Chapter 6 #2
He stood and held out his hand. When she took it, he walked her down the hallway, stopping at the open door to the bathroom.
When she didn’t lead the way inside, he did and turned on the tap to get the water heating, and then returned to the living room and grabbed shampoo and soap from his backpack. He set them in the shower for her.
“There you go,” he said. “If you prefer a bath, feel free. Or do both. Take your time.” He met her eyes and smiled. “Use all the hot water in the building if you want.”
She looked at the tub, then at him, like she was waiting for something.
“I’ll order us some food. You sure there’s nothing specific you want?”
“Um… maybe rice?”
“Might be hard to find rice in China, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
She scrunched her eyes like she was struggling to decode a message.
“It was a joke, sweetheart.” He kissed her forehead and pulled the door closed between them.
He stood there a minute, finally forcing himself to walk away.
Mei Lin was not the same. She was not okay.
He opened a food app, connected it to a credit card number his father had given him, and found a restaurant that offered a good variety of items. He ordered a couple of meals, then switched to a grocery app and ordered protein shakes, bottled water, a toothbrush, and a few days’ worth of clothes for Mei Lin.
He didn’t know what else she’d need, but this should be enough for now.
He dialed Gavin, not realizing until his father answered that it was the middle of the night in the States.
“Sorry,” he said quickly. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“You okay?” Gavin whispered. “Did you find her?”
“I’m with her. She’s alive.” His voice cracked on that last word, and he sat heavily on the sofa.
“Hold on.” A few seconds passed. “How’d you find her?” Gavin’s voice was a normal volume.
“She contacted me, but not from her phone. It was an unknown number. She just gave me the name of this big square in the city, and…”
“She’s smart. Is she okay?”
“I don’t know.” Ethan described how fearful she seemed, and quiet. “She’s just…not herself.”
“Has she told you anything about—?”
“Nothing. She was practically asleep on her feet. She looks like she hasn’t rested, or eaten, in years.”
“Hmm.”
What did hmm mean? Ethan gave his father time to expand on that.
“A woman bright enough to get into nursing school in Canada and earn the money to get there…”
Ethan hadn’t told Gavin any of his wife’s story, but it seemed that Gavin had done his homework.
“She obviously survived…something.”
“Yeah.” Ethan’s eyes burned, and he swiped a tear away. It was too much.
“She was courageous enough at eighteen years old to leave everything she knew behind,” Gavin continued. “Her family, her country. I don’t know her, but my guess is she’s strong. Whatever happened, it didn’t break her. The fact that she found you is proof of that.”
Ethan stood and paced. “I hope you’re right.”
“Never doubt me.”
Ethan barked a laugh. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
His father chuckled, but it didn’t linger.
“I just checked my messages. As far as I’m aware, her passport still hasn’t been flagged.
If someone’s looking for her, it’s not the government.
That doesn’t mean they—whoever they are—don’t have information.
I mean…I’m getting information. All it takes is knowing the right person and having enough cash. ”
“What should we do?”
“Get back to Hong Kong as fast as possible. Attach a train ticket to her ID, but don’t take that train. Buy another with cash, or pay someone to drive you.”
Maybe the taxi driver—
A knock sounded on the door, and Ethan jumped out of his skin. “Hold on a sec.” At the door, he said, “Who is it?”
“Uh…food.” The word was highly accented.
“Okay,” he said through the door, then into the phone, “Our food’s here.”
“Eat and rest,” Gavin said. “You’re safe where you are. I’ll see if I can figure something out for you.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure, son.”
Ethan ended the call, that last word resonating. Son.
Back when he was a teenager, he would get furious when his father called him that. It might have been technically true, but it felt like a term of endearment meant for real fathers and sons, not absentee fathers hiding their son’s existence.
At the moment, Ethan couldn’t bring himself to summon anything but affection for the man who’d helped him find his wife and was still keeping them safe.
He tipped the delivery driver for the food. A few minutes later, he tipped a second for the groceries and clothes.
Still, Mei Lin hadn’t emerged from the bathroom. He’d heard the shower turn off and the louder spigot in the tub turn on. It had run for a few minutes, then cut off.
He grabbed the sack of clothes and knocked on the bathroom door. “No rush, sweetheart. The food’s here, and I’m leaving clothes for you outside the door.”
“I’m coming.”
“Take your time.” He set down the items and returned to the kitchen to wait.
Mei Lin hurried, though. She came into the kitchen barefoot, and though it was midday, she wore the pajamas he’d chosen—pink with cartoon cats, which he’d thought might make her smile.
She used to be a cat person. Surely, that hadn’t changed.
Her hair was damp. She was clean, but all the soap in the world couldn’t wipe away the dark smudges beneath her eyes.
“Here.” He pulled out a chair, and when she’d settled into it, served her a plateful of noodles, rice, chicken, and vegetables.
Her eyes widened. “This is much food. Thank you.”
“Smells good enough to eat, right?”
“Yes. Very good. Thank you.”
He sighed.
Where had his wife gone? Was she still in there somewhere?
He fixed himself a plate and sat across from her. He was terrible at chopsticks but thought he’d try. She used to tease him about his lack of coordination.
Good thing you didn’t want to be a surgeon, Dr. America.
He’d hoped to make her smile, but she barely looked up. After a few bites, she set the chopsticks down and stared at the table as if she’d forgotten what she was supposed to be doing.
“Mei Lin?”
“I’m sorry.” She picked up her chopsticks again. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize. If you’re full—”
“I will eat. You bought the food. I will eat.” She took another bite of the noodles, then a piece of chicken. Then, the chopsticks went still again, and her eyes drifted shut.
“We’ll save the rest for later.” He stood and tugged on her chair. “Come on. Up.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop—” He cut the rebuke off. “Let’s just rest, okay?”
She let him pull her to her feet and walk her to the bedroom at the end of the hall. He pulled the covers back and watched as she settled, already half asleep.
He bent and kissed her forehead.
She stilled, eyes opening wide.
“Sleep, sweetheart,” he said. “Just sleep.”
When her eyes closed again, he adjusted the blinds to keep out the light. Her breathing had already evened out.
At least she trusted him enough to rest in his presence. But that didn’t negate everything else he’d seen.
She’d asked permission to take a shower. She’d apologized for not eating. She’d watched him as if waiting for a reprimand, or worse.
Something had turned his strong, confident wife into this frightened creature, and he wanted to know every bit of the story. And then find the person who’d done it and take out his frustrations on him.
He lay on the opposite side of the bed, levered up on his elbow, and watched her sleep. A lock of her hair fell across her face, and he brushed it back. “I love you, Mei Lin.” His words were barely a whisper. “Nothing has changed that. Nothing ever will.”
Outside the windows, the city hummed.
Lord, thank You for bringing her back to me. Now, help me love her through this. Show me what to do.
He didn’t know what would come next, but she was here, and she was breathing. He’d figure out steps two and three and…and on and on. One at a time until they were home.
Nothing seemed right. But also, nothing seemed wrong. Mei Lin couldn’t make her eyes open to check her surroundings. She couldn’t pull herself all the way to wakefulness.
And then Ethan was there, whispering. “I love you, sweetheart. I’ve always loved you.”
She lost herself in the dream.
When she woke again, she felt him there, her husband telling her to Sleep, beautiful. Sleep. You’re safe here.
She wanted to stay with him, but then she was drifting again.
Terrible images came. Lu Feng was there, dragging her back.
Ethan was there, pulling her close.
She didn’t know what was real and what was imagined, what was dream and what was nightmare. Behind her eyes the light turned dark, then light again, but she couldn’t wake up.
She didn’t want to.