The Mortuary Assistant

The body of one Emily Sawyer,

the embalming of which is being performed

by Intern Rebecca Owens,

for her final supervised procedure.

Very good, Miss Owens.

Arterial injection.

Embalming is proceeding adequately.

Adequately?

Satisfactorily.

You're doing great.

Uh, did I do something wrong?

No, everything's fine.

Please, continue.

Embalming completed at 4:24 p.m.

Fantastic job, Miss Owens.

All right, Miss Sawyer.

Let's get you tucked in.

Night.

Instruments in autoclave, check.

Table cleaned, check.

Restock.

Oh, God...

Mr. Delver, you startled me.

What are you doing?

Uh, I was just restocking the fluids.

I saw they were low, so I was gonna stock 'em

before I went home.

There's never any reason to be down here.

There are extra bottles in the front supply closet.

That should be plenty until we get the next delivery.

Though, I appreciate your attention to detail.

Of course.

Well, unfortunately there's no great fanfare

to mark your completion.

Not in this line of work.

That said,

shall we toast to your achievement?

Uh, no. No. Thank you.

Uh, I appreciate it though.

Of course. My apologies.

No. It's fine.

I just, um... I just don't really drink.

Nonetheless.

So, I'll be working on my own now?

For the most part, yes.

I'll mainly be handling the business end of things.

Taking care of the families

or the loved ones and stuff like that?

Not these days.

We don't invite the families into the office.

It's one of the reasons I removed the doors

to the embalming room.

I found that when I'm working on my own,

it just makes things a bit easier,

one large prep room.

Easier to keep an eye on them, I guess.

Yes.

The hours will be fairly consistent.

Uh, other than the occasional weekend,

you'll mostly work the day shift.

I'll handle any remains that come in at night.

But I don't mind working nights

if you ever need to... - No.

No.

I wouldn't want you to get worn out.

Burning the candle at both ends,

it isn't good for anyone.

Besides, you're young.

You should be out having fun.

I don't really do much of that these days.

Well then I can expect you to be well-rested

when you show up for your day shift.

Everything all right, Ms. Owens?

Uh, um, yeah. Uh, sorry.

I just got a bit of a migraine.

I'll be all right.

Well, with any luck, we won't get anyone in.

You'll be able to take the whole weekend off and relax.

Welcome aboard, Ms. Owens.

Again, and again, and again.

What the...

Uh, hi.

Uh, my name is Rebecca, and today is my one year.

Um, sorry.

I... I don't really know, um, what to say.

A... a year ago, I didn't really think

that I would even be here.

But, uh, I'm sure you guys probably

hear that all the time.

Before I got sober, uh, I think I was afraid of

feeling pretty much anything.

I would just shut off from everyone,

and I don't even think I went more than a day

without numbing myself.

I guess I was just letting the fear

and shame kind of take over, you know?

Uh, would end up hurting anybody who would try to help.

And I think that's been the hardest part for me

is accepting the pain that I've caused

and people that I've lost.

Uh, but that's why I'm grateful for this program,

because I know that I'm not alone

in that feeling.

And I can choose to not hide from myself anymore.

Um, so thank you for letting me share.

Happy birthday.

You should be proud.

You should be proud of yourself.

It's a big deal.

And there's still work to be done,

but you know that.

We just have to keep taking it one day at a time,

and you keep coming back.

This is why it's important that we share our wins

and we celebrate each other, so let's celebrate.

Rebecca.

Whoa!

Becca, I am so proud of you, and your daddy.

Oh, God rest his soul.

He would be so proud of you, too.

Thank you for coming.

Of course, sweetie. I love you.

I love you too, Grandma. I'll see you soon.

Bye, honey. - Bye.

Rebecca.

I'm not gonna lie. I'm worried about you.

It is not uncommon for the first-year chip

to be the last one collected.

Well, I made it this far, haven't I?

Tell me you'll call if you start to slip.

I will.

Okay.

Just remember,

you're only as sick as your secrets.

And hey, congrats on finishing your internship.

I know.

Hell yeah.

Although I will never understand

how you can deal with the...

Uh, okay.

I'm proud of you.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Fuck it!

Mr. Delver?

Sorry to disturb you, Ms. Owens.

I know you aren't feeling well.

No, it's okay.

Uh, what can I do for you?

Unfortunately, I need you to come in tonight.

I know it's not what we talked about, but...

Okay.

We got a transfer from the city morgue

this evening, several in fact,

and I'm unable to be there myself.

Sure.

I mean, that's what you've been training me for, right?

Absolutely.

Good luck.

All right.

Wait. Embalming and cremation?

Why do I need to do both?

Uh, whatever.

All right, Mr. Lebowitz,

let's get you embalmed and, I guess, cremated.

All right, what do we have here?

Oof, yeah, that'll do it.

Oh, those look fresh.

Wonder how you got those.

Well, if you're curious why a bath,

that would make two of us.

I mean, why put in all this effort

if you're just gonna burn, right?

But the boss gets what the boss wants.

Okay.

All right.

Jacob Lebowitz.

Distinguishing works.

You gotta be fucking kidding me.

River Fields Mortuary.

Hello?

It's Raymond.

Just checking to see how things are going.

Yeah, yeah. Uh, it's been interesting.

Uh, I think the storm's causing some trouble with the lights,

but they're holding up,

and I was just about to start on the second body.

I was wondering if you had any questions?

If you need anything, call me right away.

Of course, Mr. Delver. I'm sure I'll be fine.

Okay.

Well, you must have been somebody's grandma, right?

My grandma,

she basically raised me after my dad.

And she...

Shit. Um, uh, wait here.

All right, that works.

How did you do that?

That's weird.

Oh, you poor thing.