Kristiansson (Kris) , Hamilton (Ham) and I were all employed by the county medical examiner's office, so we have seen more than our share of stiffs in every condition possible, so when we got a whole week off at the same time, we decided a cabin vacation in the woods away from the usual patter of dead bodies, autopsy suites, conferring with cops and the smell of formaldehyde was looking more than very attractive.
The three of us were buddies for a long time; the old timers at the ME's office weren't too thrilled about me coming there when I first hired on, being I was only one of four women employed by the ME's office, and the other three had been secretaries. They obviously weren't used to a woman actually being in contact with the bodies themselves.
But Kris and Ham had a different (read: modern) view of things; we'd become quick buddies during my first few months with the office.
Ham was thirty-eight, a strapping six foot three guy with dark hair and built like a bouncer. He had been a former cop before becoming an ME. Evidently, the women in his life weren't thrilled about either of his vocations, because Ham had been divorced twice and already had broken up with yet another girlfriend. Kris and I razzed him about this all the time.
"Better off sticking with the dead ones, Ham," I teased one day.
"You got that right. They don't give me as many headaches."
Kris was thirty, somewhat shy around live bodies, five foot ten and had sort of an average build, a blue eyed dishwater blond, with sun streaks running through his always-tousled hair.
Kris was the man was what the two younger secretaries deemed 'cute' in an unconventional way. He had never been married; always joking that his job was his wife. He may have not minded the secretaries much, but once in awhile, I would catch Kris eyeing me.
But before what would happen at the cabin, I saw him as nothing more than a buddy.
On the day we were supposed to leave, we almost didn't make it out that day.
"Dr. Cavanaugh," the coroner indicated to Kris, tossing a file onto his desk. "We need this autopsy ASAP."
Kris had sighed and pulled a lock of blond hair behind his ear, reading the file. I picked up that if he'd had his way, the coroner himself would have been Kris' next body.
"You know you and Ham can go ahead if you want, Jordan. I shouldn't be long on this one."
"We can wait," Ham announced. "We have the place for a week anyway and we aren't due up there till later tonight."
I agreed; it wouldn't be the same traveling without Kris and I needed to finish some paperwork anyway.
It seemed it hadn't taken long for Kris to finish his case; he then went back to change out of his scrubs and shower. He then came out in a light blue sport shirt and jeans.
I couldn't help myself when I saw Kris in those jeans; he seemed to fill them out nicely, especially in the behind. No wonder those two young secretaries liked looking at him.
"Nice ass, Dr. Cavanaugh," I teased, knowing it would turn Kris beet red. Ham got a laugh out of it.
"If you weren't such a good friend, Hartman, I'd have you for sexual harassment," Kris came back, blushing deeper.
Once we did get out of the ME's office and on our way, the roads that were easiest to travel to the cabin were washed out, and it took several hours to get there.
"Jesus Christ," Ham complained. "I honestly think we're not supposed to do this thing."
We finally made it shortly before dusk, crawling our way over the twisting and turning back roads as Ham cursed under his breath and Kris directed him from the map.
The scene was picturesque; the small church along, along with one pub and a general store looked like a postcard set against the mountains and trees. We stopped at the general store for a few things before going to the cabin. By the time we got there, it was already starting to get dark.
Inside Ham set up everything while Kris and I put away the groceries. The cabin had four bedrooms, one downstairs, three upstairs and two bathrooms ("One for us, and one for Jordan to take twenty years in, " Ham would joke. "You know women, Kris.")
The look of the cabin was very rustic with furniture that looked to be made out of smooth tree limbs.
There was even a bear skin rug in front of the fireplace that we probably wouldn't be using. The cabin itself had originally belonged to Kris' family.
We'd then had a quick dinner before cleaning up.
"It's still early," I said. "What do you guys want to do?"
After discussing it for a short time we decided to play cards, specifically Kris' favorite, poker.
"Why don't we make it strip poker?" asked Ham.
Kris turned a little pink and I gave Ham a look.
"I don't know, Ham; Jordan's been known to cheat at regular poker."
"I don't cheat!" I said, looking at him and defending myself. "I don't cheat," I repeated reassuringly to Ham, who just smirked at me.
"Whatever you say, Dr. Hartman."
We played hand after hand, stripping off one article of clothing after another as we passed some beer around we'd gotten at the store. By now, I was left in a white cotton shirt and a thong.
