Beware The Water

Only Lies

Lux had heard before seeing anyone. She had stepped out of the elevator with a cup that was more creamer than stale coffee in one hand, and the start of a headache was behind her tired eyes when two overnight nurses almost bumped into her while staring at a phone screen. "Whoa." Lux stopped just in time before spilling her coffee. "That was close." She tucked the strand of hair that fell over her face behind her ear.

One of the nurses looked at her too long. The other one looked away too quickly.

That was enough to make Lux wonder. "What?"
___________________

At Shibata's Gym, Shorter had already began to clean up and pack his black duffle with his now sanitized boxing gloves. "They drug test." Shibata warned as a reminder for the amateur tournament. "So if you smoke at all or anything like that, just hold off in the mean time."

"I think I'll be alright." It had been a while since the last time Shorter had gotten high. He never smoked around Lux and didn't want to be in that state around her either. The amount of time he had put into training whenever he could was another factor, there was no time to just chill. There was always something on his mind that needed fixing.

"Good." Shibata nodded, his demeanor was nonchalant but on the inside, Coach Shibata withheld many questions. He still worried about Shorter. It was nice to see how hard he was working to get out of the mafia life style, then a dark cloud in the form of Mr.Lee invaded the scene. Shorter was given a significant amount of money, that much he knew. That type of cash isn't made with a small drug run or something petty. It was made by selling a piece of your morality to the Devil of Chinatown.

The wonder behind Shibata's eyes didn't go unnoticed. You don't ask a man of their lifestyle about how they make their money. Even if they both are out of the game, you don't ever watch another man's pockets.

A few moments later, after small talk about this amateur tournament, Shibata had gotten a call from a friend. "Mr.Wan?" Shibata looked at the time in the corner of the screen to see it was way passed midnight. "Figured he'd be in bed by now." He said out loud. Shibata greeted the old gentleman who owned one of the bodegas. His cheery smile then faded away when Mr.Wan was speaking frantically in Cantonese.

Shorter raised a brow when he heard Shibata trying to calm the man down.

"Did anybody get hurt?" He switched to English. Shibata's eyes darted over to Shorter who was now standing by his shoulder to try and hear, but he didn't understand Cantonese . "We're on our way." Shibata hung up the phone and hurried to get his coat.

"What's going on?" Shorter threw his bag over his shoulder and rushed behind Shibata.

"A shooting."
________________

Word spread faster than the sirens blaring towards the scene. By the time Lux had got there, the block was already sealed off.

She came running up the side walk still in her scrubs, breathless with her hospital badge swinging against her chest with every step. She tried leaving the hospital parking lot as soon as she heard the news, only for a fender bender before the exit to be blocking. She abandoned her car there and ran twenty minutes to the scene. Her ponytail had long since fallen apart, loose strands now sticking to her face from sweat. Lux didn't stop running until yellow caution tape cut across her path and forced her to.

Lux heaved, trying to get a look at what was going on. Red and blue lights strobed against the store fronts. Officers were taking statements and keeping the crowd at bay while coroners were a few minutes out from the crime scene. Chinatown had already spilled out into the streets, it was no surprise when Lux had spotted Sing already having conversations with anyone who would speak to him about what they heard or saw.