This is the back-story to Yeto, a character introduced in Vulcan Hunters. I would recommend reading Vulcan Hunters in order to understand his role, and if you read this you will understand him more as a character. Also, no mentions of Zia in this. I wanted to focus more on McCoy's effect on Yeto, although Zia would have had a significant impact on him too.
Warning: lots of angst and depression in this. I was feeling sad when I wrote it. But I don't want Yeto to be sad forever, so I plan for him to find happiness in the third installment.
This hasn't been beta'd. Read and review!
o.O.o
Yeto Kestrel
Snap. Like that. Like a click of a finger her life had been extinguished. How unfair was that?
In this advanced day and age there should be a cure for depression – a kind of drug that made one forget all the hurt and gave them the ability to move on from the past. Millions would benefit from it, especially Yeto Kestrel.
It had been a year since Jaya had died. In that time, Yeto cut himself off from his family and became a hermit, wallowing in his misery. He had lost someone he loved deeply mere weeks before their wedding. A shuttle accident had shattered their happiness the second it impaled her, and Yeto had just stood in shock as the blood poured from her body. His family had done nothing to help him cope with the shock – they abandoned him on Betazed and moved to Risa to live the high-life. He had remained on his home planet and made no attempt to contact them, as they had made their true feelings towards him known. Even his family didn't want to be bothered with his unstable state.
As well as his family abandoning him, he had become an alcoholic. It wasn't a good trait for a doctor to have – he had been fired from the pharmacy over it – but it was his way of coping with the void inside him. Not even the copious amounts of pharmaceutical drugs could alleviate his pain, so he had turned to alcohol. How depressing was that?
He had had a promising future before that. He was a great doctor and he had been accepted into Starfleet Medical Academy. When Jaya died he had requested that he postpone his arrival for a year to give him time to deal with personal issues.
Now the year was almost over and Yeto was still no closer to escaping his depression. He knew that if he postponed by another year then he would be removed from the system and he would never get a chance like this again. It was something he had pondered for many months: if he went to Starfleet he could save others where he couldn't save her. On the other hand, it could have the opposite effect and he could sink even deeper into his depression. Despite the odds, he was a doctor. No matter how much it pained him, it was his duty to save lives. He had taken the Doctor's Oath and he could not just reject the creed he had followed for most of his life.
The shuttle for Earth would be leaving soon and he had to be on it. Yeto packed his Starfleet-issued uniforms, given to him at the Starfleet Administration Office when he handed in his formal application. They had run it through the system and provided him with a shuttle ticket, wishing him good luck. He looked around his one-room apartment and raided the medicine cabinet without second thought, taking all the prescription drugs he found there. Alcohol wasn't allowed on the flight, so he had drunk it all the night before. He was feeling it now – his head was throbbing and his stomach was swirling.
Lurching forward, he dropped a bottle of pills and darted forward a few steps to his toilet, hunching over and puking his guts up.
"Definitely not a good idea to drink so much," he groaned, spitting into the toilet. He crouched there for a few more moments before rubbing his head and flushing. Returning to packing, he stuffed the last of his prescriptions into the bag and looked around.
There really wasn't much left for him. He had sold almost everything he owned to pay for his rent and had barely anything to his name. The only other thing he owned was a photo frame of himself and Jaya, smiling at their engagement party. Feeling some nostalgia, he packed the photo and zipped up his bag.
Starfleet, here I come.
o.O.o
He didn't have a roommate, and for that he was glad. It made it easier to get away with drinking whenever he wanted. When he turned up for classes he was often under the influence of alcohol, and after his first set of exams he learnt that he was barely passing.
What made it harder was that he had no real friends. He was always grumpy and sometimes aggressive towards his peers, and no matter how much he wished that he was normal, the amount of pills sitting on his sink in his dorm proved otherwise.
On his first round of holidays he stayed at the Academy, spending all his spare time in the Infirmary. That was when a distress call from Vulcan sounded and all third- and fourth-year cadets went to assist. Most of them never returned.
Yeto's Infirmary supervisor, Doctor Reynolds, said that they should be expecting injured coming in on the U.S.S. Enterprise, the only ship to survive the massacre on Vulcan.
"There'll be Vulcans and the crewmembers," Doctor Reynolds announced to the young cadets. "Be prepared to treat all kinds of injuries. They had a limited staff on board and most were killed in the attack. Most injuries are relatively minor."
Later that day the crew arrived on Earth, bruised and battered. They all trooped to the Infirmary for a check-up and it became over-crowded very quickly. Yeto's attention was drawn to the Acting CMO of the Enterprise, a third-year who was working just as hard as any of the first- or second-years.
"O, I need a dermal regenerator!" he shouted. Yeto quickly handed him one and saw the gaunt look in the doctor's eyes. The look rattled him and he found it difficult to focus as he took charge of the check-ups of the Vulcan survivors.
As he knew that Vulcans didn't like touching, he merely hovered his hand centimetres above their skin to read their physical and emotional state. All of them were emotionally distraught but he had no intention of telling anyone, as the Vulcans would not take kindly to their emotions becoming publically known.
People flooded in for a good several hours and Yeto was on his feet the entire time without stopping for a break. If he took a break then he would drink alcohol and if he drank then he couldn't return again and he couldn't fulfil his doctor's creed. So he worked endlessly, tiring as the afternoon progressed. Then the final person was sent away and the Infirmary was still, minus the few crewmembers that were bedridden from their injuries.
Yeto walked along the beds, touching each patient gently to read their condition. All of them would be fine, and he told them so. Sighing, he went into the Infirmary office and activated the coffee machine, quickly and efficiently making several coffees for the cadets on their shift. Coffee was a doctor's best friend, or in his case it was alcohol.
"Are you makin' that for us?" said a familiar voice from behind him. Yeto turned and handed a coffee to the CMO of the Enterprise. "I'm McCoy," the doctor said wearily, slumping into a chair.
"Yeto Kestrel," Yeto replied, taking his own coffee.
"Sometimes I hate bein' a doctor," McCoy grumbled.
"Only when it's busy," he agreed. Then he left the office and sculled his coffee, intending to go back to his room and drink until he dropped.
o.O.o
He was beginning to enjoy the Academy.
Classes were becoming more complex and he was learning things that he would never have learned at his institution on Betazed. As the workload increased he found less time to get drunk and as well as noticing a significant improvement in his health, he learnt that endless studying kept his mind off Jaya and the hole inside him. However he still took his daily medication and every time he swallowed any of the six pills, or injected the two hypos, he darkened as he thought about why he had to take so much medication. Over the last two years he had been so hopped up on alcohol and drugs that he couldn't remember what it was like to be without their influence anymore.
At the end of his first year his marks had risen from barely passing to an average mark. However as the holidays progressed he found himself seeking more and more comfort in alcohol. He found that it wasn't the sting of losing Jaya that made him drink – it was just habit now.
Oh, great. He was an alcoholic.
He'd known that he was an alcoholic for a couple years, but for some strange reason he found that he hated the idea of being one. His last check-up revealed that his kidneys were damaged and his liver would fail within the next five years if he kept up his drinking schedule. As well as that, he noted that he had become aggressive towards some of his patients and people were unwilling to be treated by him for various injuries and maladies. It was something that no doctor wanted to hear.
His blood was pounding in his ears as he crouched in his filthy dorm room. His skin was covered in a thin film of sweat and he was shaking uncontrollably. Two days. It had been two days since he'd had alcohol and his body thirsted for more. The bottles were mere steps away from him, nestled in the fridge invitingly. His hands began to shake and mimed opening a bottle. His lips formed an 'o' shape, begging for the drink to flow. So close… so close…
No! He was killing himself. With a roar, Yeto lunged from his crouched position and grabbed the fridge, ripping it from the wall and dragging it to the window. Still screaming, he gripped the bottom of the fridge and shoved it through the glass. It shattered and fell with the fridge, crashing into the ground with a bang! Yeto stood there, breathing heavily, his hair sticking to his head and his clothes soaked to the core.
"I am not going to kill myself!" he shrieked to nothing in particular. "Jaya, I loved you! I still love you and I will love you until the day I die!" He scratched at his face possessively and marched over to the picture of the two of them. "But I HATE YOU! I hate you for the pain you've caused me!" He shattered the photo frame and ripped the photo to pieces, stalking to his bathroom and flushing it down the toilet. He slid his hand across the surface of the sink, sending his medications flying. "Doctors are meant to heal people! You broke me and I can't heal myself!" Eyes wide, he smashed his fist into the mirror, staring in fascination as blood seeped from his knuckled and splashed on the white tiled floor.
He glared at his sweaty face in the cracked and uneven mirror. "Never again… I won't be a slave to depression."
o.O.o
It took days for the shaking to dissipate, and he yearned for a drink the entire time. He would move his hands obsessively and he took to going to Block-D to stop his madness. He would pull weights and exercise until he was shaking from tiredness, and afterwards he would not drink. He would have water, but nothing else. It was the only way he could escape his unstable mind.
During the first term of his second year, he came across McCoy again. The CMO of the Enterprise came to the Infirmary while the ship was in port and began barking orders to the cadets on duty.
"I want that cabinet cleaned and ordered correctly!" McCoy shouted to some poor cadet, who scrambled in fear to the cabinet in question. McCoy got everyone in the Infirmary busy doing something before turning and seeing the Betazoid with his hands on a patient's forehead.
Yeto was concentrating on the patient's immune system. It was greatly weakened, he noted, and the patient was suffering from and A-grade cold. But there was something else.
Opening his eyes, Yeto removed his hands and made a note on a PADD. "Well, I don't know what your other doctors have told you, but you're lactose-intolerant."
The cadet stared wide-eyed. "Are you serious?! Is that why I'm constantly sick with a blocked nose?"
"Yes." Yeto opened a prescription page on his PADD. "You have a calcium deficiency, so I'm prescribing you with calcium supplements to combat that. Take one tablet with dinner and try not to eat dairy products, as in milk, cheese, butter, and yoghurt etcetera."
"Okay…" the cadet accepted the container of tablets and left quickly, their face pale. Yeto quickly wrote up the report and submitted it to the database, changing the cadet's medical status as he did so. He felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped.
"Ay, it's just me." McCoy pulled up a chair and sat next to Yeto. "Why didn't you take a blood test?"
"I'm a Betazoid. I could sense the irregularities in his immune system and was certain of the cause, so there was no need for extra testing."
McCoy looked thoughtful. "That's a pretty useful skill to have. You interested in a job when you graduate?"
"Yes."
"You wanna come on the Enterprise? I'm always lookin' for good doctors who know their stuff."
"Yes Doctor."
McCoy nodded. "Well that's settled. How about comin' with me for a drink after your shift?"
Yeto's insides clenched and he shook his head, flexing his jaw agitatedly. "No thank you. I don't drink, not anymore."
His statement made McCoy blink. "What do you mean 'not anymore'?"
"Just check my medical file," Yeto explained resignedly. Why was he doing this? Why was he ruining his change at an actual job? McCoy borrowed his PADD and looked up his file, reading it aloud in a low voice.
Full Name:Yeto Kestrel
Species:Betazoid
Gender:Male
Born:2231
Age:27 Terran Years
Affiliation:Federation
Occupation:Starfleet Medical Cadet, Second Year
Medical History: Patient has been diagnosed with severe depression and alcoholism. Recommend full-body and brain scan.
Prescriptions: Escitalopram, Citalopram, Fluoxetine, Fluvoxamine, Paroxetine, Duloxetine, Venlafaxine and Desvenlafaxine
As he finished reading, McCoy looked at Yeto. Instead of looking confused, he looked satisfied. "Well, you know what they say about doctors healin' others but ain't bein' able to heal themselves."
Yeto paused, thinking about what McCoy had just said. "Now I'm confused."
"Let me explain." McCoy handed the PADD back. "I was once married, but then I got divorced and my ex-wife got the whole damn planet in the divorce, includin' our daughter. I was also an alcoholic at that point in time, and because I was depressed I went to Starfleet. Trust me, it gets better. You won't always be this bad. When did you stop drinkin'?"
"During the winter holidays," Yeto admitted. "I've been cold turkey ever since."
"Why did you start drinkin' in the first place?"
"Oh, the woman I was supposed to marry was killed and my family moved to Risa and left me behind. I was depressed and lonely." He couldn't believe that he had met someone who understood.
McCoy chuckled. "Well that seals the deal. From now on you are my protégée and you report to me. Anyone gives you smack and you talk to me."
"Uh, yes doctor."
o.O.o
His life took a positive turn from then on. He became fitter and stronger, spending his time either in class, the Infirmary or in the gym. He began to heal.
Now he had his future to focus on. As time progressed and he strayed further away from alcohol he could almost forget the pain that losing Jaya had caused, but every time he thought of it, he still felt pangs of regret.
Things were going smoothly until the Vengeance crashed into Earth.
First, Yeto worked until he dropped to help the flood of injured. He lived in the Infirmary for days on end, eventually being temporarily transferred to other hospitals in the vicinity. His job was to assess major injuries and his unique skills were in high demand. It was chaotic. Once the initial panic subsided and the flow of injured began to slow, he assisted with the blood transfusion of Captain Kirk and constantly monitored his future-Captains vital signs.
When Captain Kirk was on the road to recovery, he thanked Yeto and formally welcomed him as a member of the Enterprise crew. Yeto felt honoured and bowed gratefully to the Captain. When he left the Infirmary that evening he was a changed man.
He did end up going drinking with McCoy, but he had jestral tea instead of alcohol. The pair poured out their woes to each other, ending the night with a hearty pat on the back.
"Women are terrible," McCoy announced. "Never get married."
"I don't plan on it," Yeto replied truthfully, "but then again, I might. I could meet the woman of my dreams and that will be great."
"Yeto, you are a great person. I am glad that you're better now. You're better than I ever was." With that, McCoy slapped him on the back and exited the bar drunkenly, leaving Yeto to hurriedly pay for the drinks and race after him.
He was glad that he had met McCoy and become his protégée. The man had become his mentor and a close father-figure, albeit a grumpy one. He was glad to graduate at the end of his third-year and join the Enterprise crew as a Lieutenant under McCoy. It was a big 'in your face' to his family, who thought he would never amount to anything. He had proven them wrong.
As the Enterprise warped into her five-year mission, Yeto sat in the Infirmary, feeling indescribably proud of his accomplishments. He had overcome depression, alcoholism and the loss of everyone in his life that he loved. Now he had a new family on board this Starship, and he was looking forward to the adventure.
"Thank you Doctor."
