Chapter 17: Loved
It was quiet and bright. Mei saw herself standing at an altar inside a big church with high cathedral ceilings and colored stained glass windows. The air smelled like wild lilies, her favorite flower. She was wearing the Elie Saab gown with an extended train. She felt so beautiful and happy.
Someone called her name. She turned around and saw Dan wearing a black tuxedo, smiling at her with open arms. She stretched out her hand and ran toward him. Just as their fingers were about to touch, everything disappeared. She found herself in her cubical, with piles of documents on the desk. She’s still wearing the wedding dress and thought to herself: “my co-workers must think I am crazy, I have to go change.”
The scene changed again and now she’s in Jesse’s office, he was standing in front of the window, looking at her with arms crossed at the chest. She was trying to explain to him about something, the dress or the wedding, she’s not sure, but he turned around and told her to leave.
She felt her heart broken into pieces; she was crying. She wanted to walk over to him but couldn’t move her legs. She felt suffocation and the fear of losing something dear to her heart. Then someone pulled her arm and she felt a sharp pain.
Mei opened her eyes. She saw Tammy.
“Oh thank goodness, Mei, you are finally awake!” Tammy looked so worried and tired, her hair was flat and dull comparing to the usual shiny curls; her eyes were puffy with dark circles lying beneath; she has her hand on Mei’s right arm, which is all wrapped up in bandages.
As Tammy went to call the doctors, Mei moved her eyes slowly around and realized she’s in a hospital room. It was spacious and bright, her bed is in the center of the room, with different types of medical equipment all around. Everything is white and looked sanitary. On the bed side table, a glass of freshly cut wild lilies brought some color and life into the dreary atmosphere.
The rainy night is slowly coming back to mind. It must have been a pretty bad accident. Mei thought to herself.
“Ms Mei, how are you feeling?” Dr. Arora, a medium height, thin Indian doctor came in with two nurses.
“….” Mei tried to answer but her throat was so dry and there is no strength left. She smiled a little and blinked her eyes to show she’s OK.
Later Tammy filled her in on what happened. It was a hit and run, her little Honda civic was totaled. Fortunately the impact was on the passenger side and she was mostly fine except for the concussion and a fractured arm. At first the doctor was worried about her head since she was not waking up from the surgery. Now that she’s awake they will need to observe her for another 24 hours before releasing her home.
“Jim talked to Dr. Arora, he said you will be fine.” Tammy helped Mei to sit up a little and carefully put a glass of water in front of her lips. The water tasted refreshing and sweet, Mei could feel it trickling down her esophagus, cooling and nourishing her core. Mei felt so thankful that she has Tammy. The thought of being all alone in the hospital just put a chill down her spine. She couldn’t help but to wonder how long it would take the police to notify her family if she were killed in the accident.
“You look better already,” Tammy smiled with relief. “You’ve finally got some color back. I was so worried…” Since Mei was still weak, Tammy went on with all the talking: “You will probably need to be on bed rest for the rest of the week. I will stay with you at your house until you are ok. Don’t worry, already talked to Jim and he’s completely fine with that. Besides, I can’t wait to be your mother for once, and pamper you like a little princess.” Tammy poked her finger at Mei’s nose, and let out a cheerful whistle. “Oh and, I almost forgot, you betrayed me!” She pretended to be mad and hurt to intensify the suspense: “You’ve been holding a secret from me! And I thought we were friends!”
“Uh?” Mei had no idea what she was talking about.
“Haha! Well, guess who was here every day after work to visit you when you were out? How about I give you a clue, it was not Dan!” Tammy laughed like a little girl and continued after a short pause, “Ms. Mei Li, why didn’t you tell me about your pretty blonde boyfriend? How long have you been together? What happened with you and Dan?”
“You mean Jesse?”
“Jesse Broderick, that’s right. He was here almost every night, holding your hands and talking to you. He brought you those flowers. You know even a super girl like myself couldn’t pull a 24 hour shift for three days straight!” Tammy got super excited, “So why didn’t you tell me about him? I mean when did you guys become an item?”
Mei was lost in emotions, she felt numb and alive, happy and angry all at once. “Tammy, be careful with your words. Jesse is my boss and he has a fiancé.” Mei heard her own voice; it came out dreary and defeated, almost made her want to cry.
“What? I mean I know he’s your boss, but the way he looked at you… I don’t know.” Tammy blinked with puzzlement, “Well, there is something going on between you too, and I think…” She was interrupted by a light knock, immediately the door opened and they saw Jesse Broderick came in.
He ran to Mei and put his hands gently around her face, looking to make sure she’s all right, “Mei! The doctor said you woke up, thank God! How are you feeling?”
“I am OK… I guess, should be able to go home tomorrow.” His touch felt so warm and comfortable, but Mei was definitely confused at all that’s going on; she didn’t understand since when Jesse and she became so close that he’s almost holding her like family.
Jesse saw Mei’s reaction and realized he was a little invading. Slowly he drew his hands back and stood up straight, “I apologize. I am glad to see that you are feeling better now.”
Tammy sensed the awkwardness in the room and immediately excused herself from the situation, “Hey Mei, I think I am going to get a cup of coffee from the cafeteria, I will be right back.”
With the door closing behind Tammy, Jesse pulled a chair next to Mei’s bed and sat down.
“Mei, you really scared me. I didn’t know if you were going to wake up…” Without looking at her eyes He said in a low, almost hurtful voice. And they sat in silence for a while.
Mei noticed he looked just as tired as Tammy, this was the first time she saw wrinkles on his suit and there is no tie on his collar; his whiskers were a couple of days long; together with the shadows under his eyes, the Golden Boy that’s sitting in front of her looked beat up and exhausted.
She couldn’t bear to take in the fact that she was the reason behind all this. Tears started silently streaming down her face, instead of empathy and thankfulness, strangely Mei felt… loved.
