40 The Nightmare Begins (1/2)

Li Xiuying was on autopilot as she left the taxi and made her way up to her apartment.

Li Xiuying took out her key card and opened the front door. She entered the foyer of her apartment and closed the door behind her. She double checked that door was securely locked.

Li Xiuying haphazardly took off her shoes. Then she removed her coat as she stumbled her way into her bedroom. She took off her clothes leaving them sprawled all over the floor. Li Xiuying swayed over to her wardrobe, she yanked open the doors and grabbed a t-shirt dress.

Li Xiuying fought with the dress to get her arms and head into the right holes. She was getting frustrated with herself.

Why can't I put on a simple $£ing dress?! Pull yourself together Li Xiuying! I demand you pull yourself together now!

She took a deep breath adjusted the t-shirt dress and put it on, one appendage at a time.

Li Xiuying crawled under the duvets of her queen size bed and closed her eyes.

I'm safe, its okay now. You're stronger than this.

Tears fell down her cheeks and she sniffed. Whilst gently sobbing, she wrapped herself tightly in her duvet, desperately needing the warmth it provided.

In the quiet and safety of her apartment and within the warmth of her bed; she succumbed to the call of her dark memories that had unceasingly plagued her this afternoon. The memories picked at her mental shields like vultures pecking at an animal on its last breath.

....

Flashback

On Saturday 13th in her past life Li Xiuying had completed the surgery on Zhang Da at Emerald hospital. After completing the surgery she got dressed and headed for the hospital cafeteria to grab something to eat. Whilst she was eating, she received a call from Chen Wei.

Li Xiuying: ”Hello, Wei is everything okay?”

Chen Wei's cold voice assaulted Li Xiuying's hearing: ”Xiuying, I need you to sign the contract to work for Emerald hospital. I'm at a meeting at the moment, meet me at Cafe at 3 pm. That's the coffee place on the corner of Hépínglù.”

Li Xiuying: ”Okay I'll...”

Before she could continue speaking, the line went dead.

Li Xiuying searched for the cafe's address online and looked up the directions. It took roughly an hour and a half to get there by car. Li Xiuying thought it strange that Chen Wei had chosen such a distant location to meet up.

Why couldn't we just sign the contract at the hospital? I mean I'm here now, it is the most efficient way to do it.

She pondered a little but then let go of her suspicions. Chen Wei had always given her odd and as of late unreasonable requests to carry out. Li Xiuying was aware that he visited a variety of private patients in different areas around Beijing.

He's probably meeting some patient's in the area, so it would be easier if I meet him over there.

She looked at the clock in the cafeteria; it was 11:00 am. Li Xiuying still had plenty of time to get to the cafe. She booked a taxi to pick her up for 13:00. She never wanted to keep Chen Wei waiting again. She was once late to one of their meetings and he was so enraged with her he threatened to call off the engagement.

Li Xiuying took care of a few things on her jobs list. She did some paperwork and worked a little on a research paper.

She received a text at 13:00 stating that the taxi she booked is currently waiting outside. She dozed off in the taxi and before she knew it she had arrived at Cafe. She checked her phone it was only 2:15 pm.

That was quicker than expected. There must have been no traffic.