The Journey Forward | ONC 2023 Version

2. A Bath

"Mistress Xiang," a soft voice called. The name sounded familiar to my sleepy brain. "Mistress Xiang, Madame Wei awaits your presence. You need to wake up now."

Oh, she was talking to me. She must have me confused with someone else. Maybe I fell asleep in the wrong sleep room. But then the name she mentioned second snagged a memory.

"Madam Wei? Is that the patient's wife?" My mouth felt like I had shoved forty cotton balls into it, then drank some sand to wash it down. My mind drifted back to the strange dream I had last night. I thought I had driven home but must have fallen asleep at the hospital. "Do you have any water?"

"Patient?" The voice lifted the end of the word with a hint of confusion. But I felt a cup in my outstretched hand and pulled it to my lips without opening my eyes. The lukewarm water hit my parched tongue right as she spoke again. "She is your husband's mother. I am not sure about the patient."

"Husband? I'm not mar-" My eyes flew open, and I swallowed back my words. Luckily, I also drank the water instead of spitting it. The world around me exploded with red brocade silk again, and though the red paper lanterns were no longer lit, they still lined the walls. I lay in an ancient wedding chamber, not the sterile white and blue of the hospital call room. My heart thudded heavily as I tried to piece together my memories.

The car accident.

A truck had side-swiped my car in the heavy snow, but I had been in my mother's tank of an SUV. I should have been fine.

"Well, you would have been fine if you hadn't been hit again on the other side by the second car that tried to swerve away from the truck," a familiar voice answered.

"What?"

"Madame Wei is waiting. It would be best if you got up," the first voice answered, attracting my gaze.

A petite Asian girl's face entered my view. Her tawny skin had a scattering of pale freckles across her flat nose and broad cheeks. Her close-set hooded eyes sat almost buried under her furrowed eyebrows, and small pursed lips accentuated her square jaw. Some would have considered her appearance unfortunate or even ugly, but her imperfection possessed a beauty that outweighed the individual flaws.

When she straightened, more of her came into my view, and I noted her simple cotton hanfu with narrow sleeves. The long brown skirt that fell to the ground covered a pastel pink right under her breast line. A pale blue sash with a front knot completed her simple but beautiful historical Chinese outfit.

"Who are you?" I accidentally growled before clearing my voice and smiling apologetically at the girl.

"I am Jing, your handmaiden. You brought no servants to the house, so Madame Wei assigned me to you." Jing smiled back and bowed as she introduced herself. "I have drawn a bath for you." Jing pointed to the corner of the room where a silk divider obscured a sizeable wooden tub full of steaming water.

"Oh." A bath would feel good. A memory floated to the forefront of my mind. Xiang Bai's family had not deemed her important enough to send a household servant with her as she moved houses. This lack of regard insulted her and the family she had joined. Anger all my own rose with the memory, anger for the girl who had been insulted and at the family that insulted her.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. I would have to get used to these random influxes of memories; they felt familiar and foreign.

"It is one of the reasons for a keeper, dear. Not every soul can cope with the memory download from their body's former occupant. Sometimes a keeper must feed it to them slowly."

"Oh," I answered the voice aloud. Jing looked at me in askance. I shook my head and followed her to the bath.

I only wore the soft undergarments that had separated my skin from the heavily embroidered wedding dress. My husband had not removed them once I passed out. He had kept his promise.