Am I in heaven or Afterlife? I recalled that someone called it - near-death experience. I never had that one before. Oh, am I dead? Why am I dead? What's going on with me? I honestly don't know where I am right now. Help me.

Maura recrudesced to the morgue. Susie was still scrutinizing the surgical bowl. The footsteps came closer, and the honey-blonde woman inspected on Nicholas' body.

"Is everything all right, Dr. Chang?"

"Oh! I didn't see you here. Yes, Dr. Isles. I was calculating a thing from inside of the stomach. Is it chicken or pork?" The scalpel was poking on the bowl. Maura took a closer look at it and tilted upward to smell the food digestion.

"It is a chicken. I think that he ate it a few hours ago before his death. That's a good finding, Dr. Chang. So, I am here to take over. Thank you."

"No problem, Dr. Isles." The ladies smiled at each other. Susie took her gloves off to throw in the biohazard trash near the doors and went ahead toward the lab. Maura exhaled a breath while checking on the report that Susie scribbled.

The Y-incision cut was still open. Maura took her time to inspect inside the organs and weigh them on the scale. She didn't realize that the digital recorder was still on because Susie put it near the tools. The honey-blonde doctor finally noticed the recorder and took a glance at the paperwork. The decision was easy.

"The stomach is weighing at 3.0 oz. The width is 7 inches and 12 inches long. It is a firm stomach and a little bit big. The food digestion was a chicken sandwich and fries."

Maura nodded at her accurate examination on the stomach then moved to the next organ, the intestines. She was calculating with the scalpel inside the short intestine, and it was immaculate. Maura carried it to the bowl and inspected on the long organ. It was equivalent to others.

The autopsy got longer. Dr. Chang came back with the lab results based on the white blood cells. Maura glanced at the clock, and it was getting late. She hated to be late. The autopsy got complicated than any case Maura worked in the past. Nicholas Reed was different. The report was half-written. It was a lot of information based on size, width, length, and weight.

The medical examiner adjudged that she sent her criminal tech analysts to go home. It made her stay behind and do her work until it was completed at late night. Dr. Chang and others bid her good night and headed home. Maura heard a cell phone beeping on her computer desk. Her gloves went off in the trash.

She opened the messages and saw it from Jane. It was about dinner. Maura smiled and typed her order. Maura was grateful to have Jane in her life. She had no idea how she felt about her friendship. In her past life, Maura grew up without having a friend. The boarding school, medical school, and college made her a genius at everything. But for making friends was not her thing to do, it made Maura reclusive and lone.

Maura was a well-known genius on her reputation as the Queen of the Dead. She didn't mind that nickname. It was way better than to be Maur-bora. In her social life, the people around her thought that Maura was boring. She always tells the facts and never lies at all. Jane secretly loved Maura's Google talk about everything but wanted to stop her babbling. But they knew that Jane never wanted Maura to change for who she was. That's her Maura.

The honey-blonde woman was almost done with her report and continued to sew the Y-incision cut. It was not that long. Maura checked everything on the body to match on her paperwork. It was a perfect approximation. She gathered the tools to deep-clean in the sink. The medical examiner was satisfying with everything in the place. Maura got to Nicholas' body to transfer on the rolling table. She felt the cold skin on her hands.

Maura was confused at the temperate of the cold body. She knew that the morgue always gets cold while she was working on the autopsy. But this body of the victim was freezing like ice. It was not 36 hours yet. It was been almost over 12 hours since the body was checked with the morgue techs from last night.

She thought that Dr. Chang wrote something on the report and went ahead to check on it. It stated 'the temperature was -30 Celsius. Maura looked for body temperature and inspected it on the body. It was over -50 Celsius. It was impossible to get down on the temperature.

Her hand touched on Nicholas' hand and she felt very cold toward the skin. It almost froze her. Maura backed off her hand and got some thinking in her head. It made her check the temperature in the body morgue. It was still the same between -10 to -30 Celsius. The honey-blonde woman reappeared in the morgue.

There was a ghost appearing in the corner behind the closed doors that were from outside. The figure was a man, he had black hair, clothed in his over-size collared shirt, blue jeans, and dark navy Nike shoes. He was in his early 20s. His look was mixed in Italian and Greece. The eyes were brown, and the skin was darker than Jane's. His voice ceased when Maura came in the morgue.

Maura was in awe. She couldn't speak or scream for help. Her heart was beating when she saw him standing there near his body. The medical examiner thought that her eyes were tricking her, but it wasn't. Her footsteps halted due to his voice.

"You can see me?"

It was Nicholas Reed. Maura stiffened at the question he asked. She didn't think that she could answer that question. Nicholas walked toward her and waved his hand onto her face.

"I know that you can see me. Are you?"

"How do I see you?"

"I don't know. Where am I?"

"Boston Police Department, the morgue." Maura stuttered. Her thoughts went crazy in her head. Nicholas took a look around in the morgue and saw his body lying on the rolling table.

"I am dead! How am I dead!?"

"Yes, you were murdered from last night at 9 pm. It was an accurate timing. May I call you, Nicholas?"

"I prefer Nick. What happened to me?"

"I don't know for sure. But, will you tell me before your death?"

"I... Sorry, I don't get your name."

"Maura. I am a chief medical examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

"That's a high rank. Maura. Honestly, I don't remember what happened to me. I mean, I walked home, and it was a blur after everything went down."

"Nick, it is ok if you don't remember. But can you retrace your steps where you went home?"

Nicholas nodded at Maura's question and turned around to close his eyes. The memory was the blurriest motion, and he shook his head. The honey-blonde woman waited patiently. She almost forgot the recorder on the table and clasped it quickly to turn it on. In her thoughts, Maura hoped the conversation recorded between them in the morgue.

"I remembered I was at the bus stop. I think I passed a few buildings. One of them was a coffee shop or a java shop. I led myself in three blocks away from home."

"That's good. What is else?" Maura encouraged Nicholas to recall his steps and looked at the recorder that was still green. Nicholas exclaimed.

"I remembered a cat. It was a black cat that walked through the dark alley. The light was not that bright. But, I remembered that I scooped a cat before arriving home. Then, it was a blackout. That's all I recalled. Is it helping?"

"Yes, I hope so. So, do you want me to tell you what happened after?"

Nicholas looked at his body and nodded. Maura glanced at the clock; it was already passing by 8:30 pm. She knew that the dinner was ready upstairs. Jane waited for her. The honey-blonde turned to face him, but Nicholas vanished in the air.

Maura gasped and looked around in the morgue. She walked briskly to search everywhere in the labs, the morgue, and the offices. The medical examiner caught her breath when she halted by her office. In her thoughts, it went to Nicholas' ghost appearing in her morgue but disappeared all of a sudden.

She heard the elevators beep, and her eyes scanned at the doors that slowly opened. It was Jane. The brunette detective strode toward her, but her looks were perplexed. Maura showed a sign of fear and curiosity.

"Maur, are you okay?"

"Umm. Yes. What are you doing?"

"I was forced by two boys to get you upstairs. Dinner is ready. Korsak just arrived a few minutes ago. I sent you a text, but you didn't respond."

"Sorry, I caught up at work." Her hives were showing up. Jane peeked down at her best friend's neck and pointed to it.

"Maur, you are flaring it up."

Maura exclaimed before entering her office. It made her feel itchy. Jane knew that it was a lie her best friend made and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I know something's up. What's wrong, Maur?"

"Nothing! Let's go get some dinner."

"No, Maur. Tell me now."

"Fine, Jay! I saw a conscience in the morgue."

"What? A conscience. You mean, ghost?"

"Whatever, Jay. I saw him appearing in the morgue. I mean, he talked to me. Wait a minute! I recorded the conversation in the morgue." Maura indicted the recorder, which was on the empty table next to the rolling bed. The ladies walked inside from the office's side door, and Maura clicked on the button to play it. Jane heard the static.

"It is the static, Maur. I'm starving!" The brunette detective slumped before going out from the morgue. Maura was confused at her reaction. Jane didn't hear the conversation between Maura and Nicholas. But only that Maura can listen to her talking in a clear voice, and that's what Jane heard was static.

The questions popped in Maura's head. Why did Maura hear it very clearly but not Jane? How did she see the ghost? Will Jane believe in her? Maura balked all of a sudden before Jane tugged her to the elevators for dinner.