The sunset dipping down the horizon was a deep shade of red.
A Chevrolet Suburban drove into the car park of the sanatorium. Wei Guanyi, who was already waiting, greeted Xia Lei as soon as he got out of the car.
“Mister Xia, please follow me.” Wei Guanyi led Xia Lei to the building.
“Doctor Wei, are you sure that Doctor Ning has recovered?” asked Xia Lei.
“Mister Xia, to be honest, I couldn’t believe it either. It’s a miracle. You’ll understand more when you meet her,” said Wei Guanyi.
Xia Lei was puzzled but chose to wait and see. He would be meeting Ning Jing soon and he would find out about her situation when he met her.
It was way past office hours so most of the doctors and nurses were off duty. The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the corridor. Coupled with the light emitted by the energy-saving lamps, it was a very unsettling atmosphere.
They stopped by the door of Ning Jing’s ward. Wei Guanyi said. “Mister Xia, you should go in by yourself. I’ll stand by in my office. You can call me by the pager if you face any problems, I’ll come in a minute.”
Xia Lei nodded, then pushed open the door to enter the ward.
Ning Jing was standing at the balcony, watching the sun in the west. She was quiet and did not notice his arrival. Her hair fluttered with the evening wind.
Xia Lei was going to call her before he realised that she was so absorbed with something. He couldn’t bear to disturb the peace. Thus, he chose to watch her quietly, waiting for the moment she turned around.
It didn’t take long. Ning Jing turned around after one minute, her glance fell on Xia Lei immediately.
Their eyes met.
There was no emotional embrace. Not even a friendly greeting between them. It was as quiet as before.
Xia Lei was getting an eerie vibe from her calm expression. A thought helplessly crossed his mind. Had she really recovered?
They looked at each other silently. After about ten more seconds, a smile appeared on Ning Jing’s face. “Xia Lei, you’re here.”
Her smile was unnatural.
But he still returned a smile of his own “Hi, Ning Jing.”
“Why are you being so polite with me?” Ning Jing said while curling the corner of her lips.
“You…Are you alright now?” asked Xia Lei.
Ning Jing spun around. “What do you think?”
Xia Lei didn’t know what was wrong with her. At this moment, she was in disguise.
“Get me out of here,” said Ning Jing.
Xia Lei came back to his senses. “You could be discharged if you’ve recovered.”
“Of course, I have,” said Ning Jing while she approached Xia Lei. Her pyjama-styled patient dress was dancing in the breeze. She seemed a lot thinner.
Inexplicably, Xia Lei took a step back.
Ning Jing stopped approaching Xia Lei. Her eyes were as deep as the ocean, piercing into Xia Lei’s soul.
“If you need your family to sign on the discharge consent, I’ll notify them. I don’t have the right to do so,” said Xia Lei.
“It’s pointless. They won’t let me leave but I must leave,” said Ning Jing.
Xia Lei slowly pieced together the situation. “What do you want to do after leaving?”
Ning Jing was suddenly silent. She frowned as if she was forgetting something and trying her best to recall it.
“Ning Jing?” Xia Lei tried to call her. “What do you want to do?”
“I have no idea.” Ning Jing suddenly took a step forward and grabbed on Xia Lei’s hand. Then she said nervously. “But I know you have to help me to leave here and give me ten million dollars.”
Xia Lei was startled.
“They won’t let me out and mentioned that I need to be under observation for quite a while. I don’t have the time for that.” Ning Jing grabbed Xia Lei’s hand r. “You have to help me and give me ten million dollars.”
Ten million dollars was equivalent to sixty million RMB. This was a big amount. He couldn’t just give her the money. Besides, it was obvious that she hadn't recovered. How could he give her that much money? Although he was rich, he wasn’t stupid. He shook his head. “Calm down. Tell me, why do you need so much money?”
Ning Jing was silent. Again, she was frowning and trying to recall something.
“Tell me, what are you going to do with that much money?”
“I don’t know.” Ning Jing shook her head. “What I do know is that I need to get out of here. I want to go to India. I need ten million dollars.”
“India?” Xia Lei was shocked. “What do you want to do in India?”
“I’ve no idea!” Ning Jing was suddenly out of control. She shouted at Xia Lei. “I don’t know! Don’t ask anymore! Help me to get out from here! Give me ten million dollars!”
“If I refuse to do so?” Xia Lei said.
Ning Jing loosened her grip and took a few steps back. Tears welled up in her eyes, then the tears began to stream down her face.
“I’m sorry. Don’t cry, I’m just trying to figure things out,” Xia Lei explained. “I think you know that your identity is special as you are part of the expert group. You are undergoing treatment here and there are many restrictions to adhere to. If you want to be discharged, you’ll need to go through a very complicated procedure. It’s pointless for me to sign your discharge consent. Besides, I need to know what I’m giving you the money for. So, tell me, why do you need so much money?”
Ning Jing held her head and crouched on the floor. She tugged her head in agony. “I don’t know, I don’t know! My head hurts. There is a voice who keeps telling me what to do. If I don’t leave soon, I’ll die. I don’t want to die…I don’t want to die!”
She was terrified.
Xia Lei could not remain his composure anymore. He approached Ning Jing, pulled her up and clutched her shoulder with both of his hands. He asked nervously. “You mentioned that you heard a voice, what’s going on? What did the voice say to you?”
“Leave here, ten million dollars, New Delhi in India.” Ning Jing spat out all terms in confusion.
“Is the voice threatening you?”
Ning Jing nodded. She seemed scared.
“How did it threaten you? What did it say?”
“If it wants me to die, I will die.”
Xia Lei was stunned. “What did you say? What do you mean?”
Ning Jing suddenly pushed Xia Lei off and took two steps back. “If it says I will die, my heart will stop beating. It was like that yesterday. When I heard it call for me to die, I fell onto the ground and my heart stopped beating. I felt like I'd died, but my heart started beating after a minute.” As soon as she finished her sentence, she suddenly closed her eyes and fell onto the ground.
“Ning Jing!” Xia Lei pounced upon her and held her by her waist, which prevented her from falling on the ground.
Ning Jing opened her eyes. “I want to show you how it happened.”
Upon hearing that, sadness hit Xia Lei hard and he was about to cry. She was a poor woman.
Ning Jing rested in Xia Lei’s embrace. Once again the tears were streaming down her face. “I don’t want to die. Please get me out here and give me ten million dollars, okay?”
A tear rolled down from Xia Lei’s face and fell on Ning Jing’s cheek.
It was clear that she hadn't recovered. She had deceived the nurses and Wei Guanyi. This was the real her.
Should he get her out of this half-military administered sanatorium and give her ten million dollars?
Xia Lei was unable to make a decision. Who would trust a patient in this state? It was difficult to let her out of here. It was even riskier to let her go to New Delhi of India with the ten million dollars. How could he help here in such a situation?
However, another thing was troubling him. It was the voice that had been mentioned by Ning Jing.
He couldn’t forget Ning Jing’s prophet role during the operation in Italy. If it wasn’t for her painting, he wouldn’t have found out the password and clues of entering the underground maze from Leonardo da Vinci’s art, Mona Lisa.
Just when he was still contemplating in agony, Ning Jing suddenly let out a loud belch before she lost all her strength.
“Ning Jing? Ning Jing?” Xia Lei called out her name loudly and anxiously.
She didn’t respond to him.
Xia Lei put his hand in front of her nostrils. It was at that moment he was shocked as if he was struck by lightning. She wasn’t breathing!
“Ning Jing! Ning Jing!” Xia Lei immediately panicked. He laid Ning Jing on the ground then placed his overlapping hand on the centre of her sternum and delivered chest compressions.
“Wake up! Don’t scare me like that!”
His mind was a mess, forgetting that he was in a hospital. The only thing he had in mind was to resuscitate her.
Chest compressions, artificial breathing, everything that he did didn’t make her come back alive.
Xia Lei finally snapped back to his senses after thirty seconds. He got up from the ground and reached out to the pager beside the bed. He grabbed the pagers and shouted. “Ning Jing is dying, please save her! Quick!”
There was no response from the pager.
“Speak damn it!” Xia Lei shouted at the pager. It was at that time he found out that the wire to the pagers had been cut. He was stunned, who would cut off the wire of the pagers?
“Cough!” The sound of cough came from behind.
Xia Lei turned his head around. He was stunned by what he saw.
Ning Jing propped herself up from the ground slowly with her arms. She couldn’t stop coughing, tears were running down from her cheek.
The door to the ward was suddenly thrown open, Wei Guanyi and a nurse came barging in.
“Mister Xia, what happened?” Wei Guanyi looked at Xia Lei and Ning Jing with shock.
Xia Lei put down the pager. “Uh, nothing. You guys may leave, I need to talk to Ning Jing.”
“Really? Nothing happened?” Wei Guanyi was curious.
“Nothing, please leave,” said Xia Lei.
Wei Guanyi left with the nurse.
Ning Jing finally got her breath back. “Do you believe me now? I don’t want to go through it again, please help me.”
Xia Lei nodded, he then pulled out his phone to dial a number.
“I have been expecting your call. Alright, tell me, what’s the bad news?” Qin Xiang was the recipient.
“Help me with something.”
“You want me to steal something?”
“No, I need you to kidnap someone,” said Xia Lei.
