MyStandIN: Back to Joe (alternate ending)

7- A wake up call

 - Joe, Joe!

Tong's voice. I slowly opened my eyes.

- Joe, wake up!, Tong repeated as I came to my senses.

The seat belt was holding me while the airbag deflated. Tong seemed more conscious than I was. His temple was bloody. I reached out for him. Memories gradually came back to me.

- Ming... Ming..., I murmured.

- I'll take care of everything.

Next to our car, a black van was parked. Black-clad men with face masks and gloves got out of the car. Hands grabbed me out of the vehicle. Was this the end for me again? Did Tong plan to get rid of me to hide our affair? I didn't have the strength to struggle. Powerless, my half-closed eyes witnessed other men drag an unconscious Ming from his Toyota. Blackout again.

Noises, voices coming closer, moving farther away. My eyes were gradually opening. My vision was still blurred. A white dressed man and a woman. Deep sleep. Something warmed my skin. I tried to open my eyes. The same white silhouettes, voices. Both were wearing stethoscopes. I tried to get up. My arms were connected to machines, which made shrill noises at regular intervals. The man was reading notes, the woman was writing. She brought a syringe close to me, put it into a tube. Further away, two men standing, staring at me. My eyes were sealed again.

Footsteps. I slowly woke up. A figure moved away, a door was closing. Alone,in the hotel room Tong and I had left, I sat in bed, twenty-something minutes, trying to make sense of the past events. Guess I'd been wrong about Tong. The phone rang.

- You're finally awake, are you all right?, asked Tong.

- A painful headache !, I reassured him.

- I'm so relieved! I've been calling the nurse for the past two days!

- Ming ?, I asked.

- I'm at the hospital. Come as soon as you can !

I gathered my things as quickly as possible, wore clean clothes, left the room. In the hotel lobby, one of Tong's men was waiting for me. With few explanations, he escorted me to the black van, waiting for us a few steps away from the hotel. At full speed, without a word, he took me to the hospital.

As we pulled up in front of the building, I checked my phone. Tong gave me directions to Ming's room. Nervous, he was pacing up and down the corridor. When he saw me, he beckoned me to meet hin in the staircase. Tong looked left and right to ensure no one else was there. Worried, he took me in his arms, examined me, hugged me again.

- At last !, he whispered in my ear.

- You had blood on your temple.

- Just a scratch !, he reassured me.

I coughed. He loosened his arms to inspect me again.

- Ming...

- He's been under surveillance since the accident. He's lost consciousness.

Tong looked at me resolutely.

- Joe... I need you...

I could barely concentrate on the words he was saying.

- I can't stay here like this forever. I've been here day and night for two days already. I can't afford it anymore... However the family wouldn't understand... I need you to replace me here too.

Without even thinking, I say yes, burdened by guilt.

- I'll give you the signal. Nobody would notice.

Footsteps. Tong moved away from me, with a solemn look. A few floors down, a door closed. Tong gestured that he would go out first. Alone with my thoughts, I waited ten minutes alone in the stairwell before leaving the hospital. The black van was still there. The driver finally took me home. The apartment was empty. Mom had surely gone to her dialysis' appointment. After a soothing shower, I laid down on my bed, drifting off to sleep until the next morning.

The following days, Tong would call to tell me when to go to the hospital. He had me bring stylish clothes, brand-name sunglasses and watches. As I went to Ming's, everyone thought I was him. Every day, I paced the room, wondering how we'd all got to this situation... When I could not take it any more, the guilt gnawing at me, I went to the temple, prayed for him. The previous life, here and now... Tired of making scenarios in my head, I dozed off on Ming's bed on the sixth day.

A dark, cold place. I was there alone. I heard someone shouting. II suddenly saw Ming running towards me. Appalled, I crossed my arms in front of my face. Gates appeared between Ming and I. With all his strength, he tried to break free.

- You can't escape me! Never again, Joe !, he sneered.

Other gates appeared in my hands as if by magic. With these, I locked Ming in.

- Let me out! I'll kill you, Joe! In this life or the next!

I felt safe at last. A light appeared behind me, bringing me out of the darkness. I ran towards it. The more I sped up, the further away it got. At my wits' end, I held out my hands towards the blaze, while Ming was still shouting behind me. I was getting closer and closer, A door appared. Unfortunately for me, it seemed to be closing. Another effort, I reached the handle. I rushed in, arriving in a room flooded with light. The door quietly closed behind me. Screams. A hand through the door. Another person seemed to be coming out.

- Ming? Ming?

The voice didn't answer me. A dark spot on their skin. Ming never had such a thing. I rushed to offer my hand, pulling on the other person with all my strength, succeeding in bringing the stranger out of the shadows from the light.

- Joe! Joe!

Someone was touching my shoulder. I awoke with a start.

- You seemed to be struggling! Were you having a nightmare? asked Tong, offering me a glass of coffee.

As he leaned toward me, something fell from his pocket. An ultrasound photograph. He quickly picked it up, put it in his wallet.

- We can't go on like this !, I pointed out. Look where it's getting us.

Tong approached, not knowing what to say. I moved away. The machine next to Ming was making shrill noises at increasingly short intervals. What was happening? Tong and I were on the alert. On the sheets, Ming's fingers moved little by little. He frowned. His lips gently parted as if he was trying to speak. His eyes slowly opened. Overjoyed, Tong left the room, looking for a nurse. Ming coughed. I rushed to his bedside, taking his right hand. A dark spot on his skin, never noticed it before. Dazed, Ming scanned the room before laying his eyes on me. He abruptly removed his hand from mine, before yelling:

- My body ! Why are you doing in my body?

All of a sudden, he became hysterical. At that moment, Tong entered the room.

- Ming! Ming, you're awake!

- Who the hell are you? Why is he in my body? Who am I?