Looking at the bones, she rubs her eyes. It has been a long day. Too long, she thinks. But then, it always is. The bodies and the bones, they just keep coming. There is nothing she can do to stop that. As much as we all wish we could, people will still kill each other. The FBI will still investigate the crimes. She will still have work to do and bodies to identify. It is a never ending cycle.
She thinks that maybe she is getting to old for this. The common excuse. No doubt about it, she loved her work. It was her breath, her food, her life. But she could not do this forever. She would not work herself to death. Sometimes everyone needs a break. This is what she tells herself. But it will never happen. After all, they need her.
The lab is her domain. She is queen. The only thing in her life that she absolutely has control over. She feels so caged sometimes. A remaining feeling from her childhood days. Days when everything was decided for her. Everything from when she went to bed, to where she slept, to what she made for diner. That was why she didn't eat, you know. It was some measure of control over something in her life. She still felt the urge now, to skip a meal, to dig her nails into the tender flesh of her arm.
She did that, for a while. The marks are still there. Small half-moons, almost invisible to the naked eye. Another measure of control.
But she could not bring herself to quit this job. Could not bring herself to take a brake. After all, if she left, then never again would she see him. He would disappear from her life, and she didn't know if she could stand that. She loved him. There was nothing that could change that now. She knows that he does not feel the same way. He has a girlfriend. He loves her. She can see it in his eyes. But that does not stop her from falling for him, and falling hard.
It hurts. But that is okay. He is happy. And as odd as it seems, she has never been happier. With him in her life, even just as a friend, that is enough for her. She can trust him. She can tell him anything, without fear of ridicule. And he cares. The best thing of all.
He cares.