Posted by Lieutenant Benjamin Grey (Chief Medical Officer) in Holodeck 2- Therapy in Unusual Places Day 2, Part 1

Posted by Ensign Viyara Nazeen (Scientist) in Holodeck 2- Therapy in Unusual Places Day 2, Part 1

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (CNS) in Holodeck 2- Therapy in Unusual Places Day 2, Part 1
Posted by… suppressed (10) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Janna glanced at Daggum and smiled. “Want to help me make more coffee?” she said.

“MOre coffee is always good.” Daggum said with a smile and followed Janna as she began to move towards the kitchen.

“We’ll be right here if you need us,” Kingston said back to Viyara, moving towards the kitchen. As she passed Ben, she gave a grateful nod.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Benjamin returned Janna’s nod and waited for the pair to leave before closing the door gently. He walked across the room and put his shoulder bag on a chair and opened it and removed two circular items from it “Since I don’t have a biobed I’m going to do a regular Tricorder scan combined with a Neurocortical monitor and a Neural Monitor.” He said conversationally as he put the two devices on a small piece of Medical cloth “Please lie down and make yourself comfortable” He said with a slight smile.

Dr. Grey - CMO

Taking another deep breath, Viyara made her way over to the couch and lay down. For a moment or two she fidgeted a little as she tried to relax and get comfortable. But eventually she just gave up, at least on the ‘trying to relax’ part, and positioned her limbs in way that wasn’t completely uncomfortable; flat on her back, legs crossed at the ankle and her arms draped over her stomach. She wasn’t even sure what she wanted the results of this physical to be. After all, the idea of something being physically wrong with her was far from comforting. No matter what that would mean with regard to Janna’s preliminary diagnosis.

Tilting her head, Viyara looked up at Benjamin and asked a little hesitantly, “What exactly will you be looking for?” But before he had a chance to answer, she added, “And Doctor Grey, I’m sorry. For being so evasiv and uncooperative during my board evaluation, I mean. It had nothing to do with you. Physicals and personal questions always made me uncomfortable. But I’m working on that. I promise to do my best to be better this time.”

~Viyara

Benjamin gently placed the Neurocortical monitor just below her left ear as she asked her question “Bah, yer fine” He smiled and put the Neural monitor on her shoulder “It’s not uncommon for people to dislike such questions, I dislike large crowds of people” He wrinkled his nose at the thought “But sometimes we have to get through what we dislike only to be done with it” He opened his tricorder and removed the wand and started the generic medical scan “I try not to look for anything unless I suspect it’s already there. For you, I will be casting a wide net and see if I catch anything” He explained calmly.

Dr. Grey - CMO

“Okay,” Viyara replied softly, wondering if she should feel more at ease because of that or not. “And thank you for understanding and for coming here.”

As Benjamin ran the small node down the length of her body, his tricorder would show a number of things. Some of which he had already seen during her boarding evaluation; like the various healed broken bones. The tricorder would also show a lot of tension in the muscles in her neck, shoulders, face and upper back in particular. There were also some telltale signs that a dermal regenerator had been on her arms and waist. Despite the fact that she hadn’t set a single foot into sickbay since her evaluation. He’d also be able to tell that, lately, she hadn’t been getting as much restful sleep as she’d need. But otherwise she was physically fine and still in the same great shape as she had been when she first boarded the Athena.

~Viyara Nazeen

Benjamin placed the wand in its holster as he read the readings. Finally, he slipped the device into his coat pocket but left the two monitoring devices on her head. He sat on his haunches next to the bed, interlocking his fingers, and looked directly at her face and spoke, his voice gentle and calm “Do you want to tell me why you’ve been using a dermal regenerator?” he asked

Dr. Grey - CMO

Averting her eyes, Viyara’s breathing became a little faster and shallower and she dug her thumbnail deep enough into her forearm to feel some pain. After a few seconds she quickly let go, leaving a crescent mark behind, and pulled the tension ball out of her pocket instead. While holding the ball tightly, her eyes still averted, she finally said, “I sometimes get hurt when I’m on the holodeck or in the gym. And … and … I sometimes …” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then finished in a rushed whisper, “I sometimes hurt myself.”

~Viyara Nazeen

Hammor, Ops

Benjamin slowly nodded his head. He put his hands on the bed flat and looked at Nazeen “Have you told Kingston?” He asked in a low gentle voice.

Dr. Grey - CMO

Opening her eyes again, Viyara nodded and held up the hand that was holding the tension ball. “She actually saw me dig my nails into my forearms. Not enough to break the skin, but … that’s why she gave me this,” she said softly and finally looked at Benjamin again. There was a small crease between her eyebrows and fear in her heterochromatic eyes, as if she expected to be scolded. Or worse.

~Viyara Nazeen

Benjamin nodded slowly “I see” He folded his hands together “Have you spoken about why you feel the need for self harm?” He asked gently

Dr. Grey - CMO

Viyara nodded slightly. Benjamin’s gentle voice and the way he reacted and treated her made some of the fear slip away. “I have. Doctor Kingston and I have been talking about a lot of things.” Dropping her gaze for maybe a heartbeat or two, she was silent for that brief moment and then added a little hesitantly, “Something I do on purpose. Like going to the holodeck and turning the safeties off. It .... the rush of adrenaline makes me feel alive. But when I hurt myself … it often isn’t intentional, I think. It’s more like a reflex when I get upset or overwhelmed.” Her voice was very soft when she said those things and she suddenly felt tears well up in her eyes, she turned her face away.

~Viyara Nazeen

Benjamin listened intently, It had been some time since he’d squatted like this but he felt comfortable still “Well having that ball handy can help overcome bad habits like the scratching but a holodeck without safeties is dangerous. Have you managed to override the safeties whilst onboard here?” He asked in the same soft gentle voice. He knew from experience that it helped alleviate a lot of tension in his patients.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Janna put the kettle on and grabbed the coffee. She gazed at Daggum for a long moment. “You’ve been handling this quite well. Is that genuine or a brave front?”

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Dr. Grey - CMO

Daggum looked at her quizzically for a moment and then said “I’m not sure I understand what you mean. If you are asking if I’m faking something, I can honestly say no. I am concerned for V… but I also have a lot of confidence in her ability to move through this process. She is a hell of a lot stronger than she gives herself credit for… and sometimes people just need a steady arm to help them find that inner strength. And if that is what she needs from me, thats what she gets.” and he smiled.

Daggum