Waking The Tickle (female)

[Chanel_no5]

Okay, that must be one of the lousiest titles EVER, but yeah. Spur of the moment. I never thought I'd write another fan-fic ever again, but this little story popped out anyway.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the characters or anything related to "Waking the Dead", I was just playing. And I don't know forensic either, so bear with me, okay?

***

I had just surrendered to the thought that I was, in fact, going to sneeze. I cupped my hands in front of my face, tilted my head slightly back, and inhaled sharply:

"Hah-"

"Eve, I need a report on…"

"tSShuh!"

I managed to make it smaller than I really wanted. It was just my luck that Boyd, my boss, along with the rest of the team, burst into my lab the very moment I really had to sneeze. While I wasn't particularly shy, my hayfever sneezes were often so loud, so harsh and came so frequently that I preferred to let them out in private. I sniffed, feeling the tickle lingering at the back of my nose, but I was used to playing hide-and-seek with sneezes. One day at 16, I woke up with allergies. I had never had them before, but I had had them ever since. Usually, it was enough with over-the-counter meds, but I had a tendency to forget taking them. As I had today. The prickle in my nose was incredibly distracting. I blinked and turned to face the team. Boyd had stopped in the middle of a step, almost making Grace and Stella stumble on him. He stared at me, startled.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine".

"Uuh-huh… um, yeah…"

He put on his glasses and then took them off again. I exchanged amused looks with Grace. She smiled and shrugged. Boyd was still fiddling with his glasses and the bunch of paper he had brought inside the lab.

"Well, um, report…"

"Of the body, yes". I picked up the slack, relieved to turn away from the rest of the team. My nose had started tickling again and I rubbed it furiously before starting to speak.

"It is in a state of total decomposition, meaning it's very difficult to actually get any answers from the autopsy – but, I have been able to l-locate… ugh… sniff… locate this".

I pointed to the X-ray pictures pinned to the whiteboard with one hand, while my other hand was busy rubbing at my itchy, reddening nostrils. It felt as if I had something very small and very sharp, like tiny arrows, stuck deep into the mucous membranes inside my nose.

"What exactly are we looking at here?" Boyd exclaimed in his usual, impatient outburst, his concern (if that was what it had been) about my health completely, if perhaps temporarily, forgotten.

"An almost complete… huhh… huh-rAASSCHHHoo! – "

"-Bless you"

It was Grace. I ignored her.

"- Excuse me, almost complete cut through C2, left to right".

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, this person was decapitated by something extremely sharp" I finished, sniffling. I needed a tissue. But even more so, I needed to sneeze again.

"Can you determine whether the one who did it was right- or left-handed?"

I shook my head, pressing one finger against my twitching nose.

"No, not unless… huhh… unless I know… oh God… hah-rAAuSSSCHhuh! Hah-uESSCHhhuh! Unless I know if the killer stood in front of or behind the victim… huhh…"

I got both hands up to my face and sneezed again. And again. This tickle was stubborn. I sneezed so hard I almost bent over. A wisp of hair came loose from my carefully hairsprayed bun, and I knew my pale skin was getting flushed.

"Good Lord Eve, are you okay?" Grace asked, her face a study in motherly concern.

"I'b fide, it's just hayfever. I get it every spring" I replied, sniffling wetly and looking up at the rest of the team with watery eyes. I smiled. "Really, I'b okay".

Then I looked at Boyd, who was every inch as flushed as I was. I raised an eyebrow.

"Boyd, what's gotted you so hot and bothered?"

"Is that all you got?" he asked, ignoring my question and nodding towards the whiteboard.

"Yep".

"Thank you. Grace, get Norman Daniels back in the interrogation room now!"

He started shouting his edgy orders again. The team got out of their white coats and left the lab. Left me alone. In privacy.

And then, the tickle was gone.

[TheCakeIsAlive]

I don't know the fandom, but that was lovely! I'm glad you decided to write fanfic again.

Hmmm... I wonder what affected Boyd like that....

[Chanel_no5]

I don't know the fandom, but that was lovely! I'm glad you decided to write fanfic again.

Hmmm... I wonder what affected Boyd like that....

Thank you so much! Yeah, I had to put in some fun in it...

This link contains a bunch of clip from the show (no sneezing though), clips featuring Eve starts at about 1:26. I love that husky voice of hers...