If Jove Stray

Chapter 19: the interview

Tyson was a little nervous about talking to Madison. Alcott assured him that she was kind, but meeting her was more than a job interview. He had to explain what the job was as well as why he was qualified.

"Hello Alcott," called a voice from the next room.

Tyson followed as Alcott entered a room with a hospital bed and a man who was wrapped in gauze, casts and a sling. He gave the two of them a wave. Tyson wondered what could have possibly happened to this man that he would be in such a shape.

"Tyson, this is Harper," Alcott introduced. "Harper, I wouldn't have thought it possible, but you look worse than the last time I saw you."

"No, I don't," the man grumbled, smoothing his hair back with his good arm. "Cameron would have said something. I'm just tired is all." He smiled. "Madison is letting me go home tomorrow."

"She is?" Alcott asked skeptically.

"Not if I hear Cameron's not eating," remarked a woman walking into the room. "One of you needs to be responsible."

"Then put Cameron on medical leave," Harper countered. "I'll need help around the berth anyway. And she needs to slow down."

"I'll consider it," the woman replied. "You must be Tyson. I'm Madison; I'm head of medical. Let's chat. Alcott, you can stay and entertain Harper or I'll message you when we're done."

"I'll stay here a while," Alcott replied, sitting on the chair next to Harper.

Tyson followed Madison out of the room and into a small office. She sat behind her desk and pulled out her holo-rib. It was strange to see a desk without a computer or phone, but the holo-rib seemed to be everyone's primary tool.

"Dashiell messaged me," Madison began. "Explained a little of what you do. How about you tell me in your own words."

"I'm a social worker," he replied. "I worked with at risk kids back on Earth: kids whose parents had abandoned them or worse. The goal was to help them become emotionally stable and successful in school or work if they were a little older."

"Emotionally stable?"

"When you've been through a trauma or tragedy, sometimes we don't have all the tools to move past it," Tyson explained. "Sometimes a person needs help: someone to talk to, someone who cares, someone who will listen. That was my job back on Earth. I listened to these kids and I like to think I helped them become better, stronger people."

"Just kids?" she asked.

"That's just who I worked with. I was training for adults as well," he replied.

Madison nodded, making some notes on her holo-rib.

"What would you need to work here?" she asked.

"A private office to meet," Tyson said. "Preferably with a private waiting room. Sometimes people think needing to talk or needing help is weakness, and I would want to respect their privacy."

"Isn't though?" Madison inquired.

"What?"

"If you have a broken arm, you go to the doctor and I fix it," Madison said. "Sounds like you do the same, but with parts that aren't as visible as a broken arm. So isn't that weakness that you are trying to solve?"

"It's not..." Tyson frowned, trying to think of the right words. "Some people think needing help is weakness. You know you can't fix your broken arm yourself, but some people think that you should tough it out through a tragedy and be fine without help. The analogy isn't perfect. Someone can go through a horrible event and be all right afterward. Those people usually have friends and family as support. But for some people, that support isn't enough and they get stuck in the tragedy. Without assistance, they can't move forward."