Disclaimer: See chapter 2
A/N: OK, did some changing around on the ratings front. Upped it to PG-13 because, well, Amanda's gonna have a bit of a mouth on her...'nuff said.
Chapter Four: Words and Tears
"Hi Dad."
That word, "Dad." He hadn't heard it in so long that it was like a foreign language to him. He searched her face for any sign of-well, anything. He could tell that she wasn't all that enthusiastic about him being there, and from the looks on her friends' faces, neither were they.
"So," Woody finally said, "You've grown since the last time I saw you."
"Obviously," said Amanda with the barest hint of sarcasm. She turned to her friends-who had come up behind her defensively as her father had approached them-and whispered something to them, and they went over to the porch steps and sat down there.
"Your friends?" Woody asked.
"Yeah. Best friends, actually, from back home."
"What're they doing here?"
"Moral support. I guess they thought I'd need it." Amanda looked at her dad's face, to see what kind of reaction he'd have to what she just said, basically implying that she wasn't counting on him for support this time around. Finding no change in facial expression and figuring that he was trying not to show any kind of emotion at the moment, she became quiet again. She was trying to decide on something to say, when her aunt came outside.
"Saved by the aunt," thought Amanda. Unfortunately, she was wrong. Her aunt had just come outside to tell her that she should go now and get it over with, and (this part whispered) to drop the attitude and treat her father with respect, no matter how pissed she was at him.
Amanda nodded at her aunt and motioned to her friends, who had been in deep discussion about Woody's car on the porch steps.
"We going?" Amanda asked her dad as her friends got in the car, admiring it and debating the year between them.
"Yeah, we're going."
The drive to the morgue had been one of the longest car rides of Amanda's life. Thankfully, her friends had warmed up to Woody pretty quickly after he mentioned that he had known their dad Alex in high school ("A grade ahead of me. Came home married to your mom the day before I graduated.") and had settled the bet as to the year the car was made in (2003, not 2004 as Lexi had thought: "But it looks just like one!"). Amanda felt numb as they walked up to the elevator doors, and she felt numb when the doors opened onto the floor that was occupied by the Boston Medical Examiners Office. Her dad told the three of them to wait while he went to talk to someone, and he left. Lexi, Amanda, and Lucy plopped down into the chairs outside the waiting room, thankful to have been left alone for a bit.
"How're you doing Amanda?" Lucy asked, looking at her. Her friend's face had become flushed, and she made an eye signal to her sister over Amanda's shoulder that clearly conveyed that she already knew the answer.
"Well, I was numb on the car ride, numb when we pulled into the parking lot, numb when we walked into the building, numb when we got in the elevator, and numb when we got off the elevator. Now, I'm scared as hell."
"We're here for ya, BB," said Lexi, using Amanda's nickname in an attempt to cheer her up. Amanda grinned slightly, and things went from there. Little did they know that as they talked, Amanda's father and two men in doctor's scrubs were watching them.
"So that's her," Bug said. Woody had found him and Peter in the hallway, waiting for him to arrive with his daughter, who he had just pointed out to them as the brunette girl in the middle chair. "She looks like you."
"Yeah, she does, doesn't she?" Woody said, watching his daughter speak animatedly with her friends. "The other two are friends of hers. She told me they were here for moral support."
"Ouch," said Peter, picking up on the hint of bitterness in Woody's voice as he said the words moral support. "That had to hurt a bit, coming from your own daughter, I mean."
"Damn straight. But I get why. I mean, I haven't exactly been the best dad."
"Could be worse," Bug said.
"Guess so. So, which one of you is gonna take her to do the ID?"
The two doctors blanched visibly at this. They hadn't thought of that one. A short argument ensued, finally ending with Bug agreeing to do it, because Peter "couldn't stand to be the one to make such a pretty girl cry," as he put it. So the two of them (plus Woody) walked down the hallway to the chattering girls, about to change one's life forever.
"Oh my god Amanda," Lexi said, happening to look down the hallway. "Look what's walking down the hall with your dad."
Amanda looked down the hallway. Her dad was coming toward them, with two men who appeared to be M.E.s in tow. The one that was shorter looked to be of Indian descent, and reminded her of a few of the kids she had gone to school with back in Wisconsin. The other one looked like the textbook definition of the phrase "tall, dark, and handsome," and was obviously the one that Lexi had been referring to.
"If I wasn't engaged..." Lucy muttered before being elbowed by Lexi.
"Shh. They're coming this way," Lexi muttered back to her twin.
The two doctors stopped a little short of the girls, and Woody introduced them as "Dr. Winslow" and "Bug".
"Bug's going to take you down to the autopsy room to make the identification," Peter told Amanda, "It shouldn't take very long, and your friends can go with you." Amanda nodded her thanks, then linked arms with her friends and followed Bug to the autopsy room, leaving her father and Peter standing in the hallway, watching them leave.
While the girls were leaving, Woody had noticed Peter watching Amanda pretty closely. As soon as the girls were out of sight, he said, "You know, you can stop staring at my daughter now. She kinda left the area."
"Huh?" Peter said, before snapping out of it and realizing he'd been caught. "Oh, yeah..."
"I'm not stupid."
"Never said that. She's just really pretty, is all."
Woody paused a moment before saying, "She reminds me of her mother." The two men then walked down the hallway where the girls had gone minutes before, in case either of them were needed.
Amanda's fear had been building as they walked down the hallway toward the room where the body was. Her heart was pounding faster than it ever had before, and felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, when they finally stopped outside of the room. Bug opened the door to the room, and led the three teenagers inside, stopping in front of a table that obviously had a body on it.
"Are you ready to do this?" he asked Amanda, who-as he had just noticed-looked like she was going to need a slab next.
Amanda took a deep breath and said, "Yeah."
Suddenly a scream of pure anguish pierced the hallways of the office. Peter and Woody, who had been walking the entire time, took off at a run down to the autopsy room. Woody knew what had happened before they even reached the room: "Positive ID," he muttered to Peter.
When they reached the autopsy room, Bug was already standing outside. He saw Peter and Woody approaching and shook his head sadly. Bracing himself, Woody looked in the window. What he saw nearly drove him to tears himself. The cover had been pulled back, revealing Jen's face, and Amanda was wild with grief at the sight. Her friends were holding her up, trying to comfort her, acting as beams so she could stand. "Makes you want to die yourself sometimes, doesn't it?" Peter said. Woody knew he was speaking from experience, and nodded. Finally, Amanda seemed to calm down, and her friends left the room so she could be alone with her dead.
A/N: OK, did some changing around on the ratings front. Upped it to PG-13 because, well, Amanda's gonna have a bit of a mouth on her...'nuff said.
Chapter Four: Words and Tears
"Hi Dad."
That word, "Dad." He hadn't heard it in so long that it was like a foreign language to him. He searched her face for any sign of-well, anything. He could tell that she wasn't all that enthusiastic about him being there, and from the looks on her friends' faces, neither were they.
"So," Woody finally said, "You've grown since the last time I saw you."
"Obviously," said Amanda with the barest hint of sarcasm. She turned to her friends-who had come up behind her defensively as her father had approached them-and whispered something to them, and they went over to the porch steps and sat down there.
"Your friends?" Woody asked.
"Yeah. Best friends, actually, from back home."
"What're they doing here?"
"Moral support. I guess they thought I'd need it." Amanda looked at her dad's face, to see what kind of reaction he'd have to what she just said, basically implying that she wasn't counting on him for support this time around. Finding no change in facial expression and figuring that he was trying not to show any kind of emotion at the moment, she became quiet again. She was trying to decide on something to say, when her aunt came outside.
"Saved by the aunt," thought Amanda. Unfortunately, she was wrong. Her aunt had just come outside to tell her that she should go now and get it over with, and (this part whispered) to drop the attitude and treat her father with respect, no matter how pissed she was at him.
Amanda nodded at her aunt and motioned to her friends, who had been in deep discussion about Woody's car on the porch steps.
"We going?" Amanda asked her dad as her friends got in the car, admiring it and debating the year between them.
"Yeah, we're going."
The drive to the morgue had been one of the longest car rides of Amanda's life. Thankfully, her friends had warmed up to Woody pretty quickly after he mentioned that he had known their dad Alex in high school ("A grade ahead of me. Came home married to your mom the day before I graduated.") and had settled the bet as to the year the car was made in (2003, not 2004 as Lexi had thought: "But it looks just like one!"). Amanda felt numb as they walked up to the elevator doors, and she felt numb when the doors opened onto the floor that was occupied by the Boston Medical Examiners Office. Her dad told the three of them to wait while he went to talk to someone, and he left. Lexi, Amanda, and Lucy plopped down into the chairs outside the waiting room, thankful to have been left alone for a bit.
"How're you doing Amanda?" Lucy asked, looking at her. Her friend's face had become flushed, and she made an eye signal to her sister over Amanda's shoulder that clearly conveyed that she already knew the answer.
"Well, I was numb on the car ride, numb when we pulled into the parking lot, numb when we walked into the building, numb when we got in the elevator, and numb when we got off the elevator. Now, I'm scared as hell."
"We're here for ya, BB," said Lexi, using Amanda's nickname in an attempt to cheer her up. Amanda grinned slightly, and things went from there. Little did they know that as they talked, Amanda's father and two men in doctor's scrubs were watching them.
"So that's her," Bug said. Woody had found him and Peter in the hallway, waiting for him to arrive with his daughter, who he had just pointed out to them as the brunette girl in the middle chair. "She looks like you."
"Yeah, she does, doesn't she?" Woody said, watching his daughter speak animatedly with her friends. "The other two are friends of hers. She told me they were here for moral support."
"Ouch," said Peter, picking up on the hint of bitterness in Woody's voice as he said the words moral support. "That had to hurt a bit, coming from your own daughter, I mean."
"Damn straight. But I get why. I mean, I haven't exactly been the best dad."
"Could be worse," Bug said.
"Guess so. So, which one of you is gonna take her to do the ID?"
The two doctors blanched visibly at this. They hadn't thought of that one. A short argument ensued, finally ending with Bug agreeing to do it, because Peter "couldn't stand to be the one to make such a pretty girl cry," as he put it. So the two of them (plus Woody) walked down the hallway to the chattering girls, about to change one's life forever.
"Oh my god Amanda," Lexi said, happening to look down the hallway. "Look what's walking down the hall with your dad."
Amanda looked down the hallway. Her dad was coming toward them, with two men who appeared to be M.E.s in tow. The one that was shorter looked to be of Indian descent, and reminded her of a few of the kids she had gone to school with back in Wisconsin. The other one looked like the textbook definition of the phrase "tall, dark, and handsome," and was obviously the one that Lexi had been referring to.
"If I wasn't engaged..." Lucy muttered before being elbowed by Lexi.
"Shh. They're coming this way," Lexi muttered back to her twin.
The two doctors stopped a little short of the girls, and Woody introduced them as "Dr. Winslow" and "Bug".
"Bug's going to take you down to the autopsy room to make the identification," Peter told Amanda, "It shouldn't take very long, and your friends can go with you." Amanda nodded her thanks, then linked arms with her friends and followed Bug to the autopsy room, leaving her father and Peter standing in the hallway, watching them leave.
While the girls were leaving, Woody had noticed Peter watching Amanda pretty closely. As soon as the girls were out of sight, he said, "You know, you can stop staring at my daughter now. She kinda left the area."
"Huh?" Peter said, before snapping out of it and realizing he'd been caught. "Oh, yeah..."
"I'm not stupid."
"Never said that. She's just really pretty, is all."
Woody paused a moment before saying, "She reminds me of her mother." The two men then walked down the hallway where the girls had gone minutes before, in case either of them were needed.
Amanda's fear had been building as they walked down the hallway toward the room where the body was. Her heart was pounding faster than it ever had before, and felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, when they finally stopped outside of the room. Bug opened the door to the room, and led the three teenagers inside, stopping in front of a table that obviously had a body on it.
"Are you ready to do this?" he asked Amanda, who-as he had just noticed-looked like she was going to need a slab next.
Amanda took a deep breath and said, "Yeah."
Suddenly a scream of pure anguish pierced the hallways of the office. Peter and Woody, who had been walking the entire time, took off at a run down to the autopsy room. Woody knew what had happened before they even reached the room: "Positive ID," he muttered to Peter.
When they reached the autopsy room, Bug was already standing outside. He saw Peter and Woody approaching and shook his head sadly. Bracing himself, Woody looked in the window. What he saw nearly drove him to tears himself. The cover had been pulled back, revealing Jen's face, and Amanda was wild with grief at the sight. Her friends were holding her up, trying to comfort her, acting as beams so she could stand. "Makes you want to die yourself sometimes, doesn't it?" Peter said. Woody knew he was speaking from experience, and nodded. Finally, Amanda seemed to calm down, and her friends left the room so she could be alone with her dead.