“The latest treatment reports.”  Jordan Reid spoke as she handed the PADD across the desk to her captain, Leopold Halsey. Several days had passed since their discovery of the freed Syndicate slaves and the news from the Mackenzie Division.  Reid and her team had worked long hours working to understand each person’s condition and needs.  With over 2,000 souls, it had been a long couple of days.  Reid coddled a steaming cup of coffee in her hands, and her hair was unusually unkempt.

Halsey accepted the report.  The cup on his side of the desk was larger, and simmering with a hint of Earl Grey.  He had spent his time working with Reid across the many medical and hospital wards on the Cushing.  He shook his head in amazement. “It’s a minor miracle we found them when we did.  Good work on the intensive care group.  I know it’s hard to see children in that situation.”

Reid blinked away the fresh emotions still washing around.  “They needed someone to help them.  We were the right people at the right time.”  She swallowed a sudden wave of feelings and pulled a tissue from her doctor’s coat.

Leopold pulled at the string gently.  “What are you feeling, Jordan?”

Reid dabbed at her eyes as she struggled to grapple with the onset of emotion.  She sat her head back, staring at the ceiling, as if some answer would reply to her from the heavens.  “I think the grief from losing Ambrose has been in the background for the last few days.  We nearly lost two of them.  Watching the parent’s faces as we worked to stabilize their child…I remember feeling it when Ambrose died…and there was nothing I could do to bring him back.”  She dryly added, “And then he came back…only for me to lose him again.”  Reid lowered her head, returning her eyes forward to Halsey.  “Saving people is what I’ve done for most of my adult life.  Every time I can bring someone home alive…there’s a small part of me that wishes I could have done the same for Ambrose.”  The tears lessened as she evened her breathing.  “Grief is a monster.  You think he’s beaten, but he’s only a little smaller…but he’s still out there, waiting for the most unexpected moment…then he’s back, ready as ever.”

Halsey leaned over his desk, his eyes staying on hers.  “I know loss, Jordan.  I know.  You’re not alone in facing it.  Grief wins when you’re alone.  Grief wins when you don’t have people to help you face it and fight the good fight.  You’re my XO.  I won’t let this take you.”

Reid replied with a quiet smile, thankful for Halsey.  “I appreciate it, Captain.  I need you to keep me honest.  My instinct is to hermit in my quarters and sit in the malaise.  And I know it’s not the right thing to do.  Trouble is, it feels good to shut out the world.  It’s easy.  I’ve learned that loss shouldn’t be easy.”

He gave her a knowing nod.  “We’ll get through this, you and I.  And we’ll get through the next time, and the time after that.”

Jordan stood, her face feeling less flushed.  “Thank you, sir.  I appreciate it.”  

He nodded his dismissal and watched her leave, musing as the door shut behind her.  The future lay ahead of them.

What was next, he wondered.  What was out there in the rimward for them?