BONES AU - PART TWO "The Stargazer In The Puddle"

BONES AU 2 Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

"The victim is not yet past twenty, Kirstie." Scott said on the platform, circling the bones.

"Mmm..." she responded in uncertainty.

"Yes?"

"The arthritic lipping on the vertebrae degeneration in the collarbone, spiking on the superior articular process. And all the large bones in her body show "osteolytis" and advanced deterioration... she has to be older than twenty. No disrespect, Dr. Hoying, but its true."

Scott's face lit up. "I've got it! God, how come I didn't see it earlier?! Progeria! She had an aging disease!"

"So... both me and Mitch were right?"

"Well, Mitch was right, meaning you were not wrong, but you weren't right."

Mitch walked in momentarily after. "So, my sketch got a hit off the N. C. I. C. database, come take a look." The two followed him in and looked at the screen. "Chelsea Cole, age 22. Went missing last November."

Scott nodded as he looked at the screen. "Good, Mitch... Really good..."

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"Kirthie?" Max asked as he walked up onto the platform, which she was on and examining the x-rays while also mumbling to herself.

"Should have thought of that myself... A disease, which prevents the sufferer from entering puberty but simultaneously ages her otherwise. Damn."

"Kirthie. I want you to stand up with me."

"Sometimes things aren't always either-or, sometimes they're both..." Kirstie muttered. Max rolled his eyes.

"At my wedding? On Thaturday? To Mitch?"

"How long do I have to decide?" She asked while still examining the x-rays.

"You have to thinkth about it?"

She turned to him, looking extremely agitated. "Yes, Max, I do."

"Fine. Leth me know when you decide, man." He pat her shoulder and left.

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"You found her in a shopping cart?" Chelsea's mother asked. She was a single mom, working two jobs to keep everything up right.

"Yes, that is correct." Scott answered from across the table.

"From Tuff's Grocery?" Mrs. Cole asked.

"Yes, actually, how'd you know?"

"Chelsea loved Tuffs. Give her a dollar, and she'd go down there and buy a candy bar or some cheap toy. Everybody knew Chelsea, walking along with one small thing in a big cart bringing it home to show me." Mrs. Cole smiled and watched as Scott walked around, looking at pictures of stars.

"Did Chelsea draw these?" he asked.

"Yes, sh-she did."

"These are the drawings of a small child, Chelsea was 22 years of age."

"Oh, see, Chelsea had a condition-"

"Werner's syndrome?"

"Well- Uh- Yes. How did you know that?"

Joe butted in. "What the hell is that, Bones?" Scott shook his head and turned to Joe.

"- It's an aging disease in which mental development can be a factor." Scott turned back to Mrs. Cole. "Your daughter spent a long time looking up, correct?"