Awake

Chapter 9

Zhan got to work right on time as usual. As soon as he walked in, the nurses were bombarding him with tons of questions about Yibo's whereabouts. They even went as far as to check the list of outpatient registered at the Rehabilitation Center to no avail.

Nurse Jiyi looked the most saddened by the absence of Yibo. He could tell that she might like Yibo, but her actions right now are more obvious than before.

"Dr Xiao, aren't you the one who signed his discharge form? So you should at least have an idea where he went. Or who picked him up."

"Nurse Jiyi, do you know how many patients I deal with. Also since when am I required to investigate who picked every patient up or where they would go after they leave? Aren't you acting a bit irrational with the exception you have of me?"

"I am sorry, Dr. Xiao. The thing is, your relationship with him was..."

"Was what, speak clearly."

"Well, you two looked close, so I thought your friendship would at least be enough for him to tell you where he was going after being discharged, that's all."

Zhan immediately felt embarrassed about how he was overreacting towards Jiyi's words. She was merely talking about their friendship, nothing more.

"After the last tests, we ran on Mr. Lang, there was nothing wrong with him except his memory and minor muscle coordination. I went and relayed the finding to the director, and he said to discharge him. Maybe you can go ask the director and ask about Mr Lang's whereabouts?"

"No, that's not necessary."

"Nurse Jiyi, can I ask you a rather personal question? It's OK if you don't want to answer it, I just want to make sure."

"Go ahead, I rather you asked me anyway instead of making assumptions."

"Do you perhaps have feelings for Mr Lang?"

She didn't even act shocked about the question, almost as though she expected it.

"Yes, I do. I didn't expect it to be this strong. I know I don't really know him that well or even know about him."

"So what then do you like about him?"

"Do you want me to list the physical stuff or his personality?"

"I guess whatever you are comfortable with."

"Physically, I would say everything.  His eyes, face, body, and this might be weird, but the way he walks. I know you wouldn't have noticed how that man walked with so much authority like he was ready to take over the world. The way he always leans back when he laughed too hard..."

Zhan was looking at Jiyi glowing while talking about Yibo. Her face was even flushed like she was blushing but was unashamed to share all this with him. He became a bit sad because all the things Jiyi listed he could list even more, but he will never be able to share this with so much passion with anyone.

She went on and on for a while, and finally, when she was done, her eyes were teary.

"Hey, why are you crying all of a sudden?"

"I have never felt this way about anyone before, and it's just sad that my current affections are towards a ghosts, really. I found out a while ago that the man we knew as Mr. Lang was not really Mr. Lang."

Zhan was shocked about this revelation.

"How did you find out, and when did you find out?"

"One evening a while back, I overheard your phone call conversation with the director. I was shocked but decided it wasn't any of my business, but when I started to have feeling for him I would indirectly ask him questions about himself and sometimes he would say he didn't know and other times he would just keep quite. I never told anyone about this and just hoped that one day, his memories would be recovered. I was also hoping that my extra care for him would reach his heart, and he would start seeing me the way I saw him. But to be honest, I don't think Mr. Lang had eyes for anyone but you, Dr. Xiao."