Turns out, Du Lu was held in captivity by the father of a girl he messed around with and was being threatened with castration unless he marries the girl or pay the father $50,000 for dishonoring the pure little virgin. Du Lu was frantic and so Richard left his bed and flew 2,000 miles to attempt a rescue.

"What the h.e.l.l were you doing here in the middle of nowhere anyway?" was the first thing he barked at his friend when he landed two hours later. "And where am I staying tonight? Don't tell me I have to stay with you in that girl's house?!"

It was actually worst. He had to share a ramshackle hut with Du Lu without running water and other facilities he had taken for granted in his nice, high rise apartment. He spent a miserable week between fixing Du Lu's problems and his fever which fluctuated from high to low depending on his degree of annoyance and aggravation.

He remembered the incident and suddenly felt bone tired. His throat felt parched and sore. He wanted to get up and pour himself a gla.s.s of water but he felt too weak to move. He can only groan his annoyance because Du Lu was an a.s.shole that deserved to have his d.i.c.k cut off for making his life miserable. The a.s.shole. Served him right if he ended up married to that ugly pig with the snub nose.

"I think he's coming to," a voice suddenly sounded to his left. "I'll go and get the doctor."

He could hear someone sobbing in the bed beside him. He really wanted to open his eyes and see who it was but Du Lu was calling him about the pig that ate the sweet potato patch he planted in the yard. He was really getting tired of Du Lu's ldi-da voice.

He allowed his thoughts to further sink into deep unconsciousness to escape the grating noise. When he opened his eyes, it was morning. He was lying on a narrow bed surrounded by hospital equipment that blinked and hummed as he watched. He looked at them with an incredulous face. Did Du Lu flew him here from Siargo? Where was 'here' anyway?

"Good morning," a voice suddenly greeted merrily. "How are we feeling today? Are you hungry?"

The voice belonged to a middle-aged man with a smiling face. He was wearing a white coat and a stethoscope around his neck. He was chewing on a gum so his articulation was a bit off, with the Rs sounding like "aw" when he said them.

"Where am I? What happened to Du Lu?"

"Du Lu? You mean the actor? He's fine as far as I know. I'd better go and tell your parents you're awake. Your dad begged your mom to rest and go to sleep not too long ago. She never left your side. She'll be happy to know that you're finally awake."

The doctor didn't leave though until Richard answered all his questions and a nurse came in to serve him soft rice and jelly pudding. A little while later the door opened again and his parents came in. His mother immediately flung herself on the bed and sobbed on his chest. Richard looked at his father. The old man looked grimmer than usual and he seemed to have lost a lot of weight.

"What happened, Dad? Why am I here?"

"You don't remember?"

Richard frowned. "I seem to remember a blast. An Ning was with me. An Ning...is she okay? Where is she?"

"Captain Roberts is waiting outside to speak to you. We can talk later."

"Who? Wait, Dad!" Richard said but his father ignored him and walked out the door. His mom had taken a seat next to his bed and can't seem to stop crying as she held his hand. What the h.e.l.l is going on?

The door opened again. A man in uniform came in and walked toward the bed. His mom stood up and, still crying pitifully, went outside, leaving him and the uniformed man alone in the room.

"I'm glad you're awake. Do you remember what happened?"

Richard frowned. Why is he asking him? He's not the police. He was about to tell him off when he heard his voice.

"It was an a.s.sa.s.sination attempt, Sir," the voice which sounded like his voice said. "Somebody knew Han was going to be on that helicopter and sent a.s.sa.s.sins to try and kill him. I remember the blast. Is my brother dead, Sir?"

Captain Rogers sighed. "I'm sorry, son. We were alerted when the local police informed the bureau and they contacted us. This is such a f.u.c.king mess. We were expecting this but not this way. We didn't expect the enemy to target, Han." He sighed again and looked at Richard.

"I guess you're waiting for an explanation? All I can say is that Han was working undercover. I can't give all the details but we found a terrorist organization inside the highest branch of government. We can't even trust the prime minister with this information. Han volunteered to infiltrate said organization but..."

"What happens now?"

"I don't know, son. I don't even know where to begin the search. Han worked on it on his own and it seemed he didn't left any clues as to what he found or if he did find any evidence to follow a clue. The last thing he told me when we spoke was that he was getting married and he was going to Siargao for his honeymoon."

Richard gave a start. Siargo? Why Siargao? But he didn't say it out loud because he was stopped by a voice in his head that ordered him to keep his trap shut. Richard was so startled by the sound that he went mute for a few seconds. His thoughts were reeling and he almost didn't notice when the captain finally left after repeating his I'm sorries.

Richard was left with questions he didn't have any answers to. What the h.e.l.l happened? What did the captain mean I'm dead? I'm here. How can I be dead? Confused and alarmed, Richard pretended to be asleep when his parents came back and stayed that way until his father dragged his mother away to rest in the next room. Left alone in the room, Richard opened his eyes, a deep and foreboding fear clutching at his heart with dread.

"Han? Han? Is that you? I'm scared, Han. I'm scared," he whispered in the quiet silence. He could feel that ghostly presence, that voice waiting and silent in his head. At the same time, he could feel himself slipping away, like he was being peeled from his own skin and dissolving into the mist of nothingness.

He felt a sudden need to see An Ning, desperately wanted to see her. He could feel the pain in his heart, the regret, the unhappiness he had wantonly brought upon himself and his wife. The same fear, the same longing injected him with the strength to stand up, walk to the door and go to the room where he knew An Ning was. Her eyes seem to flutter awake when he opened the door and walked to her side.

He watched her with almost desperate eyes as if he wanted to imprint her beloved image in his retina forever. He wanted to be with her. He wanted to live and die with her if possible but he knew he was slipping away, his consciousness overtaken by another. He was leaving and his heart was in so much pain because of it.

He gently lifted one of her hands and pressed it to his cheek. He kissed her lips and remembered a time in their youth when he would take her on his bike and he would ride with her to the beach, her laughter rich and carefree as they glided along the sand. A long time away now. A lifetime ago.

An Ning...An Ning...I didn't know I loved you all along. I didn't know because you were always there and I was blind. I love you. It's always been you, An Ning. I love you. Please don't forget me. Don't forget me.

He sat by her side unblinking and unmoving until dawn came. Only then did he stand up and walked to the door without looking back. There was no one in the hallway to hinder him as he walked outside and awaited the light of the new day.

He thought of nothing and everything. He watched as the sun rose and slowly illuminated the sky with an orange tint. Take care of her for me and our child, will you? Protect them with your life, he whispered softly like a prayer.

He sat and watched and waited. When the moment came, a small smile suddenly illuminated his haggard face. At six o'clock that morning, a nurse leaving the hospital after her s.h.i.+ft ended came upon him sleeping peacefully on a bench under a huge acacia tree. He was wearing a pair of dark pants and a doctor's coat with a stethoscope slung jauntily around his neck. He was put back on emergency watch because he was running a fever and there was a b.l.o.o.d.y gash on his neck like he had been scratched.

His father placed an angry call to someone and a platoon of grim-looking soldiers arrived not long after to surround the building. Richard and An Ning were moved to a much bigger room and placed on high security alert. No one outside the medical staff was allowed to enter the room except Richard's parents and An Ning's parents. This nervous state of alertness continued the same way for several days until Richard finally awakened and opened his eyes.