Broken Bones

Episode 63 "The Bond in the Boot" Part 3

Venus POV

I am in the bone examination room with Cam as I tell her, "Still no cause of death, but the damage to the cartilage and lumbar vertebrae definitely indicate torture. He was bent in some very painful way for a long period of time. I'm analyzing the injuries to get the exact position. But I have some sort of idea how it was done." She nods, "Well, the strange thing is I found no contraction band necrosis... in the myocardium in the heart." I nod, "That means he showed no signs of distress even after hours of torture." "Isn't that impossible? Unless the C.I.A. underestimated this guy. Anyone who can take that kind of abuse.... makes James Bond look like a weenie." I smile, "A weenie?" She smiles a bit, "I'm sorry. I have no idea where that came from." I shake my head, "No, it's alright. It's nice hearing that I make the most amazing and well-known spy look like a weenie." "No, problem... I think." We both chuckle a bit as she leaves. About 15 minutes later as I was focusing on the bones after Temp called me and told me that Mandy told them that Rutledge and Dorit were discussing diamonds when she was listening in with the bug and he was clearly lying. But we can't interrogate him since he's the assistant director of the C.I.A. and we don't have any evidence that ties him into the murder for now.

But maybe I could find something in the bones that could help us. I was focused on the bones that I didn't notice someone walk inside as they put their hand on my shoulder. I reacted quickly as I elbowed them in the gut making them grunt in pain as they bent over as I turn about to hit them on the side of their neck to knock them out as I stopped midway through seeing it was Wendell. My eyes widen as I froze a bit as he lifts his head looking at me and my hand getting real close to him as he slowly says, "I should've remembered to not startle you like that." I quickly shake out of my shock as I quickly help him stand up straight as I say, "I'm so sorry Wendell. I didn't mean to, are you all right?" He nods, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Bye the way where you going to karate chop me." I nod a bit, "Yeah, with enough force, I could've knocked you out to be honest... I'm real sorry..." I then stop for a second thinking about something about the bones as it clicks in my head. Wendell sees me getting quiet as he asks, "Are you all right? I promise that I'm fine now..." I then repeat myself, "With enough force, I could've knocked you out..." He nods giving me a confused look, "Yeah..." I smile looking at him, "Darlin' you are a genius!" I grab his face pulling him in as I kiss his forehead as I quickly start leaving as I tell him, "Check the C3 for me, while I get Cam." He nods confused as I leave.

I come back with Cam as I see Wendell had checked the C3 and seeing what I was thinking off as I tell Cam, "We found, in addition to perimortem disk compaction..." Wendell continues the explanation, "There was also significant hemorrhaging on C3." Cam then says, "Trauma confined to a limited space." I nod, "If a precision knife hand-strike was delivered to C3," I show her how it would be done as Wendell finishes my sentence, "It could be used to render a victim unconscious." Cam then says, "A blow to that region can cause severe nerve damage." I nod, "Which is why the maneuver is known only by trained combatants, like me, special forces, navy SEALS." Wendell adds, "And perhaps the assistant director of the C.I.A." I nod, "If he had been a field agent first, it seems likely." We then hear Wendell's phone ring as he checks, "Oh. Uh, that's my mom. I haven't told her yet. You mind if I take this?" We shake our heads as I say, "I'll go and let Ranger know on what we found." He nods as Cam, and I leave the room. Once out and a good distance away from the room Cam looks over at me for a moment as she says, "You know, I haven't seen you this close to anyone else after Zack." I hum a bit sadly, "Is that so..." She nods, "You know it's all right to get close to someone again."

I nod, "I know, but the idea of being deceived again... it's something that I'm used to, but it hits different if it's with someone you put your trust into." "Wendell isn't the same as Zack." "I know... I could feel the difference between Zack and Wendell." She looks at me, "Different?" I nod, "Yeah. Zack is my best friend, we did so many things together and even he doesn't realize it, but he was the first one to really break down my guard and even though what he did hurt me, I still trust him with anything I tell him and I know that he will still be there for me when I go to him for help. Because the bond that we have is something of true friendship that can't be ever taken away." She nods, "And what about Wendell?" "He's different. When we first met, it was a unusual. I felt we had an instant sort of connection for each other. After that we hanged out a lot whenever we can. I never have that same feeling when I was with Zack all the time. I felt more conscious of myself when I'm around him, yet I could be myself with him as well. Even sometimes when he does something I get these weird feeling in my stomach that I can't even describe." Cam then smiles a bit, "You like Wendell." I nod, "Of course I do. If I didn't, I don't think I would be hanging out with him." She shakes her head, "No, I mean you have romantic feelings for him." I stop walking as I question myself, "I have feelings for Wendell...?" Cam nods, "What you described is having feeling for someone." I nod a bit then smile a little, "What a weird feeling... but it's nice." She nods a bit, "It is." We are at the entrance of the lab as I say, "Well I'll be off to the FBI headquarters. I really enjoyed our conversation Cam." "I did as well." She and I went separate ways.