Place to Vent
Posted on Wed Jun 30th, 2021 @ 6:34pm by High Commissioner Jasmine Haynes & Captain Ryan Walsh
Edited on on Wed Jun 30th, 2021 @ 6:35pm
1,848 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
Cheese
Location: Quarters of Captain Walsh
Timeline: 2430-08-31, 19:40
"I am so glad, the president is safe, what a trying day this has been." Jasmine said, as she walked into the quarters of Captain Walsh, her boyfriend. She wasted little time, expressing her feelings. She just needed to vent a little.
“As am I,” Ryan nodded. “I hope we never have a day like this again.” In truth, if had been hard on all of them. He could feel that something was on Jasmines mind. “You okay?”
"The leg is a little stiff, but ya. I am okay." Jasmine said, as she looked to Ryan. Then went on. "How about you?" She asked, with a big smile on her face.
“I’m good.” Ryan confessed. “Though at the time I shut down, pushing all my personal feelings aside and just concentrate on getting you out of there and some help.” His eyes met hers. “After, It hit me hard how close we came.”!
"Nice deflection, you know I want answers." Jasmine said, trying to get him back on track, and debriefing her.
“Ask me your questions and I’ll answer them.” Ryan said with a smile.
"How are you holding up?" Jasmine said, as she went on. "This is not the time to shut down feelings. Far from it. Don't burry your problems, lets work through them." Jasmine pointed out to Ryan.
“The reality that one of us or both of us could have died has hit me hard.” Ryan said seriously. “I know that there is a level of danger for both of us this was just a close call.”
"This is a good start, go on." Jasmine suggested to him. He needed to express how he felt. Not good to keep it bottled in.
“I don’t want to lose you.” Ryan said with a sigh. “I care a lot about you and for a little while there I was worried.” He continued after a moment. “I was glad to see how professional I was during the crisis but it just hit me in the face afterwards.”
"You thought I was going to die?" Jasmine asked, with a serious look on her face. How badly was she hurt earlier? She did not think it was life threatening. Maybe it was. And she did not realize it.
“I thought we would.” Ryan stressed. “We were trapped and it seemed there was a lot going on with the ship. I wasn’t sure how soon they would get to us.”
"We had food and life support, we were fine." Jasmine said, trying to play down her leg injury that had him all worried.
“We did but the ship was in a crisis as well.” Ryan reminded her. “And at that point we didn’t know why. We were just trapped.”
"So what I am hearing is, you need to take training on staying calm in a crisis." Jasmine said, giving him a cold stare.
“I stayed calm.” Ryan replied. “I pushed aside our personal relationship and did the job.” He looked at her. “It was later when I had time to think, when I was on a break. We all have to decompress. I’m fine now, I just needed to feel through it once we were safe and I wasn’t on duty.
"Did you?" Jasmine asked. She wondered if he was emotionally comprimised, since he saw her incompicated in the pod. He did not want to leave her side, in sickbay.
“I did.” Ryan nodded. “I performed first as an officer. If I reacted on a personal level then I would know I had a problem.”
"I hope so, I really do." Jasmine said, as she stared him down. From what she remembered, she basically had to push him out of sickbay.
“The first chance I got I headed out of sickbay to find out what I could.” Ryan explained. “They wanted to check me out and I assisted with some minor injuries.”
"We have a duty to the president, not to the crew. Did you at least confirm the President was secure and safe?" Jasmine asked.
“I asked and was told he was.” Ryan replied. “I didn’t personally speak with him.”
"Why didn't you personally go and check on him?" Jasmine asked, a little confused.
“With all that was going on I was sent to help keep us going.” Ryan explained. “They had me working everywhere.”
"Priorities Ryan, we took an oath to protect the president, no matter the cost." Jasmine said, not wanting to come down on him, but at the same point, feeling like she had too. Since she was the chief of staff.
“Understood.” Ryan said with a nod. “Before helping I should have personally made certain he was good.”
"Yes." Jasmine said, trying to take a hard stance. But it was hard, it was very sweet and romantic of him, to help others. But he obligations, just as she did.
“It won’t happen again.” Ryan gave his word. He hadn’t thought about checking himself. He should have, the President may have needs his presence.
Jasmine wanted to say sorry, for harping at him. But she could not. Her job demanded that she be tough, even on those she likes. "Appreciate that Captain." Jasmine said, as she resisted the urge to reach out to him.
“Thank you for making your preferences clear.” Ryan replied seriously. “I let the ball roll on that one and I know better.”
"I have to do my job." Jasmine said, feeling a little bad for being a little harsh on him. She hoped he understood. She was trying to shuffle her feelings and her work load. It was not an easy balancing act.
“And so you should.” Ryan smiled at her. “I want to be treated like everyone else on the job. Besides I get it.”
"Thanks." Jasmine said, showing a little empathy towards him. She did not want to be so mean. But sometimes, her job demanded it.
“Have you heard from the president since you were injured.” Ryan asked her.
"I have, but I am not at liberty to discuss it." Jasmine said, thinking back to her meeting with the president. They were going to meet with the Praetor of Ni'Var.
“Understood.” Ryan nodded. He got that there would always be things that couldn’t be shared between them and he got it.
"So now that's settled, what's the status around here?" Jasmine asked him, with a nervous smile. She had no idea, how bad things were on the ship. She had focused all of her attention on the president and her duty to him.
“No one has filled you in on anything?” Ryan replied with a frown. He was surprised to hear that. She held an important enough position.
"I am not a starfleet officer any longer, and so if I want an update, I need to get it from the admiral's and they have been busy as of late." Jasmine pointed out to him.
“The ship suffered damage.” Ryan replied. “The hull was compromised. Most of the crew were in escape pods so everyone was safe. Repairs have been made quickly, the crew reacted as expected.”
"Did we have any causalities?" Jasmine asked, fearing he was going to say yes.
“There were.” Ryan replied. “I don’t have any idea of how many.”
"At least we are both safe." Jasmine called out, feeling relieved for that reason. Which made her a little depress. Thinking it was wrong, to be grateful she was live.
“I am grateful for that.” Ryan said seriously. “I can’t imagine how others are handling the loss.”
"I am not sure how I am processing it, I would be lying if I did not say I was feeling remorseful for living." Jasmine pointed out to him. She preferred to talk about it now, to get it over with. And begin the healing process.
“I am sure that the crew as a whole is having difficulty processing it all.” Ryan nodded. “Not only do I have survivors guilt but I wonder if any of the was someone we knew on a daily basis or had ate lunch with.”
"Speaking of food, you hungry?" Jasmine asked. She was a little hungry, but not for replicated food. Sadly they did not have much of a choice. Most systems were being repaired.
“Yes.” Ryan said with a nod. “Let’s go get something to eat.” He thought it might be good to see others that had survived.
"Okay." Jasmine said, as she walked a little closer to him. She could feel a slight dull pain in her leg. But it felt a lot better now.
Ryan almost asked her if she was okay to walk there but he knew she hated anyone fussing over her. “What did the Doc say about your leg?”
"She wants to see me later on, but ya that's not happening." Jasmine said, as they started to walk together.
Ryan grinned. “She should know that your not going to go voluntarily.”
"Can you blame me, she allowed my boyfriend to tend to my wounds." Jasmine said, a little annoyed. She was proud of him, but it was also a little scary. Ryan was not a medic.
“It was an extreme measure.” Ryan replied. “And I did an excellent job.” He smiled then. “I was nervous but I pushed it aside.”
"Extreme measure? No it was doing our job!" Jasmine said a little defensive. Wrong words to use. Their first priority was to the safety of the president. Not to each other. They took an oath to defend him.
“I did my job!” Ryan replied. “I couldn’t get to the president at that point. I, along with you was restricted to sickbay. They hadn’t even cleared me yet.”
Jasmine was not pleased that response, but she had already lectured him. It seemed pointless to give him the same lecture again. She wanted to move forward with the conversation. "As soon as you have a chance, check in with him."
“I will when I leave here.” Ryan said seriously. “That will be my priority.” He knew this was a time they would agree to disagree.
Jasmine just gave him a cold stare. She was drawing the line. She had no choice, due to her position. She hated drawing this line, but she had too. He had an obligation to the president not just to her.
Ryan knew the look and he took it seriously. Jasmine was right in her way of thinking but she hadn’t been in the position he was in. He wasn’t going to argue or make excuses. He would accept her criticism on how he handled it and move forward having learned.
"We should assist if we can with the repairs, we have a little bit of down time." Jasmine pointed out to Ryan.
“That is a good plan.” Ryan agreed with her. “We need to be back to hundred percent as soon as possible:”
"Let's get going then." Jasmine said, as the scene starts to fade away.
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