STF

Expanding the Offerings

Posted Jan. 20, 2023, 10:46 p.m. by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) (Lindsay B)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Sharah Fayth (Chief Star Fleet Medical Officer) in Expanding the Offerings

Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in Expanding the Offerings

(snip)

“What’s this?” Belanger asked, gaze darting between the two women.

Eela swallowed and drew in a deep breath. “Nurse Shrine is organizing… a bachelorette auction.”
Cort blinked. “As in…?”
She nodded. “Yes, exactly how it sounds. Doctor Fayth has been coerced into it and it looks like it’s my turn.”
He was honestly stunned and a brief snort escaped before he started laughing. But he quickly brought it under control as he became concerned, his blue eyes searching his boss intently. “Is that something you think…” He shook his head.
“I what?” Dasca said, trying to wrap her mind around the whole idea.
“Are you ready for that? No offence intended to anyone else participating but there are other… variables you may need to consider that others might not be aware of.”

Sharah liked the man all the more for being so concerned for Eela, but she couldn’t help but tease the other woman just a bit more. “I’m not sure what you’re concerned about?” She gave Cort an understanding look, but also tossed a wink his way. “The Lt Gov just assured me there was nothing to worry about. That whatever activity is planned for after doesn’t have to be romantic. It could be pleasant or not, no commitments or expectations. I might even meet my new best friend or find someone who can recommend a dog breeder, or the most boring lunch ever imagined. Isn’t that right Lt Gov? You did say that, or did I mishear you?”

Eela shot her a glare. “I hate you right now,” she said, though she didn’t mean it in the least. And the worst part was that Eela was exactly the kind of person who had ben happy to connect to people randomly without any worry about what it was or where it was going. Connection for connections sake. And she knew all too well that her own words had come back to bite her in the ass and there was crap all she could do about it.

Sharah was right in everything she said, but so was Cort. She reached out and touched his forearm briefly, smiling softly. “I appreciate the concern and it is something I should factor, but go ahead and tell Shrine I will meet with her. But warn her that she will have to deal with the added security conditions.”

He studied her intently before he nodded. “Of course,” Cort said, before stepping back and moving for the door, but not before smirking slightly and shaking his head as he passed Fayth.

Eela pulled out her chair and slumped into it. “You all are going to do me in, you know that right?” she said, tipping her face towards the ceiling and starting to laugh. “I mean, sure, I am single, and I’ve been technically on my own for over eighteen months, but this is not how I imagined tossing myself into the dating scene after divorce.”

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Sharah was still chuckling. She hadn’t felt like this since…since her cadet cruise, and she and Ashlyn had that really long night staying up late and just talking and having fun and being cadets. Right after she’d been released from sickbay. “At least you’ll be done in while laughing.” She grinned, took a breath and stuffed the giggles back down. “She might be looking for a straight donation of time or supplies. But so far Shrine has cornered every single person who was at the speakeasy that night and gotten them on the list. Except the ones who aren’t single.”

“So you’re saying I might as well give in now, right?” Dasca said with a long-suffering sigh.

Sharah reached into her bag and pulled out a sketch pad and ripped out a blank sheet and handed Eela the sheet and a pencil. “Okay so since I’ve only got a partial hour now. So you told me, sometimes you don’t know if those mental thoughts are coming from you or someone else or the influence of others over the years. And they aren’t like you. So what I want you to do is write them down. You don’t have to show me, but write them down, no matter where they come from.”

Fayth, SFCMO

The fun and games had passed and now it was time for the serious part. Funny enough, Eela might have given this same task to a patient had they come to her with such a dilemma. But there were places she hadn’t been able to tread. Her physical recovery had claimed for much of her time and energy for so long that even when she had been doing therapy it had been about assessing the changes in cognitive processing and working through the trauma of the accident, her subsequent coma and her retirement. It was one of those weird twinges in the back of her mind since her separation and it seemed to be surfacing more lately.

Taking the piece of paper and pencil, Eela began to write slowly in a slanted elegant script. Each word, each sentence was painful and as she wrote the pencil moved slower. It was one thing to have these thought flit through her mind, but to see them written down brought tears to her eyes.

-I have nothing else worthwhile to give
-I can’t get anything right anymore
-the Steadfast was the pinnacle of my life. Nothing else will surpass it
-I’m as broken as my body
-I ran away from my life and it was cowardly
-there was more I should have done and if I had my life wouldn’t have fallen apart
-I’ve lost my heart

At 63, almost 64, Eela was in the prime of her life as a Haliian who lived on average to 150 years old. She had so much life to live still and yet as she stared at this list it felt like it belonged to someone very different. Her hand rested fingers splayed over the list as if she could hide it from herself, but it was too late. In writing them down, she had made them tangible.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.


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