Mercy Unto Others

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 6:18am by Lieutenant Mera Richmond MD
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 1:39pm

Mission: Into the Wild
Location: USS Mercy, Junior Counselor's Office

A Mission Post by Lieutenant Mera Richmond MD
Mission: Into The Wild
Location: USS Mercy, Junior Counselor's Office
Timeline:
Sun Aug 6th, 2017 @ 11:53am


Mera was sitting at her desk when she heard the door chime.

“Come in.” she choked while she stood up to greet her guest. Her throat had gotten dry from having spent the last hour reading case notes in total silence.

A short man in a gold operation uniform entered.

“Good morning, Hugo. How are you feeling today?” she gestured for him to take a seat on the far side of her office.

“I’m still having phantom pains and the headaches are getting worse.” He said while crossing the room and taking a seat on the dark brown leather couch.

Mera had traveled all across Earth to find the perfect furniture and decor for her office. The couch Hugo was sitting on was one she was particularly proud of. It featured a soft, supple leather and deep supporting cushions that hugged the body without being too hot. It was truly a masterpiece.

After a moment he started looking down and touching the bandage on his arm. His body language screamed nervous. Mera knew she would have to relax him in order to make any progress during the session.

“Do you mind if I put on some light music?” It was a rhetorical question, but she waited for the crewman to nod in agreement. “Computer, begin playlist Calm Study 6. Volume level 7” The computer chimed in confirmation and a light melody began to fill the the air. From their last meeting, she had pegged Hugo as a traditionalist. A collection that heavily featured Earth jazz would suit his tastes perfectly.

Two weeks earlier Crewman Hugo Bishop fell victim to an electrical surge aboard the USS Abraham while performing routine maintenance on the transporters. The jolt overloaded his prosthetic hand which had to be surgically removed after the electrochemical interface had fused to his nervous system. The pain must have been unfathomable and it was a medical miracle that the surgeon didn’t have to remove any more of his forearm. After being discharged from intensive care Hugo started presenting symptoms of depression as was typical of patients with severe neural trauma.

While walking over to meet Hugo, Mera turned on the viewscreen that took up nearly the entire wall. A visual feed of the galaxy from the USS Mercy’s starboard sensors came into view. Hundreds of distant stars dotted the screen and pale green dust from the nebula they were traveling through washed against the ship's shields igniting a ghostly aurora. She had strategically oriented her office so that the screen was the natural focal point.

She took a seat in a small leather chair next to Hugo and took a quick note of his appearance.

Hugo’s uniform was wrinkled and uneven, and his dark brown hair was pushed crudely to the left. The loss of his right hand was clearly having an impact on his ability to care for himself. His eyes were bloodshot affirming his complaints of extreme headaches. He must not have had a restful sleep since the accident that was not medically induced.

“I’m sorry to hear that, but unfortunately that is normal for patients who have experienced neural trauma to this degree. I’ve worked with Dr. Lenik to develop an electro-stimulus therapy that should help your brain accept its new situation. The headaches; however, will probably not subside before we are able to repair and reattach your prosthesis. After that you should begin to return to normal. Right now though what is important is how you are processing all of this.” Mera emphasized the last few words.

For the next thirty minutes the two discussed Hugo’s experiences immediately before and after the accident. She, of course, already knew every detail from the operations reports. Instead she was taking notes on his body language and the different events that he emphasized. He never stopped picking at the bandages.

“Take a moment and look at the viewscreen. Look out into our galaxy and tell me what feeling comes to mind.” she said gently.

Mera loved this exercise. She never missed an opportunity to reflect on the vastness of space, but most Starfleet personnel took it all for granted. Cruising through at Warp 7 causes people to lose perspective of its unfathomable scale and staggering emptiness. When patients are sat down and forced to ponder these facts all sorts of reactions manifest. Everyone has a slightly different answer which could vary day-to-day depending on what the patient’s subconscious was occupied with at the moment. It gave incredible insight into where the patient was on their journey to emotional wellness.

Several moments passed as Hugo looked out into the galaxy. His face changed from being annoyed by the exercise to a more solemn expression.

Mera took this time to sip the coffee she had been ignoring for the entirety of the interview. It was cold now, but she didn’t care. The regular duty schedule had her just getting to bed at this time, but her experience with implant patients necessitated her taking the lead on this case. An opportunity she wouldn’t pass up. Right now though she needed the caffeine. She always needed the caffeine.

“Inevitability.” he announced suddenly and with a hint of certainty.

Mera jumped, startled by his voice breaking the silence. “Inevitability. Ok. Tell me how you came to that answer.” Mera tried to make eye contact, but Hugo kept staring at the viewscreen.

“We are out here trying explore every nook and cranny and catalogue lifeform. Learn everything there is to learn, but we are really just along for the ride. The universe is going to do what it has always done and keep doing it until it stops. No matter if we are here or not.”

Mera blew a quick burst of air out of her nose and small smirk crept out. Luckily Hugo wasn’t looking. His response was typical of a patient who was in the later stages of grief. He was making better progress than she expected.

“Yes, I think we have all shared those thoughts at one point or another.” Mera paused for a moment and gathered her thoughts while taking another sip from her cup. “I like to remind myself that we have come into contact with all sorts of lifeforms in the short time we have been exploring this galaxy. All of them have a different perspective on the realities of the universe. Some are animalistic. Relying on their instincts. Others have achieved a higher state of existence and have learned to manipulate the universe in ways that we can barely comprehend.”

She turned her gaze to the viewscreen realizing that Hugo was not going to meet her eyes. “Think of everything we have discovered. We don’t know what we will find out there or what opportunities that will be made available. Some people may find that terrifying. Fearing the unknown and thinking that it’s all entirely out of our control. But we do have control. We get to choose how we interact with that unknown. We can choose when to be cautious, just passing through, and we can choose when to fight back.”

Mera turned to look at Hugo and took the crewman’s hand into her’s. “Right now, on this ship, we are taking it into our own hands.”

She usually didn’t make physical contact with her patients, but she knew the impact it would have at that moment.

Hugo turned away from the viewscreen and met her eyes. He nodded his head in agreement. She saw a spark of bravery in his eye.

Mera looked up at the clock. 1147. Their meeting had run over and Hugo would have to report to duty soon. “Lieutenant Emphara has been put in charge with repairing your prosthesis. You’ll be in good hands.” She paused realizing what she had just said and immediately regretted it. “It should be ready in a few weeks. We have to get replacement micro-actuators at our next resupply.”

The two of them stood up and Mera walked with him to the door. “I would like to make another appointment for next week. In the meantime though you know where my office is if you need to talk. If I am not on duty you can try to catch me in my quarters.”

Hugo nodded again. “Thank you, Dr. Richmond.”

“Have a good day, Bishop. I don’t want you to be late for duty.”

He turned and walked out. The door slid shut behind him and the room became quiet again. Only the soft melody of an obscure Enaran trio stood out over the hum of the ship.

Mera returned to her desk and started working on her report to the Chief Medical Officer. Crewman Bishop still needed time, but his brain wave scans were normal, if a little low energy, and there were no indications of chemical imbalances. She was certain that he would make a successful recovery.

She paused for a moment and looked back to the viewscreen. The shields shimmered like the waves in her favorite shore of the Puget Sound. She turned back to her desk and grabbed a different PADD out of the drawer. She accessed her personal files and opened a document.

Request for Transfer of Duties -- USS Pandora.