The Great Worm Lich

When the ward door was opened, Lili walked in a panic with Lavin holding her. Seeing Zhang Lisheng, she dashed towards him and hugged him. She took a good look at her son and said nervously, “Baby, baby are you alright…”

“I’m good, mom. Michelle’s the one you should worry about, how is she now?”

“The doctor said that she was sent to the hospital in time. Her broken…broken limbs are fixed…fixed now…” Lili could not hold back the pain inside as she spoke and began sobbing.

“Uncle Lavin, what exactly happened to Michelle?” Zhang Lisheng hugged his mother lightly and comforted her. He then turned his head to ask Sullo.

“Michelle’s doing well but she’ll need to be bed-ridden for a couple of months. She’ll also need at least half a year of recovery training to…to recover if she’s not severely affected mentally. This is considered the best scenario that could have happened to her. Now that we’re talking about it, we should thank you Lisheng,” Sullo gazed at Zhang Lisheng while replying with his reddish eyes. He stepped a few steps forward and hugged Zhang Lisheng tight, “Thank you kid, you’re a brave gentleman. Do you know how much courage you need to save Michelle in such a…such a terrible situation? I’m proud of you.”

“That’s the least that I could do, Uncle Lavin. It’s great to hear that Michelle could recover without being handicapped. We could treat her broken soul slowly,” Zhang Lisheng was relieved and said calmly.

Sullo, let go of him and nodded. After composing his emotion, he said habitually all of the sudden, “Lisheng, do you know that you’re the only witness who saved the victim from Dr. Fracture. Your statement’s very important for us officers to catch the devil…”

“Uncle Lavin, I told them that I could totally record my statement since I was mentally stable but those officers insisted that I must come to the hospital for observation. They also said that you or mom must be present when I record my statement.”

“Lisheng, that’s the appropriate procedure by law. Otherwise, any charges from your statement would be flawed and can’t be used in the court.”

“Uncle Lavin, I really didn’t see anything. I can’t accuse anyone in my statement,” Zhang Lisheng said helplessly.

“Lisheng, we will determine if your statement’s useful. Just accept the statement recording. My colleagues from crime and I would take your statement tomorrow after your rest. You should really rest now, you must be exhausted since so much happened tonight.”

“Alright, Uncle Lavin. So I suppose I’m not going to school tomorrow?”

“You don’t have to at least for this week, your mom will apply a leave for you. Lili, Lisheng’s fine. We’re just interrupting his rest if we kept staying here…”

“No, Sullo. I want to be here for him and Michelle tonight. They need us,” Lili shook her head hard and said.

“Alright then, I’ll go home so I could be with the other kids. They must be worried sick.”

“Don’t leave just yet, Uncle Lavin. Mom, I really don’t need anyone to be with me. Listen to Uncle Lavin…”

“Forget about it, Lisheng. You’re still young, you won’t understand what your mom is feeling. Since she insists to stay in the hospital, just let her stay,” Sullo walked out of the ward as soon as he was done speaking. Just like that, Lili stayed at the hospital and accompanied Zhang Lisheng until the sun rose.

On the next morning, Zhang Lisheng who managed to sleep safe and sound for the past ten days realized Lili fell asleep at the side of his bed. He got off the bed carefully and washed up in the bathroom. He then opened the room. The officer that fell asleep on the chair woke up from hearing the door being opened.

Before the officer spoke, Zhang Lisheng said while smiling, “Don’t worry, officer. I’m just going to get breakfast.”

“Are you hungry, kid?”

“No, my mom looked after me all night. She fell asleep, I thought of getting her breakfast so that she could eat it when she wakes up…” Zhang Lisheng saw Sullo and two of his colleagues walking towards him with a fast-food bag while he spoke, “But seems like that’s unnecessary now.”

“Even though your mom won’t be eating the breakfast that you were getting, she would appreciate what you’re doing for her, kid,” The guarding officer seemed to be touched by Zhang Lisheng’s sweet thought and complimented while smiling. At that moment, Sullo had arrived before the ward and handed the fast-food bag to Zhang Lisheng.

“Good morning, Lisheng. Beef burger, it’s your favorite am I right?”

“Thanks, Uncle Lavin,” Although he actually hated beef burger, Zhang Lisheng took over the bag happily and returned to the ward.

Naturally, Lili woke up in shock since there were numerous people in the ward. She knew all of Sullo’s colleagues so she greeted them as she stood up in a sleepy manner, “Mike, Boston, you guys are here.”

Sullo’s colleague, the short Asian who was capable apologized while looking sorry, “Lili, we should’ve been here last night but we had to handle the situation. You know…”

“It’s alright Mike, we’re doing good now. The scariest incident has passed. We…we… Oh, I’ve gone to the ICU six to seven times last night but they…they don’t let me see Michelle… Oh lord, what did we do wrong? Why are we being punished like that!”

After hearing that, Boston, the other muscular black detective in the ward said with sympathy, “Don’t worry Lili, we’ll definitely catch the imbecile who hurt Michelle. Cheer up. Hey Sullo, come talk to Lili. You know a hunk like me can’t take this. My heart is shattering looking at Lili and thinking of your adorable Michelle.”

“Cheer up, darling. Michelle and Lisheng are fine, what more can we ask for…” Lili’s stirred emotion calmed gradually after Sullo’s comfort. Seeing that her emotion was stable now, he said, “Darling, you should head home so you could rest. If you manage to overwork your body, do you think I could look after the kids all by myself?”

Zhang Lisheng who was standing aside seized the opportunity and said, “That’s right, mom. I’m completely fine now. You should head home to rest.”

“No, I have to accompany you while you give your statement,” Lili said while caressing Zhang Lisheng’s face.

“But I’m here, it’s Boston and Mike who are taking the statement…”

“Sullo, as a mother, I should be present when my underage kid’s being questioned by the police. This has nothing to do with anything else,” Lili said firmly.

“Okay, since that’s what you want, you can stay. But you must promise me that you’ll let me bring you home to rest after Lisheng is done giving his statement.”

Lili nodded while smiling while Sullo said to his two colleagues, “Boston, Mike, I guess you guys can begin.”

“Okay,” Mike pulled a chair over and sat before Zhang Lisheng. His face turned serious as he spoke, “Lisheng, I’ll be asking you a couple of questions now and I need you to answer me honestly. I hope that you understand this is something serious. You must listen and recall carefully.”

Zhang Lisheng who was mentally prepared nodded in all seriousness, “I understand, officer Mike,” He had been addressing all of Sullo’s colleagues by their name directly in a courteous manner while keeping his distance.

“Why didn’t you go home on the main street after you finished work at Dan Souza Butcher Shop? Why did you turn into an alley at the ramp?”

“A girl was bugging me. I happened to save her once when I was living in China. She saw me at Lowbige yesterday and wanted to thank me but I rejected her.”

“Can you be more specific? What’s the girl’s name and why…” Mike asked one question after another, Lili who was sitting aside frowned and shouted suddenly, “Stop, stop Mike. Are you interrogating my son!”

“Of course not, Lili. I’m just taking the statement,” Mike secretly cursed and said pretending to be innocent.

“That’s it. Do you think the daughter of an experienced State Court of Appeals Judge have no idea about the difference of taking a statement and an interrogation? You should be asking Lisheng what did he see if you’re taking his statement. You shouldn’t be asking him what was he doing and asking him to prove it,” Lili said madly, “Listen to me. I agreed to let my underage kid recall the horrifying experience last night for the sake of Michelle and the safety of tens of millions of families in New York. However, you’re overstepping my kindness as a citizen and questioning my kid like he’s a suspect. From now onwards, I’ll be a responsible mother and stop officers from asking my kid any questions. I’ll get my lawyer to apply for prohibition order from the judge if necessary.”

The atmosphere in the ward dropped below the freezing point. Mike went silent for a moment and said honestly after making up his mind, “Lili, I admit what I said was a little inappropriate. But if your kid’s behaving like what you said, then he would show how horrified he was from witnessing what happened last night, I would definitely not question him like that. The truth is, over 10 police officers saw this kid presented himself calmly, quiet and at ease as if he attended a tea party when the crime happened until now. Looking at the surveillance in the camera, he was revising his homework before seeing you last night. Do you think that’s normal?”

What Mike said made Lili looked more and more terrible. She said forcefully, “Maybe…maybe it’s because…because he’s too scared…the stress made him look extremely normal…”

Mike let out a sigh and said, “Lili, I’ve nothing to say if that’s what you think. Listen, I’m not saying that Lisheng’s a suspect. I just thought he might have something that he’s unwilling to tell us. I hope that…”