Prosperous: Chutes & Ladders
Chapter 22

TRU MATERIALIZED OUTSIDE OF AMANDA’S QUARTERS.

“Is she in her quarters?” Tru asked Gracie.

Yes, and I think she’s having an episode. I’m reading anelevated heart rate and respiration, tremors, and—

“Okay, Gracie.”

Gracie stopped talking.

Tru tapped the biometric pad and waited but the door didn’topen. He tapped it again. When she didn’t answer Tru tapped a code into thenumeric pad above it and held his hand over the biometric pad. The door slidopen and he stepped into a disheveled room.

Items had been thrown off shelves. The closet door had beenknocked open and clothes were strewn across the floor. A broken mirror lay onthe terminal desk. Amanda was huddled in a corner of the room with her head inher hands. She made a painful sound as she gasped and sobbed at the same time.

“Wrigley,” Tru said, walking up to her.

She didn’t acknowledge him so he crouched down next to her.

“Is this what do you do when you’re frightened, Wrigley?”Tru quietly asked.

“My room…” Amanda looked up suddenly, glaring at him. “Getout.”

“Wrig—”

“I didn’t invite you in, Captain. Get out!”

“Sometimes a captain has to take unilateral action,Wrigley.”

Weakly she threatened, “I could report you.”

Tru sat down next to her. “Is that what you want to do?”

Amanda put her head back in her hands.

“Wrigley, is this what happens when your routines are disrupted oryour room is messed up?”

Amanda looked away.

“Wrigley, I need my XO.”

“You have Gracie.”

“Gracie can’t help me off ship like you can. I need to knowI have my First Executive Officer, Wrigley.”

Amanda laid her head against the wall. “You need a new XO.”

Tru leaned in and she tried to pull away, but she had putherself in a corner. She looked into his eyes and didn’t see things she wasused to seeing in the eyes of her captain. He wasn’t angry with her. He wasn’tridiculing her. He was concerned.

“Are you having an anxiety attack right now?” Tru asked.

Amanda bit down on her bottom lip. Tears rolled down hercheeks. She nodded.

“Let’s try something, okay? Will you at least try this forme?”

She nodded.

Tru dug into his hip pocket and pulled something out. Hepicked up her clenched fist, uncurled it, and placed a small, flat stone in herhand. It was smooth, probably collected from a stream somewhere. In the centerwas a depression worn smooth. On the other side was a swirl and she wondered ifhe’d cut it into the stone himself. Tru gently pushed her thumb into thedepression and curled her fingers around it before looking back into her eyes.

“When you feel like you can’t deal with things, hold thisstone like this. Focus all your fears and anxiety into it, and repeat toyourself, ‘This is only a moment.’ Repeat that saying until the emotions pass.The more often you do it, the faster the attacks will pass.”

“Did you clean this?”

“I hope so. It’s been in my pocket for years.”

She looked at him. “It’s yours?”

Tru nodded. “And I want you to have it. I want you to use itwhen things get bad and your routines have been disrupted. Will you try thisfor me?”

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“I have a thousand other tricks we can try.”

“Like drugs?”

“I don’t think you need drugs. Do you?”

Amanda closed her hand tight around the rock. Strangely, shewas already feeling better just holding it. Or was Tru doing that?

“I don’t want to get put on drugs, sir. It didn’t…” Amandalooked away.

Tru waited for her to finish and when she didn’t, he asked,“It didn’t what?”

“It didn’t help last time.”

“Then we won’t use drugs, will we?”

Amanda smiled, weakly. “No, sir.”

Tru got up, looking around her room. “Gracie, pull thecleaning droids from my quarters and send them here. Let’s get the XO’s roomstraightened up first from now on, okay?”

Okay.

Tru looked down at Amanda. “Breathing during that mantraworks too, Wrigley. Then I don’t have to send you to Sickbay for passing out.”

“Yes, sir,”

Tru left the room. Amanda wrapped her hand around the rock,pushing her thumb into the depression.

She closed her eyes, repeating to herself, “This is only amoment.”