90 Do I know you?

Everyone looked at one another, different emotions and thoughts running in their minds.

"I am going in to see him," Mei Zhen declared and before anyone could stop her, she had entered the room.

Tang had been gazing at the snow falling outside the window and turned to look at Mei Zhen who entered the room. He struggled to sit up. She hurried towards him to aid him.

"Thank you," he said politely before looking at her questioningly.

Chu came in then and he gave her a surprised but relieved smile.

"You also flew down from Shanghai to see me? I seem to have worried all of you. Is dad here as well?" he asked her warmly.

Mei Zhen had a stricken expression on her face as she waited for some sort of recognition to flit on his face by looking at her.

"Do you not remember me?" she asked him.

He looked at her, confusion etched on his face, "I am sorry. Do I know you?"

Chu immediately intervened and said, "you never seem to remember my friends. She is Liang Mei Zhen, a friend of mine from school. She was my senior but we were close."

Tang smiled ruefully and said, "hi! Sorry, I can't remember when we met last but I am very pleased to meet you. And I thank you for your concern but you needn't have come to the hospital. Do you live here in New York?"

"We aren't in New York but in Moganshan. You remember Moganshan at least, right," she responded bitterly.

He looked at his sister in surprised confusion, "no wonder the view outside felt familiar yet different when I woke up. And the doctor had also looked at me strangely when I had mentioned NY. How did I reach here?"

Chu gave her sister in-law a murderous look before replying, "uh…"

"We flew you down from America after the doctor cleared you for travel. I thought coming back to your birthplace would help you heal faster," his father entered the room, and cut off Chu's response.

"Dad, you are here. I just asked Chu about you," he exclaimed.

Mr. Xie's eyes softened at hearing the warmth in his son's voice for him. He couldn't remember the last time Tang had spoken like this to him in the recent past.

"Where else would I be, if not here?" he replied with a smile.

"Are you in pain? Do you need me to get anything for you?" he asked, running his eyes over his son's body clad in a hospital gown.

Tang assured him that he was fine and didn't require anything at the moment.

"You must be hungry. I will go and see if your favourite breakfast shop has opened up yet or not," with that he left the room before anyone could see his tears.

Tang looked around, as if in confirmation and then beckoned Chu closer.

"Can you do me a favour? I don't know where my phone is. But can you call Jia Li for me and tell her what has happened. Also make sure to tell her that I am fine and that she needn't rush back here. When I spoke to her last, she was still in Beijing and wasn't planning to come back to Moganshan till Chinese new year. She must be worried sick that I haven't been in touch since so many hours. By the way, how long have I been unconscious for?" he asked.

Chu looked at him and then at Mei Zhen before replying, "uh, I will let the doctor tell you that. As for Jia Li, I will let her know right away."

With that, she pulled Mei Zhen out of the room with her. Tang gave a small sigh of relief. His head was throbbing and he shut his eyes, hoping that he would see her sooner than later.

"Are you asleep already?" whispered Chu who had come back to the room.

She had persuaded Mei Zhen to stay out on the pretext that Tang would find it strange if she stayed in the room constantly.

He opened his eyes, "I would have been, only if someone lets me".

She asked worriedly, "are you ok? You are not in too much pain, right? I was soooo worried when you didn't wake up right after they brought you in here. I had told you from the start itself that this was such a dangerous idea."

He gave her a look of incomprehension, "what are you talking about? What idea?"

Her face lost all its colour.

"Are you saying that you truly don't remember anything beyond 2013?" she asked faintly.

"Wait, you mean to say this is not 2013?" he asked her in confusion.

"Oh god, oh shit…what have we done?" with that, she slid down to the floor and sat with a thump.