( Sai loe = younger brother in canto )

“Here, have some congee.” Patrick says, gently spoon-feeding Tavia while she sat upright on the hospital bed.

Unsure whether or not she should let him spoon-feed her, she slowly reached out to take hold of the bowl of congee and the spoon.

Taken by surprise of her action, Patrick gently hands it to her, and reminds her, “Careful, it’s hot.”

“Thank you.” Tavia mumbled as she politely stuffed a spoonful of congee in . She stops suddenly and looks up at Patrick as he watched her eat.

“Um…Mr…” Tavia began.

“Patrick. Or sai loe. You used to call me that. Whatever you prefer.” He smiles.

Tavia nods. “Why have I lost my memory? What exactly happened?”

Patrick hesitated, before he replied. “You were in a car accident. But you’re fine now. Everything will be alright.”

“But…How did it happen? Was anyone with me…?”

“Our parents.” He simply stated.

Tavia felt her heart drop. “Are they…”

Patrick nods, feeling tears welling up at the corner of his eyes. “Yes. I don’t really want to talk about it. Maybe we could talk about it another time, when you are recovered.”

“But I’m fine—“ Tavia tried to argue, but was interrupted by a knock that was heard from the door.

“Come in.” Patrick said, a little too abruptly.

A second later, Selena bursts through the door. As she saw Tavia, her eyes brightened and her smile widened. Behind her, Bobby walks in with his clipboard and glanced at Tavia briefly, before returning to his notes.

“I heard what happened! My god, are you okay? Do you remember me?” Selena interrogated, bringing her face right up next to Tavia’s.

Confused, Tavia studied Selena, wondering who she could be. From her assumptions, Selena must be a loving, kind, and caring person.

“Selena.” Patrick whispered, shaking his head. “She just woke up.”

“Oops. Sorry. I’m just so happy you are finally awake! Just so you know I’m your best friend.” She smiles.

Tavia smiles back. She does seem like a sweet person and she could imagine herself being friends with her.

Bobby coughs, “How are you feeling, Tavia?”

Taking a moment longer to respond as she just remembers that was her name, she replied, “Better. I just…don’t remember anything.”

Bobby nods without glancing up as he scribbled onto his notes. “I’m sure Patrick mentioned about your condition?” He asked. Without waiting for her response, he continued,

“Now, according to your condition it is believed that because of the recussion on your head due to your accident, you do not remember anything. However, this is believed to be only temporary. I had many patients who have had this condition before, many were able to remember most to all of their memory, others, are just unable to. However, that is the minority. Your coma period is average, although you had spent two years on the hospital bed, now that you are awake, you and your family and friends can rekindle the memories from your mind, or even start fresh and create new memories. I know this is hard for you, for all of you, but within time you will heal and don’t worry too much about not being able to remember some things. Sometimes, it’s better off not remembering certain things…” Bobby mutters his last sentence, deep in thought.

“Is there anything I can do that will speed up the process of my memories returning?” Tavia asked.

“You will definitely need your family and friends to tell you stories of your past, possibly repeat the past activities or gifts, show some old pictures, revisit some places – best to try relive the moments that were special, moments where you were emotionally involved in. That would help. However, do try to be patient and don’t force yourself too much – this recovery will take a while, right now you just need to try to not think too much and just take care of yourself and be happy. Things will fall into place.” Bobby advises.

“Thank you, Dr. Au-Yeung.” Tavia smiles weakly.

“When will she be able to leave the hospital?” Patrick butts in.

Bobby scrunches up his eyebrows and then relaxes. “Tavia’s condition seems quite well. I say she can stay for about a few days to a week and get used to getting up and walking again, and after some practice if she is able to recover quickly, than she can leave within the week!” Bobby exclaims.

“That’s great. Thank you doctor!” Patrick beams. Selena jumped up and clapped. They glanced at Tavia simultaneously. However, she had a troublesome expression on her face.

---

It was a bright and sunny outside, with a little wind. Many people were happily strolling down the streets of Hong Kong. Raymond approached the newly opened Italian Restaurant, Moon Bay, whistling to himself. He approached the waiter who greeted him.

“Hello sir.”

“A table for two please.”

“Yes sir, follow me please.” The young man gestured.

Raymond followed him into the restaurant and seated himself down. The young man placed two menus down and disappeared. Raymond fidgeted in his seat, he was a little anxious, yet he couldn’t stop smiling. He reached for his small gift-wrapped present in his pants pocket and stared at it. “I hope she likes it.” He smiles to himself.

Twenty minutes later, yet still no sign of her. Raymond glanced at his watch for the millionth time. “Where is she?” He asked to no one in particular. He took out his cell and started to dial her number. Again, he was sent to voicemail.

The waiter returned. “Sir, would you like to order now?”

“Not yet…”

“Yes, we would like to order now.” A voice chipped in.

Raymond glanced up and saw Linda. “Hey! I was worried about you.”

“I’m sorry, Raymond.” She was about to explain, but the waiter was still standing there.

“Let’s order first, shall we?”

Throughout the dinner, they were silent. Raymond wasn’t sure why they weren’t speaking, but he sensed that something must be wrong. Linda was usually happy-go-lucky and talked a lot. Whereas for him, he was the silent one who listened more then he would speak. Initiating a conversation, he began, “So...”

“Raymond.” Linda interrupted. “We need to talk.”

“Okay.” Raymond responded. Linda dropped her fork and knife and sighed. Sensing how serious this may be, Raymond did the same. She looked up at him and frowned.

“I’m sorry.” She muttered.

Uncertain to why she was sorry, he assumed, “Hey. It’s okay. I wasn’t waiting for so long…”

“No. Listen, please.” She pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?!” Raymond asked, afraid of something he had done wrong. He hated seeing girls cry, especially the love of his life.

“I…We need to break up.” She stated, harshly.

Mustering up his courage, he asked, “Why?”

“Because…” She swallowed. “Because I just don’t love you anymore.”

“What? What do you mean? Is there someone else?”

“No.” Linda stared hard into Raymond’s eyes. She could see him hurting.

“For the past couple of weeks, I felt…I felt that I didn’t love you anymore. We just don’t connect. You are always working; you never have time for me. And then because you are always in action chasing after criminals and putting yourself in such dangerous situations, it’s hard for me you know. I can’t spend a day without worrying about you and your safety. And our future…It just doesn’t work for me. But after a while I just figured I stopped caring. I just did…And I’m Sorry.” Linda blurted out, before dashing out of the restaurant.

Absorbing all that she just said, Raymond sat there stunned. He shook himself out of the state, left some bills on the table, and ran after her.

“Linda! Linda I don’t understand!” He shouted, running out the restaurant and accidentally bumping into a couple of people.

“I love you…” He muttered, but stopped short in his steps as he saw her running up to a tall built young man and hugging him. Unknown that he was watching them; they held hands and walked away.

---

Bosco rushed through the hospital doors and approached the nurse at the counter.
“Excuse me, I am—I am Bosco Wong. Dr. Au-Yeung’s stepson?” Bosco quickly blurted, breathlessly.

The nurse looked up, mesmerized by Bosco’s handsomeness. Waiting for her reply, she shook her head, smiled sweetly, and said, “He’s in his office. Go straight down the hallway, turn left, second door. Room 206”

“Thank you.” Bosco winked, before he ran off again.

Bosco knocked on the door of Room 206, to hear Bobby say, “Come in.” In a deep, angry voice. Faking a smile, Bosco enters the room. Bobby was busily looking through his pile of files, ignoring Bosco.

Seating himself in front of Bobby, Bosco whispered, “Im sorry.”

“Being sorry is not enough. Do you know how precious time is? As a doctor, as any employee who works at this hospital, we need to be able to manage time well. Time is so precious—if the patients come into our hospital a second later, or if the doctor or nurse is unavailable for one second—it could cost a life.”

“I know…I promise I won’t be late again.” Bosco mumbled his head down.

Sighing, Bobby nods to himself. “You are still young. You will eventually learn from your mistakes. I was going to let you be my personal assistant, but I figured you need to start right from the beginning to know what it’s like and gain more experience. From now on, you will be just like the volunteers that we have around the hospital. You will do what they do.”

“What? Volunteer? I want to start working now!” Bosco exclaims.

“Bosco. You are in your third year of med school. They require you to do volunteer and do practicals during the summer. There is no need to rush. You’re almost done and soon be working here at the hospital alongside me. But right now, I think you should volunteer. Until you can prove that you are responsible and is capable of handling greater issues, shall you begin working here.”

Bobby closes his files and stacked them up. He stands up to indicate that discussion is over. Still in his seat, Bosco sits there, stunned. He thought that this summer would be great, as he would be able to gain experience and earn money due to his connection with Bobby.

“Go out and find Steven Ma. He is the head of the volunteer division. He will tell you what your duties will be from now on.” It was Bobby’s final words before he left his office.

---

It was late at night, and many people are out and heading to a club or a bar. Benny, Sammul, and Ron were among the many people who were going there.

Ron wasn’t in the mood to go, he was tired from his plane flight, and he just wanted to go to sleep and wake up the next day to find Tavia. However, Benny insisted that they go have some fun, especially Ron, who needed to lighten up a little and enjoy life. He missed the old Ron, the one who would be the first to attend the party, and the last to go home. Ever since Tavia had gone missing, Ron had become serious and angry most of the time.

Both Benny and Sammul were worried about Ron, so they forced him to come along.
Tonight it was extremely packed in the club; people were running around madly and dancing like no tomorrow. Benny spotted a few friends, so he headed over to greet them.

Sammul and Ron made their way towards the bar and sat down beside a young drunken man who had his head down in his arms.

“It’s been a while since I stepped foot in here.” Ron stated.

Sammul smiled. “This was where I first met Leila.”

Ron turned towards him. He could see that Sammul was dealing problems of his own, yet he was able to withhold showing his emotions, and keep his composure.

“So…How is she?” Ron asked.

“Leila has been a lot better. She’s having chemotherapy right now. She’s a strong girl; I believe that she’ll make it. We’ll make it together, I’m sure of it.”

Ron looked at Sammul, thinking of how brave he was towards this situation. As for him, he wouldn’t know how he would deal with something like this.

“MORE BEER! I SAID I WANT MORE BEER!” The young man beside them yelled at the bartender.

“But sir, you had a lot of shots already. You’re so drunk, you should go home.”

“I don’t care! She doesn’t care about me anymore…I have nobody…” Raymond grumbled, banging the table.

Ron, who was sitting beside Raymond and was deep in thought, jumped from his outburst. He turned to face Raymond and said, “You couldn’t have it worse than both of us.”

Raymond lifted his head slowly and faced Ron and Sammul. He smiled.

“Ha. My girlfriend – she dumped me! I loved her so much did you know that? We dated for 3 years! But that’s not it, I thought it was my fault, I was blaming myself – but in fact it was because she cheated on me! ME!” Raymond dropped his glass, and passed out.

Ron shook his head. Here the young man was, depressed from his breakup. But what about us? Here Sammul is living each day knowing that his girlfriend may leave him anytime, yet he has the strength to put on smile everyday despite all that he is going through. And here I am, lost as ever not having the slightest clue, not giving any sort of explanation to where Tavia is and why she left. Is she even alive? I can’t be sure. But somehow, deep down inside of me, I believe she is still alive – waiting for me.

“Five shots” Ron said to the bartender.

“Same for me.” Sammul joined in.

---

Thanks for reading :) So far I just introduced all the main characters !