The Haruna Situation

Posted on Mon May 13th, 2024 @ 9:21am by Commander Grace Vetur & Lieutenant Commander Aaron Marcus

1,954 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Standing By
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: Shortly after "The Needs of the One"

ON

Minutes after he left the Brig, Aaron found himself on the Bridge. "Captain Commander... Uh... Gal in charge," he said with a smirk. "I think we should have a tete-a-tete in the Ready Room."

Grace raised an eyebrow. Gal in charge? She'd been called many things in her career, and to be honest, that wasn't so bad. "All right. I'd like to hear what you have to say."

She again turned the bridge over and led the way to her Ready Room. She took a seat in a chair and hoped she didn't fall asleep. It had been a long day. "How is Haruna?"

"Haruna is well, I have a few working theories about what could be going on. However, before I tell you anything I am going to need you to agree to two things. First off the Lieutenant as of this moment is by patient. As such I will share information with you if you need to know it, and when you need to know it. Secondly she will not be taken from this ship unless I authorize it. I don't care if the Lord themself comes down and tells you to remove her. You check with me first. Do you agree?" Aaron was going to make sure that the promise he made to Haruna held true. She would not be taken from this ship. He did not care who was in command of this ship, this was his patient and things would be done his way.

Grace looked at him for a long moment. "First, as the acting captain of this ship, I need to know how my crew is doing and if they are fit for duty, need to be in sickbay, or need to be transferred somewhere else to get the help they need. That is my responsibility. However, I do not need to know every detail, just those that affect this ship and your patient's position on it. As long as you tell me what I need to know, I will trust you with the rest."

She knew he wouldn't appreciate that, or what else she had to say. "Second, I will take into consideration everything you have to say about one of your patients and why you think they should remain on the ship--especially if they have shown a predilection to put said ship and its crew at risk. But I cannot give you a blanket promise without hearing what you--and Lieutenant Rose--have to say. Lieutenant Mizuhara is her patient as much as yours." Haruna had done so much damage since arriving on the ship it would be difficult for some of the crew to want her to stay, but Grace wasn't going to ignore any valid concerns the doctor might have--in spite of what he likely thought of her.

"In addition, if I am ordered to send a patient of yours to another medical facility by Starfleet Command, I will have to obey that order unless you have a reason that is worth risking my career for." From what she'd seen of the doctor so far, he wouldn't think that a valid concern, but she did. "Just remember that while you are the Chief Medical Officer here and have to consider the welfare of your patients, I am currently the captain and have to consider the welfare of the entire crew." Now she waited for him to yell at her or limp out in a huff.

There was a moment of silence and then Aaron simply laughed. His laugh was always an awkward one, one that sounded as if it were faked. But no, it was genuine and hearty in this instance. He was laughing at how much this acting Captain, and all Captains like her thought they had control over patients. "I am sorry pardon me but you are simply hilarious. I needed that laugh thanks. Most of what you say makes sense and I planned on. However, you last point about orders, that is the laugh. You see Starfleet cannot order anyone away from their physicians. If they try to order you, you simply pass the buck. Something like you need to chat with the patient's doctor. And before you tell me I am wrong. I think you should know I used to run a division of Starfleet Medical and helped write the book. Now, as to the rest of what you said. Once I tell you what I believe to be at play here you will realize that treating the Lieutenant any different from the rest of the crew would be wrong and against IDIC. For you see I believe the Lieutenant to be an undiagnosed Autistic. I am not entirely sure, but the symptoms are there. Lieutenant Rose is going to have to see if I am correct."

Aaron took the liberty of taking a seat and stretching his leg out. He began to rub his thigh. The pain had become slightly unbearable. But he dare not reach for the hypospray in front of the Captain. "So, you see Acting Captain if I am right and you send Lieutenant Haruna away you would be going against what the Federation stands for. I believe that if Haruna is Autistic then she can have treatments here and should be able to return to full duty. As to whether the crew treats her the same or not, well that would be very telling now wouldn't it."

He might be a brilliant doctor, but he was the most annoying person Grace had ever met. "IDIC does not mean that someone can threaten other people or listen in on private conversations with impunity. There are a large number of people on the autism spectrum in Starfleet. Unlike Haruna, they have learned to curb their more extreme behavior. That is what's in question here. If she is autistic, as you believe, she has managed to fool the best doctors in Starfleet--until now. Apparently, no one has seen fit to tell her that her current behavior is unacceptable. To stay on this ship, she will need to show that she can curb those tendencies. I'm not saying she has to behave perfectly. No one does. But she will need to be able to stop eavesdropping on the crew and start using doors to enter rooms. And if she puts this crew at risk again, neither you nor I will be able to keep her from being relieved of duty, if not kicked out of Starfleet altogether."

She watched Aaron for a moment, noticing the pain in his eyes. Part of her felt empathy toward him, but part of her still found him more of a pain in the neck. "To keep this short. How long you have to work with Haruna depends on her behavior--and yours. I'll give you and Lieutenant Rose time to verify if she truly is autistic and develop a plan to help her adapt her behavior. If the two of you can get her to the point where she recognizes that her behavior needs to change and makes genuine improvement, we'll talk about her remaining on the ship and working in engineering. If she can't change or refuses to change, we'll talk about alternatives."

"So, let me understand this correctly. Your plan is to take someone who has a recognized disability. One that we have known about for centuries, one that other idiotic doctors forgot or just were unwilling to diagnose, and remove her from the only thing she has known for all these years. Listen, you may not be aware but if you send her away for any reason you are condemning this person. I am telling you as Chief Medical Officer of this vessel and as one of only a few diagnosticians in Starfleet she has autism and can be treated, restored to a productive place in this society. Kick her to the side and you will prove that you are nothing but the gal in charge." Aaron cared less what she thought of him. All he cared about in this moment was making sure that Haruna was treated.

"Your desk-side manner lacks many things, but I didn't realize you don't listen, either," she replied, determined to not let him goad her into anger again. He seemed to prefer giving his opinion and expecting everyone to follow it blindly.

"I said that whether she stays on the ship and for how long depends on you and Lieutenant Rose. You'll have time for Amanda to verify your diagnosis and for the two of you to come up with a plan to help Haruna modify her behavior. How long she stays after that will depend on if she can learn to control her outbursts and be stable enough to work in engineering under supervision. Whether she regains the position of chief depends on her willingness to overcome her more extreme behavior."

She gave him a serene half-smile. "I will admit that my first thought was to send her planetside with you as her personal physician, but I know you'd like that too much, so I refrained. And I prefer to be called Grace, commander, or ma'am." She was tempted to call him guy with a stick up his backside, but her mother would be horrified at her behavior, so she would be polite, even if he wasn't. Grumpy did suit him, though.

"That is exactly where you are failing... You are acting under the impression that Haruna has control of these behaviors. She does not, well at least not at the moment because she has not been taught how to control them. The fact that she has opened up to me and told me about her life thus far is proof that she wants to be better. All of that said regardless of how much treatment she gets she will never be like you or I. The crew and, by extension, Starfleet are going to have to put up with some of her eccentricities." Aaron replied he was tempted to put another jibe at the Captain's expense in his statement but figured leaving them out for the time being would get his point across better.

"You don't listen very well, do you? It must come from believing yourself a paragon of wisdom." Doctor Scrooge McGrump was trying her patience like no one she'd met before. "I know she doesn't behave like others. I also know that most people do not fall into the narrow margin that some believe is normal. But she will need to reach a level of acceptable behavior in order to keep working in Starfleet. You seem to be under the misapprehension that I'm asking for her to walk out of the brig and suddenly be cured. I'm not. That's why I stated that you and the counselor would have time to work with her." She thought she was being clear and reasonable, but the doctor seemed to assume the worst of everyone except himself. "You have the time you requested to work with Haruna before any long-term decisions are made. If you want more, you'll have to help Haruna make the necessary changes to her behavior. So far, she's shown a marked aversion to do so."

Aaron hated to admit it but Grace had the right of it. He exhaled sharply through his nose and looked at the ground as he leaned on his cane. "You know anyone ever tell you that you are gorgeous when your nostrils flare like that?" He did not wait for a response or to be dismissed. He simply turned and strode through the door, cane first.

OFF

Lieutenant Commander Aaron Marcus
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant Commander Grace Vetur
Acting Commander

 

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