“Hey Traan, so how are we doing today?” Minh inquired pouring tea into her favorite mug.

“Terrible. I got promoted again…” Traan said briskly as he had a seat.

“What’s so bad about that?” she smiled.

“The promotion itself isn’t such a bad thing, except that I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed at this moment. But the fact that promotion caused me to go on another drunken bender where I finished off an entire bottle of Romulan Ale is a bit of a problem ” Traan replied.

Minh looked up and nodded taking notes, she was concerned about his drinking and wanted to make sure he was okay, “Okay, well I see the stress from the promotion to your new position can be stressful, you know what I am going to say next. What do your wives and husband say?”

“They’re excited for me from what I can tell. But uh…in hindsight it might not have been the promotion this time. We lost someone on a mission a few days before, and I had written the next of kin death letter that night too…”

“Oh? Want to talk about that?” Minh inquired.

“Not particularly no. He was a fine young man who died, alone, at the hands of some pirates on an old space station orbiting Pyrithia. I told his family he died a hero, doing his duty and upholding the values and ideals of the Federation on active service during an important mission blah blah blah…I mean its all true, I didn’t lie to them, pretty senseless death though.” Traan said. He certainly wasn’t going to get into the particulars with the shrink, that might lead to investigations, inquiries, and questions Traan definitely didn’t want to answer.

“I see. It seems like I am pulling teeth with you today, usually you are very open, today you are not. What’s going on?” Minh inquired.

“To be honest, Im not even sure why I booked the appointment. Like I said, polished off a full bottle of Romulan Ale that night, and booked this appointment the next day. But I haven’t touched a drop in a few days now. I guess Im just dreading my next hangover and whats gonna cause it” he laughed out loud as the absurdity of it all. He was an Andorian, of course he was going to drink.

“I am concerned with your drinking, but you don’t want treatment. So I guess there is nothing to help you with today. If you ever want to talk I am here.” Minh felt defeated. She never was not able to help him but today, she felt useless.