Helen Beal: Difference between revisions

Helen, free to continue her artistic study, was taken as an apprentice by Samuel Nathans, a colleague of her father.  Although twice her age and married, Samuel immediately fell in love with Helen.  Their year together was marked by several meek advances on his part, which Helen--still very naive about the darker paths of love--laughed off as silly jokes, but when Samuel attempted to force himself upon her in their studio, she fled in horror.  Their professional relationship was immediately severed.  Confused, and ashamed by her own foolishness, she told no one what had taken place.  For several months, she found it difficult to work.

This lull in Helen's career ultimately brought fresh life to her marriage.  They attempted to begin a family, but found it difficult to conceive.  Two pain of two two miscarriages thrust Helen fully into adulthood, which she found to be a dark and disappointing shadow of what she had expected.  It also shattered her own golden self-image.  She was not as perfect as she had come to believe.

In dire need of a change, Helen returned to school to pursue a degree in psychology. David's father died, leaving the entirety of his restaurant empire to his son, which David manned with his mouth full of the bitter taste of his own failures.  In search of comfort, he entered into an affair with an employee: Anna Greco.  Helen was too clever for this to remain secret for long.  Devastated, she left David and returned to the home of her parents.  Six months of arguments, short reconciliations, and fights, as well as a third miscarriage, passed before Helen finally filed for divorce.  She ended all contact with him and returned to her maiden name.

As soon as she obtained her psychology license, Helen applied to Starfleet Academy, determined to get as far away as possible from David and the remnants of her shattered youth.  Buried in her work, life proceeded uneventfully for a while, until her nerves reached their breaking point.  Helen succumbed to a nervous breakdown, forcing her to take a leave of absence--the reason, however, is somehow stricken from her personal record.  At home, her parents tried to get the best care possible for their daughter, though doing little more than leading Helen into an overly medicated haze.  After a year, a frustrated Helen ends all of her treatment and takes her recovery into her own hands.  She returned to Starfleet, completing her courses and training with impressive speed and finding great healing in hard work.  She now considers herself recovered, though she still has anxious moments from time to time.

Helen's parents remain in Los Angeles.  David Lithgow's current whereabouts are unknown.