7 He is Han (1/2)
After leaving Valerie, Richard went to the west wing of the house he was now occupying. The courtyard here was bigger and more suited to his purpose than anywhere else in the house. It hadn't been difficult to convince his parents to agree to the arrangement.
In fact, his father insisted that he take over the courtyard and move An Ning there immediately. His mother, for her part, set her decorators a task to completely make over one of the larger rooms into a comfortable makeshift hospital bed. Two days later, An Ning was transferred from the hospital to this room along with two nurses and a round-the-clock doctor.
Richard was not taking any chances this time.He had already lost a brother, he couldn't take the chance of losing An Ning, too. He watched as his aged parents descended from gloomy to morose with each passing day. Losing a son hit them very much, so they were extra careful not to lose another member, especially one who was carrying the hope of the future.
He entered a room and walked towards the huge bed in the middle. The nurse stood up when she saw him. She nodded a greeting, gathered a few things then left, closing the door behind her with a tiny click.
Richard sat on the chair by the bed and as had been his practice these last few days since she arrived, he tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear, touched her cheek and bent his head to kiss her on the lips. She had lost a lot of weight, she was thinner so the bulge of her stomach was more prominent. She remained in a coma since the attack but she was alive and the baby was doing well and that's all that matters really. She will wake up and she will get better; he will see to it.
When he woke up that day, he could not remember the details of the attack as feel them. He felt panicked, fear, an overwhelming dread that swept over him like a tide. His brother Richard was dead and he, Han, was alive in his brother's body. He retained the memories of the dying soul before its last gasp into nothingness.
Richard was reluctant to leave, almost desperate to make amends to the woman he loved yet wronged. Han watched his brother's struggle, unable to do anything but stay mute and silent.
How could this have happened? Did he die or did Richard die? How can a soul flew out of a body then slip into another not his own? He remembered what Richard felt, like his skin had been stripped and another one stitched to fit the now empty vessel. It felt bizarre. It was bizarre.
He was Richard physically yet his soul was his own, Han, the youngest son of M City's illustrious Liu family.What did that mean actually? He didn't know. All he knew was that he had now taken over his brother Richard's life in addition to his own.
And his physical body had died in that attack. And the perpetrators remain at large and An Ning was comatose as a result. He wanted answers and he will get them even if he had to rip apart the city in his search for the truth.
He called Du Lu immediately after he arrived at this resolve.
”My god, man. What happened?” was Dulu's first response after taking the call. ”The news said something about a fire and you were there when it happened? Are you okay?”
”Never been better. Listen, dude, I need a favor.I need some time off to take care of something. Can you take over for me while I'm gone? Christie will help you with the office stuff. You're not busy are you?”
”I'm shooting a TV commercial a week from now and I have some appearances before that. But there's nothing else as far as I know. What's this something you're talking about anyway? You're not in any trouble are you? Valerie pregnant or something awful like that?”
Han laughed. ”What are you talking about? The straight and narrow has always been my code, bro. You know that better than anyone. Speaking of Valerie, she and I broke up. I didn't ask if she wants to stay with us or not. She might not want to after this. You better call her and clarify.”
There was silence at the other end. ”Say that again? You and Valerie are kaput?”
”Dead as a doornail, dude.”
”Who broke it off first?”
”What does it matter?” Han asked impatiently. ”I told her to go and she went.”