Take It From M.E. - An NCIS Fan Fiction

Chapter 1 - Old Friend

"Good morning, Doctor!" I smile as the doors slid open, keeping my back turned towards it. It is very rare for me to arrive before Doctor Mallard, but it is a Sunday, and we are not normally here on Sundays. I got a call early this morning from Gibbs saying that I needed to come in.

"Uh... No..." I hear Agent McGee's voice from behind me.

"I am sorry, McGee! I was just expecting Doctor Mallard."

"That is why I came down here actually." McGee says, gagging at from the sight of the body on the metal table, "Ducky is not able to be here until later. He has plans with someone. Gibbs wants you to start on the autopsy without him. He will be here as soon as he can be though."

"Oh... Alright..." I say nervously, "Thank you, McGee." McGee nods before turning to leave. I take a hard gulp before pulling on my mask. I stand over the body for a few minutes before I even begin the autopsy. "Hey, you need to help me out here... I have never done one of these on my own before... Maybe give me some hints as to what killed you?" I ask the lifeless body in front of me.

"Jimmy...?" I hear the voice behind me and I jump, "Calm down, Jim. It's just me. Abby."

"You can't sneak up on a guy like that!"

"Did he respond?"

"What?" I ask confused.

"Petty Officer Broaden. Did he respond?"

"Abby... Now is not a good time... Doctor Mallard is not here and I am trying to do this by myself... Talking to them always seems to help him, so I thought that I would give it a try." I say, looking down in shame.

"Mind if I help?" Abby asks, picking up an extra pair of scrubs. I nod and she starts to undo her belt to change into the scrubs. "Jimmy... Do you mind?" she motions for me to turn around.

"Oh yeah... Sorry." I turn beat red. How embarrassing.

"Alright... What do I do?" Abby asks as she finishes putting on the scrub shirt.

"First of all, you put this on." I say, handing her a mask, "Then, you can hand me a scalpel."

"This one!" Abby says, pulling a scalpel off the little tray. I nod and she looks excited.

"Now we have to make an incision across his torso, in the shape of a 'y'." I slowly begin the incision, praying that I don't screw it up. After five minutes of painstakingly opening the chest of Petty Officer Broaden, I look up to Abby.

"Looks like somebody had a two pack a day habit. Yikes. Look at those lungs." Abby said.

"Think that is repulsive, look at his stomach."

"What is that? Why is it disintegrating?"

"Good question... How about you take a sample of its contents to your..."

"Good morning, Mr. Palmer. Abby." Ducky nodded his head entering the room, "The contents of what, Mr. Palmer?"

"Uh... Petty Officer Broaden's stomach, Doctor. It is disintegrating and Abby is going to find out why." I stumbled through my words.

"Very well, Mr. Palmer. Thank you for starting without me. I apologize about that. I was having breakfast with an old friend."

"No problem, Doctor. Abby helped, too... I hope I did everything correctly... I've never done an autopsy without you guiding me through it..." I trailed off.

"Mr. Palmer, I am sure you did wonderful. Now you and Abby work on analyzing the contents of the stomach and come back as soon as to can. I will continue the autopsy." Ducky said, setting down his bags.

"Alright, Doctor. Hopefully we will be back with some information soon." I said, leaving with Abby.