mika grinned, “There isn’t much there besides mountains.” She looked at the menu, “My favorite is the salad sandwich, it’s like a big salad drizzled with blue cheese and vinegar, smooshed into a sandwich.”

~ Mika, CNS

“That’s what makes it easier to point out.” Séan chuckled. He looked at the menu to consider his options. “I like blue cheese and salads but I think I’m going to go with a pastrami on rye bread with most of the fixings.”

Counselor Iven

“There are some beautiful sights,” Mika said. “Your should go sometime.” She nodded to his choice, “That sounds good, too.” Then she stepped up to the truck and ordered her choice, then stepped aside to allow him to order and to wait for hers to be made.

~ Mika, CNS

Séan put in his order and then stood next to Mika as he waited for the sandwich artists to do their work. “So what does a normal day look like for you? I haven’t quite got a routine figured out that I’m happy with.”

Counselor Iven

“I like to get the administrative stuff done in the morning, when I’m not quite awake yet,” Mika answered, starting to explain her routine. “Then I start seeing patients after lunch, when I’m more awake. I feel like I’m more likely to pay the attention each person deserves if I’m doing my appointments at a time I’m awake and rest to listen.”

“Wait, you do admin work when you’re still not awake? What if you confuse something or screw up on a schedule?” Séan asked in amazement. He couldn’t do any work with a foggy brain, no matter the simplicity.

“Everything is double checked before it submits, and personally I’d rather a few administrative errors over being too tired to properly listen and accidentally hurting or offending a patient,” Mika replied.

“I guess that makes sense.” Séan said noncommittally. “I’d prefer giving my full focus to the patients as well.”

Mika took her sandwich as it was handed to her by the person in the food truck. “There’s one day per week when I’m out of the office in the mid afternoon, that day I take on a few patients in the morning to make up for the time I’m out.”

~ Mika, CNS

Séan collected his sandwich and pointed to an empty table with an umbrella covering it. “Okay but what about pre-work? What do you do to get ready for the day?”

Counselor Iven

Mika headed over to the indicated table and took a seat. “Hmm… Nothing special, I guess. I get up, get ready, have a small breakfast, and then come in.” She shrugged. “I leave myself just enough time for that with a bit of a buffer so I’m not late.”

~ Mika, CNS

Séan sat and unwrapped his sandwich. He took a big bite and chewed while Mika explained. He nodded a couple of times in acknowledgement. After his mouth was empty he replied, “So far I’ve started with getting up at 5:30 and going for an hour run. I get back and take a shower then eat breakfast with a couple cups of coffee, get ready, double check I’ve got everything including a coffee to go, and get to the office by about 7.”

Counselor Iven

Mika chuckled, “A couple cups of coffee? Need a lot of caffeine in the morning?” She said, and then nodded, “That seems like a fairly good morning routine. I used to go for a jog every morning. I just… Haven’t had the time recently.”

Mika, CNS

“Coffee is in the basic needs of life diagram, so I suppose so.” Séan looked at Mika for a moment as he recognized a poorly crafted excuse. He didn’t call her out on it but instead smiled and said softly. “Maybe a little motivation could help you free up the time. Would you be interested in getting back into it if you had a jogging partner?”

Counselor Iven

“Is it? I don’t know how I live without it then,” Mika replied, still smiling. She smiled at him, considering his proposal. “Let’s see how tomorrow morning goes?”

~ Mika, CNS

“Right up there with sleep and social contact. You can live without it but can you really consider it living?” Séan answered back with a grin. “Alright. I’ll still be doing my runs either way but you are always free to join me.”

Counselor Iven

Mika grinned and shook her head. “My time as a doctor taught me to avoid certain things.” She finished her sandwich and nodded. “Where should I meet you? And when?”

~ Mika, CNS

Séan had finished his sandwich a little before Mika, so he collected all of the refuse into a ball. He didn’t make to get up yet though. It was a nice day and comfortable under the umbrella so he wasn’t in a hurry to get back. “How about meeting in front Starfleet housing at 5:30? That way there’d still be plenty of time to get ready afterwards.”

Counselor Iven

“Sounds good,” Mika said with a smile. “I’ll meet you then.” She had moved to grab her trash, but Séan had balled it up first so she relaxed back into her seat. “Thanks for getting that.”

~ Mika, CNS

Séan nodded and smiled. “You’re welcome. I’ve got big hands so carrying this much isn’t really an issue. Should we be getting back or do we have time to relax a little?”

Counselor Iven

Mika checked the time. “We should head back…” She replied. “Or… We could talk a few more minutes.” She gave him a mischievous look. “My first appointment for today is in fifteen minutes.”

~ Mika, CNS

Séan sighed a bit exaggeratedly before he gave Mika a grin. “It’s not like it’s a far walk back to the office but I’m sure you’ll want to be on time for your appointment and give yourself enough time to get ready.” He stood from the table and offered Mika a hand, to take or not as she prefered. “Should we?”

Counselor Iven

“Okay, okay, let’s go,” Mika said, taking his hand as she got up. Then she dropped it as they stepped away from the table. “It should be a pretty easy appointment. Someone’s routine yearly eval.” She looked up at Séan, “It’s really not that different from yearly medical evals. The same chasing down of officers.”

~ Mika, CNS

Séan looked down at Mika and gave a barely concealed mischievous grin in return. “That sure must be tough having to chase down officers. The men and women in the medical department are saints for all of their tolerance and understand.” He detoured slightly to toss the garbage as a receptacle was near their path then rejoined her.

Counselor Iven

Mika gave him a playful look, “You’ve been a counselor long enough to know exactly what I’m talking about.” She said as they headed back towards the building. “They miss their appointment or cancel it, repeatedly, and you have to keep remaking it only for them to put it off till you threaten to pull them from duty.”

~ Mika, CNS

“Yeah…” Séan said with a sad shake of the head. “I’ve had to follow through with declaring some crew unfit for duty. Their next appointment was not pleasant for either of us. But… it is our duty to do what needs to be done regardless of our feelings on it.” “Luckily those edge cases are very rare. Just the threat of declaring them unfit makes the procrastinators suck it up and get it done.” He grinned at the irony of his statement.

Counselor Iven

“I have, too… Both as a doctor and a counselor. It’s always awkward when they finally come in.” Mika smiled then, “Yeah, even the officers that put it off the longest usually want to work. I think it’s harder when you’re deeming someone unfit for reasons other than lack of exam completion.”

~ Mika, CNS

Séan nodded in agreement. “It definitely can be worse. Panic attacks while in a jeffries tube and unable to come out, so you have to go in to them. I don’t know if you’ve seen me or anything, but I’m not really built for crawling into tight confines. Thankfully I’m not claustrophobic but I’m glad I didn’t let that professor sweet talk me into going the engineering track.”

Counselor Iven

Mika grinned, “That’s were my size comes in handy. That, and I’m always non-threatening and unimposing, which can be easier for anxious clients.” They entered the hospital and headed for the elevator. “Engineering is boring. I never understood being so into machines and stuff,” she commented with a shrug. “You heading back to your office?”

~ Mika, CNS

Séan chuckled as he said, “I wish you were there when I had to go in there. You’re right about the non-threatening quality being easier. This crewman was convinced I was crawling in there so that I could drag her out. Which after a half hour of talking her off of that proverbial ledge was actually becoming an appealing solution. I had asked if we could just beam her out but the EPS conduit interference wasn’t allowing for a safe enough lock.” He pushed the elevator button, waited, then went in after it arrived. “Yeah, I need to get ready for an appointment that’s in twenty minutes.”

Counselor Iven

Mika nodded. “I have ten minutes left before my next one.” She smiled at his story. “Sometimes they hear the word ‘counselor’ and seem to think I’m going to work some mind magic on them or something. But it’s easier to talk people down when I don’t look like much of a threat. Though dealing with aggressive clients can be dangerous for me.”

~ Mika, CNS

Séan nodded and absentmindedly put a hand down to rub his right thigh. “Aggressive patients can be dangerous for anyone but I could see you being at higher risk than me. They’re usually deterred before it ever comes to an issue of violence.”

Counselor Iven

Mika smiled sympathetically when she noticed him rubbing his thigh. “They can be. It’s lucky they usually can be deterred before there are any major injuries. I’m trained in martial arts, at least, so that mitigates some risk.”

~ Mika, CNS

Séan nodded and gave Mika a soft smile. He hoped nothing like that happened to her. It was not a pleasant experience to go through. He caught on to the fact he was rubbing his thigh again and awkwardly moved his hand away. “Well my office isn’t all that far from yours. Give a shout or comm me if you need backup on something.” He said to divert his thoughts from the aching feeling.

Counselor Iven

She smiled, “Of course I will.” But her focused remained on his leg and his stance even after his hand moved away. “Are you okay?”

~ Mika, CNS

“Yeah, yeah.” Séan said with maybe just a touch too much enthusiasm. “I’m occasionally reminded of what happened and I guess I subconsciously touch my leg to remind myself that it’s still there. The docs said that half of my femur had been cut before I was transported to sickbay and so it could have happened that my leg was amputated. It’s a very sobering thought but also increases my gratitude immensely for what the medical team did.” As a psychiatrist he knew exactly the words to say to not show that he was deflecting but certainly give a good reason that wasn’t exactly true.

Counselor Iven

“You’re lucky it wasn’t,” Mika replied. “There’s only so much bone regenerators can do.” She was still giving him that doubtful look, like she didn’t quite believe him. He had a counselor, she knew. But doctors and counselors weren’t immune to making bad choices about their own healthcare. A lesson she’d taught many of her JOs. She glanced around. The elevator was still going up, doors closed. “If it’s ever bothering you, I would be willing to take a look off the record… Provided you go to sickbay if my findings indicate you should.”

~ Mika, CNS