Walking around the body, Maureen moved to the head of the corpse. Inspecting the eyes her face drew close enough to make Lauren uncomfortable. As the woman spread open the eye lids of the deceased, it appeared that the eyeballs were bulging to the point where they might just pop out.

“Have you ever had an eyeball pop out of the socket?” Lauren asked. 

“On occasion,” Maureen smiled. “We just push ‘em right back in.” 

Standing up straight, the Medical Examiner grabbed the scalpel and began to make an incision around the scalp of the deceased. With careful accuracy, she held a slab of skin in her hand. Looking up at Lauren, she yanked hard, tearing back the scalp. 

“Sorry, there is no gentle way of doing this.” 

Lauren nodded in understanding, and felt the nausea begin to start in her stomach. No matter how many times she saw that happen, she would never get over to how grotesque it was. 

Grabbing the bone saw, the Medical Examiner lowered a mask onto her face. Motioning for Lauren to step back, she began to remove the top of the skull. 

Although she was a good distance back from the actual procedure, Lauren watched as blood and bone began to splatter. A piece of flesh struck her cheek, leaving a bloody trail down the side of her face. 

Around her, the room began to spin. Lauren fought hard to keep this incident from causing her to vomit. It was no use. Flying over to the trashcan Lauren shoved her head in and emptied the contents of her stomach.

Pushing through the heavy door, he stepped into the autopsy room. His body was covered in a light blue set of scrubs, covering them was what appeared to Beth to be a large white apron. Blue gloves covering his large hands, and his hair tucked up in a pinkish cap. A surgical mask covered his face. But peeking out around the eyes she could see the tell tale signs of age.

"Good morning sunshine," He said to her, his eyes appeared annoyed. Carefully he slipped on a pair of protective glasses made from plastic.

"Please, I'm not dead," she tried to say. But the words wouldn't part from her icy blue lips.

Around her, Beth watched as he drew scalpels, drills and medical saws to the table. They looked wicked and evil. Beth wanted to pull away and show the slightest sign that she was still alive. But she knew it would be to no avail.

"Now, we just need to do a handful of tests to verify you are truly no longer with us so we can start," his voice was conversational, but empty.

Taking a large needle he shoved it hard into her left index finger, as he pushed hard with his thumb and index finger he verified there was no blood flow coming from continued circulation. In excruciating pain, Beth wanted to slap the doctor on the spot. Her hand throbbed with pain, no matter what the tests said, she was sure as hell still alive. Placing several metallic orbs on her, he turned on a digital monitor and waited to see the results on the screen.

"No pulse," his words more for his own benefit than they were for hers. "You are doornail dead Ma’am."

Behind him the heavy door swung open again and a tiny thing dressed in match to the man came in. a stray strand of blonde hair slipped from her cap but she took no notice to it.

"You know, I keep looking at them like they are mannequins, like you suggested," she whispered. "But they still look like waxy dead people to me."

"Shut up Kim," he snarled. "You're really getting on my nerves right now."

"Alan, I'm just saying," but looking at him she knew the time for talking was over.

Grabbing the scalpel, she handed it to him. "Shall we proceed then?" his eyes looked hard at her, daring her to say something, but her lips remained closed.

Placing the scalpel between Beth's breasts, he pressed down hard. Beth stared forward blankly and no blood oozed from the wound. Still in her mind, she felt the pain. Every nerve shot signals to her brain. The parting of the flesh and the ripping deep into her violently throbbed throughout her body. Every angle the blade turned, she felt it in its violent run along her body. If she was dead, why was she still enduring all this? Wasn't the entire system supposed to shut down? The pain was agonizing and there was little concern for how she felt. When would the pain finally leave her? Why was she not in heaven where she belonged?