Smile

Posted on 01 Jun 2020 @ 3:50am by Lieutenant Rosine Deschamps & Lieutenant Quinle Rahl

674 words; about a 3 minute read

=/\= Counselor's office =/\=

Rosine took something that could be described as halfway between a deep breath and a sigh. She really didn't want to be here. But who did? Most people usually ran away from this place as hard and as fast as she could. But, if she ever wanted to get her permanent on-duty status back, she'd have to get this done. So, might as well. Another hesitation later, and she pressed the chime next to the door.

The Trill counselor was at her desk her fingers drumming on its surface as she went over notes on her PADD, crossed legs swinging until the moment the chime rang, then she went perfectly still for a number of heartbeats before calling out. “Enter.” The door sliding open to expose to her visitor the now perfectly composed counselor with a welcoming smile upon her lips. “Please,” she followed up on the enter command for the door.

"Thanks," Rosine nodded in return to the nicety and sat down as the chair was offered with a gesture of the Counselor's hand. So, there they were. They both knew she didn't want to be there. They both knew she had no choice if she wanted to be cleared for duty. Those conversations were always interesting. "And thank you for seeing me on such short notice."

“Of course, I am sure after all that time at rest all you want is to get back on track.” Quinle moved into her seat and looked to Rosine. “It is not my plan to keep you from anything, but to just ensure how you are feeling about all that happened. The losses, the shift in the timeline. We all have had some time to adjust and many still are not settled completely, for you it is all being experienced at once.” Her smooth voice and smile were comforting, the counselor trying to make the visit less of a chore.

Rosine followed the Counselor's motives thus far, so they were off to a good start. "It's a bit hard to describe, but I sensed - I just knew - that I had lost a lot of time as soon as I regained consciousness. I'm settling in with that knowledge as best as I can. As for what I've lost, I have to admit it's a bit hard feeling at home here again. I'm sure that will get better though once I've read up on everything that happened while I was.. absent."

“Reading is actually how I would recommend following all that has gone by, if you rely on someone to tell you then you will be influenced more by their view of it than the whole of the picture.” Quinle spoke and nodded her head. “I enjoy reading though. How is your feeling of self? Any gaps in your feelings other than the time in the coma while healing?”

That was a loaded question. One she could answer in many directions. "I can't say it's fun to know you've missed a few weeks of your life, obviously. But aside from that, everybody is being really helpful to get me up to speed again as soon as possible. I'm sure that will only improve once I'm back on duty," Rosine smiled.

"Then I see no reason you should not resume work as long as you promise to check in with me weekly for a short time, and reach out to me if you need to talk about anything. It is my job to see the crew functioning at the best of their ability." Quinle returned the smile and wrote something on her PADD. "There the Captain has my suggestion for you to return to duty."

Happy for the oh-so-needed Counselor's approval, Rosine's smile didn't necessarily get bigger, but more sincere. She got to her feet and nodded to Quinle. "Thank you for your time, Counselor, and I'll keep it in mind to pay you frequent visits for a while."

With that, and another nod, Rosine gratefully left the office.

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by Lt Rahl & Lt Deschamps

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