A broken child
Posted on Fri Dec 12th, 2014 @ 11:28pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Arianna D'Tal & Commander Andrew Matheson
Mission:
Bloodpath
Location: USS Bettina - Medical Prep Room
Timeline: Right after "Racing the Hooded Spectre"
After telling the others of the death of Rosaleen, Arianna had stepped off into one of the medical rooms with the full intentions of removing the surgical clothes she'd been wearing to work on the woman. Only problem is, she didn't get but a few steps into the room, before she'd simply fallen to her knees, and broke down crying.
She didn't know how much time had passed after that point, but she didn't move. She just sat there crying, until she heard the door chime, and even then, she didn't bother to move from her place on the deck, nor did she bother even turning to face the door.
"Come in." she called, and the door opened.
Andrew came in, coming just far enough into the room for the door to close behind him. The view he saw when he came in gave him a pretty good idea of where she was at right now.
"I'm sorry to intrude, ma'am, but the captain sent me to find you. Apparently there's going to be a meeting in a few minutes, that she would like you to be present for." He paused, assessing her condition and passively reading her emotional aura. "That said, it didn't take me a minute to find you, so we don't have to sprint directly there."
If Arianna's aura was any sure indication, it was that she was all over the place. The normal crystal blue color of her eyes swirled with shades of gray as she sat there quietly for a moment, her first words seeming perfectly calm.
"I couldn't save her..." As she turned to finally look at him, it was clear she had been crying. "I did everything I could, and it just wasn't enough..."
He sat down on the floor so that he wasn't towering over her. "No one has any cause to doubt what you did in there. From what I saw while I was trying to contain the bleeding, it was a minor miracle she was still alive when you got to her."
He took a breath, trying to figure out what to say without putting his foot in his mouth. "For whatever it's worth right now, I doubt she was in any pain when she passed. I distinctly heard someone say "Farewell" right before the monitors flatlined. The voice I heard sounded a lot like Rosaleen's, and she sounded like she was at peace. Even if I'm wrong about what I heard, I can't imagine she'd want to see you in pain thinking that you'd failed her."
Another deep breath. "If anything, it's probably more my fault than yours. I'm a fairly strong telepath for a Betazoid, and I couldn't pick up on whatever impulse Rosaleen did because I was distracted. She knocked me into the lake, and when I surfaced seconds later, she was unconscious. I should have been the one bleeding out on that shore, not her."
Arianna shook her head slowly at him. "Don't say that..." Her mind reeled with understanding, and a deep pain for the loss of someone who had been fast becoming one of her closer friends. "She sacrificed her life to save yours, and it's exactly what I would've done, but that doesn't make it fair..." She wiped at the tears on her face, sighing heavily as she tried to get a grip. "Honestly, I don't know who I'm more upset with... Myself, or the Captain. She could've saved Rosaleen's life, and she just freaked out instead."
Andrew shook his head in reply. "I'm hardly the best judge of medical practice, but I couldn't find fault with anything you did. You landed in a bad situation, took charge, and tried to make something happen. There's no guarantee that anyone else could have been any more effective, and there's no guarantee that anyone else would have done anything different." He kept his comments on the captain's detachment from the situation to himself; there would be more than enough time to get into that angle at the meeting.
"I'm not saying the answer is to wall away all your pain and go on as if nothing has happened. She will be missed; I only met her a few days ago and I know I'll never forget her. But I know, personally, when I go I'd rather people remember the good times of how I lived than the bad times of how I died."
"Maybe that's exactly what the answer is. We don't have much of a choice, in this situation." Arianna said mildly. She looked down at her hands, before starting to remove the surgical clothes. "I'm such a mess. Crying over something I couldn't control."
Andrew chuckled. "Well, I'm an emotional mess right along with you if it makes you feel any better. I've just had far too much practice at keeping my emotions locked away to show it right now. I'm definitely not looking forward to this evening when I write my report and it all boils out of me."
While Arianna's outward appearance gave the impression she had calmed down significantly, her actual emotional state didn't change at all. "I have a similar skill that comes in handy sometimes." She said as she pulled the outer garments off, tossing them into the laundry bin. She turned to look at him, casually wiping at the tears on her face. "I wish I didn't have to write my report. It's not going to be easy."
Andrew stood up. "I'd like to say they get easier with experience, but they like to change up the system every few years to keep people on their toes. And that seems to hold true regardless of the subject matter." He pulled a PADD out of his pocket and used it to ask the computer to locate the people the captain wanted at the meeting. "Do you need me to step out for a minute to give you some space?"
"No. I'm ok." She shook her head at him, her Vulcan training helping to supress at least some of her emotions. "I've cried it out for now."
He nodded and tapped the PADD. "My brain-in-a-box tells me that most of the people the captain was looking for are headed towards the command module. We can head over there whenever you're ready."
Arianna sighed heavily. "No time like the present." She said, heading for the door. "Let's get this over with."
Andrew stepped aside and fell in behind Arianna en route to the command module and to a meeting that was looking to rank rather high on his 'I'd rather chew my arm off' list.
The two of them left the room, and the Bettina to head to the Command Module. This was a meeting neither one of them were looking forward to.
PO1 Arianna D'Tal
Executive Officer's Yeoman
Academy Cadet
Starbase 80
and
Lieutenant Commander Andrew Matheson
Chief Diplomatic Officer
Starbase 80
