CHAPTER TWO

The dispatch rider placed his hands on his mouth to prevent himself from shouting and directing the attention of the wolf to himself. Then, he immediately brought out his smartphone and sent a message of what was happening to the emergency line of the Greenwood Police Department (GPD).

Mr. Robert gave the wolf a hard blow on its face. This angered the wolf, and it growled loudly and used its claws to draw a deep line from his chest to his stomach. It cursorily looked at Catherine, who was already raining curses and crying bitterly before it ran away from the scene.

Mr. Robert started vomiting blood. He was also bleeding profusely from his chest to his stomach. Catherine ran to where her husband lay.

She didn't know what to do. The medical team and police officers were already around the corner, and she could hear the wailing of an ambulance siren. 

'Hold on my love, you will be fine' she said to her husband while placing his head on her lap, with uncontrollable tears running down from her eyes to her cheeks as she stroked his hair. 

Mr. Robert shook his head as tears fell from his eyes, disagreeing with what she said. He felt like it was the last time he would see his beloved, as the pain had become unbearable. He stretched out his hand to touch Catherine's hand and mouthed that he loved her.

'No, no we will get through this' she said loudly. 

The ambulance and Greenwood Police Department arrived in a few seconds. 

The medical team immediately brought out a stretcher to carry the injured Mr. Robert to the van, and Catherine followed as they drove him away to Greenwood General Hospital.

She got into the ambulance with them as she kept praying beneath her breath and speaking words of hope to her husband who had already given up on life. 

Residents around the area could hear the wailing of sirens signifying something terrible had happened. They decided to come out to see what was happening. 

'Is this not Mr. Robert's car?' an old woman asked as she moved closer to the car. 

'Yes it is, do you know them personally?' A police officer who was detecting and jotting down what happened asked.

'No, not really but Mr. Robert and his wife are distinguished members of the community development committee. They have contributed a lot to the development of this community…' she paused when she saw blood on the other side of the road where the wolf attacked Mr. Robert. 'Tell me, what happened?'

'Well, we suspect this to be an animal attack, they were attacked on their way back from a date night. I guess, looking at the way Mrs. Robert dressed, it is obviously not from their workplace' he added. 

'Hmmm, I remember someone wishing Mr. Robert a happy anniversary on his way to work this morning. I guess today is their wedding anniversary and they were probably on their way back from where they went to celebrate' She said and she nodded her head as she looked at one spot for a long time as if she could see what no one else is seeing. 

'Hmm… thanks for your time ma. We will look into the case immediately' He said as he gave his colleague a signal for them to go back to the precinct. 

They arrived at the hospital in a few minutes, and Mr. Robert was rushed into the theater room. 

Catherine wasn't permitted to go into the theater room with them so she sat outside the room waiting impatiently. 

A few minutes later, the nurses started coming out one by one. The doctor came out, removed his face mask, and shook his head. 

'I'm sorry madam, we tried our best'. 

She didn't want to believe it, the word kept echoing in her head. She ran into the theater room to verify if it was true. 

As she got in, the nurses were already covering his face, getting ready to send his corpse to the morgue. 

She cried out, 'No, no it can't be possible. This was not the plan, Robert this was never the plan' 

She went closer to his corpse. 'No, remove it, he is still alive, he is still alive, my husband can't be dead. The possibly can't be' 

'I'm sorry for your loss ma' A nurse said as she tried to console her and also stretched out her hands to hug her. 

'Madam? madam?' Catherine had already lost consciousness and was oblivious to what was going on. 

The shock had affected her mentally. The nurse noticed this and called on the doctor immediately. 

She was moved away from the room to another one where she was given the required treatment to revive her consciousness. 

The next morning, the whole citizens of Greenwood were already aware of what happened. 

Every TV station broadcasted the incident, and everyone in the neighborhood felt sorry for the couple but they were also scared that the animal might still be out there to strike unannounced again. 

The mayor of the city was also aware. He organized a press conference to inform the citizens around the street where the incident occurred not to be afraid that investigations are being carried out, and the police officers will be going on a hunt to look for the animal and make sure they get rid of it to restore peace to Greenwood city again. 

Detective Sophia Richardson was the person in charge of the case. She is one of the best detectives in the city with track records of solving critical cases relating to homicides.

This also contributed to her divorce from her ex-husband, she passionately loves being in crime scenes solving murder cases rather than spending the night out on a romantic date. 

'Get me the details of the man who placed a call to GPD!'