Sans Guitar

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 12:56am by Lieutenant Krysia Kaleri-Smith & Sue Donym & Lieutenant Eiri Ashshy Ph.D & Mauricio Arnaldo
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:21pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Medical Bay/Brig

A Mission Post by Lieutenant Eiri Ashshy Dr. & Lieutenant Krysia Kaleri & 1st Lieutenant Mauricio Arnaldo
Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Medical Bay/Brig
Timeline:
Tue Nov 13th, 2018 @ 10:06am

ON:

Krysia walked into sickbay smiling as she saw all the medical staff sporting their new blue uniforms that Nyx had provided them with, she had to admit they were comfortable and she liked the shade of blue too. Making her way over to Doctor Ashshy, she nodded politely as she joined him. “Good Morning, Doctor. I thought we might assess Lieutenant Arnaldo this morning, as the Captain requested. If you’re not too busy?”

"Good morning, Lieutenant," Eiri said flatly. He had been busying himself with replacing the supplies they needed. He stood from where he had been crouched, putting away all manner of things into a cabinet. "We can indeed if the First Lieutenant is amiable."

“Well we can hope so.” She smiled before pausing for a moment. “Excuse me just one moment.” She walked over to the replicator and got herself a glass of water and some plain biscuits, taking a sip of her water and nibbling on a biscuit as she made her way back over to Ashshy. “Sorry... it appears morning sickness has decided to rear its ugly head. I’m a little off my game, but nothing I can’t cope with.”

"Good," Eiri replied. He tapped his comm badge. =/\= "Doctor Ashshy to First Lieutenant Arnaldo. Please respond." =/\=

In the corridor of the Brig, several officers were standing around one of the cells as a gentle guitar hummed through the air. The guards were on watch of course, but they were watching Mauricio Arnaldo plucking away at his guitar.

"Ayyyy de mí, Llorona," he sang softly and forlorn, "Llorona... de azul celeste..."

Eiri waited for a few moments and when no response was forthcoming he tapped his comm badge again. =/\= "Dr. Ashshy to the Brig, is the First Lieutenant in his... confines?" =/\= he asked of anyone who was manning the Brig.

"Y aunque la vida me cueste, Llorona." Mauricio continued, "No dejaré de quererte.... No dejaré de quererte!"

Finally, one of the officer noticed the flashing comms light on the panel. With a sigh he turned and pressed it, "Ensign Vale here, sir. Yes, the Lieutenant is here in the Brig. He's... singing."

=/\= "Excellent. I am glad to hear that he is well enough to serenade you, Ensign. We would actually appreciate an encore in the medical bay. If he is so willing. I will reward him with medical tests." =/\=

Ensign Vale laughed, =/\= "Not sure that's much of an enticement." =/\=

"It's okay," Mauricio called out, giving the guitar a final loud strum. "I will go willingly." There was a general sigh of disappointment in the crowd, as Mauricio left his cell and walked towards the door. He stopped and handed the guitar over to Vale. "Look after this for me, okay?" He smiled.

Soon after, Mauricio waltzed into Sickbay. He wasn't wearing his uniform, and hadn't since awakening from the Bubble, just a pair of loose pants and black t-shirt. So he cut a rather casual and relaxed figure as he sauntered inside.

"Mi amigos!" he called out playfully. "I have been summoned."

Eiri gave him a curt little bow. "I see you are sans guitar and indeed you have been summoned, First Lieutenant. I would like to run a few tests. I am not certain that we have been formally introduced. I believe that the last time I saw you, you were still unconscious. I am Doctor Eiri Ashshy." His face remained impassive as he spoke.

Mauricio gave a formal nod to the Doctor and Counsellor. "I have never excelled at tests," he replied with a shrug. "But I will try."

Eiri actually smirked just a little bit. It was more like his lips pressed together tighter in humor. "I do not believe that these tests will require much effort on your part. If you would not mind, I would like you to take a seat on the biobed." He gestured to a particular biobed. "Please..." He picked up a tricorder from the nearest location and stepped toward Mauricio with it up. "How have you been feeling lately?"

Krysia was standing observing Mauricio's interactions with Ashshy as they talked, so far his mood seemed light and almost playful but she had to wonder just how much of it was surface dressing in an effort to hide pain deep below. Being in the bubble had been hard for everyone involved but Mauricio's exit had been a more dramatic one than some.

Mauricio slid up onto the bio bed and laid back, waiting for the doctors to do their thing. “I’ve been getting better. Feeling some emotional highs for a change. I now know there are lots of wonderful people on this ship to support each other.”

"There are indeed." Krysia smiled. "It was a stressful awakening for all of us that believed we were living out our lives in the bubble. To awake to find that none of what we experienced was really real." She looked at Eiri then back at Mauricio. "Do you feel up to talking about what happened when you first awoke?"

"Well that's the difference," Mauricio replied, his tone a little strained. "You were adjusting to a life you never had, I was adjusting to a death I was constantly made to experience. Sure, I feel sorry for anyone who had families and great memories in the Bubble, but for me it was nothing but isolation, fear, and then a horrible death. Over and over again. I don't think you can share my experiences."

"No... I can't." Krysia shook her head. "The only memory I have to compare was at the end of my natural life, but there were others who went through similar experiences." She gave no names, but her thoughts strayed to Fick and his suspected suicide while they were in the bubble. "Perhaps it would help you to talk to others who went through similar traumatic events in the bubble."

Eiri continued to run scans over Mauricio, while he spoke to Krysia. He was a little confused by what he was reading, which was nothing. There was apparently nothing wrong with the marine. He was certain that he had read reports of Mauricio having at least some form of brain damage, but it was apparently no longer damaged, which said to him that any injury the marine had, had healed on its own. He nodded a little to Krysia when she looked at him, but otherwise said nothing as he went from console to console, trying to find something that perhaps he had missed.

"Do you feel up to talking about what it was like when you first awoke?" Krysia looked at Mauricio. "It's okay if you can't face it now but in the long run it'll help us to understand what you were going through so that we can help you with your long term recovery." She looked at Eiri then back at Mauricio. "I've been told on several occasions from those who were in the bubble that others find it hard to believe that we have memories of something that never happened. As far as I'm concerned it happened; we were there and we lived it and died during it. Some like yourself didn't get to live that full life that's where I want to try and help. To understand." She smiled warmly.

Mauricio shrugged, "I would wake up and die over and over again, I had no reason to believe that waking up in Sickbay would be any different. I was just in a constant state of panic and fear because that's all I had known in the bubble. Many of you were lucky to die just the once. I had to feel it, the coldness of space, the air squeezing out of my body. Suffocating to death, over and over. How did I know it wasn't going to happen again? If anything, it's taught me to expect death."

Krysia nodded understandingly. "I can't even imagine how that must have felt. However, you seem to have come out of your state of terror by yourself. Just being able to talk to you here is a big step from being locked away in the brig." She looked towards Eiri to see if he had any further tests or any questions he wanted to ask.

Eiri was staring at screens. He exchanged gazes with Krysta and then looked at Mauricio. "First Lieutenant, you seem to be doing well. All of your scans are coming back normal. I see no signs of brain damage or any other injury. How are you feeling physically?" the Vulcan asked. Eiri stepped back toward the bio bed, his gaze drifting calmly over Mauricio in that scrutinizing sort of way. Someone who knew Eiri very well could tell that he had doubts about something.

"Tired, I guess." Mauricio shrugged. "I sleep, but I wake up tired? I don't want to take sedatives, as I hear people can get addicted to taking medication." He frowned. "In the Marines, they don't start by teaching us how to handle a rifle or storm a location. Even if I can dismantle and reassemble a Type 3 Plasma in eight-point-five seconds. But they teach us mental toughness first, how to carry on. I guess I'm just trying to do that."

"Do you experience a lot of nightmares? If so, do you remember them?" Krysia looked at Mauricio. "If you are having nightmares that interrupt your sleep they will cause tiredness because you're not getting the good night's sleep you need. Otherwise..." She looked at Eiri. "Maybe we could fit the First Lieutenant with a cortical monitor to see if there's anything that'll give us an idea?" She paused for a moment to think. "Either that or would you mind if I observed you while you sleep?"

“Oh,” Mauricio replied, not having considered that as an option. “I suppose you could watch the Brig cameras.”

Eiri snorted a little. He stepped away from the biobed and went to the replicator, like he wasn't even listening. He returned with a glass of water. "We can if you like, Lieutenant, and if the First Lieutenant will allow," he said in way of a reply. "I would like to perform one more test... if you do not mind, First Lieutenant." The small Vulcan held out the glass of water to Mauricio. "Would you take this please..." he requested.

Krysia looked at Eiri curiously, she had a feeling he suspected something. She watched as he offered the glass of water to Mauricio interested to see what would happen next.

Mauricio frowned as he sat upright again in the bio-bed and reached for the offered glass. His voice was a little raspy from singing, he thought, but wondered how this would help his mental state.

Instead of putting the glass in Mauricio's hand, Eiri looked away from the marine for a moment as if he himself was distracted. The glass never touched the marine's hand, instead it slid out of Eiri's hand and hurtled toward the ground, smashing against the deck plating and rupturing into a thousand tiny pieces with a very loud crash. The glass was safety glass, so no one was in any sort of danger, but the crash was very loud and sudden. "Oh dear," Eiri said softly, looking down at the shattered glass.

“It’s okay. I’ll help clean that up.” Krysia smiled, turning to look at Eiri before turning her attention to Mauricio.

The sudden crashing noise caused Mauricio to recoil, he jumped back with incredible alarm, much more than what was required for a simple glass. But still, the suddenness of the accident triggered his entire body to tense up in fright as he shifted backwards and almost fell off the bio-bed. "Are you crazy?!" he shouted at the Doctor. "Look what you are doing!"

Eiri's face did not change much as he turned to watch the marine's reaction. One eyebrow raised slowly. "Are you going to be alright, First Lieutenant?" He asked. "It was a simple mistake." His eyes flicked from Mauricio's face to the display of monitors on the wall behind him. "I apologize." The half-Vulcan bowed a little.

Krysia nodded in thanks as a nurse cleared up the glass and mess. "Just relax for a moment First Lieutenant." Krysia offered a calming smile. "Doctor... a moment if you please?" She walked away from Mauricio's bedside to give Eiri and herself chance to speak. "Was that test really necessary Doctor? I know you have your suspicions about something but was terrifying the First Lieutenant really necessary?"

Eiri did not follow her. "Not now," he said simply. Krysia was on the verge of undermining everything he was trying to do. "And yes," he also said simply. He did not step away from Mauricio's bed, instead he stayed where he was, his face impassive. "We can give the First Lieutenant a moment, but I have a question for him when he's up to it." His gaze was still flicking between Mauricio and the monitors behind him. The marine's heart rate was already starting to slow again.

Mauricio was scowling, his mind telling him it was ‘just a glass’ while his heart continued to race with panic. He hadn’t felt this nervous since waking up from the bubble, when he felt like something terrible was going to happen at any moment. He had been calming himself through quiet spaces and relaxing activities like singing, things that were predictable and he was in control of. This was something sudden and unnerving and his body reacted in a panic-induced rush of adrenaline that his mind couldn’t overcome.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He breathed heavily. “I don’t know why, but it was just a shock. I can’t seem to calm myself down.”

Eiri gently put a hand on the marine's arm. "It is alright. I am sorry for frightening you so badly. Although, I must say..." he said very calmly, his gaze flicking to Krysia for a moment, almost curiously. "... you have done well keeping yourself calm before now." He patted Mauricio's hand. "I must ask what you are doing to maintain your calm other times? You say you have made improvements to your feelings since you decided to house yourself in the brig. Is it the security of the brig or are you using other methods? What has... inspired you?" His questions seemed casual, as he started to busy himself with other things around the bed, but they were actually far from casual and completely intentional.

Krysia stood simply watching Eiri as he interacted with Mauricio, she hadn’t met a doctor who’d worked this way before. It was obvious this was all part of bigger plan and she didn’t want to ruin it.

"The Brig is purposefully located in the hardest to reach portion of the ship," Mauricio said, though he was more reciting this to himself. "Purposefully so. The force fields are almost as strong as outer shields and run on an independent power source in case of emergencies. It is the safest place in the ship. Nothing can get to me there." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I've kept myself calm by trying to do small things, activities that I control. I choose to be in the Brig. I don't feel claustrophobic or imprisoned because it's my choice. I choose who comes to see me, the length of conversations, what I do with my time. The Bubble took everything away from us, Doctor. Everything. I'm just trying to find ways to regain what we lost."

Krysia shifted a little uncomfortably, what Mauricio had said struck a chord with her too. She'd settled back in better than most but the memories would always be difficult. Remembering the children and grandchild she'd had, the families that others had and the losses that were endured. The losses that, in the bubble, included Mauricio.

Eiri nodded in understanding. "I know that it feels very much like it did take everything, but here you are. Despite dying. Despite loss. Despite pain. Here you are." He smiled at Mauricio just a tiny bit. "Please make appointments with the counselor. I would like to check in with you again in a week, if you do not mind." He glanced at the monitor behind Mauricio and then at Krysia very briefly. "Other than that, if you feel up to it, you are welcome to return to the brig. Unless, of course, you have questions."

"No questions," Mauricio replied, his tone a little exasperated, "I'd like to return now, please." Without waiting for much a confirmation, the Marine jumped off the bio-bed and headed out the door. There would be no encore to his performance when he arrived back at the Brig, he just wanted to shut the world out again and work on calming his nerves once more.

The minute Mauricio was out of sickbay and out of sight and audio range, Eiri turned to Krysia. "What I was doing, Lieutenant, before you interrupted, is called Behavioral Science. The First Lieutenant is not as together as he claims or seems.."

“You think I didn’t notice that, Doctor?” She leaned against the biobed. “I don’t think any of us that were in that damned bubble are as ‘together as we seem’ not by a long shot.” She sighed. “We all have our own ways of coping, as you well know. The First Lieutenant has chosen to do his in his own way, it may mean a longer road to recovery but he’ll get there, we’ll all get there.” She offered Eiri a polite smile before starting for the door. “I’ll give the First Lieutenant some time to settle again before I speak to him.”

"Not everyone that was in the bubble is a trained Marine and I am not talking about being sad or working through things. I am saying, that regardless of what the First Lieutenant has been saying, he has the potential to be dangerous," Eiri said, watching her walk away. It was interesting to him that assumptions seemed to be more important than truth. "The First Lieutenant is not coping."

“I know he isn’t, Doctor.” Krysia turned to look at Eiri. “He’s already in the brig, what else would you have me do?”

Eiri tipped his head to the side just a little, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. "Do not make excuses for him and council him on how to properly cope?"

Krysia felt a little annoyed. “I haven’t been....” She ‘bit her tongue’ and stopped herself from making the error of an outburst unbecoming a Counsellor. “I intend to do just that, Doctor.”

Eiri raised his eyebrows. It was once again interesting to him that she was so inconsistent. First she had said that "they all had their own ways of coping" and explaining to Eiri that Mauricio was coping in "his own way", then contradicted herself by saying that she knew the First Lieutenant wasn't coping. He was not altogether confident that the counselor was coping either. He nodded to her. "Good."

Krysia turned to leave before looking back over her shoulder. “I just contradicted myself in my statement about the First Lieutenant didn’t I?” She didn’t see to see any sort of look on the Doctor’s face. “Like I said, we all have our own ways of coping, but maybe mine isn’t perfect either, but I won’t fail Mauricio.” She nodded politely and headed out of the door.

:END