Chapter Three: She Takes My Night Shift

As Wenchuan lifted it with tweezers, I saw two versions of myself in the glass across the street. One stood beside him, pale and frightened. The other stood in traffic wearing a clean white coat. Cars passed on both sides without slowing. She raised her bloody right hand and pointed toward the hospital. Her lips moved silently. I understood. One more, she said. At the hospital, Xiao Qiao was not answering. Her locker stood open, her phone abandoned inside. Police tape sealed He Yuanshan's office, but a trail of fresh water led down the corridor toward an unused sleep laboratory on basement level two. Access records showed that my badge had opened its door eleven minutes earlier. My badge was still in my pocket.