AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow! My first non-General Hospital fic!

DISCLAIMER – I do not own characters appearing on "Crossing Jordan"

Chapter 1 – Another Day, Another Autopsy

Monday mornings were the busiest times for the Boston Medical Examiner's Office. Files building up over the weekend, lab results coming in, and autopsies were being finished. It was a seven day a week job, but Dr. Mahesh Vijayaraghavensatyanaryanamurthy, or "Bug" as he was commonly referred to by his colleagues, didn't mind, it's not like he was like his colleagues and had a personal life. His personal life seems to be the first topic of conversation in his phone calls with his mother, he remembered the phone conversation he had with his mother the other night, like the beginning of every phone conversation he always starts out saying the same things:

"Hi." Was always the first thing he said.

"Yes it's Heshy." Was always the second.

And "No, no girls yet." Was always the third.

No girls yet. That was the thought that dominated his mind days after each conversation. Of course Bug always has had his eyes on that one girl, resident grief counsellor Lily Lebowski. He never thought of Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh as one to have eyes for, he let Detective Woodrow "Woody" Hoyt and Dr. Nigel Townsend drool over her. But Lily, innocent, smart, attractive Lily. It bothered Bug to think that his own boss Dr. Garret Macy had a more romantic relationship with Lily than he ever did.

This particular Monday morning Bug had no clue what was going on, all he knew was that he and Nigel were to head to the docks to meet up with Detective Woody Hoyt to investigate a possible murder involving a French cargo ship. Bug never liked fieldwork, he rather enjoyed running tests and help to give closure to those who have lost loved ones due to unexplainable circumstances.

"And what do we have today Woodrow?" asked Nigel.

"Male. Twenty-five years old. He was found in the cargo container over there. There was only one piece of identification, a passport. His name was Jean-François Deneuve." stated Woody.

"Any idea as to why he was in the cargo container in the first place?" asked Bug.

"Nope. None of us here on the scene can't ask any questions until we get one of the Boston Port Authority's translators here." explained Woody.

"Maybe you should have paid attention in French class eh Woodrow?" said Nigel as he was snapping pictures of the scene.

"Maybe you could help me with solving this case Nigel." responded Woody.

Bug was glad that Nigel was working on this case with him. Bug never felt comfortable working on cases with Woody, they always butted heads on theories and Bug was jealous by the way that Woody could get any woman he wanted, even Lily.

"Detective Hoyt, gentlemen. I'm Lloyd Bender, director of International Relations for the Boston Port Authority, and this is Samuel Hanover, one of our translators." said the man who interrupted Bug's thoughts.

"Hello, Mr. Bender, Mr Hanover. These are Drs. Townsend and Vijayaraghavensatyanaryanamurthy from the Medical Examiner's office." replied Woody. Bug was somewhat impressed that Woody decided to introduce him and Nigel by their proper names.

Woody asked all of those who were on the cargo ship questions through the translator, although Bug could tell that the Mr. Samuel Hanover had a hard time translating what the men recall. He could tell that maybe Mr. Hanover was hired to translate another language, somewhat close to French but different none the less. Bug strayed away from Woody's questioning, and ran into Mr. Lloyd Bender.

"Mr. Bender do you realise that your translator is mixing some French words with Spanish words?" asked Bug.

"I know, but our regular translator decided to go on vacation for a few days. But they'll be back with someone to identify the man that was found in the cargo container. Doctor, the Boston PD already know that our regular French translator is away. But thank you for your concern in this investigation." replied Lloyd.

"Hey Bug we've got to get going here. The sooner we can get this autopsy performed, the sooner we can go for tea." interjected Nigel.

Back at the Medical Examiner's Office...

Finding the cause of death for Jean – François Deneuve was harder than he or Nigel thought. Was it murder? Or was it from natural causes? There were no physical indicators of foul play and there were no chemical indicators of foul play either. It would have to be another day until Bug and Nigel found out what Jean – François Deneuve died from, but it would take even longer to find out why he was in that cargo container.

Tuesday mornings were usually better than Monday mornings, just for the simple fact that everyone was a little less grumpy. As Bug was walking off the elevator, Woody confronted him and told him that there was a next of kin for Jean – François Deneuve in the conference room with the proper Boston Port Authority translator. Bug put his things away in the office that he shared with others and got Woody up to date with the preliminary findings that Nigel and he discovered in the autopsy. When Bug and Woody reached the conference room, Woody looked through the window only have a quick reaction which led to his back pressed against the wall, as if he saw a crime being committed. Woody made a move to suggest he was going to pull out his gun, instead he was wiping his hands on his pants and then licked his palms and ran them through his hair.

"So what are you getting all worked up for?" asked a bewildered Bug.

"In there, that woman, is Sandra O'Leary." explained Woody.

"Sandra who?" replied Bug.

"The woman of my dreams. After her break up with former Boston Bruins left winger Joe Hayward, she's been on a non-stop look for commitment. She's gone out with almost the entire Bruins team, almost the whole Boston PD, and rumour has it she's even dated Ben Affleck."

"So when you mean 'almost the whole Boston PD', it means every single guy but you?"

"Ha, ha Bug."

"Well gents, I see our distraught next of kin have arrived." said Nigel. "Blimey, would you take a look of that bird that's with that man in there."

And with that they all looked through the window to see medium height, slim twenty-something brunette, wearing a white blouse and short black skirt, conversing with an older, bigger, balder gentlemen.

"After me gentlemen." proclaimed Woody as they walked into the conference room.

"Good morning Detective Hoyt. This is Henri Deneuve, father of Jean-François Deneuve." greeted Sandra.

"Ms. O'Leary, Mr. Deneuve, these are Drs. Nigel Townsend and Mahesh Vijayaraghavensatyanaryanamurthy."

Ms. O'Leary quickly translated to Monsieur Deneuve what Woody was asking and translated to him what Nigel and Bug found in the autopsy. Just as Bug was about to reveal that they had not found a cause of death yet, Nigel gave everyone a shock.

"Ms. O'Leary love, would you kindly tell Monsieur Deneuve that his son died as a result of a congestive heart defect." proclaimed Nigel. Bug felt like a fool, he knew that if he had continued with the autopsy he would have found that congestive heart defect.

"Merci beaucoup docteur. Mon fils ecrivait cet lettre avant il mort." said Henri Deneuve as he slid the piece of paper across the table to Woody, Nigel and Bug.

"Sandra you'll need to read this because we all know I don't know any French." stated Woody.

"Papa, Maman and tout de ma famille. Pour pleusiers ans..." started Sandra, "Oh je m'excuse, I should have started in English, please give me a second."

A little smile grew across Bug's face, he thought it was cute that Sandra began speaking in the beautiful French language instead of immediately beginning to translate in English. Woody and Nigel gave each other looks as they watched the interpretor intently read the letter. A look of shock suddenly came across her face, and suddenly tears, and when Henri Deneuve saw those tears he began to shed some tears. Bug lunged to the box of tissues that was at the one side of the conference room.

"What did the letter say?" asked Bug as he sat down next to Sandra. He then looked up to Woody who had a somewhat angry look on his face.

"It says that 'for many years I felt like I didn't belong. I didn't belong in this family, I didn't belong in this country and I didn't belong in this body. I don't belong.' Isn't that the saddest, most heart wrenching thing you've ever heard?" asked a very tearful and emotional Sandra.

"I know how he felt, believe me." replied Bug, "Did Jean-François indicate in his letter what, if any, his intentions were? How he was going to end his life?"

"He writes: 'I know my father is a sailor, that's why I've never known him, he probably doesn't know I exist. He will know I exist when he finds me aboard one of his cargo ships.' He goes on to write that 'now more than ever I want to die, especially since I know that I have a heart defect that will do the job for me. Without any medical attention immediately this condition will help me reach the end once and for all.' "

"Suicide." said a quiet Nigel.

"I'm sorry that I'm so emotional gentlemen. This is the first time I've ever had to do this." stated Sandra.

"It's all right Sandi. We've all had to go through this before." said a comforting Woody.

"Voulez-vous un boire d'eau ou de jus, ou de café?" asked Bug to both Monsieur Deneuve, and Ms. O'Leary.

"Non, merci." responded Monsieur Deneuve.

"Yes a glass of water would be nice. Thank you Doctor." responded Ms. O'Leary.

"Bloody 'ell I didn't know our little Bug knew another language." stated Nigel.

"And he's showing me up right in front of Sandi." replied Woody.

As soon as Monsieur Deneuve and Sandra O'Leary left the Boston Medical Examiner's office, Nigel and Woody confronted Bug about his behaviour in the conference room.

"Since when did you speak French?" asked a persistent Woody.

"I have time on my hands, why not let it go to some use." explained Bug.

"Remind me next time I go to Montreal to bring you chum." said Nigel.

"Bug, you can speak French?" asked Lily as she came down the hall and into their conversation. "That is the greatest thing ever, because I'm planning on a little trip to Paris and I am having such a hard time learning the language through those books on tape. I wonder if you could help me some time."

Bug stood there flustered, now this was his chance to finally be with his one, his only, Lily.