Shrink

18

I worked the case as best I could under the circumstances. I mostly worked on the mother, because the baby had barely breathed in life before it was snatched away again, so identifying her was bound to lead somewhere. At least, that's what I told myself as I passed it on its table, small and fleshless.
Staring at the mother's partially sun-bleached bones, I wondered, if I hadn't survived, would mine have looked the same?
Our Jane Doe was about my height, same bone density, as well as similar age, mid-to-late twenties. Caucasian, mother.
Before I could contemplate further, the ancient autopsy room's doors opened, and Doctor Brennan strode in.
"How are the remains coming along?" she asked briskly, firing up a computer monitor.
"So far, no true cause of death. Multiple fracturing of the costals, but these are radiating from within the remains, so conjecture leads me to believe that this was related to the birth. She was in excruciating pain, regardless of whether or not she had medical assistance."
I hadn't had the chance to think about my words before spitting them out, letting them loll idly on the table for Doctor Brennan to pick up. I winced at my forwardness.
She stared at me, then at the bones, and nodded approvingly.
"As a woman who has given birth in a barn, I can concur," she said bluntly, and my eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.
I tried hard to bite back the did it live?
Of course it did.
A small pit of jealousy formed in my stomach, and I tried very hard to keep my eyes downcast on the corpse, lest Doctor Brennan see how green they had become.
"I heard you gave birth in a bathtub, is that correct?" she asked, and I nodded.
"I felt strong enough to rip free the taps, and yet I felt too weak to even help my baby to live," I breathed, and Doctor Brennan fell silent.
Bouche-bée.
"I too felt much the same. I felt like I could rip open the earth, and yet birthing a small human felt too much for me, let alone sitting up. However, Booth says I bruised his hand pretty badly during the contractions," she said, and a small smile formed on her pink lips. "I couldn't have made it through that ordeal without him."
I internally felt myself shrivel at the thought of him.
"Was the father of your child there?" asked Doctor Brennan, and I shook my head.
"He was a stoner, it's a wonder the pregnancy was carried out as long as it did. I think he was serving time for possession, actually. Probably still is."
I shrugged bitterly.
She nodded. I felt myself deflate like a balloon with too much oxygen in it, having been able to finally release the air that had been stifled in my chest, suffocating me.
Suffocation.
I slid my gaze up to the hyoid, and scooped it up delicately, and slid it under the light. Sure enough, a seam had split it in half.
"Suffocation," I breathed, holding out the thing bone out to Doctor Brennan.
"I concur," she agreed. "I'll go tell Booth."
I nodded, before calling after her as she began to pull off her lab coat.
"May we keep this conversation between us?"
She stared at me, and nodded her eyes going soft at the obvious anxiety I was having.
Doctor Brennan left. I spent another hour with the remains, before leaving the autopsy room to find the cafeteria of the hospital we were in.
As soon as I walked to the door, I did a full 180. There, occupying one of the many empty tables, sat Sweets, picking at a plate of food.
I was infuriated. Who was he to make me change my plans and detour my path around him? The course of my life was mine and not his to shape.
I was seething.
I pushed open the doors without thinking, strode in, and bought a sandwich, feeling his eyes trailing me the entire way. I found my usual table, and sat down to eat, my stomach decidedly too roiling with rage to really eat, so I just started shoving it into my mouth to be out as quick as possible.
I looked up casually with half my ham sandwich in my cheeks, and caught Sweets staring again. Meeting his gaze, I mentally challenged him to flinch. He raised a brow.
I was this close to getting up and laying into him all my frustrations that he was the absolute root source of, when the cafeteria doors opened again. Both of our attentions snapped to the sudden interruption.
A brunette with a certain bounce to her step holding a bag and wearing a denim jacket strode in, glanced around purposefully, and finally settled on Sweets with a vengeance.
"Lance!" she squealed, and closed the distance between them, and threw her arms around him.
Taken by surprise, he was nearly knocked out of his seat.
"Daisy!" he managed to choke out before she kissed him.