"Past, Present and Future"

[Mithraia Coeur 0]

"Past, Present and Future" - Midshipman Mithraia Coeur, MD

Stardate 052505

 

The doors had long since closed behind her, yet she found herself staring at them from the small sofa in the living area of her humble quarters. Had it been an hour? Maybe two? It had already felt like an eternity since her date with Ron Lunn, the dashing engineer that had somehow convinced her to join him for dinner during his treatment in Sickbay. Mithraia "Mia" Coeur was never one to accept such invitations. She had a hard time trusting people at first, and rarely let anyone get close to her enough to even skim the surface of who she was. The only people she had found she could trust was her adoptive parents. They had taken her in at the lowest point of her life. She was broken, bruised, tattered .. and they showed her love and compassion. Kindness. Mia often felt that without their intervention .. she might have been dead by then. Or worse.

 

But something, a stirring in her stomach .. a still, small voice in the back of her head hold told her, "Mia .. take a chance. Spread your wings for once and fly on your own." And she had actually listened to it; much to the dismay of her own fears and insecurities. The date had gone well though. A friendly dinner by a holographic seaside; where the ocean wind gently whipped through her hair and caressed her skin. Ron, who had sat on the other side of the table and had been very respectful, entertaining her with conversation about everything. Yet, he had known to not press Mia on certain subjects .. it seems. Her life, her past .. her childhood. She had managed to be vague. To be avoiding. There were things she did not want to discuss. Especially with someone so new. Even her parents only had a sliver of knowledge of her life before she joined them at 15 years of age.

 

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"Who could do something like this? To a child. A CHILD." Katrina Coeur's voice was shaking, and not quite as warm and gentle as it usually was. The girl's vibrant red hair was dirty and matted with filth and blood. She was trembling and weak, her thin frame was far too thin It was clear the girl hadn't eaten proper for days. The girl sat quietly though, unable to speak .. or just afraid to; wide icy blue eyes taking in the clean, sterile enviroment of this starship Sickbay, "I just want to hold her .. or something. But I'm afraid she seems to skittsh to try that."

 

The nurse frowned and nodded to the Chief Medical Officer of the USS Constantine. She knew that Katrina Coeur hardly ever reacted to a patient like that .. but in the case of the child, it was something to be expected. Katrina had been unable to conceive her own children and it had always broken her heart. And to see this young girl in such condition, it had to be making her blood boil, "Doctor, I do believe that Captain is detaining the crew of the freighter ship. From the reports I am getting from the bridge, this girl has been used for everything under the sun." The nurse frowned again; dispicable images going through her mind of what this gir's childhood must've been like to get her to this point.

 

Katrina shook her head and handed her nurse the PADDs she had been holding, "Wait here and give me any word on what the Captain says about me taking the girl in until we can figure out what to do with her." The nurse nodded again and stepped away, while Katrina walked over to the girl, who was still trembling slightly but sitting quietly on the biobed. Katrina felt the girl's icy blues on her as she approached. They were wide and fearful. It was clear she was scared and as she got closer, she could really make out the bruises, cuts and old wounds on her face. Stopping a few feet in front of her, Katrina held up her hands to show she had no weapons and meant no harm, ".. hello there. My name is Katrina.. you can call my Kat if you want. I'm a doctor and I just want to look you over and make sure you are okay." Her voice was soothing, liek a flowing brook on a summer day. The 15 year old girl's lips, cracked and dry, parted slightly and a strained voice crept out.

 

"..please, do-don't make me g-go back to... to them." As she said this, a solitary tear made it's way down her bruised cheek. It left a glistening trail behind it and Katrina nodded.

 

"I promse we are not giving you back to the freighter crew. They .. they are bad men, and will be punished for everything they have done." She moved closer and pulled out her tricorder, ".. this is a scanner I want to use to check you for injuries I cannot see. May I do that?"

 

The girl nodded slowly, and Katrina begin to scan her. She was amazed by what she found. Old broken bones not healed properly, dehydration and malnutrition, multiple scars and bruises. It seemed as though she had been through hell and back. It took all of her strength not to let her own tears flow. When she finished, she began to put the tricorder away and the girl's small hand reached out for it. Katrina gave it to her and let her look at it. For a moment, the girl stopped trembling and became entranced by it. It made the doctor smile.

 

"You have a lot of injuries. Do you think I can fix you up and then we can get you all clean and perhaps get you some food."

 

There was a momentary silence and then, "I l-like star..fruit."

 

Katrina let out a soft laugh, "I can get you some of that if you want. I can get you anything you want. It's going to be okay.." she paused, realizing she didn't know her name, ".. what is your name, sweetheart?"

 

Her small fingers closed the medical tricorder and placed it on the bed beside her. The tears began to flow more rapidly now, and as the small girl began to crumple into the doctor's arms, she whispered, "Mithraia.. I'm Mithraia."

 

Katrina held her tightly and let the girl cry. As her own tears fell upon the girl's hair like raindrops, she realized she wouldn't ever let her go. But there was a huge road ahead. Things would be okay, and once she found out everything this girl had gone through.. it would be fixed.

 

But she would only skim the surface.

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Mia's fingers traced the circular burn scars on each of her wrists. She had been careful to wear a long-sleeved shirt so that Ron wouldn't notice. She never liked showing them off. It made people ask questions. Questions she never wanted to answer. She closed her eyes tightly and let the sleeves fall back down over them. Out of sight, out of mind .. she liked to think. Most of her childhood was like that to her. At this point .. Mia sometimes felt like she had no identity at all.

 

She shook her head and pushed these feelings and thoughts from her mind. The day had been a success. She spent time in the company of a man. A nice man who seemed to genuinely care about what she thought. Who didn't look upon her as an object, or something that could be used or taken advantage of. He gave her a friendly hug at the end, and while Mia expected him to try and kiss her .. he didn't. He just winked, said they would get together soon and let her walk into her quarters. It made her smile. It made her nervous. And it made her anxious. Even a bit scared.

 

.. the past continued to haunt her, but she couldn't help but look forward to what the future had in store.