((post Casperian Embassy tragedy))
((boy, I only seem to write after bad things happen, huh?))
It was at about 0700 hours that found Katriel fumbling with the lock of a foreign apartment, with a key leant to her by an old colleague. Doctor Harper had originally been taken aback at seeing Katriel's familiar face, but he quickly swept that aside to demand that she take his key and retreat to his dwelling for a shower and sleep, as it was a scant three blocks away. Knowing that temporary living quarters would be difficult to come by in the aftermath of the disaster, Katriel tiredly agreed and paid as much attention as she could to Harper's geographical directions. She only had to comm him once, when she got lost.
As tempting as it was to flop onto the nearest soft surface and pass out, Katriel forced herself to locate the bathroom, equipped with a – thank stars – water, instead of sonic, shower stall. She flicked the button panel for hot water and as the small room filled with steam, the Betazoid turned to blankly study her reflection in the mirror.
Nineteen hours working at the crash site, and it showed. Her uniform, loaned to her by Starfleet emergency personnel, was more black than blue, caked in grime, ash and sweat from when she had trekked through the debris, helping to lift wreckage off of broken, buried bodies. More red than white, with streaks of blood from when she lifted, with as much care and respect as she could manage, the dead into body bags and tagged them with shaking fingers for transport.
She had only been able to endure the strenuous physical labor for so long and removed herself to work the remainder of her time in the makeshift triage center, administering hypos and dermals for survivors whose afflictions ranged from mild eye irritation to second or third degree burns. A few more serious cases of lost limbs and blood transfusions had to be maintained until transport to the nearest, or second nearest, hospital could be arranged. And there had been a few brief words exchanged with Commander Dae, who had stopped in the triage center to see if she was situated to her satisfaction. Katriel had thanked him again for his assistance, promising him a duel at some later date.
But for the most part, it was an endless line of faces in discomfort or distress and the empath had nearly buckled under the emotional strain more than once. If it weren't for the likewise strength of the determination that underlined every worker's countenance, Katriel would have asked for a psilosynine inhibitor.
Now slightly more removed from the crisis area, Katriel reflected that it seemed more like some sort of strange distant nightmare than reality as she stripped out of the uniform and stepped into the warm water stream. She had originally been compelled to volunteer for the relief effort due to the nearly forgotten dredges of loyalty that she felt; her medical internship had been served here on Casperia Prime, in the medical facilities of the very Embassy that had been brought down. Most of her friends from that time had moved onto other things, but there had been a few acquaintances she remembered fondly that had perished in the disaster.
Doctor Harper, probably the only surviving Casperian with which Katriel had any substantial attachment, had been a supervising authority and had luckily been off-site at the time of the accident, but he had lost dozens of colleagues. No one had time to grieve.
Though her original flight to Casperia had been somewhat ill considered, she thought now that perhaps she would feel better if she split her time between continuing to fulfill her counseling duties on Argo and doing what was needed here on Casperia. It was not too long a journey to make often and the Casperian Starfleet medical branch was now severely understaffed. She had some passing familiarity with the way things were done and could, possibly, be of great aid, even beyond the initial crisis period.
That decision made, Katriel dried herself and exited the shower, still tired but feeling cleaner in both body and mind.
((If you liked this entry, then maybe you would be likewise interested in knowing what research I did.))