Lacy had just gotten home from a long day at work. She walked into her apartment and noticed she had a voice mail. She walked into her bedroom where she was greeted by her cat fluffy. Lacy sat on her bed and listened to her voice mail. It was her best friend Jamie. She had wanted to go out tonight for drinks after a long work week. Lacy called Jamie back and made it a date. Lacy never really went out to much. She was a photographer and took her work very seriously so most of her time was spent working on pictures. But there was something about tonight. She was ready to go out. She took a hot shower and got ready for Jamie to pick her up. She decided to ware a tight little black dress with fire red heals. She let her long curly hair fall over her shoulders. She gave Jamie another call and they were on their way.

"Come on man you know you want to", said Darien's friend Heath. He was trying to talk Darien into going to a club with him. Darien shook his head, "Heath I can't dance dude I have one frickin leg", he said tapping his knuckles on his prosthetic left leg. He could have died when that bomb went off but he got away with just a leg missing. Heath shook his head, "Man your a good looking guy you don't need to dance, just sit there, drink and the chicks will come to you I swear", said Heath in an almost pleading tone of voice. Darien sighed, he knew his friend was just trying to help him out but the fact of matter was Darien didn't feel like the partier anymore. When he was younger, stupider and didn't know what the most important things in life were he would have agreed with holler and have been out the door before Heath. But now he knew that all this superficial crap didn't mean a damn thing. Besides what girl would stay with him 10 minutes after they found out he had only one leg. "Alright Heath I'll go but I'm going to be your wing man not to pick up chicks okay", said Darien in his warm tone of voice.

He threw on his jean jacket and ran brush through his hair real quick, he tucked his dog tags into his white t-shirt, Heath was lucky that it had been his left leg and not his right leg that went, that meant he could still drive and he could be the designated driver. Leaving Heath a perfect opportunity to get shit faced, and puke all morning. He grabbed his keys, "Heath come on man I swear to God your as bad as a woman", Heath came out stinking of too much Ax body spray and with enough hair gel to shellack a house. Darien tried to stay straight faced but it didn't work, after about 3 seconds he couldn't keep it in any longer. He burst out laughing at Heath, "Damn Heath you need a warning sign on you that says highly flammable", he said as he belted out in laughter. Heath rolled his eyes, "You just have no sense of style my friend", said Heath in a snooty tone of voice. "Dude I will stay away from a style that screams" he puts his hand to his waist acting like he's pulling a sword from it's sheath "I am a douche bag!", he said with a laugh.

Gwenevere sat at a table by herself, dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and an audioslave tshirt. Her long dark hair was in a tight ponytail. Her friends were out on the dance floor. Usually she loved to be out dancing, but tonight she wasn't in the mood.
'It'll be fun,' Sara had promised. yeah, I'm dying from excitement as we speak. Gwen had been fighting a lot with Alex, her fiancé. She was deep in thought about it, when a strapping, young gentleman walked in. She looked down at her drink to notice it was empty. Heaving a loud sigh, she headed up to the bar. She sat down next to him. She studied him out of the corner of her eye, while she waited for the bartender to take her order.
"it looks as if you don't want to be here either," she said to him as she flashed him a friendly smile. The bartender chose that moment to appear.
"What can I get you?" she asked in a bored tone.
"I would like a makers mark," Gwenevere responded. The bartender walked away without a response. Gwen sighed and pulled out her phone to see, if by any chance, Alex had texted her back.

Darien smiled at the pretty girl that had come and sat next to him at the bar, he glanced over at Heath who was making a total ass of himself out on the dance floor.

"it looks as if you don't want to be here either," she asked,

"Well I'm haven't been exactly in the dancing mood lately, but somebody's got to drive the idiots around", he said with a slight chuckle.

"What can I get you?" she asked in a bored tone.

He chuckled again, "Well I can't have much more than a beer, one wont hurt that's if your offering Mam I would never turn down such a pretty lady", he said with half smile on his face. She was beautiful now that he had studied her face for a moment stunning brown eyes and soft brown hair. He shook his head, "What are you thinking Darien she'd never go for a guy with one leg and no job", he thought to himself. But it was hard for keep his eyes off her, "Names Darien whats yours?", he asked.

"I'm Gwenevere. You can call me Gwen," she replied with a smile and held out her hand, "oh and just to let you know, I'm engaged." She looked upset for a second and checked her phone. Still no messages. She sighed.
"what kind of work do you do, Darien?" her voice was soft and delicate with an English accent. Gwenevere worked as a coroner at the city morgue. She liked her work. It was quiet and gave her time to think. Her most recent autopsy was part of a murder investigation.

Alex sat on a park bench looking up into the sky. His cloths weren't all that flashy. It seemed that he and Gwen were getting into many futile fights which seemed to annoy him even more. Watching the clouds pass by the male didn't want to return the text that he received from Gwen three hours ago. Taking two of his fingers, Alex massaged his temples, and got up from the bench, and began to walk down the park. He was close to the street, and remember that some of his friends were out clubbing. Even though he was engaged Alex decided to head toward a nearby club. It seemed like the only thing that could calm his nerve.

Walking down the sidewalk Alex didn't think of much. His persona was bummed out but it didn't register on his charming face. The male was a lawyer and he was proud of it he handle cases as if they were nothing but the fights were spiraling out of control. It was somewhat of a disaster to him. Keeping his eyes dead ahead Alex plastered a charming smile onto his face and walked down the street.

"Well Gwen I was in the Army but..." he paused for a moment, then went on "I was injured and well they sent me home, so right now I'm not doing much of anything. But I'm hoping to maybe go to school or something like that, honestly I really don't know what to do with myself right now", he said trying to sound like he was yelling but still speak over the thudding music. "Figures she's engaged, just my luck", he thought to himself. As the bartender handed him his beer he took a drink, "Thanks for the beer by the way", he smiled hoping she wouldn't ask how he was injured.

"Injured?" she replied, "That's interesting. My father was a Marine, himself. I work as a coroner. It's not nearly as interesting as your previous endevours, but it pays the rent." She pulled out her phone and there were still no messages. She sighed as typed another message.
'Alex, darling, why are you ignoring me? The only way we can solve this is by talking it out.' she sent. [i]I don't know why I even bother. [\i] The bartender handed Gwen her drink. Taking a delicate drink, she sighed. She looked down at her engagement ring. It was an emerald bow. Gwen hated bows and emeralds were her least favorite stone. Thinking about her wedding was enough to make her vomit. She took another hefty drink from the chilled glass.

Lacy and Jamie headed to the club. Once they got there they immediately hit the dance floor. Lacy loved to dance and so did Jamie, but when Jamie diapered with some guy Lacy decided to step outside for some air.

Darien looked out at the dance floor again, "Where the hell did Heath go" he thought, he shrugged and took another drink of his beer. "A coroner huh, not the most lively job in the world", he said with a chuckle, "Bet you've heard that one a million times huh", he said with a smile. She seemed concerned kept looking at her cell phone, "Are you expecting someone?", he asked. He shifted slightly on the bar stool, they weren't the most comfortable thing to sit on two legs let alone one. And he couldn't afford for that one to fall asleep, "Hey I'm gonna take my drink over to one of the tables you want to join me or would you rather wait here for who ever your waiting for?", he asked as he carefully slid himself off the stool.

Gwen smiled when Darien said her job probably wasn't the most lively job in the world.
"Are you expecting someone?" Darien asked. Gwen shook her head sadly. She was upset that Alex wasn't texting back.
"Hey, I'm gonna take my drink over to one of the tables. You want to join me or would you rather wait here for whoever you're waiting for?" Darien said as he slid off the stool.
"Sure," she responded as she hopped down from her barstool. Grabbing her drink, she headed for the table. She was intercepted by Sara.
"What are you doing?" she asked with a disapproving look,"You're engaged, Gwen. You can't flirt with other guys." Gwen rolled her eyes. Sara was Gwen's best friend, but sometimes Sara needed to pull her head from her ass.
"First of all, Sara, I'm not flirting. Second, I already told him I'm engaged. Third, you need to learn to mind your own business," Gwen responded irritatedly. She ignored Sara's shocked face and sat down next to Darien.
"What would you go to school for if you could?" she asked, a pleasant smile was back on her face.

Darien was a little apprehensive to start walking over to the table with his noticeable limp. "Come on man she engaged anyway why worry", he willed his artificial limb to move and sat down. He noticed on e of her girlfriends stop her on the way to the table, a concerned look in her eyes. He just smiled and continued drinking his beer, Gwen seemed to reassure her that nothing was wrong and came and sat down as well.

"What would you go to school for if you could?" she asked, a pleasant smile was back on her face.

"Well I was an MP in the Army but I cant go for law enforcement anymore because of my injury. But I'd like to do something with computers I think", he took another drink of his beer. "I'm not really sure haven't been back very long, and I haven't really thought about it", this was true he hadn't all he'd done is mope about how he only had one leg. This had been his first time out to mingle socially since he'd got back to the states, and became a civilian again.

Gwen had noticed the limp and she made a mental note to ask about it. She was a coroner and the human body fascinated her.
"Well I was an MP in the Army but I cant go for law enforcement anymore because of my injury. But I'd like to do something with computers I think," he said as he took a drink of his beer, "I'm not really sure haven't been back very long, and I haven't really thought about it." She studied him as he spoke.
"Computers and I don't get along particularly well," she replied with a chuckle, "But NYU has an excellent technology program. My fiance's best friend went there." Usually when she said the word fiance it made her fuzzy inside, but tonight it sounded artificial and unreal. She looked at her phone... Still no new messages. She sighed, the smile was still on her face. Sara walked over.
"Hi, I'm Sara," she said with an obviously fake smile. Sara held out her hand.
"I'm leaving, Gwen. Do you want a ride?" she asked. Gwen had pissed Sara off. It was written all over her face.
"No, thanks. I'll catch a cab. See you at book club tuesday." There was a good chance that Sara would tell Alex she saw her flirting with another guy. It would just be another fight on top of a mountain of them. Sara huffed and walked away before Darien had a chance to introduce yourself.
"I couldn't help but notice your limp. I hope it would be safe to assume that it is due to the injury you received during your Army service?"

Darien looked at Sarah with an awkward look on his face, and watched as she left in a huff. "Um am I missing something, I hope I'm not causing any problems", he watched as Gwen blew off her friends aggravation and assumed that it was something that was none of his business.

"I couldn't help but notice your limp. I hope it would be safe to assume that it is due to the injury you received during your Army service?"

She asked, him Darien swallowed hard he knew someone would ask eventually, after clearing his throat "Well yes.. I actually lost my leg, so I limp because well I'm sure you can figure out", he sighed.

She listened to his explanation with a smile on her face.
"That's so exciting," she paused, "well not the fact that you lost your leg... But the fact that medical science has come up with a way to make it so you can still walk." She looked at her feet, a little embarrassed. Studying his face, she noticed he looked embarrassed as well.
"Having a prosthetic limb is nothing to be embarrassed about. A lot of people have them. Plus you're a hero." The look on her face was sincere. Plus her father fought in Vietnam and her brother was in Iraq now. It was of the things her and Alex fought about. When it came to heroism, she was no stranger to it.

He was surprised by her reaction but shrugged off to her being a scientist. "Well it no big deal really I was just doing what any good soldier would do", he said nonchalantly. "So Gwen what made you want to become a coroner. Unless there's like some personal reason that you don't want to tell me", he said as he killed off his beer. He had seen his share of dead bodies in the war and couldn't understand why somebody would want to do it for a living. He had to admit though she was a cute girl, why would she want to be kooked up with dead people all the time.

She smiled when he shrugged it off.
"I became a coroner because I needed a job and it was open. I had enough medical school credits, so they hired me. The reason I like my job is because in a way it's like being a doctor. It's like being a doctor because I get to find out what ailments they suffered from while living and how they died. I often work with NYPD and CSI," she replied. She really loved her job but people often thought she was crazy and it bugged her. She didn't know why she cared if Darien thought she was crazy... She was ENGAGED. She sighed and noticed that her drink was empty.
"I'll be right back," she said gesturing to her empty glass, "Want me to get you a soda or something?"
She left her empty glass on the table and headed back to the bar to get drinks.
There was an open menu on the bar. She picked it up and glanced through the pages.
"Hey, baby. Have you ever seen a trouser snake?" an obviously intoxicated man old enough to be her father asked. She rolled her eyes and ignored him. He put his hand on her chest. Gwen muttered something about dirty old men under her breath before sharply poking him in several spots. He fell to the floor in a knocked out heap. She smile to herself. Her brother, Danny, had told her it was a waste of time. Picking the menu back up, she headed to the table.