Section 1

In the hospital office, a young male doctor was sitting in a chair to rest. There was a photo frame on the desk in front of him. In the photo, there was a middle-aged couple and a boy smiling happily.

The doctor stared at the photo and was a little confused. Unconsciously, a hint of moistness appeared in the foundation of his eyes.

Just as his childhood wish, he became an excellent doctor, just like his parents.

In the hospital, he was used to life and death, and his heart gradually became indifferent. He knew that he was just a doctor and could not save everyone. After experiencing a lot, he thought he could face life and death calmly, whether it was himself or others - until he saw her again, facing her beautiful but pale face.

She was in a car accident, with multiple external injuries, accompanied by severe internal bleeding. When he saw her, she was lying on the operating table in the emergency room. Everyone tried their best, but there was no way. Life was constantly lost from her body with scarlet blood. He was still unwilling to give up and tried to keep her in vain.

"Don't be stupid..." she said weakly. She seemed very awake at this moment when she was in shock for a while. "I know, I'm leaving!"

"Don't think about it, there will be no trouble..." He held her cold hand and tried to comfort her, but the panic in his voice was hard to hide, "I won't let you get into trouble..."

"You are so stupid...you know, you've never been good at lying." She smiled, staring into his eyes, "You said you don't care about me, but I know...you just dare not admit that you love me, right..."

He choked and pressed her hand against his face, "I love you, I always love you..."

"I love you too..." Her voice gradually weakened, "Promise me, live happily with my love..."

That day, he held her hand and refused to let go for a long time. Unfortunately, the woman with a smile like a flower could no longer feel his tenderness.

…………

Chris and Claire met Joanna outside the church in the center of the town. The poor mother was about to collapse. Her daughter was her only relative and sustenance. No matter how strong she was, she would feel fearful when faced with such an accident.

"Don't worry, don't worry." Chris comforted her, "tell me what happened."

Joanna tried to calm herself down and told Chris the details of the matter. She took Shirley to worship. At this time, she heard the alarm of her car outside the door, so she left her daughter in the church and went out to check her car. As a result, when she returned to the church, she found Shirley was missing.

"I asked the priest and others in the church, but they said he didn't notice my daughter." Joanna said anxiously.

"Have you called the police?" Chris said, "we have to notify the police."

Joanna's face showed a hint of unnaturalness, but after hesitating, she said: "The police station is not far from here, let's go now."

Chris noticed Joanna's reaction, but he didn't think much about it. He asked Claire to continue looking for him nearby. He and Joanna drove to the police station a block away. In front of the police station, Joanna was a little hesitant and seemed a little nervous.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here," Chris said next to him, he hesitated for a moment, grabbed Joanna's hand, and pushed open the police station door.

Soon, Chris understood why Joanna was unwilling to come here. There were not many people in the police station. Unlike the busyness in the big city police station, there were almost no one else here except for a few policemen who were lazy behind their desks. When they saw Joanna, a few rude guys even whistled.

Chris frowned, and he felt Joanna beside him trembling a little. He couldn't help but tighten his hands and stood closer to her.

"Let's report the case." Chris walked straight to the help desk, "The child was missing."

The male policeman behind the desk swept the two of them impolitely, and then said casually: "Please show your ID and fill in these forms as required..."

With a "bang", Chris photographed his police officer's certificate on the desk. He suppressed the idea of ​​beating the man up and said coldly: "I want to report the case."

The male policeman was stunned for a moment. He looked at Chris's police officer certificate, then looked at his angry face, and his attitude was much more correct. Chris is a member of the US SWAT team, and his level and force are higher than those of these local police officers. The most important thing is that he obviously has a very good temper at this time.

After reporting the case, the police learned about the situation from Joanna and promised to deal with the matter as soon as possible, but this did not reduce Joanna's worries too much. After coming out of the police station, Chris and the other two found Claire, and the three of them were looking for it aimlessly in the city. As time went by, Joanna's uneasiness became deeper and deeper. The town was not particularly big. Without news about Shirley for such a long time, Joanna was worried that her daughter might be in danger.

The three of them spent a long time in worry until the afternoon when they received a call from the hospital: Shirley was found and is now in the hospital.

Joanna felt deeply in fear, and Chris tried her best to comfort her and told her that Shirley would be fine and that she was just a routine examination in the hospital, although he had no idea.

"Where is my daughter, where is my daughter?" Joanna asked the doctor nervously in the hospital, "Is she okay?"

The doctor looked at Joanna, then looked at Chris and sisters, and shook his head slightly, "She is not in a good condition, and is now in the ICU ward."

Joanna covered her mouth in disbelief and stayed there, while Chris frowned tightly, "Take us over."

The doctor took the three of them to the intensive care area, and came out of the glass window of a sterile room, indicating that Shirley was inside.

"Oh, God, no!" Joanna shouted in pain, then she softened and collapsed. Chris hurriedly held her and let her lean in her arms.

"What did I do wrong... What did I do wrong, I have to punish me like this!" Joanna collapsed. She lay in Chris' arms and cried in pain. Chris wanted to say something, but she felt her chest was blocked so she could only pat her back comfortably.

"God." Claire was stunned by what he saw, and he was stunned and didn't know what to say.

In the sterile room, Shirley was lying there quietly. From the outside, she could no longer recognize any cute girl like a doll. She was wrapped in gauze, her exposed skin was charred, and some places were faintly exposed, which looked so ferocious. Obviously, this was caused by severe burns.

Claire sat aside with the sad Joanna, while Chris pulled the doctor to the corner of the corridor and asked in a low voice: "What happened, doctor?"

The male doctor hesitated for a moment, "Are you a relative of that girl?"

"Yes." Chris said directly.

The male doctor said seriously: "She is in a bad condition, with severe burns all over her body and even four-degree burns in part. It's simply terrible. To be honest, it's a cruel miracle that this little girl can survive, and..." He hesitated for a moment and lowered his voice, "When we checked, we found that the girl was likely sexually assaulted."

Chris was stunned. He thought he had heard it wrong. The doctor shook his head, "You heard it right. The police found her in a used warehouse. She was likely to have been sexually committed, and then..."

The doctor did not continue, but Chris understood what he meant. It was obvious that the crazy criminal took Shirley to the warehouse, attacked her, and then tried to brutally burn her to death. Although Shirley survived by chance, he understood that both her and her mother would live in endless pain in the future.

"This bastard!" Chris said hatefully, wishing he could find the criminal now, and then kill him in the cruelest way, so that he could pay the price for the crime he committed.

"My name is Chris, Chris Rayfield." Chris said to the doctor, "Thank you for telling me this. This is my phone number. Please let me know as soon as possible if you have any news."

The doctor nodded, "My name is Calvin, and he is the chief doctor here." He sighed, "I know this mother and daughter, and I sympathize with them. You must know that the two of them are not doing well here. If such a thing happened, few people were willing to help them."

Chris heard something else in Dr. Calvin's words, and he asked tentatively: "You mean, are there any hidden information here?"

The doctor thought for a moment and said, "You know, in such a small town, there are always people who like to bully people." He glanced at Chris and continued, "Swan, the chief of the police station in the town, is very powerful in this town. The rude guy once thought about Mrs. Reus, but was rejected, so after that he often causes trouble for the mother and daughter."

"You mean Shirley's business has something to do with him?" Chris whispered.

"No, no, no." The doctor shook his head. "I have no evidence to say this, but it is conceivable that the police station will definitely not help much in this case."

After learning about the situation from the doctor, Chris felt heavy in his heart. On the one hand, he felt angry, and on the other hand, he was sad about the encounter between Joanna and his daughter. He calmed down and returned to the door of the guardian room. Claire was still comforting Joanna. The young mother looked very bad, as if huge pain and sadness had taken her soul away. Chris told her about Shirley's injuries, but concealed her sexual assault. Looking at Joanna who was heartbroken, Chris felt that some of the emotions in his heart were touched. He made up his mind to find the murderer who hurt Shirley and make him pay the price...

Section 2

He took a long vacation and went to France.

Not long ago, she had just returned to him from there, but before she could celebrate the wonderful reunion, she left him forever.

He often wanders on the banks of the Seine River. The most common place in the photos she sent him was the Seine River. It was a big river, but it was very gentle and peaceful, just like the one I remembered. In her letter, she said that she liked this river, liked to stroll by the river, and liked to watch the sunset shine on the quietly flowing river water. The tranquility and faint happiness were like the feeling when she was with him.

Now, he came and wandered in the place where she had lingered, quietly looking for her traces. He stood by the river, watching the dim sunlight gradually dissipating on the river surface, and imagined that she was standing beside him.

The holiday ended soon and he returned to the country. However, perhaps a joke of fate, when he set foot on the plane, he did not expect that he would not be able to return to the ground safely again - he suffered an air crash.

In the cabin, the harsh alarm sounded and the passengers screamed in horror, but his heart gradually calmed down. He even had the intention to look at the view outside the window of the machine - the sunlight shone from a strange angle, and there was a blue color below, and it was hard to tell whether it was the sky or the ocean.

He smiled helplessly, as if he was mocking himself, and as if he was liberation.

"I'm going to die? I'm really unwilling to think about it." He thought, "How great would it be if I could give me another chance."

…………

It was already evening, and the three of them had not rested since the morning. Claire was worried that Joanna's body would collapse, but Joanna refused to leave the hospital and she had to stay with her daughter. Chris had no choice but to order a meal in a hotel outside and opened a family escort room through Dr. Calvin, so that the three of them could stay in the hospital at night and get the latest news at any time.

After dinner, Chris left Claire with Joanna, and drove to the church. Since the police station was unreliable, he had to do it himself. He visited nearby residents and shops from house to house, trying to find clues, but he did not gain anything.

"May I ask, are you in the store at around 10 o'clock in the morning?" Chris asked the store owner that this is a grocery store, diagonally opposite the church, and from the entrance of the store you can see the main entrance of the church and the parking lot on the other side.

"Are you a policeman?" said the boss, who was a tall and thin middle-aged man, and said impatiently.

"I'm indeed a policeman." Chris took out his police officer's certificate and shook it in front of him, saying seriously, "I'm here to investigate a vicious injury incident, so I hope you can cooperate with me."

The shop owner was frightened by Chris. Obviously he didn't know that although Chris was a police officer, he did not have the power to enforce the law here. He hesitated for a moment, "I said, I saw nothing."

Chris noticed his uneasiness and realized that he might know something. He narrowed his eyes and stared at the shop owner, saying in a threatening tone, "I don't think you're telling the truth, man, that'll cause you trouble." He pointed to a recliner at the door, "Don't you think that recliner looks too big in the room? I guess, during the day, you should be used to lying on it and basking in the sun outside the door."

"Oh, no, I don't know anything..." The boss was a little panicked, but he still refused to give in.

Chris was about to say something else, but suddenly he was pushed open with a loud noise. A policeman walked in. He looked very fat, with a thick beard on his round face, and looked like a wild boar walking upright. Seeing Chris, he was stunned for a moment, and then walked over.

Seeing the police come in, the grocery store owner seemed even more nervous, "Hello, Sheriff Swan." He looked at Chris, "Why are you here?"

"Well, I'll take care of your business and investigate the case by the way." The sheriff said in a rough voice, "Who is this person, your friend?"

"Oh, no, no." The grocery store owner hurriedly explained, "He is also a police officer, and he is here to investigate the case."

"Oh." He looked at Chris with his little eyes and said bluntly: "I remember you are the guy who has an affair with the Widow Reus. I remember you are not a policeman in this area."

"Then you better remember," Chris suppressed the urge to flatten this stupid face and said bluntly: "As a member of the special elite troops under the federal security department, we have the right to intervene in the investigation of occasional vicious incidents. As for more specific things, you don't have the qualifications to know."

Ten minutes later, Chris came out of the grocery store and he watched the sheriff Swan leave in a police car. Since seeing the sheriff, the grocery store owner insisted that he knew nothing, which made Chris have no way to do anything about him. He can now be sure that the grocery store owner must know something, and that sheriff not only won't help, but may also exert resistance on Shirley's case.

Chris hesitated for a moment and decided to go back to the hospital. It was too late now. He felt that he should be with Joanna. Claire was very smart, but she was just a girl who had just been to college after all, and some things might still need Chris to do. He walked towards his car. At the corner of the street, he saw a man standing by his car. He frowned and walked over, while being cautious. When he walked up to him, he unexpectedly discovered that it was a woman.

She was a middle-aged woman, dressed up weirdly, wearing a thick tweed coat, long light brown hair curled, and several bells and whistles around her neck. She looked at Chris as if she had been waiting for him.

"Are you a relative of that girl?" the woman asked, her voice a little hoarse.

"Who are you?" Chris was stunned and immediately reacted, "Do you have anything to tell me?"

The woman paused, her face showed horror, "I wonder, can you take that girl out of here?"

Chris was stunned for a moment, then anger surged from the bottom of his heart. He said coldly: "What do you mean?"

The woman seemed even more scared, and she said tremblingly: "That girl will bring disaster, she will bring disaster, if..."

"Shut up!" Chris's anger broke out, and he said viciously: "I've had enough of you bastards. That innocent girl has suffered such sin and misfortune. You can still say such words." He stared at the woman, "Now, get out of here, or I'll shoot you."

"No, no, no..., I don't mean that..." The woman took a few steps back, "I have no malice towards that girl, I am a psychic, and I can feel that the girl is also spiritual."

"Hmm?" Chris was confused. He looked at the woman in front of him, wondering if she had mental problems. "Sorry, I don't quite understand what you said."

"I am a psychic, that is, a person with some supernatural abilities." The woman tightened her clothes, "The girl has a strong spirituality, which is why she has not died even though she was injured."

"Oh, then I should feel grateful." Chris hummed, thinking that she had already regarded this woman as a mental illness.

"No, this is the most terrifying thing - this will attract the demon!" The woman's eyes widened in hoarseness, and she said hoarsely, "The devil will follow the pain and resentment in her heart, and then bring disaster to this world. I can feel that the evil power is gathering..."

"Madman." Chris muttered helplessly. He ignored the woman's crazy words, got into the car, drove away. He was going back to the hospital and stayed with Joanna with Claire. She encountered such misfortune and needed care and support.

Parking the car in the parking lot, Chris walked out of the car. There was no other person in the parking lot, and the surroundings were surprisingly quiet. Unexpectedly, Chris felt a little uneasy. He couldn't help but scan the surroundings, but found nothing suspicious. He frowned and turned to walk towards the hospital gate.

Chris couldn't see it. On the roof of the hospital, a bird was parked quietly there. It dragged its long tassel-like tail, and its black feathers reflected the pale moonlight, emitting a cold light...
Chapter completed!