"The pleasure is mine. Coffee in the pot if you want it."
Rather than feeling ashamed after Mikael castigated her, Santina only shrugged her shoulders and flashed the other party a mock roguish smile instead
She then offered him something to warm himself as if she did nothing and everything was normal.
She had been very casual and too used to Mikael's company, that more often than not there were times that it slipped on her mind that the other party was no longer the same high school guy that she had as a friend before.
Mikael was already about to become a priest, for crying out sake!
The other party on the other hand shook his head lightly and on the process, tiny droplets of water fell from his wet hair.
As if watching a commercial rolling, everything happened in slow motion at Santina's eyes.
The other party's very action was as though screaming 'COMMERCIAL: Mikael at your service'
The other party was about five feet and ten in height. He had this physical type of body that was usually described as compact or solid.
Beefy arms and broad shoulders that tapered down to his slim waist and hips.
His jet black hair that was as dark as night was tamed in a severe crew cut and created a perfect blend on his olive tone skin that looked as if he used to spend every day under the sun
Also, his lips that looked as though always begging to be kissed yet at the same time always in a straight line as he was always scowling at the world gave him a typical boy next door look that could make any women crazy
Even up until now Santina still could not understand what had gotten to this friend of hers and why he thought about entering the seminary and become a priest.
Nothing about Mikael, not the way he looked nor the clothes he wore on the outside world indicated that he was a priest or was at least soon to be a priest.
But Mikael had this intensity in his eyes and seriousness about him that made him seemed older compared to his actual age of thirty-one.
Something that Santina found rather sexy.
But despite his picturesque appearance, only the keenest of the observers would be able to note that Mikael used to walk with an almost imperceptible limp.
Something that was caused by a permanent injury.
The only thing close to remembrance that he got in his years of service at the police department during his prime.
Mikael walked towards the corner of the room where the coffee maker was located and pour himself some coffee.
He then took his time to sip and savor his hot coffee but when the liquid touched the tip of his tongue and it reached his taste buds, he made a face.
"Pwe! This is bad. Could you even call this a coffee???? Are you kidding me???
Mikael momentarily lost his bearing and spoke a little louder than he expected.
Santina then pulled the mask beneath her chin and replied simply with a lopsided grin,
"Cross-cutting, Brother Khel."
Mikael put his cup down and focused at the other party instead.
He could not help but asked the other party out of concern when he noticed that she was lisping a little as she spoke
"How is that tooth???"
Upon hearing the mention of her tooth issue, Santina grimace.
"Don't talk to me about it."
Mikael's sultry yet manly laugh reverberated in the quiet room when he heard the other party's response.
Santina has an impacted tooth on the left side of her mouth that has been due for several months.
In fact, it has nearly rotten through by now.
Yet whenever the subject regarding the dental work came up, Santina would instantly turn from an open-minded and logical woman of science, into a fearful and petulant child.
One of the things that Mikael could not understand about Santina.
The other party had been very good at her job of dissecting dead bodies and performing autopsies on them and she could even do it with much ease.
Yet a simple tooth extraction was enough to send her cowering.
Weird indeed, if someone would ask Mikael about it.
************************************************************
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Meanwhile, Santina scowled at Mikael's amusement.
"You keep to your own ways and leave mine to me"
She said quoting a famous philosophical view that Mikael was highly likely to have read before in his years at seminary
Mikael nodded his head in mock solemnity upon hearing this.
"Hmm.. someone did her homework here. Well, yes. I agree with that as well. But I am quite certain that Plutarch was not talking about tooth decay when he said that."
He paused, but then added afterward with a genuine concern in his eyes.
"You should know better Santina. You realized, of course, that could be bad to your heart, right?"
The two had known each other for years so it was no secret to Mikael that Santina used to have a weak heart since childhood.
Poor dental health had the tendency to increase the risk of a bacterial infection in the bloodstream, which as a result could affect the heart valves.
"I will tell you what was bad for my heart. Pain and terror. That is what is bad for my heart"
Santina said to brush the topic off to discussion and as if showing that she was so done with the conversation that they were having, Santina straightened up her back and groan. She hunched her shoulders first to relieve the tension in her muscles there and then relaxed them again
After that, she resumed what she was doing way before Mikael interrupted her with his whining about the bad coffee.
Santina seemed to transform from her perky personality into a totally different person whenever she started becoming serious about her work.
She surveyed her work again which was currently on its final stage and said,
"Looks like Number Sixteen to me"
Mikael walked over to the metal table and stood beside Santina.
Due to his height, Mikael had no choice but to bend a little too far over it. Because the autopsy table was adjusted to suit Santina's height of five feet in the first place.
It was made that way so that the other party would no longer have a hard time and feel more comfortable while she was doing her work.
The table was slanted and was made with pure aluminum with its edges raised.
The autopsy table was also completed with several faucets and drains which were very efficient in washing away the collected blood during the internal investigation.
On that same table, remain of a child's body could be seen lying at its center.
A rubber body block was placed beneath its back which allowed the chest part of the body to protrude forward while both its arms and neck fell back.
This position made it easier to cut the chest open and put it out for better examination afterward.
"Same missing parts?"
Mikael inquired and Santina replied to him with a nod.
"Yup. Viscera was pretty much gone and the heart is missing as always."
Spending most of his time with Santina while doing her work as a forensic pathologist allowed Mikael to learn a thing or two about the field so he could observe as much as that.
"What a very neat blade work. I give him that."
Santina commended but Mikael seemed to have something against her usage of words.
"Him???? And what exactly made you think that it was a 'him' and not a 'her'??? Do you really think that only men were capable of doing such a crime? Women could also do that too. You are being a gender bias, Santina."
"Fine. Whoever he or she the killer was or whatever gender preference it could be. The killer was really good at using the blade. That is what I mean and all I am trying to say. Are you happy now? Geez!"
"That is more like it. Be fair. You sexist."
Despite being friends since high school, the two still found themselves arguing over trivial things like that every now and then.
They were like a human manifestation of Tom and Jerry.
Yet despite their polar opposite attitude; different character and temperament, they still usually found themselves on either end of baffling mutual affinity.
The time they used to spent together over the past few months only made it stronger that there were times that they startled themselves and one another by finishing off each other's sentences and thinking similar thoughts almost at the same time.
************************************************************
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I hope I was able to make a convincing autopsy scene there. LOLS.
Just a disclaimer though... I knew nothing next to forensic science and I just googled everything and make the most out of those pieces of information available on the internet. Hehe
Here is my source, by the way:
https://science.howstuffworks.com/autopsy5.htm
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