Among The Stars

Part 8

Maggie stretched and looked at the clock on the corner of her desk, three hours she had been at this awful paperwork, she shook her head. She loved being a therapist onboard the Enterprise but sometimes the Federation's paperwork made her want to throw her hands up and walk away. She shook her head, and sighed knowing she was being a bit dramatic. As she got up she decided to stretch her legs a bit - she had earned it, hadn't she? She found her legs had carried her to the bridge - she sometimes liked to come here to see what the bridgecrew was up to and to get a read on the senior staff.

 
As she came onto the bridge she leaned over the bar to the right of Jim's seat and stared out of the view screen to the stars passing by. As she did, she reflected on how much this bridge had changed since she had first stepped on board all those years ago. She had been terrified when she first started counseling on this ship and of course her first appointment had been with Chris. A small smile appeared as she thought of that first appointment.

 
She had been in contact with Chris since he had become Fleet Captain and followed his career as well. He had been the catalyst for many reforms in starfleet including having counselors on each ship. Professionally, he was a bright star bringing light to the darkest corners; personally, he still remained alone and for that she was worried. Chris was one of the rare people who had two soul marks on his left inner wrist - one of them a Federation captain insignia and the other was the planet Talos IV. His Talos IV had briefly filled in with color when they visited the planet, but had quickly faded to black and white when they left. In a recent subspace letter he had said that his Captain insignia had come to life and filled with color close to a year and a half ago. He had kept it quiet because of his position as fleet captain and his soulmate's position inside Starfleet. Maggie began to think of how often the Enterprise had ferreid Chris to different conferences, and other Starfleet business and had done the math. She was truly happy for Chris and Jim. Chris was a soothing, maturing influence on Jim; while Jim brought spark and spontaneity to Chris's rigid life. A soft smile graced Maggie's lips as she thought of these two men.

 
Maggie was brought out of her reflection when Jim barked at her "Can I help you Counselor Crawford?" Maggie slightly jumped at the sound and then narrowed her eyes at Jim. It was such a rare thing for Jim to show emotion on the bridge that something horrendous must be happening for him to snap like that. Jim sighed, and said, "Spock you have the bridge, Maggie let's go to your office." The ride on the turbolift and walk to her office was done in complete silence. When they got to her office, Jim sat on her couch head down. Maggie looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to break the silence. In response he started to sob and wail. Maggie was stunned for a moment, she had never seen Jim like this. She quickly recovered, went to sit by Jim on the couch and brought him into a crushing hug. After about ten minutes of hard crying, he started to calm down. Maggie handed him tissues and asked softly, "Are you ready to talk?" Jim silently nodded. He began to talk so softly, Maggie had to strain to hear him speak. "It's Chris. He was on a ship full of new cadets and ensigns, doing an inspection...there was an accident , one of the battle plates ruptured and there was a Delta Radiation leak." Maggie gasped in horror and stared wide eyed as Jim continued, "Some cadets were trapped in the engine room. Chris, damned noble Chris, went to rescue them. He was able to pull them out before the leak went critical and was caught in the automatic lockdown. They pulled Chris out but he was horribly disfigured, barely alive. He's been put in an advanced form of support."

Maggie was too stunned to say much for a few moments, then said, "Oh Jim, I'm so sorry." She knew that there was nothing she could do for him but listen and help him through his stages of grief. To know that such a strong, handsome, viral, intelligent man had been reduced to this was beyond tragic. She took Jim's hand and said, "As your therapist, and as your friend, I am prescribing you shore leave, away from this ship. Go to Chris, be with him, start to work out what this means. You cannot heal or lead this ship until you do. I will not take any argument from you, if I have to I'll get Len to back me up and then you'll have two doctors on you!" Jim gave her a watery smile and laugh. He did a mock salute and said "Yes ma'am!" She kissed him on the forehead, then held his face in her hands and looked directly into his hazel eyes that held so much pain, "Jim you know I love you and will help you in any way I can. This crew loves you and will be here. You need to heal and there is no shame in crying, exploring your emotions or healing. You are in no way weaker for doing so. You know Chris would agree with me one hundred percent." Jim nodded and Maggie continued, "Your shore leave begins at the end of this shift, so get everything in order so you can go to your beloved." Jim slowly got up and pulled Maggie into a bear hug, "Thank you Mags, thank you for everything." Jim let her go and slowly walked out the door and back to the bridge. Maggie sat down on her couch and began to sob.