Crimson Instinct

*Xin Lei*

It was quite some time since Liao Huifang went out to take a walk. I didn't want her to stay alone, but I understood she needed some time alone.

I typed. "Bai Li. Liao Huifang still hasn't returned."

"Call her."

"I did. But she isn't picking up."

"Let's go look for her."

But we heard some rapid and urgent footsteps of officers rushing towards where Ming was kept in custody.

"Something has happened," he said, "Ming. It must be her."

I quickly stopped one of them and typed. "Where are you rushing?"

The officer said, taking short breaths. "It's Sir Tian Song. He has attacked the witness of the case and also attacked Sir Duan Deming."

What!?

"Xin Lei. Quick. Let us go there."

When we reached the building, I saw the officers surrounding the area, but Tian Song, at a distance, had held Liao Huifang as a hostage at gunpoint.

I widened my eyes. 

How did she get involved here?

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Ming was on the floor; her stomach stabbed with a knife.

Damn!

I inhaled a sharp breath. I rushed towards her. 

Bai Li said, "I smell blood. Is Ming hurt?"

I typed. "Yes. She is stabbed, and Duan Deming is bleeding too from his thigh."

"You take care of her. Do anything but save her."

I nodded. I signaled the officers.

'Call the ambulance quick!'

"Yes!" One of them went to make the call.

Ming's condition was terrible. She was stabbed in the liver, and abdominal injuries are life-threatening because they bleed profusely and fast. Plus, she was hit in the liver.

The liver has the most blood supply, and if hit there, it aggravates the condition. She was already having hypovolemic shock because too much blood had been lost. Her pulse was rapidly increasing. Her complexion was growing pale. This was bad.

The trigger of hypovolemic shock meant that Ming had lost forty percent of blood, which the body cannot compensate. The circulatory system will fail, and she could even die.

I quickly elevated her wound above the heart level to slow down the bleeding. An officer helped me in holding her.

"Tian Song. Let her go!"

Duan Deming was still trying to talk to him, but it was of no use.

I looked back at Ming.

The first step was not to remove the knife. It may sound stupid to let it remain inside, but it was critical because the action of removing it again tears more tissues on the way, and that is just inviting more blood loss.

I couldn't remove the knife, but I had to stop the blood loss. I applied direct pressure on the wound to stop it as much as I can.

But she needed surgery. 

I looked at the officer and mouthed.

'Ambulance? Where? Quick!'

"They are on their way."

That was not enough.

I realized that the pressure wasn't helping at all. The blood was still flowing through my fingers.

No…

I elevated the wound a bit more, but it wasn't working.

"Hah!!!" Ming suddenly gasped and vomited blood.

She weakly opened her eyes and looked at me.

I looked at her and desperately mouthed. 

'Stay awake, please! Help is coming!'

Ming's eyes widened when she turned her head to look. She seemed terrified, and she slowly raised her hand trembling and pointed her finger at Tian Song.

He suddenly pushed Liao Huifang away from her and leaped out in the darkness.

Ming coughed again, and more blood came out.

"Follow him!" Duan Deming shouted. "Don't let him escape."

Damn, where was the ambulance! I glared at the officer beside him.

The other officer who called said, "The ambulance is stuck in the road."

I froze.

Ming couldn't hold for that long. She needed help right now!

They understood my distress, but it was beyond the officer's control too. 

I heard Ming gasp. She was trying to talk, but she couldn't. 

"T-that...man...s-stabbed…Hah!"

She suddenly took a sharp breath. She coughed hard, puking blood again, and her hand raised in the air, collapsed.

I froze.

Ming?

Her eyes closed, and she laid motionless. I quickly checked her breathing, but it had stopped. I took her pulse, but I felt nothing.

Ming had passed away. She died.

I looked at my hands, which were still covering her wound. They were all soaked in blood.

I couldn't save her…

Another innocent life was lost...

I knew I tried my best. I knew she needed surgery, and it was beyond my help to do that now. But I still felt as if I failed to save her.

I couldn't do anything for her.

"Xin Lei…"

Bai Li slowly came to my side. He put his hand on my shoulder. "What happened?"

I said nothing.

Bai Li didn't ask anymore. I know that he understood. He embraced me, and I clutched his shirt.

Liao Huifang came to my side and quickly asked, "What happened? Is Ming alright?"

We said nothing.

I saw her turn pale. "W-what? She is no more?"

Bai Li asked, "How did you end up with Tian Song?"

Liao Huifang cried. "I was checking over Ming when he suddenly grabbed me and aimed the gun at my temple. Duan Deming had secretly called for officers. He wanted to escape, so he caught me by surprise."

Duan Deming quickly came to our side, limping on his leg. "Where is the ambulance?"

The officer said, "Sir. The witness has already passed away."

"Huh? But the ambulance! Didn't you call the ambulance?"

"Sir. The ambulance was stuck in traffic. It still is."

Duan Deming gritted his teeth. "Do you know that she was an important witness! And where are the officers who left the cabin!"

The officers who were on duty, startled. They lowered their heads and gulped.

"You! Didn't I specifically say that at no cost will you leave your positions? And only I am allowed to enter. You would take orders only from me. Then why did you listen to Song?"

The officer seemed afraid. "We know, sir, but we got a call from him that you got into an accident. You urgently needed our help. He said that he would send some other officers instead to look after the witness."

"But why did both of you go? You didn't think of letting one stay here!?" He banged his fist on the ground in frustration.

"Sir, he didn't let us say anything further and hung the call. We were trying to reach you, but you didn't pick up."

"So, we thought that you were really in danger."

"Ughhh… I was talking to the forensic expert, Guozhi."

Bai Li asked, "Duan Deming. What exactly happened?"

He told us how he found Tian Song attacking Ming when he discovered that the lights in the building were off.

They got into a fight, but Tian Song knew he was hurt in his thigh, so he kicked him there and stabbed Ming before he could get up again.

Liao Huifang nodded. "I...I saw him stabbing Ming. At first, he pointed his gun at Duan  Deming but then he suddenly grabbed me when he heard the cops coming. I tried to resist so that Duan Deming catches him, but I couldn't."

We heard the ambulance sirens from a distance, but I could only mock at the timing.

When the nurses came out, I furiously typed. "Where were you? Do you know she could have been saved if you had come on time?"

I clutched my dress. It was hopeless now.

The nurse said, "Mam, we were doing our best to come here as quickly as we could, but we were badly stuck in traffic. We told them that it was an emergency. But we couldn't make our way out."

Bai Li said, "Is there some festival today? Why were the roads jam-packed?"

Duan Deming sighed. "Ah, actually well tomorrow is both Yi Xiaosi and Zhang Chao's rally. Maybe that's why the arrangements blocked the roads."

I gritted my teeth.

The rallies! I was damn sure that somebody didn't let the ambulance come here on time!

Some cops came huffing and puffing. "Sir."

Duan Deming asked, "Where is Tian Song? Did you catch him?"

"No, sir. We don't know, but he just disappeared. We looked everywhere but didn't find him."

"What nonsense!" he roared. "How can he just disappear? He is not a ghost. Look at the CCTV!"

"Sir, we checked in that too. But we didn't see him anywhere."

I typed. "Perhaps he somehow went to the place where the victims are buried. CCTV doesn't work there."

"That is possible. There is an old exit there which is also abandoned, but he could have used it."

He looked at the cops. "Don't just stand there! Keep looking for Tian Song! Seriously kiss your job goodbye if you didn't find him as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir!"

The nurses took Ming away.

Duan Deming and the rest of the cops got busy in the investigation.

Liao Huifang seemed distressed. "What now? Ming confessed, but now...what about her testimony? What about Fu Ting?"

I sadly smiled. I typed. "Her death won't be in vain."

"What do you mean?"

I typed. "I mean that she is not here, but her confession is. I had recorded our conversation where she gave her testimony."