Private Benson

Posted on Tue Dec 23rd, 2014 @ 11:10am by Lieutenant Arnon Barak MD, PsyD & Commander Thaddius Storm

1,453 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Deadly Diplomacy
Location: Sick Bay
Timeline: Current

ON

Doctor Arnon Barak, ship's counselor, approached the private suite where Private Lydia Benson was resting. He looked over her chart. He reached out his hand and held it over her body, letting his sensory empathy tell him what was going on inside her. He could feel both her injuries and her emotional turmoil. Arnon felt Private Benson begin to stir.

"Private Benson?" he said, quietly. "My name is Dr. Arnon Barak. I'm the ship's counselor. Dr. Frost thought you might benefit from talking with me. Would you like to do that?"

Benson shook her head affirmatively at the counsellor. She still had not pieced together entirely what had happened to her. The abduction was so quick....the torture however seemed to last hours. From the moment she had become cognizant once again she cursed herself for breaking her routine. Never in her life had she altered her appearance. She had no reason to, she was an attractive blonde whom definitely caught the attention of the opposite sex. On this day she had taken the advice of a friend and changed her hair colour to brown. A healthy change that was supposed to boost her morale from the drags of 'the norm'. Instead she ended up looking too much like the former XO and paid dearly for it. She cringed in anger as she wanted to get a piece of either persons, the XO or her friend. But mostly she did not want to be alone.

Lydia was alone and the temple that was her soul had been pillaged and defiled by someone whom could only be described as demonic. The voice, the laugh....all she could hear was pure evil.

Arnon didn't need sensory empathy to determine Benson's emotional state.

"Private Benson...Lydia," he said, gently. "You're safe now. I'd like to help you if I can."

"Find whoever did this to me and make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else." Benson replied with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Well, anger is a healthy place to start in a situation like this," Arnon said pleasantly. "Now, hunting people down and making them pay is someone else's department. Taking care of people is mine. However, if you could talk a little bit about what you remember, that would both help you and help Security and Intelligence track down the person who attacked you. Are you willing to do that?"

"It was dark. I was going to go to bed when she got me. I know it's a she because of that voice." Lydia shivered as she recalled it. "It was so cold, I could almost feel the delight in it as if she was some sort of predator stalking me. And then what she did....it seemed all too personal."

"Let's talk a little more about this attacker you believe was a woman," Arnon said. "And I'm not saying that I doubt you're assessment, but maybe we can explore this a bit more and give Security something more to go on. What else about your attacker do you remember? Any smells or other sensations? Just relax and know that you are safe now. No one is going to hurt you here. Just close your eyes and try to remember...did you perhaps catch the color of her hair? Her eyes? Fingernails?"

Arnon knew he was pushing. Later he would take things more slowly. In the immediate, Security needed answers. At least he would be here to help her through the emotions remembering would bring up.

"It was too dark. She took a lot of care to make sure I didn't see her, just her silhouette. She gave nothing, no smell, no details just that voice...." Lydia replied.

Arnon could feel the emotional pain Lydia was feeling.

"Do you feel up to talking about what happened?" he asked.

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't." Benson replied looking out towards the stars. "I'm sorry, that was harsh." she said moments after realizing her impoliteness.

Arnon smiled.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Why don't you start at the beginning?"

Lydia nodded. "Well I was in my quarters getting ready for bed. I began to undress when I got ambushed. She was quick and completely silent. I couldn't react, she grabbed me around the neck and forced me down. Next thing I knew she...." Lydia covered her mouth swallowing hard as she wiped some tears. "She took my clothes off, but really gently. She caressed my skin and breathed on my neck. I think she was flirting with me but it was creepy but um...arousing at the same time." Lydia said blushing as she hid hr face behind her shirt.

"You don't have to feel ashamed about feeling aroused in that situation," Arnon said gently. "Victims of sexual assault often report experiencing feelings of arousal during their attacks. It is perfectly normal. Our bodies and even our minds and emotions are trained to react to certain stimuli in certain ways, even when those stimuli come at us out of context, as they did for you when you were attacked. I say again you have nothing to be ashamed of."

Lydia swallowed hard. "It was nice and I didn't want her to hurt me so I just let her have her way. I mean she's a woman it's not the worst thing and like I said I kind of liked it. So she uh, you know did things....."

Lydia paused in silence.

"It sounds to me like you did what you needed to do to survive," Arnon said.

Lydia nodded affirmatively as if to use the counsellor's words to justify her lack of willpower. "I guess I did..." she replied, her voice trailing off on her last words.

Arnon regarded her a moment. He let her sit quietly. When she didn't continue, he spoke.

"So I get that you feel shame," Arnon said. "And we'll deal with that over time. Can you describe what other emotional responses you are having about being attacked?"

"I felt violated." Lydia replied in a raised tone. "I mean she just waltzed into my quarters like she owned the place and did what she pleased. I mean how does this even happen? How does someone like that get on board undetected? And how does she get away with it? Have they even FOUND her yet, do they even know her name?"

"Security and Intelligence are doing everything they can to catch her as we speak," Arnon replied. "If they catch her and she is punished, that may bring you some peace, but true peace will only come when you come to terms with what happened. Which probably sounds like a steaming pile of freshly deposited manure right at this moment."

"If a cushy cell for life is your definition of punishment then no I will get nothing from that. She needs to be lost in some dilthium mines forever...or better yet just dropped down the shaft, let the rocks decide her fate." Lydia replied callously.

Arnon nodded.

"It's perfectly understandable to feel that way," he said. "But we're going focus mainly on getting you feeling better about yourself, which you can control, and less about what happens to your attacker, which you have only a limited amount of control over. That way, when you finally do get closure from the justice system, it will really mean something."

"I feel....disgusting.." Lydia replied.

"That will pass over time as we deal with this," Arnon replied. "I know it doesn't seem like that now, but trust me, it will. I think this is enough for today. Why don't we take this up again in two days at 0930hrs, after you've had some time to recover physically and a little time to rest? If you feel the need to talk before then, I am a comm call away, no matter what shift. Until then, if you'd like, I can prescribe a mild, non-addictive sedative to help you relax during your awake period and sleep during your sleep period. I have access to some natural medicines from my planet that will work with your body I feel more effectively than artificial drugs."

"Thank you so much counsellor I would appreciate that. I've always heard horror stories of people like me getting pumped with drugs. I still want to do my job." Lydia replied.

"Of course," Arnon said. "I'll be back with them in a moment along with instructions. Until then, try to get some rest."

OFF

Lieutenant Arnon Barak MD, PsyD
Chief Counselor
USS Calypson

Private Lydia Benson
Federation Marine Corps
USS Calypso


OOC: "Go on" said the sleezy psychiatrist, beginning to get glassy eyed. "Tell me ALL about it!"

 

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