Red Light

Aftermath: Part 5

Wei Ying sat under the blanket and watched the light filter on to the two young faces next to him.

A'Yuan was all eyes as he turned his head following sounds. Fear too prominent in an already fearful child. Any progress they had made had been washed away in an instant. It was heartbreaking.

Wei Ying wasn't a violent man, but he hadn't felt any sorrow or regret for the dead man. If he wasn't worried about altering evidence, he would have spit on him.

'How dare they threaten my boy for that fucking bastard?' growled though his thoughts. The anger paced back and forth within him in electric sweeps. Arcing outward. Unrepentant.

Sizhui sat quietly, his eyes upward. He was still thinking far too heavily for a seventeen year old. Was having to think far too heavily for a seventeen year old.  The events of the past week for this boy had been devastating.

He had seen his parents murdered. Leaving him alone in a world that simply didn't give a shit. Did Sizhui even have any family to go? A guardian? Anyone?

'I have to find out what the situation for Sizhui is. Mostly, I need to get them out of the hospital and soon. Yu Bin as well. If we don't, we're going to die, and I won't have it. No one will touch the boys again.' It was odd how his inner voice had firmed. He felt it. The fear for himself had been burned away by his fear for others. He knew it wasn't a permanent solution for all of his trauma, but it would do for now.

He held the boys a little tighter, closed eyes, and began to plan.
-----

Yu Qing arrived in the recovery room at a run.

"Is he out yet?" she asked breathy with her exertions.

Nie Huaisang was on the phone. He glanced up at her.

"I'll call you back." he said into his phone as he hung up.

"Not yet. They said maybe two hours. That was Wen Chao's guard detail. What did you do to him?" The man on front of her looked predatory.

She didn't look away as the edge of her mouth twisted upward in distaste.

"I slapped him as hard as I could. Made sure taking care of his wound was as painful as I could make it and then punched him in the face. Bloodied his nose pretty good. Why?" Her tone was defensive.

Nie Huaisang started to laugh. Laughed until he had tears standing in his eyes.

"Gods, I wish I could have seen that!" He managed to gasp through his laughter. It took him a bit to get himself under control again.

"Actually, I was asking about the needle. They said you immobilized him and had him turning purple. Can you do it again?" He was watching her with intensity.

"Of course. Is he being a problem?" she asked.

"Despite the temptation, I'm not talking about Wen Chao. We captured one of our attackers. I want her to tell me everything she knows and if she won't do it willingly..." he let his voice trail off. There was no doubt what he meant. "Can you do that and do no lasting harm?"

Yu Qing considered the situation. Normally, she would have slapped Nie Huaisang for even suggesting she be involved with torture and then turned him into his superiors. But this wasn't a normal situation. They had tried to kill A'Bin and that meant the rules had drastically changed.

"I will consider what you have said. For now, I need to put a few stitches in the detective and his partner. I want to be back here as fast as possible. Be here when A'Bin comes out of surgery. Do you know where they are?" Her voice was somber.