Broken Rites
Posted on October 29th, 2018 by Linxi Jude and Velina Tailor

by Linxi Jude and Velina Tailor

Linxi took deep breaths, as she stood inside her quarters, pacing back and forth. She paused at the door, and took a short step forward- it reacting by opening up. ‘You have a problem. You need to fix it. Now, move.’ Linxi took a step out, the door shutting behind her, and walked to the turbolift. She kept her head down, as she sharply turned in the turbolift, “Deck fifteen.”

As the door promptly opened at the fifteenth deck of the Atlantis, Linxi inhaled deeply, and stood straight, walking off, and straight to Sick Bay. She paused outside the doors, and walked in, standing at attention. She waited until Tailor walked by, and she cleared her throat, “Doctor Tailor, would you mind if I spoke to you… in private?”

“Of course, Lieutenant.” Velina nodded, knowing Jude probably wouldn’t be here in sickbay unless she absolutely had to be. “We can go to my office. Right this way.” She walked down the short corridor to her office and passed through the door, inviting the young science officer inside. “Have a seat.”

Linxi sat down, and clasped her hands, feeling a lump build in her throat. “I have an issue with something… that one of my friends pointed out to me after the wedding reception.” She clenched her jaw, her knuckles turning white.

“I’m intrigued.” Velina commented, sitting down at her desk. “Please, go on.”

Despite it being part of her culture to be open, Linxi found herself having difficulty doing so, “Well, um… it’s just that every time I am off duty I just go and… drink. Every party- drunk. Wedding reception- drunk. Shore leave- drunk. While it isn’t impacting me while on duty… I could… I’ll… It is a problem regardless, and I need to fix it.”

“So, we’re not talking about just one or two drinks here? And real alcohol, I take it? Not synthehol?”

Linxi nods in response to both questions.

“Ok, so let me ask you something else then… Do you think anything in particular is behind it? Job stress, or maybe a way to cope with something that’s happened in your life?”

Linxi exhaled sharply, and thought a moment, trying to put together a mental timeline. “The drinking… it started in the academy, and it got worse over time. It started as just a social thing, right? Next thing I know, I can’t go to sleep without a downing a shot of vodka without getting the shakes in the morning.”

Velina hesitated. She was trained as a surgeon. Surgery was more straightforward. Diagnose a problem, fix it, the patient gets better. This had more grey areas than she was used to dealing with. That is, had dealt with in the past. Now that she was CMO, she was doing more and more general practitioner’s duties which meant more counseling type of work. Which she didn’t feel she was as good at. But she’d give it a shot…

“So,“ She twiddled with a PADD on her desk, to help her think. “You’re using it as a means to relax, which previously helped you to deal with the stress of taking classes at the Academy, and which has become a habit now? Maybe there’s a different, healthier habit that you could replace it with? Gradually, I mean, since this isn’t going to change all at once. You could start by replacing the real alcohol drinks with synthehol. Or use exercise or meditation instead, when you want to relax.”

“I’ll try to cut it out, or I’ll just be like, ‘Oh, I’ll only have one’ and it it turns into six without me meaning to. Or I’ll go to the holodeck for rock climbing or archery or something until the start of my shift, but that usually ends up in me feeling like crap for the entire eight hours, and when I feel like crap, it is not good for anyone involved.”

“Hmm.. “ Velina swiped through her PADD, studying a file that she’d brought up as Jude was speaking. “It sounds like you may be a good candidate for a medication called Naltrezine that may help you crave alcohol less. It works in your brain to to help you disassociate drinking with the reward of feeling drunk. It’s not supposed to cure your addiction, but it may help you to drink less over time.”

“And I can give you a med to help with withdrawal symptoms. Would you be willing to give those a try?”

Linxi listened intently, then looked off to the side. She fidgeted with the ends of her sleeves, and nodded. “Of course.” She paused and looked up at Tailor, and added, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Velina nodded, giving her a kind smile. “It’s a monthly injection, so I will get that set up in the schedule for you. I’d like to set up counseling sessions at the same time so we can keep track of your progress.”

‘The Four Deities, grant me strength,’ she thought to herself, when she heard the words, “monthly injection”. She took a deep breath and nodded, “Right, makes sense. When would that start?”

“I’d say this qualifies as your first session, so you’ll get your first dosage today. Then we’ll follow up in a month and see how you’re doing.”

Linxi nods, “I suppose that sounds like a plan.”