The road to recovery

Posted on Tue Jun 26th, 2018 @ 4:19pm by Lieutenant Commander Ariana Monroe-Wayne & Master Warrant Officer Gaius Aquila

952 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 95 - Helping Old Friends
Location: Medical Bay
Timeline: Day 5 1600 hrs

Ariana made her way to the medical bay, she'd received a request asking her to speak to Warrant Officer Gaius Aquila who was recovering from major surgery to give him a new but artificial heart. She'd encountered one or two patients who'd gone through surgery like that when she was training to be a Counsellor and understood the transition wasn't always an easy & straightforward one. She smiled and nodded as the medical staff pointed out Gaius and made her way over to him. "Warrant Officer Aquila... I'm Ariana Monroe, station Counsellor. I was asked to speak to you."

Giaus just finished another round of physical therapy, and was sitting next to his bed. He was viewing a news vid on a PADD when he heard the Councilor's greeting. He paused the vid, and looked up to see a Fleeter, who was obviously a Betazoid, judging from her physical features. In Roman fashion, he bowed his head as he greeted the officer, "Greetings Lieutenant. How can I be of service?"

"Actually that's something I was going to ask you" Ariana smiled politely, "how is your recovery going? I understand that you've been given an artificial heart?"

Giaus looked down, and rubbed his chest, "My chest itches like Mars himself set it on fire. Other than that, I guess I am as good to be expected. I am told that I get stronger with every physical therapy session. The local pharmacist has been talking me through my thoughts when she has time to take off from her shop. I only got to see my woman for a few days since my injury. My sons visit me every night. " Giaus learned awhile ago that being plain spoken with a Betazoid was the best approach.

"I appreciate your honesty" Ariana smiled warmly, "it makes a nice change, so do you have any worries or problems accepting what's happened to you? Given the circumstances of what happened to you I wouldn't be surprised if you had nightmares."

This is where being a Magna Roman, and being a Federation Marine Officer interacted in his mind. "Well Councilor, where I come from, the heart is a source of life. So part of me wonders if my life is real, or if I cheated the Ferryman out of my appointed time. The Marine in me is happy to cheat the Ferryman, and I look forward to resuming my post as soon as possible." He paused for a moment, thinking carefully as to what to say next. "Funny that you should mention nightmares. I have been having those, on and off, for the past 18 years. In this line of work, you get to experience things that most Fleeters would never imagine in our perfect world."

"I know" she nodded her head, "my late husband was a marine, he spent his whole life in the corps so I completely understand what you mean about the nightmares he used to get those too" she offered an understanding smile, "The Corps takes care of its own as they say, the Corps took care of us in my husband's final year so if I can help you with any of those nightmares..."

Giaus felt sympathetic to the Councilor. "I am sorry for your loss. It is always painful to lose a Brother, or Sister. I too offer my services to help you cope with this transition. If you need anything from the private sector on base, or on the planet, please let me know. I only look poor." He said with a chuckle. "One of my best friends can help you with almost anything as well. It so happened that he spent some time on Betazed, during the War. " He paused for a moment. "Coincidentally, he has similar nightmares that started around the same time mine did."

"Thank you for the offer" she smiled warmly, "I may take you up on that sometime, with children on the way it'll come in handy" her demeanour changed as she realised what he'd said about the nightmares, "Similar nightmares?" she looked curious, "how similar?"

Giaus answered, "Well, do not get me wrong, but my friend has a slightly better coping mechanism than I do. But we also both were at the Second Battle of AR558. It is safe to say that this is a nightmare we both relive. Only a couple of hundred of us walked out of that one, out of 1300 Marines."

“Good heavens!” She shook her head, “well anything I can do to help you or any of the marines I will do” She smiled warmly even though Jonathon was no longer alive she still felt a connection with the marine side of life. “Is there anything you feel you can talk about with regards your nightmares here or would you prefer to wait until you’re out of here and you can see me in the privacy of my office? I don’t mind either way, the choice is entirely yours.”

"We can talk about it later. I appreciate it. By the way, my friend's name is Tommy Jackson. You will usually find his big butt sitting at a desk in Marine country." Giaus said, with a smile. "Tell him I sent you."

"I will indeed" Ariana smiled warmly, "I'll leave you to it for now but if you should need to talk to me just call me and I'll be here."

"I will call you, but not from here. I do not expect to be in Medical that much longer. " Giaus responded.

“That’s fine” Ariana smiled as she stood to leave, “just call me whenever & I’ll be sure to fit you in.” With that she nodded politely and headed on her way.

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