Granting You A Second Life

Li Xiuying was on autopilot as she left the taxi and made her way up to her apartment.

Li Xiuying took out her key card and opened the front door. She entered the foyer of her apartment and closed the door behind her. She double checked that door was securely locked.

Li Xiuying haphazardly took off her shoes. Then she removed her coat as she stumbled her way into her bedroom. She took off her clothes leaving them sprawled all over the floor. Li Xiuying swayed over to her wardrobe, she yanked open the doors and grabbed a t-shirt dress. Li Xiuying fought with the dress to get her arms and head into the right holes. She was getting frustrated with herself.

Why can't I put on a simple F*****g dress?! Pull yourself together Li Xiuying! I demand you pull yourself together now!

She took a deep breath adjusted the t-shirt dress and put it on, one appendage at a time.

Li Xiuying crawled under the duvets of her queen size bed and closed her eyes.

I'm safe, its okay now. You're stronger than this.

Tears fell down her cheeks and she sniffled. Whilst gently sobbing, she wrapped herself tightly in her duvet, desperately needing the warmth it provided.

In the quiet and safety of her apartment and within the warmth of her bed; she succ.u.mbed to the call of her dark memories that had unceasingly plagued her this afternoon. The memories picked at her mental shields like vultures pecking at an animal on its last breath.

....

Flashback

On Saturday 13th in her past life Li Xiuying had completed the surgery on Zhang Da at Emerald hospital. After completing the surgery she got dressed and headed for the hospital cafeteria to grab something to eat. Whilst she was eating, she received a call from Chen Wei.

Li Xiuying: "Hello, Wei is everything okay?"

Chen Wei's cold voice assaulted Li Xiuying's ear: "Xiuying, I need you to sign the contract to work for Emerald hospital. I'm at a meeting at the moment, meet me at Cafe at 3 pm. That's the coffee place on the corner of Hépínglù."

Li Xiuying: "Okay I'll..."

The line went dead before she could continue speaking.

Li Xiuying searched for the Cafe's address online and looked up the directions. It took roughly an hour and a half to get there by car. Li Xiuying thought it strange that Chen Wei had chosen such a distant location.

Why couldn't we just sign the contract at the hospital? I mean I'm here now, it is the most efficient way to do it.

She pondered a little but then let go of her suspicions. Chen Wei had always given her odd and as of late unreasonable requests to carry out. Li Xiuying was aware that he visited a variety of private patients in different areas around Beijing.

He's probably meeting some patient's in the area, so it would be easier if I meet him over there.

She looked at the clock in the cafeteria, it was 11:00 am. Li Xiuying still had plenty of time to get to the cafe. She booked a taxi to pick her up for 13:00. She never wanted to keep Chen Wei waiting again. She was once late to one of their meetings and he was so enraged with her that he had threatened to call off the engagement.

Li Xiuying took care of a few things on her jobs list. She did some paperwork and worked a little on a research paper.

She received a text at 13:00 stating that the taxi she booked is currently waiting outside. She dozed off in the taxi and before she knew it she had arrived at Cafe. She checked her phone it was only 2:15 pm.

That was quicker than expected. There must have been no traffic.

She paid the taxi driver with the money she had saved from the daily allowance her uncle gave her.

She got out of the taxi and looked around. The roads were particularly quiet for a Saturday afternoon. There weren't many shops in the area. Li Xiuying saw a few people in the distance meandering into what looked liked a small convenience store.

She pushed open the door and heard a small bell jingle. She looked around the cafe, there was only one other customer. It was a young man no older than 20, he sat in the poorly lite corner typing away at his laptop. His fringe was covering his eyes. He had pimples on his face and it looked greasy. He wore all black. His right leg was shaking and he was biting his nails. He looked up when Li Xiuying entered, their eyes met and he immediately looked down back to his laptop screen.

Li Xiuying walked over to the only staff member in the cafe, who was standing behind the till.

Li Xiuying: "I'll have a small hot chocolate with cream, to eat in."

Barista: "35 yuan."

Li Xiuying handed over the money. The barista slowly set about making the hot chocolate.

Li Xiuying went to sit down in the corner opposite and furthest away from the twitchy young man.

The barista eventually brought over her hot chocolate and placed it on the table.

Li Xiuying checked the time on her phone. It was 2:25 pm.

She messaged Chen Wei: "I've arrived at the cafe, text me when you're nearby."

Li Xiuying reclined in her chair and sipped on her hot chocolate whilst looking out of the window on the far side. She became lost in thought.

After a while she looked at her phone it was 3:30 pm. Li Xiuying he tried to call Chen Wei but he didn't pick up. She left him a voicemail: "Hello Wei, I'm waiting at the Cafe, Is everything okay? Are you on your way? Please give me a call when you get this."

Li Xiuying then sent Chen Wei a text message stating the same thing and continued to wait. She took out her laptop and started working on the research paper she was looking at earlier. She became lost in her work to the point she didn't even realise it had gotten incredibly dark outside and that she was the only one left in the cafe.

Barista: "Excuse me, It's closing time."

Li Xiuying looked up from her laptop and frowned: "What time is it?"

Barista replied curtly: "Its 8 pm."

Li Xiuying was surprised it was so late: "8 pm! Please give be a moment and I'll leave."

She closed her laptop and disconnected the charger. She then took the charger out of the wall and placed everything in her briefcase.

She opened the door and heard the little bell jingle again. Li Xiuying stepped out and stood outside the door of the cafe. The barista locked the door behind her and put down the blinds. It was dark outside, there were only a few street lamps dotted around that weren't very bright. The eerie yellow light fell on various objects such as trash cans and railings; casting distorted shadows on the ground. The streets were empty, not a single soul in sight. Only the sound of some animal rusting in a bin could be heard.

Li Xiuying fell a chill going down her spine. She took her phone out from her pocket. She stared at her phone screen, there were no messages or calls from Chen Wei.

She tapped on Chen Wei's contact details and was about to press the call button when all of a sudden she saw movement in the corner of her eye. She began looking up, when she felt someone put a wet rag over mouth and nose. Her waist was also pinned to the body of her attacker.

Li Xiuying struggled to free herself, she tried to elbow and kick her assailant but he held the cloth in place. The assailant moved the hand that was pinning her waist to her throat where he squeezed.

Li Xiuying fought hard with every fiber of her being, but nothing she did was of use she soon lost the battle with her consciousness.