In less than thirty minutes, Bruce found a car. It happened that Denmanos had a small fleet of trucks. All Bruce had to do was walk into Danmanos, and Toyoo thought it was a very bad idea, because there was a better place than Danmanos for Toro to find Danman and demand a van.
Either the nurse at the rehabilitation center didn’t tell anyone about Danman’s escape, or the news had not reached the workers from Toro, because there were no obstacles in the evolutionary process, even though Danman walked in in white silk pajamas. In his office, the poor fleet commander almost choked on his donut. Bruce had never been to the fleet control center, not once.
"Sir!" He choked up and jumped up. ""What can I do for you, sir
"I need a truck, Sid," he said. "Please give me a full gas car."
Sid wiped his mouth with a napkin, fumbled for the metal splints hanging on the wall, and finally found what he was looking for. He handed Danman a metal clipboard and a black key on a plastic key chain.
"Thank you very much, Sid."
Sid nodded. He desperately wanted to ask Danman what he might need a small truck for, but he didn't say anything, and he was wearing white silk pajamas. Sid wanted to know, but he knew more. Both of his last jobs were fired because of gossip. The big people don't like the less important people like Sid. They like to gossiping by the drinking fountain. When he got the job at Denman Noos, his girlfriend was dancing in the room and speaking Hallelujah loudly. She told him that if he was fired this time, she would leave him-this time for sure.
"Happy sir," Sid said to the retreating Danman.
"Yes, that's right, man," Bruce said.
Ming Fu waited for Bruce outside the building. He is leaning on a column to read the newspaper.
"Very low-key," Bruce said sarcastically. "Hardly seen in the back of the newspaper. Good idea."
Akio snorted and threw the newspaper into the recycling can next to the pillar. Bruce handed him the keys, but stopped before putting them into Schoff's open palm.
"You can drive? Right?"
Akio snorted again.
"Salem, huh," Bruce said. "The number of times I have been to Salem can be counted with one hand."
"Do we need anything else? Do you like her brain scan?" Toyoda said.
"Are you going to walk in through the front door and get it yourself?" Bruce asked. "Anyway, I'm sure they have disappeared." He gestured the space with his fingers.
"Do you need them?" Ming Fu asked.
"Yes."
Toyoda looked at the building over his shoulder, weighing his ability to enter and exit undetected.
Bruce patted him on the shoulder. "You will never come out."
Akio knew he was right, but still—
"We will fix it," Bruce said. "There is nothing better than capriciousness, is it? Come on, where is your adventure?"
"When a person's life is hanging by a thread, I rarely gamble," Akio said.
"Rarely doesn't mean never," Bruce said. "Let's go, cat. We are standing in the parking lot under broad daylight. Next to it is the company I established with my bare hands. The demon who sells my soul is lying in wait for my attack. We are exposed. A phrase came to my mind. If I knew Sid, of course I knew him. He was chatting with me on the phone, saying that I showed up in pajamas and asked for a mobile car. The skeleton was going down. You can't feel it. ?"
Akio turned around reluctantly. Capriciousness is not his favorite way of acting.
They found Denmanus' white pickup truck parked at the number position of the indicated metal clipboard. Just before Sid hung up the phone, they escaped from the parking lot. So what? He succumbed to his own despicable instinct. He dialed the number of the Ministry of Security. Let's talk about it when they know. The security guards couldn't believe that Danman appeared in pajamas, covered in injuries, and was obviously under the influence of drugs—because he could barely concentrate—and asked for a van. They asked him to tell this story twice, and the girls in the accounting department couldn't believe it.
Mingfu drove the minivan at the fastest speed, shuttled back and forth in the traffic. They stopped at Wal-Mart only once in record time and bought some less conspicuous clothes.
"Gosh!" Danman said. "One dollar for jeans?"
Danman bought jeans for $1, a t-shirt, and some corn flakes. He chewed loudly on corn flakes in the front seat.
"These smell like feet," Toyuo said.
"Really?" They don't taste like feet," Bruce said as he chewed, chewing corn flakes in his mouth, his lips pursed, as if he was tasting a good bottle of wine. "Many people told me, my palate Very keen. This is no fun, I admit, "He handed the bag to Akio and dangled it from Baku's wrinkled nose. "Want something, cat?"
"You are always like this," Akio Toyoda said as he drove out of the Wal-Mart parking lot.
"do what?"
"What you choose to see is the cat inside me. Predator. Monster. Is this how we are connected? Monster to monster? From predator to predator?"
"Of course we can't connect people with people."
"Why do you never recognize the heart and spine of my horse?"
"What's the use of horses?"
"Your civilization is built on horseback."
Bruce snorted and looked out the window, "Now, it's built on my back. So what?"
Upon arriving at Salem's hospital, Bruce and Minfu found Ben's room easily. An older woman, probably his mother, was waiting inside by Ben's bed.
On the way to Ben's room, Toyuo and Bruce passed a small waiting room where a tall blond man sat with his head in his hands. When Minfu and Deman passed by, he raised his head and immediately recognized Deman.
"Hey!" He called. He stood up and ran after them through the corridor. "Hey!"
Bruce and Akio are talking to themselves outside Ben's room-is this him? Yes, it must be him. Where is she? I have no idea. I thought she would be here.
"Hey!" Nick called again.
Mingfu and Deman turned around at the last hey, with question marks on their faces.
"Are you looking for Abby?"
"Who are you?" Toyoda said.
"Nick Erickson. Her friend. I drove her here."
"Yes, we are looking for her," Toyoda said relaxedly. "We think we can help her. Where is she?"
"The problem is here, she is not here. She is missing."
"You lost her?" Ming Fu asked incredulously.
"I didn't lose her. I went to the bathroom. She was chatting with the mother of the guy named Ben in the room, and when I came out, she had already left," he said.
"So you lost her," Toyuo said.
"The situation is not good," Danman said.
"I reported Jǐng, but they said she disappeared after twenty-four hours."
"Oh, she is missing," Ming Fu said. "We just need to find her before she leaves forever.
Dr. Andrews continued to talk about the pelvic examination. He did his best to ignore the appearance of Dr. Black, but it was like ignoring the mad dog who happened to be trapped in a room.
He forced his hands to stabilize and breathed slowly and deeply. He put on rubber gloves and told Claire to put his hands on the stretcher as much as possible. The hands on the stretcher should not be too low, and let her stretch her legs as far as possible, because her feet were also fixed. He once asked the old Doctor Black to unlock her handcuffs, but the doctor said that unless she was anesthetized, he would not do that.
Dr. Andrews stopped minutes after the ** examination. He looked up at the old Doctor Black, and then returned to the girl tied to the chakra. He could see fear in her eyes, and he could almost smell fear in the air. He closed his eyes and slowly took off his glasses. He wiped them clean, then slowly put them back, trying to stabilize the shaking in his hand. He coughed from his sleeve and took a deep breath. He spread a sheet on the girl's lower body to protect her dignity. He sighed deeply, scratched his neck, then pulled his ears. He calmed down a bit. Then he got up and pushed the rolling stool between him and the old Doctor Black.
"I know what happened here," Andrews said. His voice sounded calmer than he felt. When he heard the peace in his voice, he felt that the decision he was about to make was correct, and his voice became loud and firm.
"I know what's going on," he repeated.
"What do you mean, Andrews?" Old Doctor Black asked
"I mean, I don’t know how much you think you know about me, and I don’t care. I won’t be willing to participate, and I won’t be reluctant to participate in this-no matter what it is," he took the doctor’s bag and said Walked to the door.
"Look here, Andrew!" Dr. Black threatened. With his nostrils open, he pointed his finger at Dr. Andrews at the other end of the room.
"No, you see, this child is pregnant. She has been pregnant for at least four months. You may think that I am the most despicable and immoral person in the world, but I assure you that only a despicable person will Do what you ask me to do. I will not give the life of that girl or her unborn child into my hands, to my conscience."
"Pregnant?" Neil turned from the corner and said. His voice became hoarse.
Dr. Andrews strode towards the door. "Pregnant," he said affirmatively, "I think I should congratulate you." He turned around, glared at the old Doctor Black and said, "Of course, unless you are the hapless father?"
"You are so courageous!" Old Doctor Black hurriedly knocked him into a rolling stool. It slid across the floor briskly, hitting the distant wall with a clanging sound.
Dr. Andrews interrupted him, "Elias, if you dare to touch my finger, you'd better beat me to death, otherwise we'll just wait to see who will destroy who."
"You son of a bitch, crazy!" Old Doctor Blake roared.
Doctor Andrews fled the room. His only answer was a "bang" and he slammed the door and went out.
Thankfully, the corridor is empty. Dr. Andrews ran halfway and half walked. He was afraid that the old Dr. Black would follow him and drive him to death. The girl screamed for him. Calling his name. Begging. Plead. Dr. Andrews would always be ashamed of what he did next. He clamped the medical kit under his arm and suddenly ran at full speed.
He has never run so fast in his life.
"Pregnant?" Neil said again.
The old Doctor Black turned to his son and aimed at him. He swung the swing and hit Neil in the mouth with all his strength.
"Close your stinky mouth!"
Neil didn't have time to react. The blow caught him off guard and he fell heavily to the floor. Blood came out of his mouth, he said furiously, coughing, and vomiting his teeth.
Old Doctor Black lunged on him and continued to shake his body. Punch after punch, Neil covered his head with his hand.
"Stop," Neil said. "Please, father, stop."
Old Doctor Black did not stop. He didn't even try to stop. He beat his son again and again.
Claire screamed frantically, trying to break free. She screamed and screamed, but no one came.
Neil climbed across the floor. He knelt down and tried to stand up, and when he pushed himself up from the floor, his Jǐng guard relaxed. The floor was slippery from his blood. The old Dr. Black followed him again, hitting the side of his head with another heavy blow, knocking him out. Neil fell to the ground like a bag of meat.
The old Doctor Black knelt before his son. He began to shake his head at him and draw his face.
"Wake up!" He shook hands with Neil with the expression on his shirt. When Neil woke up, the old Doctor Black opened his eyes wide and pulled his rickety feet up.
"You will solve this problem," he said.
"Repair? What?" Try to control your body and feelings. He fell and almost fell to the ground again, but his father was still supporting him. He wanted to push him away, but the old Doctor Black held him tighter.
"You want to bring this back to normal."
"Sorry, Dad," he said vaguely. "I did not mean it."
"You will solve this problem."
"repair?"
"She! Child! You went to medical school, haven't you? You will solve this problem."
"I can't do it," Neil realized what his father was asking him, which made his gangster brain suddenly realize. He felt faint, lost control of his body, and felt scared. He has never been so scared. He couldn't feel his hand, he didn't know if it was because he was panicked, or because his father just hit him.
He looked at Claire - when she looked at the fear on his face, the fear on her face.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. He wiped his mouth with both hands and blood on his cheeks. His eyes began to swell, she could barely be seen, and his ears buzzed.
"Either you come to fix it, or I come!" His father shook him. Neal's head dangled. He can't maintain a straight line. His head is heavy. too heavy.
"I won't," Neal said.
Darkness enveloped Neil. He blinked a few times, but the light in the room dimmed. His father's voice sounded hollow and shrill, as if he was calling him at the bottom of a well.
Claire can be seen screaming, but he can't hear it anymore.
"I'm sorry dear Claire. "I love you," he said, or wanted to say, but he couldn't put his tongue into words.
"Are you okay? Wake up!"
I feel someone is shaking me. Stop me. I tried to open my eyes, but they seemed to be stuck with glue, and when I finally opened them, they were like sandpaper.
I couldn't breathe, and at the same time I started crying again. I cried ugly. Choked loudly. I turned over, crying and crying. Waves of fear and nausea washed over me. I don't know how long I cried, it felt like a few hours, but it might be more like ten minutes. I can feel Claire's fear and panic spreading in my body. I could see Neil Black's face faintly appearing on my face, and he was beaten beyond recognition.
Did he say he loves me? I mean Claire. Did he say he loves Claire? When he said those words, even in fear and pain, I could feel the joy surging in her heart. he loves her. She stopped screaming for a while and let his words surround her. She reached out to catch him, but her hands were tied. When she saw the old Doctor Black's face mutated due to anger, Zi's blood vessels protruded from his neck, the fear returned, and she began to scream again.
I shook my head to free myself from those images and fears. I hug my belly with my arms. Although the hard plasterboard on my arm is far away, I feel strangely relieved. It's as if someone is holding me. Once the panic waves subsided, I turned over and lay on the ground. I wiped my eyes with the back of that good hand.
I looked up and the boy was still standing there. The one who shook me awake. He is of medium height, skinny, shoulder length, and light brown hair. He has a round, sturdy face and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a T-shirt with the superhero from the comic book and the word invincible under the jeans in big font. He is carrying a backpack. He knelt on one leg, a little farther away from me, with one leg on the ground and the other on the floor, ready to stand or run or something, he was ready. (To be continued) (End of this chapter)