Flash Fiction February 2025 Day Four: Rules & Regulations (Yue)

A/N: This may be continued at a later time, we shall see depending on how much free time I have.

Flash Fiction February 2025 Day 4 Prompt: Rules

One thing people do not understand is that my job has a specific set of rules and regulations that I am required to follow in order to complete my work according to standards. “No, I cannot perform an autopsy right here on the street!” I rather angrily tell the detective who had rather rudely woken me in the middle of the night and dragged me down to a side street by the river bank in the rain. “There are people around, the area is not sterile, and I am still waiting on permission from the deceased's family. I can’t do it, a full examination will have to wait until the body is brought back and on my table.” I pause as I see the detective gearing up to give me an earful and reach into my bag for a few tools. “However, I can give you some basic information that may be useful in the meantime.” crouching down while putting on gloves I ask for someone to hold my bag and begin to examine for obvious abnormalities such as lacerations, debris, and signs of defensive wounds. While I am busy examining the hands, having noticed some odd bruising Qin arrives apologizing for being late and for having me called out in such dreary weather at a ridiculous hour. “At least it's stopped raining for now. Will you tell that young detective that my job has rules and regulations for me please? He didn’t seem to understand that I cannot perform a full exam here in the mud and especially not without permission.” At hearing my request the obviously tired Sargent gives the young detective a look of displeasure before getting up and taking him aside to give him a talking to before going to check on the status of the request to be allowed to take samples prior to the full exam. This case is unusual as there is another potential victim still alive though barely that is relaying on the information collected from this victim, specifically to see if they ingested the same mystery substance. Time is of the essence, even still, I still have rules to follow. Calling over Qin’s partner, Xianru, I hand her a pair of gloves and ask her to help me flip the body so I can examine the other side. While this is one of her least favorite parts of the job she does assist as Qin remains occupied. “What’s that?” Xianru points to a peculiar laceration on the right side of the face. “Hmm, I’m not sure. Not consistent with blunt force trauma, could be something accidental or from being in the water.” I make a note of it to examine more closely later along with the odd hand bruising. Finally permission comes through from the family allowing me to quickly take samples and get them off for testing. Back in the lab I begin my in depth examination upon the arrival of the deceased with the help of my assistant, who informs me the samples have been processed and tested. Hopefully the collection was fast enough to help save that girl. If it had been any longer waiting at the scene I very well may have broken the rules and taken samples anyways, after all above all we as doctors do have the oath to do no harm. While my job is to treat the dead with respect and answer the questions that remain about the circumstances in which they died, I also have a duty to the living. And sometimes that is worth breaking the rules over.