Who remains?
Story by Bordox on SoFurry
Who owns a lost ring? The seeker, the leaver, the craftsman possibly? And who owns them when they're gone?
Hi,
as you might guess from the title, this story is a little different in that it's not meant as a story. It's a thought all of us probably had once in their life, that I tried to capture here in a (hopefully) interesting way. Was the mild gore necessary for that? Well... maybe. I hope you enjoy, so feel free to tell me whether I hit the right balance or lost track on either end of the story-lecture-line (or any other thoughts/feedback for that matter). In any case: Have fun and see you around.
Bordox
It was a beautiful summer day and birds were chirping through the sky in an endless competition of their songs, the sun was burning everything to a crisp that didn’t escape into the plentiful shadow under the oak trees… In short: it would have been the best opportunity in months for a good time off campus, around some lake, a snack, an exciting novel; yet today wasn’t one to dream. Today was the long anticipated, long dreaded day in the autopsy.
Edward and the others gathered in front of the sterile aluminium door, that lead into the sterile workroom with sterile bodies just waiting in silence… Most of the other’s were already used to his fur dye, an orange base with sea green spirals, swirls and knots flowing symmetrically almost everywhere, so it luckily didn’t earn him more than a few looks while the entire group chattered pleasantly with their respective partners; some of which in a relationship, some just having the doubtable honour of finding themselves matched by the system; all except him. Sure, he had had a partner, but barely surprisingly she was missing today due to some convenient sickness. The sabre tooth tiger let his gaze run through the sea of smaller bodies, searching for their professor being overdue by five minutes, yet all he could find were his chatting fellow students, some strangely eager to finally get to work with their first body.
Maybe it was the distance most kept with this topic, that sparked such eagerness; possibly the Hippocratic oath, always reminding you to fight for life, save whoever you could… whatever it might be, it was most inappropriate. Finally though, Professor Anshani approached. Despite her size, the antelope easily made her way through the gathering mass and commanded them into a semi-circle in front of the entrance with a voice trained by years of instructing. “Alright. I know how many of you fear today’s experience, some might be looking forward to it,” quiet laughter from the left half, “but whatever you do: if you lose yourself in there, don’t dare do it over the material or anywhere else in this room. Body donors are hard enough to come by and whoever makes a mess will sterilise the room later on. Have I made myself clear? Good, then come in, fetch a coat and apron from the left closet, gloves and masks from the boxes, after that, proceed to your table. You will find all required material and tools already prepared for you, but pay attention to the numbers assigned beforehand, taking into consideration your differentiation regarding species wherever possible. In case you missed the email, what are you even doing here? Now get moving, you will need the time.”
Just like any other of their laboratories, the door lead into a tiny vestibule with the required equipment, sinks and wardrobes. Another passage lead into the main room, steel tables neatly organised in rows and brightly illuminated by cold, white spotlights. One by one, they entered, some following the instructions more loosely than others and it took at least ten minutes of strict exhortations by the professor’s assistants to get everyone to their covered station with silhouettes of the… material clearly showing through the mint green garments, the one at his station suspiciously small. “You know where the sharp end of the scalpel is by now, so I expect no unfortunate incidents where I have to sow you back together or else ? once again ? you will clean this entire room on your own, regardless of your condition. You have your instructions, so begin,” the antelope gave her final words, then hit the stopwatch and the students started their examination. Edward took the small tray of tools and placed them a little closer, then gripped the cover and started pulling it back.
It was one thing to know the physiology, reference material, imagery of the different conditions, but feeling the cold mass through his gloves, the slightly sunken in skin, was terrible. The room started spinning and as the damned body was out of rigor mortis again, the stoat female who now lay bare and inert before him… she looked just asleep, still sparking with life if only one were to wake her from her dream. Apparently he had indeed been one of the “unsatisfied differentiations”, but what did it matter now. He caught himself resting his paw on her shoulder for a moment, feeling the still soft fur and wondering what she was doing here in this place of pity. This was just wrong. Even as he did the required superficial inspection, noted all the different peculiarities, he just couldn’t forget that this wasn’t just a set of notes…
“Get yourselves a room already, Ed!” a voice behind him suddenly called, immediately shushed down by their friends, but he still could recognise it. This idiot was close to failing all her classes, a bloody? Next he knew, a smaller, gloved paw softly picked up one of his tools, a finger tapping along the metal, quiet steps ended right by his side, and when he shifted his gaze back to his table, Edward spotted an otter looking up at him with a heartfelt smile. For some macabre reason, the few places of the mustelid’s fur showing through the assistant’s clothing even had about the colour of his patient’s. “She isn’t going to bite, Mr. Geiger,” latter grinned nonchalantly, then looked at the tiger’s trembling fingers for a moment, watching them nearly drop the scalpel he had taken. “I’m… sorry. I will s-start right away,” Edward muttered hastily, then put the blade down in the centre of her chest, and… he just couldn’t press it down. His paws refused their service and he had almost lost the tool indeed if the otter’s hadn’t taken hold of his.
No matter how indecent it was, it… helped. The mustelid gently applied pressure and Edward could almost hear his patient shriek in pain when the steel blade sunk right in, then traced a straight line down her belly, cleanly avoiding the milk lines and stopped close below her navel. “Are you alright?” the otter then asked, to which he could barely nod. “Great. Now… as you don’t seem to have a partner, let me assist you. Sure, I can’t do the work for you, but I could use some company right now. What do you think? I’m Brian by the way.” “Edward.” “I know. Let’s open her up, shall we?” Brian smiled widely, then picked up a pair of bolt cutters and handed it to the larger tiger. At least they were the right size. Taking them almost instinctively, latter one stared at the body for a while, then at his new acquaintance. “Don’t look at me like that. Once you have to weigh the lungs, you will have to get them out, don’t you?” “B-but this is only eighth on the… list…” “So you plan to reach everything else through that cut if you have to do it later anyway? Come on, she won’t feel anything,” the otter said encouragingly. Edward still hesitated for a second, then exhaled sharply and placed the device down. Just one press and the first rib gave in, the second one soon to follow while her body shook under each and every crack as if in the pain this would have done to a living being.
By the time he was done, the feline was on the verge of giving up, but under the emotional support of his new partner, he measured, weighed, noted whatever was on his sheet. Each time he looked around, he spotted someone giggling, proudly presenting a black lounge, a deteriorated liver, whatever oddities their bodies had. It weren’t many of course and they were quickly called to order by Prof. Anshani, yet it was disgusting to see those idiots treat death as a mere sensation, something to joke about like any other topic. So he quickly returned to his patient, finally sowing her back together until she almost looked like the sleeping lady from earlier, not his workpiece with a giant maw in her chest that had swallowed all of her organs. “Hey, you’ve done it! Now breathe, you’re alright, she’s fine, just cover her back up again, won’t you?” Brian said as he patted the tiger’s shoulder with a little effort.
He smirked once again, then headed for another station and Edward only realised when it was too late, that the professor had already taken his place, sieving through his notes before scribbling something on her own clipboard, “what are your results?” “M-my… res-sults? I thought they weren’t… due until tomorrow…” Edward responded, then immediately regretted this statement. Pointing at the female stoat intently, she put up the most terrifying stare he could imagine and started her speech which seemed well practised, but at the same time painfully specific, “Any good doctor doesn’t have to write a report to have a rough idea about their living patient’s condition, so why would it be different with a dead one? Of course, the official grade will only depend on what you hand in by tomorrow with more thought put into it, but I was hoping for you to be a little more capable than table five.”
The tiger just looked down at his notes, blushing deeply under his short fur, and tried to piece together just… something not to embarrass himself even more. “I… uh… the body shows… usual signs of… ageing, slight nephropathy, degeneration of arteries, but considering her age and likely medication, this… is most likely just the expected tissue damage, so… she died of old age with just… minor health issues which have not grown to concern yet.” The antelope looked at him for a moment, her face cold as ever, then took a pair of tweezers and roughly gripped the female’s eye lid. “Medication you say. So what would you make of that Mr. Geiger?” He looked at the display with a certain… reluctance, then noted the tiny damage on her eye lens and the burst blood vessels when the antelope pointed her flash light at it. Bloody hell, the stoat just begged for him to help her. “I… don’t know, rise in pressure due to post mortal digestive inflation?”
“Close, creative, but not quite,” Professor Anshani finally concluded and took a scalpel, not to cut but to point at the barely visible cataract, “If you had paid a little closer attention in your observations, you would have noticed an advanced diabetes mellitus. You didn’t include this symptom in your notes, so I wish to read no mention of it in your report, but I’m sure that you can find other conclusive arguments.” For a moment, Edward stayed quiet, slightly clenching to his documents, then nodded and watched her stalk off surprisingly satisfied, whether it was because of his mediocre answer or her superiority, he couldn’t tell.
The room felt too small all the sudden, the aluminium wall panelling all but moving in on him. He needed to get out of here immediately, so he tidied his desk as far as protocols required, marched out of the first door, threw off the equipment into the waiting bags, then mostly sprinted outside until he felt the campus’ grass underneath his hind paws and the sun on his fur. “Fuck,” the tiger just sighed as he flopped onto a rock and tried to process what he had just done. His now gloveless paws, just five minutes ago, they had… cut a body, they had… A numb feeling shot up his throat and he would have lost his meal right there in the park if a certain otter didn’t happen to walk by, then took a cross-legged seat in front of him in the grass, “So you are not alright, my friend. What is it?” Edward shook his head in disbelieve before leaning back flatly against the rock and relished in the sunlight warming his skin for a moment. “I… don’t react very well to this, the whole concept In general, that… something just ceases existence. I have just touched someone in a way I never would have, then… cut her open. This is just wrong.”
“Alright, Ed, I can call you Ed, right? I?” “I don’t… like that nickname. ‘E’ or ‘Eddie’, but this?” “Right, right, no problem. So… where was I? Ah, right. So you are afraid of a body? Well, look down at yourself. You will cease existence at some point as well, you’ve touched yourself in a way no one has before, so what is it that’s so frightening about her?” Taking a moment to stare at the otter in uncertainty, Edward at last scoffed and rose from the stone.
Due to his size and efforts to at least seem somewhat confident, he was usually shunned by smaller students in particular, but for the first time in his studies, he wished that it worked a little better on this one. “I’m afraid you’ll have to look for someone else to make fun of.” “I was not making fun of you, so sit back down, then we can talk this through,” the otter suddenly turned dead serious for a second, then put up to his genuine smile once again, “These are important questions you need to answer for yourself, or else you will never find peace with that pesky aversion for your end. We lose patients once every while, despite our best intents and efforts, and if you react this extreme about a death you had no influence on, just imagine what’s going to happen if you do some unlucky day. Gonna puke all over the freshly deceased?” “It would be different, I?”
“No, it wouldn’t. You weren’t upset about the corpse, E. You saw something in her and now you seek answers, so sit down and let’s get this over with.” Edward blushed at the impromptu berating, but at last complied while pinching his ears to get his head clear again. Several minutes passed in silence, except for the shifting of the smaller mammal’s posture, before the tiger whispered again, “Am I crazy to think that she looked alive, Brian? Just a small… something and she could have walked out of there just like you and me.” The morbidly similar mustelid thought for a second. “You are not crazy, far from. In fact, you are more sane than one can say about your giddy friends,” Brian hummed as he raked the grass with his paws, showing off the webbing between them, “but that does not answer the question of why you are this sensitive about death in general.”
The tiger snarled at the other’s persistence, then growled out, “I don’t know. I don’t know anything. I was told to believe, that it is the shell for a spirit of some sort, but… Doctors revive patients from coma, clinical death sometimes. Who knows what we’ll be capable of in a century… a millennium. She could be as alive as you and me, we just are too underdeveloped to see it.” “And you are concerned about impeding this woman’s bright future?” “No, of course not. Are you even trying to understand?” Brian sighed deeply and took a seat next to him, “I do, but you don’t try to express it in a way that I could.” “I mean!” Edward yelled before he lowered his voice in embarrassment, “I mean that she shouldn’t have died in the first place.” “This doesn’t?” “Of course it doesn’t answer your question. I don’t know anything about it. All I know is that I shouldn’t be digging through the remains of such a life, whatever they are. I had no fucking right to!”
Despite a few students already eyeing at them, the otter stayed quiet this time, calm and unphased by his outburst. All the sudden, he started grinning though, with his tiny, pointy teeth on full display, then rose to stand in front of Edward and reach him a paw, “Come on, it’s enough for one day. You are hungry, so we should get you something, don’t we?” “Still no answer to your question.” “You have made the first step. Understanding yourself is a journey not to be conquered on the first day.”
A few looks were exchanged, until with an annoyed grunt, the tiger nodded and lifted himself on his legs before the other one took the lead to a nearby kiosk. While first doubting to find anything edible there, Edward soon had to notice that their menu offered quite the surprises. The establishment even had a tiny table and two chairs on the parking lot next to it. “Do you need anything?” he asked when he ordered a huge pile of fries and a delicious looking salad, but the otter politely declined as he sat down and let his look trace the surroundings, rest on the trees for a second, then return to the tiger’s empty seat. The food was done suspiciously quickly, yet when Edward took the other chair, he was genuinely surprised by how good it tasted. “Why all of this? After all, I’m just another fellow student with a light stomach, barely worth an assistant’s attention,” he eventually spoke up with half a lettuce leaf still on is way down his throat, the other half possessively clinging to one of his fangs with a surprising dexterity in its struggle for survival. “As you said: you are a fellow student.” “This doesn’t answer my question for a change.”
“But it’s the best you’ll ever get from me.” The taller male chewed for another moment, then continued, “Are you just afraid that I might see you differently if you told me?” “Quite possibly,” Brian laughed, “but primarily, it doesn’t matter. Wouldn’t change anything, would it?” “Probably not,” Edward had to admit, “although I can hardly imagine what is so fascinating about someone enjoying their meal in silence.” “Oh, the way people eat tells me a whole lot about their personality, at least I believe so,” the otter snickered, then slowly ran his gaze over the tiger’s arms, neck and face, examining the details until latter felt as proud as he felt uncomfortable, “While we are at that topic: why the fur dye? Seems unreasonably hard to maintain to me.” Edward raised a curious brow at that statement as this was usually just a thing others took as granted, then rocked his head slightly in consideration, “I… think that I have started treating it about three years ago. Tan was just boring and… r-red suited me just better in my opinion… with white ears,” he added, then returned turned his gaze at the table, half expecting a judging comment, but nothing along these lines happened.
Brian just sat there with genuine interest, his only question coming with a genuinely pleasant hum, “But why red? Thought it worked better with the blood and so on?” “N-no… of course… not! It just felt… right. And… it’s no excuse for dark blue, light blue, … neon green with black stripes, white with black stripes, or this either,” the tiger muttered while pointing along his exposed arms and head, “It’s more of a whim really. If I get bored one day, I might try something else, even leave it natural for a while. I don’t know. It’s… my thing… somehow.” “And do you paint it all by yourself? Not getting help with the hard to reach places? I must admit, I for my part am not even gifted enough to paint something like this under ideal circumstances.” Edward stopped chewing for a second when he noticed the implication, only being met with the usual kind smile. “No, I do entirely on my own. It… works… with a little practice.”
The otter watched his vis-à-vis nervously, feeling a bit out of his depth with all of these questions. He had never discussed them before and now… A smug grin played along the otter’s lips when Edward chewed on another fry, then nervously stabbed his salad with the cheap plastic fork. “Aaand another topic discovered. Relax a little. My lord, It’s not like I offered my help. No wonder you are so unreasonably sensitive, all this tension,” the mustelid hummed, then frowned at Edward’s angry growl, “alright, alright, I’m sorry.” Brian paused for a second, kneading his paws, then looked at the tiger again, “Regardless of what I have said or done today, I admire your respect for the dead. And I hope that you never change that, just… try to accept that you can’t do anything about it. I’m sorry if I went too far.” Edward nodded and poked another fry to pick it up. “No, you’re right. I’m too sensitive. I just don’t know what’s wrong with me, it’s just that… there’s this… feeling around certain topics. I just can’t help it,” Edward grumbled, then returned to his fries, “but it’s just other people’s bodies. I shouldn’t feat her, nor should I fuzz this much about my colouring if I wear it that prominently.” “So you’re just selfish? Working with yourself is no problem, but once a charming lady asks to be cut open, you refuse?”
“No, fuck, there’s a difference between painting and tearing open!” he immediately interjected, much to the mustelid’s amusement, “If she asked to be painted, I would probably? no, she’s dead, damn it. This is disgusting. What’s wrong with you?" “And that’s exactly the point, E. What were you working with there? Why would she complain about a new look, or a thorough investigation for that matter?” Brian smirked kindly, “Sure, it’s against social rules and all this nonsense, but in the end, it all comes down to who or what the other person is to you, how you evaluate this lump of flesh I sport, the patient, the copse, whatever.”
Pulling his ears in frustration and the increasingly strain in his throat, Edward just pushed his finished plate aside to lay his head on the table. He felt the otter’s eyes still resting on him, heard him shift in position, then felt him pet his shoulder encouragingly. Another minute passed in silence before Edward could raise his head again. “This bad?” Brian asked and was met with a weak nod a little too quickly. “Why study Medicine then? It seems rather counterproductive.” “Thought it would fix itself. Medicine interesting,” mumbled Edward as another wave of nausea shot through him along the image of his scalpel sinking into the stoat’s chest.
The mustelid just kept on smiling and reached out to collect the paper plate and fork and throw them in the bin nearby. When he returned though, he moved a little more careful and hesitant, “I hate to leave you like this, but I really have to go. Got some appointments. Will you live to fight another day?” “Probably,” the tiger chuckled wearily before standing up as well, “It’s not like I have a day off either.” The otter laughed out in response, then placed a visiting cart in front of the feline, being immediately met with an uncertain glance. “Oh come on. I’m not asking you for a date, it’s just my mail address and number at the chair… with forwarding to my smartphone in case I’m not available, but hey. If you ever need emotional support or a few pointers for your exams, feel free to hit me up, alright?”
Eyeing at the other one’s reaction, Edward nodded cautiously and the otter turned around to leave with the usual smile. Just a second later however, the tiger’s face dropped when the otter also pulled up his shirt and draped it leisurely over his shoulder, archly smirking back at Edward and bathing in the beautiful summer’s day, “Disgusting, right? Absolutely disgusting.” Latter just watched the otter leave with an angry glare. The light feeling in his stomach about such shameless presentation, about such embarrassment returned for a second, then was quick to ebb off again when he waved again, then disappeared behind a corner.
Edward thought about burning the card for a second, then a smile tickled his whiskers and he hesitantly pocketed it.