Counseling au Lait

Posted on 29 Jan 2014 @ 12:00am by Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant Teth Miir

1,963 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Earth - San Francisco, Around the Clock Cafe
Timeline: MD 04 - 1400 hours

[ON]

"Thank you," said Andreus Kohl. The Argelian's words were enthusiastic and over-enunciated. Sitting at a table in the cafe's open patio, Kohl spoke with his hands until he clasped them around the base of his mug. The bearded man was wearing his Starfleet Sciences uniform, solid black and grey with hints of teal. "I want to thank you for meeting with me," he said. "I hope I haven't pulled you away from anything too pleasurable on your shore leave."

"Not at all," Teth said with his all too feline, sharp toothed smile. He settled into his seat as a waitress passed him a mug of cocoa.

"So, is there anything in particular you would like to discuss?"

"I would say like is a strong word," Kohl answered, somewhat reluctantly. He leaned forward across the small table. "It's not about you. It's nothing against you personally. But, you see, I am required to attend mandatory counseling sessions. If I don't attend my counseling sessions, I will most-likely be found unfit for duty. Commander Blake has been treating me in the past, but, well, with her new responsibilities, she referred me to you. Surprise."

Teth nodded in understanding. It wasn't the first time an officer was visiting him against their wishes.

"So I suppose we should skip the pretense and get to the obvious question. Why are you in mandatory counseling?"

Kohl quirked a bit of a smile at Teth's words and he lifted his mug to his lips. He sipped at the tea and then he approached an an answer to the question. "Oh, but the pretenses are the most fun," Kohl said blithely. "Uhm, but in any case, uhm, during our last mission, the Galileo was attacked by Borg drones. I defended my patients. I vaporized one of the drones. But I didn't hold onto my phaser much longer. Since I presented myself as a threat, I was attacked by another drone and left for dead." --Any levity had drained out of Kohl's tone, along with all emotion-- "Doctor Wylde was able to save my life, but I'm still recovering from spinal injury."

It wasn't his first time hearing mention of the Borg from the Galileo crew. He knew very little about what happened during the last mission. Only that there had been casualties, that the Captain was among them, and apparently the lieutenant in front of him as well.

Teth was fortunate to have never encountered the Borg in his relatively safe Starfleet career. But he remembered hearing about them in the news as a child. Later, dealing with the occasional patient who had been rescued from the grasp of the collective. The stories alone had been enough to be a permanent source of nightmares. He couldn't imagine actually living it.

"Well that must have been a very traumatic experience." the Caitian said sympathetically. "How have you been feeling since the attack?"

"I don't entirely know, to be plain," Kohl said, his lips curled into an uncomfortable wince. He lifted his mug nearly to his lips, but then he stopped. "There's too much happening, too much changing. I'm overwhelmed by it all."

"Can you elaborate on that? What changes are you referring to?"

"I'm living with a mobility impairment," Kohl said in a for-example tone of voice. This time he did sip at his tea and then he set it aside. In a hurried blurt, he added, "I'm lucky. I'm recovering. Any spinal injury is a scary thing. I'm lucky to be walking, with the support of motor assist bands. But recovery has become my full-time job. I was the Chief Medical Officer aboard Galileo not too long ago, but Starfleet felt the ship needed an offer with more experience. And now. Now there's a new Assistant Chief Medical Officer." --Kohl shrugged helplessly-- "I don't know what my position is any longer. I'm not even totally sure if Galileo is taking me when her refit is done."

Teth frowned for a moment, the doctor's story reminded a bit too much of his own. In spite of his fear of the borg, he was himself more cyborg than organic at this point. Artificial bone grafts, nerve replacements, and a neurological implant to augment his own damaged motor and visual control centers. Marvels of medical science, but he never quite felt completely caitian since they were installed.

The counselor continued without further thought on the topic as it was an uncomfortable one.

"I am assuming from your uncertainty that you haven't addressed these concerns with Captain Holliday? How is your relationship with our CO?"

Kohl pursed his lips and tilted his head to the right. "Relationship might be a strong word," Kohl said, and he narrowed his eyes momentarily. "My communications with Captain Holliday are perfunctory." --He clicked his tongue-- "At best. I have a better relationship with Commander Blake, though. Our rapport comes quite easily. I have spoken with her about my career concerns, but, well, I suppose nothing has been decided yet."

Teth steepled his fingers as he listened, it seemed much of the crew was distant from their leader, which only further piqued his curiosity.

"What would you like to happen with your career at this point? As far as I have been notified, you still are commissioned as a medical officer, albeit not the chief of medicine. Do you find that change satisfactory?"

"I find that change the precise opposite of satisfactory," Kohl said, not at all hiding the acidic edge to his timbre. He tilted his head to the right sardonically. "My career is progressing in reverse these days. Perhaps I'll become a nursing cadet again. That might be fun."

"So what would be your ideal outcome?" Teth retorted, unamused and unscathed by his patient's sarcasm.

Kohl frowned at that and he folded his hands in front of himself. "I can't say I know," Kohl said, shaking his head with mild frustration. "I'm not functionally capable of practicing medicine right now. The demands are too unpredictable, and my functional limitations, at the wrong place or time, could risk the life of a patient..."

"What is your prognosis?"

"...Guarded," Kohl said, and he tilted his head from side to side. "Positive, but guarded. There is no clear evidence of permanent injury," Kohl said, and interrupted his point with a sip of his tea, "but I'm still in the acute phase of my recovery. It's too soon to know how it will progress."

"Only time will tell." Teth said, more as a statement to himself than anything.

"What will you do if you don't make a full recovery?"

At Teth's question, Kohl lost his breath a bit. He shot an accusatory glare at the counselor, as if to ask, why would you tempt fate like that? "Uhhhm," was all Kohl managed to say in a wavering voice. He drank more tea, as if it were air. "I suppose that will depend on how far away from full my recovery is, and how much of an accommodation Starfleet is willing to make. That won't be my choice in the end."

"Do you think you would be able to cope? In your worst case scenario?"

Kohl shrugged again, and shook his head in an uncertain manner. "This isn't the first time I've had a failed Starfleet career," Kohl said, not exactly answering the question. "And they, briefly, made me a department head after that."

"You keep dodging my question." Miir pressed, losing patience. "What do you think you will do of you don't make a full recovery and don't get reinstated back to your old position- or any position for that matter?"

Narrowing his eyes in confusion, Kohl held up a palm to indicate slowing down. "Any position?" Kohl asked with a spike of concern.

"What would you do if you were given a medical discharge from Starfleet?"

Not even a moment after Teth's question, Kohl spat out a, "Guh," and an, "Oh god, I have no idea." He shook his head repeatedly. "Even if I didn't recover any further, I would still be capable of continuing in Starfleet."

"Would you want to continue in Starfleet if you couldn't continue as a physician?"

"Really though, I don't think I ever expected to stay in Medical forever," Kohl replied. He reached for his mug, but it was empty. He started to lift it from the table, but then he put it back. "And I'm not a doctor."

"Strange that Starfleet would make you chief of medicine to begin with, then." Teth said, finishing his cocoa, "I gather you're done with this session?"

When Teth questioned Kohl's fitness to do his previous job, Kohl looked away. The offhand comment stung worse than a question. He opened his mouth, but he ended up stretching his jaw rather than say anything. And when Teth said the session was done, Kohl shook his head. "Uhm, I'm confused," Kohl said.

"Regarding what?" Teth asked.

The counselor normally was a patient man, but something about Kohl grated on him. He couldn't quite place what the problem was, perhaps his tendency to deflect questions? Or perhaps it was just a fault of the counselor himself. He could never be entirely certain.

Kohl narrowed his eyes on Teth and shook his head in his own confusion. "What makes you think," Kohl asked, "I'm done?"

Teth shrugged, "You were looking into your empty mug, making dramatic statements about how you most certainly are not a doctor. Your physical mannerisms do not indicate that you wish to be here. I was expecting you to storm off at any moment."

The counselor leaned forward, making sure to keep eye contact with the Argelian.

"Since we sat down together, it's been obvious that you are very reluctant to be here. If I am keeping you from more important duties, then my all means leave. I can only help as much as you allow me to. If you don't want to be more open, then continuing this meeting any longer is a mutual waste of time."

As the counselor spoke to him, the expression and the colour slowly drained from Kohl's face. Kohl folded his hands in his lap and squared his shoulders against the back of the chair. "I'm. Trying. Really though. You haven't seen me when I'm genuinely reluctant," Kohl said. "Does chastising your patients usually make them trust you more?"

"I don't mean to chastise, it's merely an observation. This isn't the first time I've had a patient who wanted to avoid during actual work during a counseling session and it won't be the last."

Kohl didn't respond immediately to Teth's words. He lowered his voice, but he didn't break off his eye-contact with Teth for a moment. "Don't. Tell me what I want," Kohl said. "I don't know you. I don't trust you. I am trying. My best."

"And you have every right to feel that way." Teth said as he pushed himself from the table.

"But you keep saying that you are trying while doing everything you can to build barriers in communication. If you want to actually discuss what is bothering you, you know where to find me or Dr. Carlisle. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."

As Teth left the table, Kohl looked away dead-eyed. He wrapped a hand around his empty mug, and he raised it in the air. He gave the empty mug a shake and mouthed, 'Another,' in the direction of the nearest server.


[OFF]

Lieutenant Andreus Kohl
Science Officer
USS Galileo


&

Lt. JG Teth Miir
Counselor
USS Galileo

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