"Dr. M, where do we keep the incident reports?" Nigel asked one morning a few weeks later. Garret looked up from his work to see Nigel leaning into his office, with apprehension written on his face.

"The what?" Garret asked, making sure he'd heard correctly.

"Incident reports," Nigel repeated, "you know, for when someone gets injured at work."

"I know what incident reports are, Nigel," Garret explained with a sigh as he rummaged through his drawer to find what his employee requested. "What's it for anyways? You don't look injured to me." He held the paper out for Nigel to take.

"It's not for me," Nigel said as he crossed the room and snatched the empty form. "It's for Audrey. I shut her finger in a crypt drawer. It's probably going to need stitches," he explained, a little embarrassed at what he'd done. Garret groaned quietly, imagining the headache of paperwork an injured employee would cause, even if it was only a cut finger.

"Where is she?" Garret asked, anxious to see just how injured this finger was.

"In the ladies," Nigel replied, stepping out of Garret's way as he moved out of the office.

x x x x x

Garret knocked once on the door of the women's washroom and when a muffled voice called from within, he entered. When he opened the door he found Audrey hunched over the sink holding her left index finger under the water. As he approached her and saw the red swirl of blood in the sink, he was suddenly overcome with worry for his colleague.

"You alright?" he asked. Audrey turned off the taps with her uninjured hand and quickly dried the other with a paper towel.

"Yeah," she said, holding up her finger as proof, "I'm fine." Garret took her hand and held it closer to his face so he might examine the injury more closely.

"You need stitches," he announced. Audrey raised her eyebrows and smiled patronizingly.

"I know," she said flatly as she pulled her hand away and wrapped her finger in the paper towel. Garret blushed as he remembered that he wasn't the only doctor in the room.

"Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" he asked. Audrey puffed a laugh through her nose.

"No, not for stitches," she said as if he had asked her the most outlandish question in the world. "Just stitch it for me." Garret shook his head no. Sewing her finger back together would be an easy job, but if for any reason it became infected afterwards or the injury somehow became worse, he and his offices would be liable.

"No," he said simply, "c'mon, I'll take you to the hospital." He jerked his head towards the door as an invitation for her to make her way through it.

"I'm not going to the hospital, Dr. Macy," Audrey said simply, "and if you don't suture it, I'll just get Nigel to do it." She cocked her eyebrow and smiled after she laid out her plan. At the sight of her smile, something tightened in his stomach and forced Garret to relent. He groaned playfully and took her by the elbow.

"Alright, let's go," he said finally and ushered her from the room.

x x x x x

Ten minutes later they sat side by side at a low table in an autopsy room. Audrey's left hand was laid palm up on the surface between them and Garret had his needle only a few inches from his face, making sure it was ready to be used. She laughed quietly as he scrunched his face in concentration. He bowed his head and glared at her over the rim of his glasses.

"You think this is funny?" he asked in tone that let her know that he didn't. Audrey pressed her lips into a line, and shook her head no, but the twitch at the corner of her mouth as she tried not to smile convinced Garret otherwise. "I hope you realize how much paperwork goes along with this cut," he said.

"Oh don't worry about it," Audrey smiled, "don't bother with an incident report or anything. I'll be fine."

"I have to," Garret sighed, "it's my job." Audrey held up her index finger for him to see.

"This is nothing," she reasoned, "don't bother with the paper work. It'll be our little secret," she said with a wink. Garret looked at her seriously for a moment, having finished preparing the needle. He sighed and leaned sideways in his chair to snatch a chart from the end of a gurney beside them. Holding the chart in front of him he invited her to place her hand upon it. When she did, he claimed a playfully authoritarian tone and made her promise.

"Do you swear on-" he slid the chart from under her palm, quickly read the name on the top and slipped it back, "Henry Rawlins' chart that you won't sue me, the morgue, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or anyone else for anything related to this finger?"

"I do," Audrey said as she tried helplessly to be serious, a grin cracking across her face.

"Fine," Garret smiled, setting the chart aside and getting to work. He held her soft hand in his own and carefully stitched the two sides of her cut back together. He wasn't used to sewing such a small area so he was forced to interrupt his gaze with a magnifying lamp he usually used in the trace lab. He could feel Audrey watching him and he silently wished he would watch something else instead. It made him infinitely nervous to know she was taking in his every move and he had to fight to keep his hands steady. When he had finished, he looked up at her and smiled, his stomach twisting into a familiar knot.

"Done," he announced. "Remember, I haven't sewn up anyone with a pulse for a long time. You're probably going to have a scar."

"It's alright," Audrey smiled back, bringing her finger closer to her eyes and admiring his handy work. As Garret gathered his supplies and moved to put them where they belonged, Audrey headed for the door. She hit it with her hip but stopped and turned back to Garret before it could swing all the way open.

"Thank you, Garret," she said earnestly. It was the first time she had ever called him anything other than Dr. Macy and Garret decided, in that instant, that he liked the way his first named slipped out of her mouth and secretly hoped that she would call him by it more often. He looked over his shoulder and smiled.

"It's our little secret," he reminded her with a wink. Audrey laughed quietly to herself and left.

As promised, the truth about her finger remained a secret. Nigel had filled out his version the incident report by the time Garret returned to his office. He smiled, realizing the guilt Nigel felt for inadvertently injuring his friend. Garret shredded the report as soon as he found it on his desk.