Bang Your Head

Posted on Fri Jul 19th, 2024 @ 10:47pm by Lieutenant Michael Amato & Ensign Parker Gallagher

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Mission 5: The Price of Paradise
Location: Deck 7: Medical Division
Timeline: M5 MD07 (2268.07.30) 1600

The medical section on deck 7 was devoid of patients this afternoon, certainly out of the ordinary. Dr. Amato leaned against one of the bulkheads in the corridor to the offices including his broom closet of one. His blue eyes were staring intensely at one of the office doors in particular, reading the name on the black name plaque multiple times over and over... Ensign Parker Gallagher, Psychiatry.

The Midway had been devoid of any mental health services since the departure of Dr. Meddows, whom Mike would refer to as "the Quack." The ship's surgeons were defacto generalists but other than advice given over a stiff drink, they were hardly mental health professionals. Mike kept staring. Both Captain Faust and Dr. Kitchner had suggested he meet with the new counselor, but he was uneasy about it. Although he'd certainly felt like he was in free fall for some time now. He ran his hand through his brown hair before heading towards the office door and pressing the buzzer. Hopefully he wouldn't regret it.

Parker had not even made it three hours before her itch to change the office around hit her. So she had requisitioned two black leather couches to be brought in and once they were in, she covered them with warm throw rugs and a couple of comfy pillows on each. She shoved her desk to the far corner and placed it behind a screen. She knew sometimes desks made people nervous. She had just finished, placing a low table between the two couches when the chime rang. With a bright smile she opened the door. She took in the young officer before her, noting the rank. "Lieutenant?" She asked brightly.

Mike drummed up a casual smile, "Good afternoon ensign, we haven't run into each other yet, but I'm Dr. Michael Amato, one of the ship's two surgical residents," he explained, introducing himself. He looked around the office behind her and was rather jealous given the space and plush furnishings compared to his monastic cell.

She stepped back and waved for him to come in. "Come in Doctor Amato, I am currently free if you need to chat." She figured it was why he was here. After all no one really sought out officers of her ilk without a reason.

"Thank you," Mike responded as he entered the office, "First, welcome to the ship and to the division. I'm sure you've had your meeting with Dr. Kitchner so I'll spare you the low down, but there's at least one of us on duty at any time. We usually shake up the schedule every once in awhile and I'm on afternoons currently." He was a rather handsome young man with well defined features although he youthful face was marred with fatigue and weariness. "But yeah, it's been a dull afternoon," he added.

"Have a seat." Parker said warmly, "I can understand being bored. Human minds need stimulation otherwise we stagnate. Can I get you a drink?"

"Ah sure," Mike responded as he sat down on one of the couches, "Just a coffee black... I swear you have nicer furnishings than I do." He looked around.

"Requisition form 12B." Parker said as she moved to the replicator to get his beverage. "My sister let me in on that secret. You should be able to get a couch in your office."

"I'll have to look into that," Mike responded as Parker set the cup off coffee down onto the walnut veneered end table. "Thank you," he added. "You seem to be settling in well," he commented.

Parker smiled. "Only in this office. My bags are still packed in my shared cabin."

"Yeah it takes awhile to unpack, especially with how eventful things are on the Midway," Mike commented before picking up the cup of coffee, "I think it took me a month or so to fully unpack."

"I have heard that the ship sees a lot of adventures." Parker said as she sat opposite him. She knew the best thing for some was just to let them talk.

"Yes, we've seen quite a bit," Mike responded, his face became visibly more distressed at the change of subject. He took a sip from the cup of coffee and then set it down with a sigh. "Frankly our last mission is why I was darkening your doorway," he admitted.

Parker nodded. "Go on, you can speak however you want in here. You can yell even." She added with a smile, trying to loosen the mood a bit. "And if you need to punch it out, I have boxing gloves around here somewhere."

"Heh I was fairly proficient in Karate before medical school, but I doubt you want me chopping this brand new coffee table in half," Mike commented. He took another sip of coffee before finishing, "In a nutshell our last mission was to find out what happened to the USS Defiant," he added, "And we did... Sort of... But it didn't give me the closure I was looking for."

Parker had been briefed on it. She had needed to know due to the posting. "Sometimes closure is not what we think it is." She said. "Tell me about it."

Mike paused for a moment unsure how to phrase it, but he just said it the first way that came to him, "My brother was on the Defiant," he said in an almost matter of fact tone, "He was the chief navigator... He was also Captain Faust's best friend... When the Captain was crewing the ship he tapped me and I accepted when he told me we would be the ship to conduct the investigation when it came to it... Now that the case is closed, I don't know what next..." His voice trailed off as his blue eyes went blank in a thousand yard stare.

"Tell me about him?" She offered softly after letting him think in silence for a bit of time.

"About who? My brother or the Captain?" Mike asked, snapping back from his thought and shooting a glance over at Parker.

"Your brother." She smiled.

"I guess I should back up... My father was... Is a tough man to live with," Mike explained, "He's a retired chief petty officer and always had bigger ambitions for us, especially Joey... Sometimes I felt like the afterthought, but Joey always looked out for me and I always looked up to him especially after he got out under Dad's thumb... Of course then the thumb was pressed further on to me and then I started pushing back. See Joey always pushed himself harder the harder our dad pushed. Me... I just acted out."

Parker sat there, her gaze focused on him, she was really listening. "Each person reacts differently to different types of pressure." she said reassuringly.

Mike nodded, "So what else do you want to know?" He asked, "Oh am I just supposed to ramble? I've tried to block out my psych rotation."

"No you are to say what you want. If you want to tell me about how you acted out, you do, if you don't you can skip over it." Parker replied. "I am here to listen."

"And offer some commentary, I hope," Mike responded, "Well the first thing I did was grow a big Mohawk and dye it blue." He chuckled.

"Blue is a pretty colour. Did it look good?" She asked with a grin.

"Well, I thought so, he wasn't so thrilled," Mike responded, "He tried shaving my head. But him forcing me into Karate at a young age served me well during that... Discussion. Oh well, after that we never had a physical fight again."

Parker nodded. "So you joined Starfleet to follow your brother or to annoy your father? Either are viable reasons believe me. "

"Well, he wanted us in Starfleet, he just didn't want me to be a doctor," Mike responded, "He wasn't thrilled about Joey switching to navigation but by the time I got into the academy he was a veteran of the Four Years War." He shrugged, "He eventually got over himself even with my questionable relationships in medical school."

"Questionable relationships? What you were sleeping with Romulans and Klingons?" She asked curiously.

"No, nothing that crazy," Mike responded, "Although still stuff he didn't approve of." He sighed and drank some more off his coffee, finishing the cup, "I don't suppose I could have another?" He asked.

Parker nodded and stood and headed to get him another cup. "I am waiting on an old style coffee maker. Something better than replicated." she said as she did so. "Did you get into trouble at the Academy?" Parker handed him a fresh cup.

"That would be something," Mike commented as he leaned back into the couch, "And no, I never got into trouble at the academy. I was free and on my own at that point."

"I bet it was very liberating." Parker said.

"Yeah something like that, I actually calmed down quite a bit," Mike recalled, "Dropped a lot of the tough guy act. But I was finally out of Jersey..."

"So why did you pick surgery?" She asked curiously.

"Eh, I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, enjoy high stress environments I suppose," Mike responded, "Up close and personal. Also adds in an element of problem solving..." He thought a moment longer, "And I suppose an excuse to stay out and not go home," he added.

"Well being a surgeon does mean you have long hours, some times 24 hour shifts." Parker said. "But if you enjoy your job then its worth it right?"

"Yes I suppose so," Mike commented, "I've enjoyed it more than other things I could be doing. Better than being a mechanic or a security officer I suppose... So do you like counseling? Our last one was... Shall we say perhaps too committed... In fact he did end up being committed."

Parker smiled. "I had heard the rumours about it. But I am not that... fanatical. As far as I am concerned, I will do the initial reviews then leave everyone alone unless they need me."

"And no Edenist meditation?" Mike asked with a smirk, "Like I said, Dr. Meddows was unconventional on a good day and a quack on a bad day."

"Not unless you want to do it." She smiled. "Meditation is for people who enjoy sitting still. Mental health is more than that. Its taking time to do what you want. Have fun, go for a hike, run, swim. Read a book."

"Alright," Mike responded, letting the advice sink in, "Well I'll be finished with my shift in a few hours... I suppose I could find something fun to do."

"There is, i believe a shelf of old fashioned board games in each of the crew lounges, as well as chess sets, including the Vulcan 3 dimensional chess set. You could also look there." Parker suggested, "If you wish to socialise."

"I will keep that in mind," Mike responded before standing up, "Thank you Ensign.. I'll reach back out soon."

Parker smiled and held out her hand to shake his. "My door is always open Lieutenant."

"Of course," Mike responded with a smile as he took her hand.

 

RSS Feed