Counseling, Part Three

Posted on Thu Apr 13th, 2023 @ 9:59am by Consul Andrinn Orin

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Earth, Starfleet Medical
Timeline: 2305
600 words - 1.2 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

All the counselor said was, "I'm so sorry..."

Andrinn just looked at the counselor with a confused and confounding look upon his face. His emotions began to well up into his throat, causing a bit of panic to creep into every facet of his mind. Why would the counselor walk off and come back to say something like that? Who did he know that might've been out on a starship or starbase that might've been hurt or harmed?

Just so many questions that Andrinn wasn't sure of yet and would only get answered as soon as he asked the counselor what was going on and why he said that. Looking over at the counselor, Andrinn asked, "Why would you say that? What's wrong?"

The counselor punched in some commands into his PADD and looked it over before handing it over to Andrinn. He reached for it and turned it around to be able to reach what was brought up on the screen of the PADD.

On the screen was a picture of a Trill man, one who Andrinn didn't immediately recognize. However, after looking over the picture a bit more and reading the name, Andrinn quickly realized who the person was. He looked up at the counselor again and held his mouth open for a moment as Andrinn tried to find the right words to form the questions he wanted to ask.

"What happened? How did he pass away?" Andrinn finally said after finding his words again. The counselor took the PADD back and looked over the information before flipping through the records in the Starfleet database in Starfleet Medical. It didn't take long for the counselor to find the answer.

"Apparently, he was working on some shuttles and was testing one of them when the engines went out. Starbase One was able to beam him out, but not before he was injured from the accident. He died in Sickbay on the Starbase. I know this is hard for you. Tell me how you're feeling?" the Counselor said, looking over Andrinn and making sure to catch anything and everything that Andrinn was externally feeling.

Andrinn was holding it together pretty well externally, but internally, he was a mess. He was screaming, asking the universe why something like this could possibly happen? So many questions that Andrinn knew he couldn't answer and thus, he looked up at the counselor and asked, "Why does it hurt so much when you learn that people pass away?"

The counselor was quiet for a moment, allowing himself a moment to think about the best, most helpful answer. He replied back to Andrinn, "Well, it hurts because that person leaving this universe means that it leaves a hole in your life, especially if they meant a lot to you. You're not able to talk to them anymore, tell them how you're feeling, or anything quite like that. It's a scary time sometimes and there's just so much more that I could go into. But, if you don't mind me asking. Who was he to you? Just so I can make sure to address them properly. I know you two were connected somehow, but I wasn't told exactly how."

Andrinn was looking at his feet at that moment and when he heard the question, he didn't even look up to reply. Andrinn just said a bit meagerly, "He was someone that was the most recent host of the Hunt symbiant. The Hunt symbiant was married to my first host and meant a lot to him."

OFF:

Consul Andrinn Orin
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Elysium