September 2, 2013
A burst of ringing from his cellphone woke Zhou Ning and simultaneously pulled him out of the dark room. Taking a long breath, Zhou Ning grabbed the phone, which showed it was only 5:41.
Rubbing his eyes and clearly seeing the caller’s na, Zhou Ning’s sleepiness vanished and he suddenly sat up.
"Hello, Director Xu, what’s up?"
"The fingerprint and DNA comparison results are back. The male DNA is indeed Xu Qingquan’s, and the fingerprints match his exactly. However, I just received a call from the traffic police. They had a car accident on their way back. Ma Liang and Xu Qingquan have been taken to the hospital by the ambulance. The situation is still unclear."
Zhou Ning was stunned.
"Which hospital were they taken to? How are the people?"
"Not sure. The traffic police said they got the call from a passing driver, who discovered the accident. It happened near the interchange bridge between Qinlan Expressway and Shenhai Expressway. They were taking a village road because of construction, and had a head-on collision with a truck.
The truck driver died on the spot. The traffic police arrived at the scene at 5:17, called in the firefighters, and after cutting the vehicle open, they extracted the people. Just now, the ambulance took five people straight to the Central Hospital. Call Mr. He; they can be there in half an hour. Organize the rescue; I am also heading to the hospital right now."
Zhou Ning hastily ended the call. Without even putting on his shoes, he rushed to the second floor to Mr. He Shancun’s room. After knocking on the door, Mr. He was alert and quickly ca out, raising his hand to stop Zhou Ning from speaking and asked in a low voice:
"Are you crazy? My son just wakes up around this ti; why are you knocking on the door? Tell , what happened?"
"The team sent people to the provincial capital to catch a suspect. On Jingkou District’s territory, they took a rural road and collided with a truck. They’ve just been rescued and sent to your Central Hospital. They should arrive in half an hour. Contact the rescue team; the injuries sound severe, according to Director Xu."
Mr. He quickly went back to his room, grabbed his phone and his things, and ca out. Zhou Ning also changed his clothes, brushed his teeth, and the two drove to the Central Hospital. On the way, Zhou Ning inford Mr. Zhao, after all, Peng Shinian still needed his help.
Upon reaching the ergency room, dical staff was already waiting at the entrance. Mr. He went ahead to arrange things, while Zhou Ning parked the car and approached. In a mont, Chen Cheng also arrived, putting on his white coat as he ran over.
"Do you know the situation?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"The call was from the traffic police to Director Xu. I don’t know the specifics. The traffic police called the firefighters to cut open the wreckage. It took half an hour to get the people out. I suspect the injuries are severe, maybe even crush injuries."
Chen Cheng sighed.
"They’re building the overpass there, so everyone’s taking the roads below in the villages. The lighting isn’t good; neither are the road conditions. At this ti, around five, accidents are indeed prone to happen."
Zhou Ning thought for a mont. Getting to Jingkou District at about five ant they left the provincial capital at dawn. Presumably, after the performance ended, they found Xu Qingquan and went to the provincial office to take blood and fingerprints for testing, had a al, and then headed back.
They were in a hurry to get back, so they took a shortcut. Otherwise, they could avoid Qinlan Expressway and detour to Qidong via Qinyin Expressway, but that was a slightly longer route.
The sound of ambulances grew from a distant wail to a nearby convergence. Five ambulances stopped in front of the ergency room, and the injured were quickly brought out. Among them, Ma Liang was conscious, his neck in a brace and his leg splinted.
Xu Dayuan ran over from the parking lot. Seeing the state Ma Liang was in, he imdiately grabbed his hand, his own hands covered with purplish-black blood—unclear whether it was his or soone else’s. His elbow had several deep, bone-visible wounds, one of which was still embedded with glass shards.
"Zhou Ning contacted Mr. He. We have top ergency doctors here, so don’t worry. I’m fine, and I won’t tell the family for now to avoid worry. Is that the idea?"
Ma Liang blinked; trying to nod was impossible for him at the mont. He weakly said:
"The large truck’s headlights were blinding on the dual carriageway, I don’t know why, but we hit head-on. Driver Mr. Qiu hasn’t moved at all since; I’m afraid his injuries are very serious. It’s my fault for taking him on this night road and this small path. When we collided, I pressed Xu Qingquan against my legs, especially his hand trapped against my stomach. He’s not badly injured, is he?"
Xu Dayuan looked up, smiled at Ma Liang, and said:
"Shut up; your injuries are severe."
Ma Liang closed his mouth, and seemingly hearing that his injuries were the worst seed to relieve him from further worry.
One by one, the injured were wheeled into the ergency room. The driving officer was the most severely injured, his head deford and his sternum collapsed, likely from the steering wheel’s twisted impact. However, because he was small and thin, his legs were relatively intact.
As Xu Qingquan’s gurney passed Zhou Ning, he took a careful look. Aside from his face and hands which indeed seed fine, the twisted position of his legs clearly indicated the severity of his injuries.
The fibula, tibia, and femur bones all pierced through the skin, his left leg twisted into an M-shaped open fracture, quite severe. There was a wound on the top of his head; the seriousness of which could not be gauged, but he was unconscious and pale from excessive blood loss.
The injured were quickly moved into the ergency room, and Xu Dayuan shot a glance at Zhou Ning.
"It doesn’t look good; should I notify his family?"
Zhou Ning nodded. The driver needed a craniotomy and thoracotomy, and his family had to be present.
"We should notify them. Ma Liang and the other two are not too problematic, but the driver’s family must get here as quickly as possible. I’m afraid a critical condition notification might be issued later. We also need to notify Xu Qingquan’s sister. He... needs a proper settlent."
Xu Dayuan paused, then nodded and hurried to make the call.
The resuscitation room was a hive of activity, with people rushing to get blood, preparing various ergency equipnt, and consulting doctors coming and going. Zhou Ning leaned against the wall, trying not to disrupt or question anything, as this was just the preliminary diagnosis and the surgery hadn’t even been prepared yet.
When Xu Dayuan ca back, he quickly approached Zhou Ning.
"Mr. He hasn’t co out?"
"No. Did the traffic police take a video of the scene? I’d like to see it. Also, has the accident vehicle been taken to the tech departnt, or is it still at the scene?"
"I asked soone who ca with the police car earlier. Seeing our police car, they knew we might be handling a case, so they didn’t dare to move the scene. However, they’ve left soone to guard it. Shall we have soone go take a look?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"I’ve called Mr. Wang and the others over. I’ll go to the scene in a bit. Have all the family mbers arrived?"
Xu Dayuan sighed.
"The driver is the auxiliary policeman Qiu Chunbo. His parents aren’t local; they are doing business in Luxi. It won’t be until the afternoon at the earliest that they can get here. His father said to let us sign whatever is necessary; he won’t complain even if his son loses an arm or a leg, knowing we will do our best to treat him."
Zhou Ning was deeply moved and pursed his lips, struggling to control his emotions. Xu Dayuan exhaled and continued.
"As for Ma Liang’s father, I had Zhang Ping pick him up. He should be here soon. I’ll talk to him. I told him the situation over the phone. Ma Liang’s father was very calm; he said to go ahead with the surgery. He’s bringing the dical insurance card and the bank card, and they’ll cover whatever they need to pay out of pocket. As for Xu Qingshu..."
Xu Dayuan paused, and Zhou Ning knew that the most difficult part might be communicating with this person. After all, the accident involved a police car, and Xu Qingquan’s leg injury was severe. Furthermore, everyone was currently unconscious, and many questions couldn’t be asked. As for the accident process, they would have to wait for Qiu Chunbo to wake up, since Ma Liang, who was sitting in the back, had a limited view.
"I’ll talk to them. The traffic police officers are waiting outside. In a mont, when the car arrives, he’ll take you there. After all, that location is really hard to find; even GPS can’t pin it down."
At that mont, the sound of high heels clacked rapidly, accompanied by shouting and roaring voices. Zhou Ning paused, fearing what was coming—Xu Qingshu must have arrived.
Turning around, as expected, Xu Qingshu had already dashed to the doors of the resuscitation room—naturally where the most police officers were stationed. Soone tried to stop her, and her instinctive reaction was to raise her hand to strike, but Liu Yufei appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Xu Qingshu’s arm.
"They’re in the middle of resuscitation. Do you want the doctors to co out to maintain order, or to focus on the surgery?"
Xu Qingshu regained so of her composure, but still forcefully shook off Liu Yufei’s hand and pointed at her, saying,
"You all better pray that my brother is alright. If he’s not, I will sue your entire Public Security Bureau. What does a slut like Li Li have to do with us whether she lives or dies? What, have you no decency anymore? A mistress that ruined my family—I can overlook that. She plundered our fortune—I can let that slide. But because she’s dead, you have to find fault with ? I have to be a resentful woman or it won’t do, right? My lack of concern isn’t enough? Do you have to see soone in my family dead too?"
Xu Qingshu’s voice was loud and her articulation clear, drawing a crowd.
Xu Dayuan hurriedly stood in front of Liu Yufei. After all, just like Zhou Ning, Liu Yufei had only recently recovered from a bone fracture. He didn’t want them to run into any trouble.
"Ms. Xu Qingshu, we understand your feelings. No one wants to see accidents happen. We’ll certainly take responsibility for what we should, without shirking. But based on the current evidence, Xu Qingquan was more than just acquainted with the deceased, Li Li.
We found so evidence in Li Li’s ho that proves Xu Qingquan had touched the poisoned food. Moreover, we found many used condoms in Li Li’s trash, containing Xu Qingquan’s sperm. We’ve already done DNA tests. That’s why we brought him in."
Xu Qingshu was shocked and instinctively shook her head, unable to believe that her own brother would share a woman with her husband. She wanted to deny it reflexively.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible. My brother has a fiancée, I don’t believe it."
Apparently drawn by the sound of the argunt, the traffic police officers also hurried in. Seeing Xu Qingshu’s state and what she was saying, they quickly understood and rushed over.
"Don’t yell. We’re only here because these few officers used their bodies as cushions, pressing themselves against the seats. Look at the injuries they’ve got. Why do you co in here blaming them straight away? Police protect the people, whether suspects or otherwise. We understand that."
Just then, He Shancun pushed the door open and ca out of the resuscitation room, followed by two doctors holding dical record folders, glancing at the scene in front of Zhou Ning with a knowing look.
"Who is Xu Qingquan’s family mber?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers