the supervisor

Posted on Sun Oct 8th, 2023 @ 4:01pm by Lieutenant Sky Jansen-Carey & Commander Antonia 'Tony" Stoffels

Mission: Lantea
Location: sky's office

+Ma'am.+ The voice of the counselling department administrator came on over Sky's PA. +You have an incoming call from Earh from Starfleet counselling HQ+

Sky was sat feet up on the office couch when the message came through. Getting up she walkedover to her desk to sit and take the call. “Thank you, Put it through please.”

An older woman appeared on the screen she was not in uniform but in a comfy purple sweater and had short grey hair. "Ah lieutenant." She said with a slight french accent. "I was told that you might have some questions for me as I am Denise's supervisor and long time friend. My name is Avril."

“It’s nice to meet you Avril, please call me Sky.” Sky smiled warmly. “I was hoping to learn more about events of the bombing that affected Denise & her family.”

"Yes she told me. It is something the family does not like to talk about much, Sky. I am sure that you have found that out by now. I was stationed there at the time as well running the psychiatric hospital so you can ask me anything and I will try to find you anwsers."

Sky nodded. “Thank you, that would certainly be a huge help. May I ask about Kayleigh? It seems that some trauma may have resurfaced, but she’s reluctant to talk to me about it.”

Avril steepled her fingers and thought for a few seconds. "You know I always thought that kay did not come out of that as ok as her family seems to think. We were so focussed on the mental health of the adults. Both Denise and Wain slipped into very deep depressions and we nearly lost them. For the kids we were more worried for their physical health. They were so young. Kay was in hospital the longest. But she saw a child psychologist who assured us she had worked through the grief and yet..."

Sky nodded. “Whatever it is, Kay seems to think it’s seriously bad. Hence why I’m worried about it. She won’t talk to me about it at all. Any clues you can give me without breaking the rules would be appreciated.”

Avril thought again. "Kay was a sensitive kid but a bit of a brat. She was too smart for her own good. Yet she became quieter after the bombing. There could be some trauma there but why would she think it is bad? She is a therapist herself and she knows these things happen. Unless and this may be too farfetched." She paused to think again. "She would not blame herself would she. Her parents blamed themselves but never one of the kids."

“Maybe” Sky shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever it is, I’m extremely concerned. Kay is a huge asset to the ship and my department, I want to help her get through whatever this is. Why would she blame herself?”

"I am glad she is an asset." Avril smiled. "She is my goddaughter so I want to help her. You know that her sister died in that bombing?"

Sky nodded. “That’s something I was told, but I but don’t have much information apart from that. Were Kay and her sister together when the bombing occurred?”

"From what I remember they were at home with a nanny. Both Wain and Denise were at work. That is why they blamed themselves for what happened. I think the older boys were in school. Kay, Joanna and Llelo were at home. The nanny did not survive either. I think Tony was there as well. The Stoffels lived next door to them so the kids were often together."

Sky nodded. “So the chances are they were together? So either Kay was very lucky to escape with her life, or she and her sister were separated during the bombing. May I ask the circumstances when they were found?”

"Let me think." April said digging in her memory. "This was not written down. ... I think they found Kay, Llelo and Tony outside in the garden. Joanna and the nanny were in the house in a part that collapsed on top of them."

“So more or less Kay, Llelo and Tony could have been outside playing at the time, but Joanna was left indoors with her nanny.” Sky couldn’t help but wonder. “Siblings do argue, maybe they didn’t want Joanna to play. It’s all guesswork without asking Kay direct.”

"Hm you might be onto something there. It would be so sad if she never felt she could talk about. I know Denise encouraged her kids to open up, yet it is not always easy when your mother is a shrink." She smiled.

“That’s true” Sky nodded. “All I can think is that Kay blames herself for her sister’s death in some way. Bad enough to believe that if the truth ever comes out she’ll be an outcast for it.” She sighed. “I really don’t know what the best way of approaching her is on this.”

Avril thought again. "I think it will be easier if this comes from an outsider, otherwise I would offer to talk to her. She has not confided in me all these years. I would be direct. She is obviously avoiding facing this. Confront her with the theory and see what happens. If you are up for that. I would of course be on hand to talk to you afterwards as it may be better if you don't use Tony or Denise for this."

Sky nodded “I’ll do that, I wasn’t thinking before or I’d have asked her at the time. I really hope that she’ll let me help.”

"Me too. If this has weighed on her all this time it needs to stop as soon as possible."

“Agreed” Sky nodded. “Kay is a friend and I hate to see her like this. I want to do everything I can for her.”

"Thank you. I will give you my emergencies codes so my staff will put your calls through whatever time of the day it is."

Sky nodded and smiled. “That would be great, but I seriously hope I won’t need to use them. I’m hoping Kay will open up to me.”

"You and me both but by now you may have seen how stubborn that family can be." Avril laughed.

“Ohh Hell yeah!” Sky grinned. “But I’m pretty stubborn myself so we make a good match.”

{OFF}