章 3: The Spicy Cop

*Beep Beep* *Beep Beep*

The patient monitoring system echoed its usual beeping sounds as it measured the heart rate of a frail, pale and thin woman lying on the bed of a spacious and a highly advanced infirmary.

It didn't belong to any public or private hospital. Rather, it was part of a lavish and luxurious lab equipped with all sorts of life-saving cutting edge devices.

It was owned by a certain rich but a cruel and cunning doctor. The underworld had nicknamed him the 'The Devil Doctor.'

Right at this moment, the devil doctor was observing his patient in question: A woman who had saved his life by taking a bullet for him two years back. She had been lying in a coma ever since.

The bullet had narrowly missed her heart, but it had done some damage nevertheless. It was a race against time to save her life but Mingshen had pulled it off.

"The vitals are the same," Mingshen's assistant, Lu Bojing, said as he noted down his report.

"I want to know if you got a suitable heart for her," Mingshen twirled the scalpel around his finger.

"...No. Her dextrocardia condition ma- makes it difficult," he pursed his lips.

Mingshen did save her life, and pulled her out from the most critical moment. But to bring her out of the coma, a heart transplant was necessary.

The congenital condition of the tip of her heart located at the right side of the body instead of the normal left created further difficulty to the surgery. Right now, she was surviving completely on Mingshen's life support system.

"We can transplant a normal position donor heart but with her current condition, the procedure will be v-very risky…" Bojing added.

"We have a normal position donor heart since ages ago, but it's not worth the risk. We need to get a heart matching hers," he declared.

"B-But it's a very rare condition. It's virtually impossible to find a matching donor."

Bojing jolted, feeling Mingshen's narrowed gaze on him. "We did find my Spicy~ She also has dextrocardia."

"W-we cannot use her heart though. She is not your patient anymore…" he was on the verge of tears.

"That's why you need to keep looking or else… I will have to take matters into my own hands," he flashed a not-so-decent smile with his threatening remark.

Bojing gulped. "B-B-Boss if- if I may say that even if you find somebody, fo-forcing them to donate is n-not-"

He trembled when Mingshen walked up to him and pinched his cheek. "My dear assistant, what do you suppose I will do?"

"F-Force them against their wishes?"

"Do you think I am so bad?"

"Yo-you can be if you want to."

He chuckled. "You know me so well. But worry not. I won't be forcing anybody."

Bojing heaved a sigh of relief.

"If somebody suitable will be dying anyway soon."

"..."

Bojing gasped and burst into tears. "Boss, yo-you killed someone to ge-get a do-donor heart for her?"

"They are not dead yet," he rolled his eyes, "But will be kicking the bucket soon~"

"E-even after death, consent of the family is…" he promptly shut his mouth at Mingshen's evil stare.

"I am being merciful, when I say that I will be only taking the heart. If I am in the mood of making them into a lab rat, it will be much worse for the family."

Bojing broke into a cold sweat.

"Leave."

"Y-Yes, Boss!" Bojing paused and hesitantly asked, "Boss… Why are you d-dressed so nicely today?"

"Don't I always dress nicely?"

"I-I mean you look extra dressed up today…"

Mingshen's eyes flashed with a mixture of joy and mischief. "I have wore the best attire to meet Spicy~"

"You are meeting sis Jia? Bu-But she doesn't like to see your face…" he tensely averted his eyes.

"But I like to see hers. What can you do about it?" He sighed with helplessness. "Now will you leave or do you want to know my fortune cookie for tomorrow as well?"

Bojing jolted and scurried away at the first chance he got.

Mingshen glanced at his comatose patient, tilting his head. His squinted eyes sharply stared at her. "Such a bother you are…"

He turned and walked away, playing with the scalpel around his fingers.

"Whether now or twelve years ago."

—

Song Jia stood in attention and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She wore her crisply ironed cop uniform of light blue shirt, neatly tucked in black trousers.

She was all ready to start her day.

Over the past year, she had been slowly returning to her duties and her best form to become a full-fledged and indispensable part of Beijing's police force.

Going undercover in the Mafia King's family, getting shot by his bullet, being comatose for nearly six months in Mingshen's lab, waking up to save her sister and learning the ugly truth of her parents who had betrayed their duty - a lot had transpired in Jia's life. She weathered everything that came in her way and took charge of her life with each little step.

Standing with her back straight, she smiled at her reflection. "You will do great today."

Her gaze fell on a photo frame which lay upside down on her bedside table. Staring at it for a few seconds, she turned and walked to leave but stopped after taking two steps. She remained still for a few moments before knitting her brows and face palming.

"How can I forget my badge?" She stuck out her tongue.

She grabbed it from inside the drawer and quickly sped off. Once outside, she almost bumped into her neighbor's grandson, Bobo.

"Sis Jia!" He brightened.

"Aish, my bad, Bobo. You are not hurt, right?"

He snorted. "Eight year old boys don't get hurt."

Her mouth twitched. "Where did you learn that?"

"Boys are strong and don't feel pain is what all movies say."

"Cut short your movie time kiddo. Everyone feels pain, men or women. We are humans after all," she ruffled his hair. "See you later. I have to rush!"

Reaching the entrance of the Beijing's Police Headquarters, she adjusted her shirt one last time before entering inside.

But what followed afterwards felt to her like stepping into the grim abyss as the voice of her nemesis fell upon her ears.

"Good Mooooorning, Spicyyyyyy!!"

She turned her head with annoyance and narrowed her eyes.