1: 1
On a bridge in the pouring rain, a man covered in blood climbed out of the wrecked car up ahead.
He hammered against my window, sobbing, begging me to save someone:
"Please, help me, my wife is eight months pregnant, she's pinned in the passenger seat, she's not going to make it!"
As a doctor, my instinct was to get out and help.
But right then, a line of text drifted across my vision:
【Do not get out of the car! That woman was already dead before the crash! Both her and the baby!】
【He caused the crash on purpose. He needs a passerby to pin it on!】
【The second you touch her, he'll report you for practicing medicine illegally, and your whole career is finished!】
【After that he'll cling to you, drive your parents to their graves, and strip you of everything you own!】
The man was crying like his heart was tearing apart, dropping to his knees, knocking his forehead against the ground:
"I saw the AED sticker on your car. You're a doctor, aren't you?"
"Please, get out and save her, I'll do anything, I'll be your servant for life!"
I drew a sharp breath and locked the doors on the spot.
"Bad timing. I'm only a vet. You'd better wait for the ambulance!"
……
"A vet? That can't be right."
The man went rigid, his eyes narrowing at me with suspicion.
"Only a clinical doctor carries a defibrillator that professional in the car."
"Why would a vet keep one of those?"
He crawled forward two steps on his knees, pressing closer against the window.
"Doctor, I'm begging you!"
"Please, have some mercy, save my wife! She really can't hold on much longer!"
I watched him weeping, and not one part of me softened.
To anyone else, this was just a husband with nowhere left to turn.
But I was the only one who knew this was a carefully laid trap, built to devour whoever stepped in.
I pushed down what was churning inside me and kept an apologetic look on my face.
"I'm sorry. I really am just a vet."
"I don't know human emergency procedures. I don't dare touch her. If something goes wrong, I can't carry the blame."
"You should hurry and call 911 and wait for the ambulance."
Those words seemed to set him off.
He flew into agitation in an instant.
"A vet is fine too!"
"You still deal with medicine, don't you? You know more than an ordinary person like me!"
Then he pointed toward the road ahead of the bridge.
"Look at this weather!"
Through the sheets of rain, you could just make out the taillights of the stalled traffic.
Packed together into one long band of red.
"Rain this heavy, an accident jamming the whole bridge, gridlock the entire way!"
"There's no way an ambulance can get up here!"
"If we keep waiting, my wife and my child are both gone!"
His words were made to stir people up.
Any passerby with slightly weaker nerves would have caved by now.
"I can contact the traffic department for you and explain the situation on the bridge."
"They'll clear the traffic right away, and the ambulance can get through quickly."
I took out my phone and made as if to dial.
But right then, the man's expression changed all at once.
"No! Don't! There's no time!"
His eyes flickered for a second, then he slipped back into that helpless look.
"I know. You and I are strangers. It's only right that you don't dare trust me."
To get me to give in, he even offered up his own information.
"I'm not some bad person!"
"I'm a local. My name is Damian Abbott. I work at the finance tower. I have a steady job!"
"I would never scam you, never shake you down!"
"All I'm asking is that you save my wife's life. Afterward I'll reward you handsomely, and I'll remember what you did for me the rest of my life!"
He sounded utterly sincere.
Laying out his identity, his address, his job, all of it.
Nobody could find a single flaw in it.
Just as I was about to lower my phone, the text flooded across again:
【Don't believe him for a second!】
【He looks pitiful now, but the moment you get out to help, if anything goes wrong, it's your life he's after!】
【Exactly! Don't let your bleeding heart run away with you!】
【Going soft means throwing away your whole life!】
My heart dropped hard.
That was it. I couldn't gamble.
The price of losing this bet, if I softened, was too high.
Not only would my own life be ruined, my parents would be dragged into it too.
I couldn't afford the gamble, and I didn't dare take it.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Abbott. I really can't help you."
"You should hurry and find a way to reach 911, and wait for the rescue."
