co-written by RatedrKjErIcHo

Leah sat behind her desk and waited for John. He'd told her he needed to talk to her and had offered to bring lunch. She heard a knock on her office door and John walked in.

"I hope Chinese is okay." He said as he walked over to the sofa.

"Sounds good." She smiled and walked over and sat down. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"I did some digging into Joey's death but to get the answers I need, I need to exhume the body. Amanda feels it's the best way to find out."

Leah smiled a little. She had an ulterior motive for asking Amanda to help John. He needed someone special in his life and Amanda did too. She just had a feeling that they would be perfect together. "So, have it exhumed."

"That's the thing. I don't have the right to do so."

"But you're his brother. His biological brother."

"Yeah but according to the courts, The Lauranitits are his family and only they can give permission. But Amanda doesn't think they will if they caused Joey's death."

"So, you want me to petition the court to have the body exhumed?"

"Yes. Do you think it will work?"

"I don't know. There is a lot of legal red tape with exhuming a body. You will have to apply for two licenses. One is an exhuming license, the other is a license of a religious official. Then you have to get an environmental services officer there when you exhume the body. You have to remove the body and place it in a new casket and then it goes to the medical examiner's office. Everything has to be done in the right order. But I think you have a good case. I will call Amanda and get her thoughts and petition the court."

John nodded. He looked at her when she didn't eat an egg roll which was usually her favorite. "You're pregnant."

"I am." She smiled.

"Congratulations." He said hugging her. "You and Adam must be so excited."

"We are. It's amazing to think we will have a baby before long."

"You will make excellent parents."

"So what about you?"

"What about me?" He asked.

"Are you seeing anyone?"

"No. I have a lot going on right now."

"You know Amanda is single and very smart and beautiful."

"I know she's beautiful. I did notice that today." He laughed. "You totally set me up."

"And I expect a thank you and a god child."

"Aren't you rushing a little bit? I mean, Amanda and I just met. I think it's too soon for kids."

"Just making my feelings know." She smiled.

"Yeah." He laughed. "So, how soon can you file the petition for the exhumation?"

"I will call Amanda and get her on board and then I will file it."

"Thanks, Leah."

"No problem. I want you to find out the truth." He nodded and hugged her. He then headed out.

Amanda sat in her office waiting for the old medical examiner to come. Dr. Paul Heyman had been the medical examiner and he had agreed to come and talk to her. Something about the case didn't add up. She looked up when she heard a knock on the door.

"Dr. Rollins?"

"Yes. Dr. Heyman?"

"Paul Heyman." He said sitting down. "What did you want to talk about? It sounded serious."

"I wanted to ask you about Joey Lauranitits."

"What about him?"

"Well, you listed his cause of death as being undetermined. Which I understand if you don't know one yet. But it's been over twenty years. A real cause of death should have been on the death certificate."

"The case was a normal case. The boy had a fall and it caused the rupture which lead to the peritonitis."

"Why didn't you put accidental death then?"

"It wasn't relevant."

"Dr. Heyman, I don't understand."

"Dr. Rollins. Joey Lauranitits was my nephew. His mother was my half sister. I didn't want to prolong their suffering, so I put that as the cause of death and just forgot to change it." He got up. "Dr. Rollins, this case was open and shut. The child had a fall. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have places to be."

"Dr. Heyman, why didn't you say anything about the bruises on Joey?"

"Because they were from the fall." He said before walking out.

"They still should have been noted." She said stopping him.

"They weren't relevant." He said walking out.

She sighed. Something was so off with this case. She picked up the phone and called a friend who worked at the police station. She quickly explained things to Stephen and asked him to see if he could pull the file. He said he would try to. She hoped he would be able to find something. She sighed when her phone rang again and she saw it was Leah.

"Hey, Leah, what's up?" She asked when she answered the phone.

"I wanted to make sure you were on board with the exhumation."

"I am. I think we should do it. Something is off with this case. I asked Stephen to look into the police file and I just met with the original ME."

"What did he say?"

"That the case was normal. Joey had a fall and that caused his death. He said he didn't put a cause down because he didn't want to prolong the suffering of the family. Which includes his half-sister. Eve Lauranitits is his half-sister."

"Something sounds fishy to me. I'll file the paperwork."

"Great. Once the judge agrees, we hope, I will arrange for the body to be brought here and I will see about things."

"Great. I will let you know." Leah said before hanging up.

Amanda took out the photos from the file and looked at them. She hoped something would stand out for her. She was meeting John that night at her place to go over things and she hoped she had something to tell him. And she was also a little nervous because he was handsome and despite the circumstances, she was attracted to him.

John sat in his office and looked over some documents. He knew Leah was filing the petition and he hoped it was just a matter of time before he had his answers on what really happened with his brother. He just had too. For his mother and for himself. He wondered what life would have been like growing up with a brother. What it would have been like to have someone look up to him. He sighed and closed the files. He had to be at Amanda's to discuss things. And maybe soon he would find out the truth.

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