Cold As Steel

Chapter 4: First Call

After Melanie finished dissecting the head of the deceased, she inspected the whole body of the deceased inch by inch, and finally stopped at one of the arms. She took out a small magnifying glass and picked up a small scalpel. There was a small red dot there, she used the scalpel to open a small cut. Black blood flowed out immediately, she dipped the sample with a cotton swab and placed it ina test tube, and continued to dissect the cut she made.

This person was sent a few days ago. They dissected and analyzed most of the body; however, they didn't find that place. They didn't expect Melanie, such a young woman, to have such detailed observation skills.

"After the victim died, someone injected the body with a certain amount of drugs. However, I think there was more done to this body, I don't think it is this simple. I need more time to look at this body. After my inspection, I will give you guys a full report on what I find." Melanie said while taking off her gloves. Melanie's assistant quickly stepped forward to take the gloves from Melanie's hand and they both went out.

"Steven, is this girl really Melanie Steel? She looks very young?"

"Shut up, she came with Colonel Blake, so she is certainly Miss Steel. Let's hurry up! Several people are already dissecting!"

Melanie's assistant was a young man. He was 18 years old. His name was Kevin Lin, he watched Melanie neatly process the blood sample she took earlier. His eyes stuck to her hands and he stared in awe. After a while, Melanie looked up from the microscope and turned to the computer. She typed something into her report. At this time, Steven knocked on the door and came in.

"Miss Steel, this is the report we made earlier of all of the things we noticed in our dissection."

Without any expression, Melanie said thank you and set the report on her desk. She turned back to her computer screen.

"Thank you Steven for bringing this to us! Would you like some water or snacks?" Kevin said smiling.

"No, it's alright. It seems like you guys are busy. I won't bother you guys any longer." Steven said while walking out. He heard some rumors about Melanie from other scientists, that she doesn't like people talking when she works.

"Please hand me victim 6520's skin sample."

Melanie likes to number the victim; in order, to keep everything in order. Kevin picked up a pen and wrote 6520 under the name of the deceased, and gave the slide to Tong Qiulian!

"Miss, it's getting pretty late, and you haven't eaten yet. Would you like me to order a meal?" Kevin said while looking at the time. It's almost 1 am in the morning. When Melanie starts working she forgets to look at the time.

"Well, order me some spaghetti with extra sauce and no meat. " Melanie said while looking down at the microscope.

Kevin felt a little nauseous. He had just dissected a dead man. Was spaghetti really good to eat now? The red sauce and the slender noodles made him think of the intestines of the body, which made him nauseous. At this time, Tong Qiulian had already finished most of her wet lab, she moved on to watch Steven and the other scientist's dissection video from this afternoon.

Melanie had a habit of having other scientists videotape the dissection of she has no time to dissect herself. She needed to take the time and look to see if she missed anything. When Kevin came back with the meal she was still watching the video. He handed her the meal. What amazed Kevin was that Melanie was eating while watching the video as nothing bothered her.

He felt nauseous just watching her.

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When the first ray of sunlight came in the morning, Melanie slowly opened her eyes. She had slept on her desk for the night, only getting 5 hours of sleep. Melanie remembered her promise to Shawn and took out her phone from her pocket. Her phone was turned off, this was her habit, she turned it off when she worked. When she turned it back on a miss call from an unfamiliar number popped up. Melanie smiled slightly and called back according to the number.

"Mommy, you finally called, remember you promised me to call when you get the time," Shawn said unhappily.

"I'm so sorry Shawn, I was very busy yesterday and could not pull time. Are you good at your dad's?"

"I'm being good, I didn't cause trouble for Daddy. When will you come back to pick me up, Mommy? I miss you!"

Melanie is rarely separated from Shawn. So, this was a first. She misses him deeply too.

"I will be back in a week."

When Pierce entered the room, he saw Shawn lying on the bed, just in a towel, talking on the phone, and smiled very brightly. His father called Shawn on the phone yesterday. This call must be Melanie. Pierce walked over and looked at the temperature of the room and set it higher. He picked up a smalled towel and started to wipe Shawn's hair dry. Shawn had only lived here for a few days, and Pierce felt that he really has the potential to become a good father!

"Daddy, I'm not cold!" Shawn says to Pierce.

Melanie was stunned to hear that Pierce was right next to Shawn. Pierce wasn't expecting that, "Come on and get dressed already. You are going to catch a cold."

"Daddy, do you have any underwear? Hurry I need to dress up quickly so I can talk to mommy." Shawn says while reaching for his clothes.

Watching this little demon act all obedient in the presence of his mother, Pierce felt very frustrated!

"Mommy, do you want to talk to Daddy?" Shawn asked while handing the phone to Pierce.

Pierce went silent. He didn't know what to say to Melanie. On the other end, Melanie was silent too. Shawn handed the phone to Pierce.

"Don't yell at Pierce when he is wrong. You have to explain to him why he is wrong. Remember to be patient with him." Melanie says calmly.

"Ok..." Pierce says.

Melanie continues to explain some of Shawn's habits and then quickly hangs up. Pierce frowns to himself because Melanie didn't even ask him if he was well these days. When the housekeeper came in, he saw that the father and son duo both had identical faces of dissatisfaction.

"Shawn, get dressed!"

Shawn begrudgingly put on his sweater and his socks. When Pierce stretched out his arms Shawn placed his arms around Pierce's neck obediently, and Pierce picked him up. The father-son duo went downstairs. Anyone can see that both of them we not happy today.