House Call

Posted on 19 May 2013 @ 9:21am by Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

1,931 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Captain's Quarters
Timeline: MD 6 - 1700 hrs.

[ON]

No Starfleet counselor worth his or her salt ever truly let a client go, at least not mentally and emotionally, until some sort of satisfying resolution, for both parties, was reached. In practice, that meant at least a tiny piece of the counselor was left with a good number of clients, who'd transferred, died, or simply refused to comply with non-mandatory treatment.

It wasn't the most functional way of being for the counselor, but it was real. If the therapeutic relationship was indeed the key to healing, the relationship shouldn't be easily forgotten.

For this reason, Delainey found herself seeking out Lirha Saalm after a full shift. Carlisle might have been ordered to split her time as a doctor and counselor, but that didn't mean she could just drop everything and start over. Records indicated the Captain had sought counseling at least twice with others since their initial meeting, which was good, but that didn't stop Delainey from wanting to check on the woman herself.

Ringing the chime outside Saalm's quarters impulsively, Delainey waited.

Lirha had just finished her duty shift and was back in her quarters currently munching on a mid-day snack. Seated on her couch with a plate of cheese and crackers in front of her and a PADD on her lap, she suddenly looked up when the chime to her door sounded to alert her of someone's presence. "Enter." she called out, and looked towards the door while she wiped her hands on a napkin and finished chewing.

The doors hissed open and upon entry, Delainey realized she'd caught Lirha mid snack. "Sorry to disturb you, Captain. I just wanted to see how you were doing since our last talk. I can come by another time if you like."

Watching as Carlisle entered her quarters, the captain shook her head to dismiss the notion that she was being infringed upon. "No problem at all, lieutenant." she replied, then scooted over on the couch and gestured towards a vacant seat at the end. "Please, have a seat. I have been doing well enough, to answer your question. Would you like any cheese and crackers?" she offered to the counselor.

Delainey was a bit hungry following her shift and more importantly, Carlisle wanted to reduce the sense of formality with this visit. Sharing a snack together would very well kill two birds with one stone. "I'd love some, thank you," Carlisle replied with a smile, taking a seat on the couch, turning herself toward Lirha, and taking a cracker. Before taking a bite, Delainey offered with a smile, "So, what does 'well enough' mean?"

Lirha raised an eyebrow at the somewhat prying question, then suddenly realized that Carlisle had come by not just for a social visit, but to talk to her about the captain's recent troubles. "It has been a busy couple of days." she responded with a shrug. "Status reports to Starfleet three times per day, constant check-ins with our away teams and shuttlecraft expeditions...all in all, I have been staying rather busy. I have not had a lot of time to think about much else." she elaborated.

"That can be a good thing, at least temporarily," Delainey added with a nod. Noting Lirha's raised eyebrow, Carlisle felt the need to explain. "If you like, we don't have to talk anymore about how you're doing. You were just on my mind, and I thought I'd check in."

"No, it's alright." Lirha replied with a shake of her head. "I suppose there is no good time to talk about my myself." she admitted with a soft sigh.

Delainey offered a wry smile. "Still, I didn't intend for this to feel like an ambush in your own sanctuary. I was hoping to create less pressure than a formal session by coming here." Carlisle paused, then said, "Before the current craziness, how were you feeling? Sleeping ok?"

"I have been sleeping better the past few days, but I still get the occasional nightmare." Lirha answered. "It has helped to have someone in my bed with me. I tend to sleep better when I have company."

Delainey didn't know Lirha was seeing someone, or was it several someones? In any case, it wasn't relevant to the current discussion, at least for the moment. "I'm glad to hear you're not alone. When you do have a nightmare, what do you do to cope? Also, are you able to return to sleep on your own?"

Lirha shrugged, unsure of how to answer. "I suppose I do not do much of anything. Usually I get out of bed, drink some water, then try to return to sleep as soon as possible. Sometimes I am able to, other times...not so much..." her voice trailed off.

"Am I correct in thinking lately it's been more the latter than the former?"

"For the most part." Lirha answered with a sly smirk. The former chief counselor had apparently not lost a step and was able to read between the lines of her somewhat-evasive answers. It wasn't that Lirha didn't want to talk about her troubles, but rather that she had trouble figuring out how.

Delainey matched Lirha's sly expression with one of her own. "And have you been attending therapy regularly?" Carlisle understood that would be difficult for the Captain, but it was a condition of her return to duty. More than that, however, was the reality that trauma therapy was only effective if it was attended consistently. Talking about the details of the trauma and enduring the increase in uncomfortable symptoms was only possible if Saalm knew it was temporary and necessary for long-term healing.

Carlisle could've looked up Lirha's attendance herself but didn't, out of respect for the Captain.

Lirha shook her head, her dark hair bobbing across her shoulders. "No, not regularly. I have been rather busy of late and have not had the chance to progress beyond a couple of sessions." she answered truthfully.

Delainey always appreciated Lirha's candor. Lies would be found out eventually, of course, but Carlisle understood Saalm acted not out of self-interest, but out of respect for others. "I don't want to minimize all you have on your plate, but none of those things will matter if your health is compromised. The danger of stopping trauma therapy too soon or participating infrequently is that emotions and thoughts get stirred up without any resolution. Things always get worse before they get better, but if all you experience is the 'worse,' it just makes the desire to avoid that much stronger."

"Yes, I suppose you are right." Lirha mumbled in agreement, then took another cracker from the plate and popped it into her mouth. "Well, I will do my best to continue my counseling sessions." she offered with a somewhat-forced yet apologetic smile.

It was Delainey's turn to be apologetic. "I don't mean to sound like a scolding parent when I talk about it," she offered, rolling her eyes in embarrassment. "I only say it because I don't want you to hurt or struggle. This isn't professional pride, but care."

"I understand, and I appreciate the concern." Lirha replied. "It is a tough job that you counselors must do...looking after the mental health of the entire crew. Even stubborn captains, sometimes."

Delainey smiled. "I appreciate the understanding. For the record, however, I never saw you as stubborn. You've been very open with me and I imagine you're open with any counselor you interact with. It's clear you want to work through what you've been through, but like anyone, I can understand why you'd be reluctant to experience anything that might cause more pain. I can't help but wonder, though, if part of you feels pressure to have all your thoughts and feelings identified before you go into a session? Your sympathetic comment just now makes me wonder if a part of you feels like you're wasting our time if you can't clearly communicate everything you're trying to sort out?"

Lirha nibbled on a piece of cheese while she pondered the question. She eventually shrugged lightly and answered, "Perhaps. But there are also times when I simply do not wish to communicate anything at all, and in that case I suppose I do feel that it would be somewhat of a waste of time."

Ever the curious sort, Delainey asked, "At the times you don't want to talk, is that because you don't have anything to say or is that because you've figured something out that you don't want to share?"

"If I do not want to talk, most of the time it is because I have nothing to say." Lirha replied. "Orions are very social creatures and I have not had much trouble expressing myself in the past."

"Counseling is often designed to help people voice things they might not even realized they had to say."

"Yes, true enough." Lirha replied, then grabbed another cracker and continued to munch. "Well I thank you for your visit, counselor. It is always nice to know that I have support, even if I do not directly seek it out sometimes."

"Ah yes, the not so subtle brush off," Delainey replied with a teasing smile, standing and indirectly checking to be sure there were no crumbs on her despite having not eaten much. "Scarlet, Dawn, and I will be keeping an eye on you," she replied matter of factly. "I'd be lying if I said that's just because we care, though that's the largest part of it. The other reality is that Starfleet Medical would like to ensure you're doing well. Don't worry about having everything sorted out before you show up. Half the battle is really just getting to us."

The Assistant Chief didn't want to come across as threatening, just honest. Starfleet Medical was concerned about Lirha's fitness and sporadic session attendance did nothing to reassure them.

The captain smiled and nodded to Carlisle. "I will be sure to remember that." she said, then motioned to the remaining food on the tray in front of her. "Would you like to take a snack with you for the road?" she offered, realizing that she had already eaten more than enough to fill her up at the moment.

Delainey realized now that her "business" was taken care of and she was off the clock at least in terms of her official duty shift, she was suddenly famished. "Don't mind if I do. Thank you, Captain." She bent down and took a napkin, then placed a few crackers with different cheese toppers on them.

Standing, she then turned to go, but suddenly turned back, a mischievious glint in her eye. "Maybe I should add a buffet to my office. I could call it," and here she looked off into space and waved a hand in front of her as if she could see the large sign above her office door, "Appetizers annd Analysis. What do you think?"

Lirha grinned in reply. "I think you are on to something. I certainly would not mind a few snacks while I am divulging my inner-most secrets..." she said.

Delainey nodded and her eyes sparkled with good humor. "Ooh...insider knowledge. I like it! I'll defintely keep that in mind. Have a nice evening, ma'am."

"Yes, and you too, lieutenant." Lirha said with a friendly smile and a slight wave as she watched the counselor depart from her quarters.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Delainey, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Chief Counselor/Doctor
USS Galileo

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