May 28

To like and dislike the same things, that is indeed true friendship. – Sallust

"Wow," Palmer gasped.

Ducky looked over at his assistant. "I am inclined to agree, Mr. Palmer, but we need to keep our cool over this."

"I'm sorry, doctor," Palmer replied. "It's just so amazing. I've never seen anything like this before."

Ducky felt the same way. It wasn't very often that he ended up with a PFC on his table with a stake through his heart. From the discussion he had heard in the squad room, a group of very impressionable new marines had decided that PFC Rogers was a vampire, and the only way to get rid of him was with a wooden stake.

"Do you think he really was a vampire?" Palmer asked.

"I do not believe in the so-called creatures of the night," Ducky declared. "But it seems that our marines did. Still, it should be easy to determine a cause of death."

"The stake that's still piercing his heart?" Palmer suggested, almost bouncing around the room in his excitement.

Ducky understood how he felt, but was determined to keep a lid on his own excitement. "No," he declared. "Shock, my dear boy. Shock would have killed him before he bled out."

"Oh." The previous statement seemed to bring Palmer down to earth. "Where should we start then?"

Ducky just looked at him.

"We approach this as normal," Palmer concluded.

"Calm down," Ducky advised. "We need to focus as we do this."

He smiled to himself as his protégé relaxed. This would be an interesting autopsy.