"Did she shoot him?"
"Is she bleeding?"
"Is he dead?"
"Is she dead? Injured?!"
Shouts and questions erupted around me.
Changkyung and I rushed to the woman who collapsed onto the ground. Within reaching her, I realised that it wasn't just a woman. It was Cerise. She was still wearing the same clothes from Friday night. It was Sunday morning. Why was she still wearing the same piece of clothing almost two days later? Why was she out here in the first place?
Once I was close enough, my knees connected with the ground as I cradled her face in my hands: "Stay with me, please stay with me", my throat scratched, unaware if I was whispering or shouting, my voice was overpowered by the shouts erupting around me.
Changkyung rushed to the bleeding body, accompanied by the rest of our team, by officers. Leyla, another fellow investigator and coworker of mine, squatted down next to me, helping me to check Cerise's body for any signs of injuries.
"She's freezing, her body is too cold. It shouldn't be a surprise if they dragged her out in the middle of the night wearing just a thin dress, these bastards...But she doesn't seem to have visible wounds. We have to wait for the paramedics so they can check for anything internally", she stated and patted my shoulder, signalling me to stay with Cerise before reaching for her radio to give a status report and call for paramedics help: "Officer Sharma from the A.C.C.I.O. We need medical assistance, Westend city. One-" she looked over to Changkyung, who shook his head in response, "possibly an injured woman and one dead man. Thank you"
I removed my jacket and placed it over Cerise's lower body which was completely exposed to the morning cold of early June. It felt wrong, so wrong to feel her cold skin brush against my almost feverish hands but I needed to warm her up, to increase her body temperature.
I needed to help her, save her.
Her eyes fluttered when I pulled back to watch her, and in response, I held her closer to me to warm her up even more. To do anything to make her feel better and safer. If anyone else in the team had been here, I would have already been forced to retrieve her until the paramedics arrived. Changkyung and Leyla didn't pull me away from her, and I was grateful for it. Speaking of, Leyla came over to us again, golden emergency blanket in her hand. "This will help her, " she said, wrapping the foiled blanket around Cerise's body before I put the jacket back on her.
"Any idea what happened here?" she then asked me in a calm voice. I caressed the tangled red strands out of Cerise's face, tugging them behind her ears. Her body temperature slowly increased and returned to normal, but goosebumps were still spread around her arms and legs. "She shot him", I said, simply as that. I had witnessed how Cerise had shot the man who was bleeding out in ruins.
What did you do, Cerise? Was it self-defence?
"I just got off the phone with Moretti", Changkyung walked over to us. "He's coming over with backup. The dead dude is the head chief of security of the White Pearl. They will probably come to collect their man as we speak now. Leyla will accompany Isabelle to the hospital before she's brought in for questioning. They will be here shortly".
Later then, the paramedics may or may not have had to pry my arms open to get Cerise out of my arms, to get her into the vehicle, which officially sealed my fate that I was emotionally too bound to the case of the White Pearl.
That my time working on the case had ended.
Before I managed to help.
Before I managed to get her out.
If I only had known sooner.
My heart ached to go after the ambulance that took Cerise to the hospital for a check-up. My feet were planted onto the ground, unable to move the second I saw Greenaway approaching. With no glance spared at me, the only word he muttered was "dismissed".
So Chankyung and I made our way back to the office on autopilot, following the orders. Perhaps Greenaway would be too busy at the crime scene to interrogate Cerise once she was brought back from the hospital.
All I could hope for was that he wouldn't be able to get his hands on her.
