Author’s note: This is some sort of missing scene from "Dead Certain", or maybe I should say there was one single sentence that induced me to write this little story.
 

Two "TeddyBlairBurgiHugs" to Cheryl and Tate for their wonderful help. I owe you big time J. And last but not least, this one is for my TS buddy Chris. You asked me to cheer you up, so I hope you like it.
 

Warning: Smarm, smarm, smarm and no sight of Cassie.

First Autopsy
by DannyD
 

Jim Ellison shook his head, partly in frustration, partly in disbelief. How could the kid talk so much? He threw a glance at his new partner, who had just started explaining the mummification rituals of the old Egyptians. He was talking with his hands and feet as usual, his long curls all over the place. Watching Sandburg speak was a fascinating experience. Jim wondered if the anthropologist in his enthusiasm ever felt stiff and aching after a particularly long lecture.

"Can you believe it, Jim?" Blair was just saying, gesturing wildly with his arms and accidentally hitting Detective Brown who was idly walking by.

"Oops, sorry, man!" Blair apologized with a huge smile on his face. Brown waved a hand, grinned, and Sandburg turned back to Jim. "I mean it‘s so amazing how the people in Egypt managed to completely remove the organs of a human being without disturbing the skin surface and inflicting any damage to the body." He shook his head, for no apparent reason it seemed but Jim figured it was all part of the STS [Sandburg Talking System].

"Have you ever seen a mummy, Jim?" Blair asked, awe in his voice as he remembered. "I saw one during my time in Egypt, and just last year while visiting the British Museum in London. Wow, I tell you, man, it is just a piece of art."

Jim had long given up trying to interrupt Sandburg‘s lectures, one of the first lessons he’d learned since he started working with the young man. He just nodded yes or no at appropriate times. The detective and the anthropologist reached the basement where Dr. Dan Wolfe, the Medical Examiner, had already been waiting for them.

"Hi, Jim!" the man greeted and extended a gloved hand. He looked at Blair and raised his eyebrows in question.

"And you must be Ellison‘s new partner, right? I‘ve heard of you." Dan grinned, and Jim wasn‘t sure if it was a good or a bad expression. He opened his mouth to introduce them, but Blair had already taken Wolfe‘s hand and shook it fiercely.

"Yeah, right. Hi there, name‘s Blair Sandburg. It‘s nice to meet you."

"That‘s...." Jim tried unsuccessfully when he saw that Blair had the situation well in hand. Ellison turned his attention back to Dan. "So, what‘ve you got?" He pointed at the examination table where the body of a dead man they had discovered early that day was lying, covered by a thin white blanket. It looked like murder or, at least, a suicide, thus Major Crimes was assigned to the case. And in this case, the Major Crimes division was represented by Jim Ellison and his new co-pilot.

The three men moved over to the examination table. Dan stood at one side of the table, Jim and Blair on the opposite.

"We have a male, probably 35-40 years old, with no apparent identifications marks, no ID was found as you know. The victim was discovered in the bay after being in the water for at least a week." Dan explained, keeping any emotions out of his voice. It sounded like he was reading the operating manual of a car. At least, Blair thought that.

"He had enough time to drown but he didn‘t," Dan joked, and his laughter echoed from the cold tiles in the autopsy room.

"Any visible signs that would explain the cause of death?" Jim asked, grinning back at Dan.

"It depends," Dan grinned again, his right hand moving to uncover the corpse.

"Depends on what?" Blair asked, his voice still full of enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge. He moved closer to the table to understand what the ME was trying to tell them.

"Well, it depends on your definition of the word 'visible'," Dan said and pulled off the blanket, revealing...

Blair gasped.

...revealing nothing that would bear any resemblance to a higher piece of art of Egyptian medicine.

Blair swallowed hard, his stomach contracting violently, his throat getting tight as he tried not to gag. He took a deep breath, smelling antiseptics, blood and the scent of death. He swallowed again, while Dan continued his report.

"I took the liberty of opening the abdomen for you, gentlemen," Dan spoke ignoring Blair‘s poor sounds of shock and discomfort. "It appears our man here died of an overdose of heroin from a ruptured plastic bag inside his stomach." He removed a layer of Blair-didn‘t-want-to-know-what and motioned for Jim to take a closer look.

Blair instead closed his eyes while fighting for air that suddenly seemed to vanish from the room. His head was spinning...

"Look here. You can clearly see where the bag split and spread the stuff all over his intestines." There was a strange noise indicating the ME did something gruesome and ugly with one of his instruments, maybe cutting through the stomach, and Blair swayed a little.

Jim, completely absorbed in the medical report and didn‘t notice his friend's distress. He nodded, knowing they now had a case to solve. Nobody would swallow a bag of drugs accidentally, right?

"There was one bag in his stomach and two others had already moved into his bowls." Dan pointed to a spot. "There. You can make out the way the..."

"Excuse me...." Blair whispered weakly before his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed!

"Sandburg!" Jim shouted, reaching for the young anthropologist before he could hit the floor. He knelt besides Blair checking his pulse and patting his checks. "Come on, buddy, talk to me."

Dan Wolfe chuckled, obviously amused. "He‘s just a bundle of nerves, isn‘t he?" His grin faded when he met Jim Ellison's angry glance.

"He is an anthropologist. He's not supposed to see something like that!" Jim gently scooped Blair up into his arms and stood in front of Dan who stepped back.

"Hey, no offence, man. It was a joke," he apologized.

"It‘s okay, Dan. I should‘ve known better," Jim said, following Dan to his office next door.

****

Something soft and cool touched his forehead, and for a wonderful moment Blair enjoyed the sensation. A hand tenderly pressed onto the washcloth and moistened his skin. Kinda nice. For another moment Blair dwelled on the feeling, but suddenly the memory returned and he opened his eyes with a start, gasping for air when reality hit him.

Jim‘s hand shifted a little preventing Blair from getting up. "Take it easy, Chief," he soothed in a gentle voice Blair hadn‘t heard before. "Don‘t move, everything's alright."

"Where am I?" Blair asked weakly.

"In Dan‘s office," Jim said, removing the washcloth from Blair‘s forehead.

Dan‘s office, the autopsy, the corpse, blood, intestines, blood, corpse, autopsy, blood, ruptured bags, bloodbloodblood... Blair‘s face went pale again when he remembered the incident, his stomach twisting. He gagged a few times, making retching sounds when the contents of his stomach forced their way back up. Jim steadied his body when Blair doubled over vomiting into a small bowl Jim held for him. Blair brought up everything his stomach had to offer and ended up dry heaving until he thought his own intestines would come up.

Finally finished, Jim wet the cloth again and put it back onto Blair‘s forehead. "Easy, breathe deep and slow." He reached for a cup of water and held it to the young man‘s lips. "Drink a little water," Jim said, and Blair took a few tiny sips. He almost choked on the fluid and started gagging again. Only this time, Jim‘s hand gently restrained him.

"Gotta be sick," Blair whispered when the bile rose in his throat, and his stomach muscles started their fight again.

"No, you don‘t," the voice was soothing and yetfirm. Jim‘s hand shifted a little and moved to Blair‘s stomach starting a subtle rubbing. "Everything‘s okay, Chief. Just concentrate on my hand and keep breathing."

Blair swallowed trying to obey Jim‘s gentle orders. "That‘s good, Blair, in and out. Breathe nice and steady." The words were soft and the hand never ceased its soothing rhythm. "Relax. Everything‘s gonna be okay."

After a few minutes Jim felt the muscles in Blair‘s abdomen relax, and he dared to reach for the cup of water again.

"No, please," Blair slightly shook his head, afraid of another attack, but Jim seemed determined to return the lost fluids. "Don‘t worry, Chief, just slow and easy."

While Blair drank, Jim‘s hand resumed its position on Blair‘s stomach, drawing smaller and bigger circles to distract his young friend. The Sentinel thought he could sense the water reaching Blair‘s stomach under his fingers, but he didn‘t say anything that would maybe remind him of the anatomy of a human body.

"That‘s it," Jim praised when Blair finished drinking and showed no symptoms of distress.

"I‘m sorry," Blair murmured after a few minutes of silence, while Jim still roamed over his stomach.

"No, don‘t be, Chief," Jim replied with an apologetic smile. "I‘m sorry I brought you with me in the first place. I wasn‘t thinking. Sorry."

Blair nodded slowly, thinking of the moment back in the autopsy room that made the vessel run over. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, just as Jim had told him. His stomach remained silent.

Jim watched his inner battle, concerned and guilty at the same time. What he had said to Wolfe earlier was true. The kid wasn‘t cut out for witnessing an autopsy or even just seeing a dead body. But in his wisdom, Jim hadn‘t considered a negative reaction and wasn‘t thinking of the fact his friend wasn’t used to such things. Hell, Blair maybe thought they would perform some sort of mummification ritual like he had told him about earlier. Jim sighed. They both apparently still had a lot to learn.

"You okay, Chief?" The question was accompanied by a genuine smile of understanding and friendship. His eyes didn‘t show any judgement and Blair returned the smile weakly. Now his discomfort faded and was replaced by a huge burden of embarrassment. What must Jim be thinking of him now? Oh, man, maybe, maybe he wouldn‘t want him around anymore because of his weakness? Who wants to work with a wimp?

"You okay?" Jim repeated his question when he received no reply, his only acknowledgement coming in the blue eyes staring at him with something like embarrassment and...fear?

"Yeah, I‘m fine," Blair said eventually. Then he repeated: "I‘m really sorry, Jim." In a whisper he added: "And thanks."

"What for, Chief?" Jim answered easily and patted his shoulder.

The blue eyes wandered to the ceiling glancing at any spot but Jim‘s own. "Thanks for..., thanks for not laughing," Blair muttered.

The detective knew exactly what was running through Sandburg‘s head right now and he could only think of one answer to ease his mental anguish.

"No need to be sorry, Sandburg, it happens to all of us the first time."

The End.