Chapter 2: Morning Shadows
Sunlight filtered weakly through the blinds of the morgue office. Aiden Chen sat behind a desk, tying his tie and trying to focus on paperwork, but his mind was on last night. The bruises on his hand throbbed. Every time he blinked, he half-expected golden eyes staring back at him.
He shook his head, clearing the stray thought. As mortuary assistant, his job was to prepare bodies and manage records. It was monotonous, peaceful—exactly what he needed to center himself. However, today his thoughts floated somewhere else: the girl from the alley, Lila Chen. Fate must have a sense of humor that they shared a last name but weren't related at all. She had offered so much kindness.
"Morning, Aiden!" chirped a voice. Marion, head pathologist, peered over her glasses. "You're five minutes late."
Aiden snapped back to reality. "Sorry, Marion. I won't let it happen again." He quickly tied the knot of his tie.
"You saw something you shouldn't last night?" she teased, noticing the cut on his lip.
He barely suppressed a groan at her sharp eye. "Just a scuffle with a stubborn body bag."
Marion raised an eyebrow but said no more. She shuffled some paperwork aside. "Focus. We've got a new case."
Aiden inhaled and did his best to bury the adrenaline from last night deep down. This was his world: the quiet clicking of a keyboard, the sterile smell of the embalming room. He grabbed a file for the new case, scanning the details. As Marion clattered out to set up the autopsy, she said without looking back, "Aiden, be sure to check the liver stains—shouldn't be there."
He nodded. The distraction helped.
Lila, meanwhile, changed into her scrubs in the locker room of St. Margaret's Hospital. She thought about last night's strange encounter. Aiden Chen: helpful and earnest in the rain. Why had she worried so much for him? He'd been alone, hurt. It wasn't like her. She was a junior nurse but had seen enough accidents to trust her instincts.
As she finished zipping up her bag, something on her phone caught her eye: a news alert about a mugging in Riverside Alley last night. She tapped the story, scrolling quickly. The victim was a local street artist—somebody she recognized as part of a community mural project. Two men mugged him but a passerby intervened, scaring off the attackers. The witness described "a tall guy with wild eyes."
That must have been Aiden, she realized. His description fit: short, kind face and… her memory clicked on those golden eyes when she'd stared as he realized he was hurt. Wild eyes. Was he crazy? No, he was gentle, not like an attacker at all. She stared at the article headline: "Mystery Hero Saves Street Artist from Mugging." The witness didn't mention any bruises or anything suspicious.
Curiosity buzzed. Who was this hero? Lila loved stories like this—everybody needed a hero. Aiden's name, however, did not appear. She suddenly wished she had spoken to him longer, understood more.
Pulling on her coat, she decided to find out. If Aiden was this hero, she needed to know his story. Maybe some hospital report might mention that name.