Chapter 4

It's been a few days…I think. The daisy is still with me and I haven't let it out of my grasp. Every night I hear Wong walk into my bedroom for Fai, and my only source of knowing if he's all right the next day is the sound of his violin. His father makes him practice for an hour everyday. As long as I hear him practice, I know he's okay. Right now it's about morning time and I'm waiting to hear the violin. Minutes are passing by and I have yet to hear it. Suddenly I hear footsteps across the hallway.

"Can you stay here and watch him? I'm going to the store for something." It's Wong, undoubtedly talking to my mother.

"Yes, I'm sure he won't be any trouble. He hasn't even gotten out of bed yet, the lazy bum." Yes it's mother. They've probably forgotten that I'm even here.

"All right, but be careful. He isn't one for fighting back but you never know." Wong walks away and a few seconds later I hear the front door open and close.

Mother sighs and walks down to my bedroom. I hear her open the door probably to peek inside when…something happens. I hear mother fall and start flailing on the floor. What is Fai doing? Is it really him?

Mother stops struggling. I hear footsteps coming my way and I hold my breath. They stop in front of the door and open it, blinding me with light from the hallway. I squint and look up to my savior. "Fai? What happened to mother?" I say groggily.

He helps me out from the closet and pulls me to my feet. "Come on, we have to get out of here."

He grabs my hand and starts to lead me toward the kitchen but I stand firm. "What did you do to her Fai?" He looks back at me solemnly, like he expects disappointment. No, he couldn't have…

"She, she deserved it. After what she put you through, I had to. We have to get out of here. My father will be back soon."

I look from my bedroom doorway to Fai. He isn't himself. He wouldn't kill someone. Against my better judgment, I follow him into the kitchen. He walks over next to the sink and gets mother's keys from the key hanger. "Where are we going to go?" I ask worriedly. We have nowhere to go.

"Well, there's a special place I want to take you. We'll be fine, I promise."

I follow him out of the door and into mother's car.

I hum as my feet dangle carelessly over the edge. We're on a bridge over the highway. Usually construction workers are up here but they don't come in for work until 8 and it's seven in the morning at the moment. As children, Fai and I would sneak out of our houses and come here to talk. It's nice now, not having to worry about our parents coming after us. If we leave them in our past, than we can move on and be happy. "So, where do we go from here?" I ask, laying my head on his shoulder.

"I don't know about you but I'm going down. Straight down." His voice is monotonous. I look up at him with worry, but he refuses to look back at me. "When Father finds your Mom, he'll hunt us down. There's no escaping."

"Where ever you go, I'll follow." I tell him sincerely.

"You know," he says, standing up, "according to the Buddhist religion, after we die, we are reincarnated. You never know, if I die now, one day I could be your son." I smile and shake my head at him. He holds out his hand to me and helps me up. "Are you sure you want to come with me? Last chance."

"I'm not living without you." He holds my hand firmly as mine begins to shake.

"1, 2, 3, Jump!" I close my eyes and see flashes of Fai when we were younger. Innocence. Flashes of my mother before my father left. Bliss. A flash of a baby being born. Life. At the last second Fai pulls me over him into a hug.

As I lay on the cool concrete, losing consciousness, the words I've waited all my life to hear are whispered. "I love you…"

I hate hospitals. The smell of pure sterilization gets to me. How did I even end up in here? I remember Fai, the bridge, and…

"Miss Taverns! You're finally awake!? A nurse comes bustling in the room as I sit up. "You look sheet white," She tuts at me.

"Terrible thing you tried to do. And you were so starved when you did it too." She tuts again and fiddles with all of the machines I'm hooked up to.

I'm careful not to say a word. "Don't you worry though dear, the police arrested your step-father. What a horrible thing he did to your mother!"

She stops fiddling and looks at me sadly. "Your brother though, he didn't make it." My heart freezes and drops to the floor. I blink. "It seems that he saved you by taking the impact from under you. I'm so sorry…"

I stare at her blankly as she turns and leaves the room. He…can't…be…

I press the handy dandy nurse button to ask if I can walk around. One comes in and unhooks me from the machinery. "You can't wander for too long. I have to go with you."

I nod and walk out into the hallway. I'm not very much worried about the rag I'm wearing as clothing. The nurse has pinned the back together for me. I walk into the elevator and select a random floor, one that's two floors above mine. As we walk around its halls I hear babies cry. It's the maternity ward. We come to the window to see the babies, and I look at them all, pointing out how every one of them is adorable. As I scan the last row, one baby catches my eye. A small, Chinese boy with a cute button nose was the only one not crying. I look at his information sheet and see that he was born last night at 10 PM and is unnamed. I can't tear my eyes from him, until a nurse speaks from behind me.

"He's adorable isn't he? His parents are giving him up for adoption. They haven't decided on a name yet though." It's one of the baby nurses, carting one of the little ones to their mother.

For the first time today, I really speak. "I have one. They could name him Fai."

The nurse smiles at me and nods. "I'll tell them."

As I make my way back to my room I know that when I'm old enough, I'll be searching to adopt him. Maybe Fai was right. One day, I might have a son like him.