"Can't believe I finished the whole thing. Must be hungrier than I thought," said Ain, looking her empty plate.
"Awesome taste, isn't it? I told you this place served the best nasi lemak in all of Kuala Selangor," said Suraiya, her own plate equally spick and span.
They sat at the end of a long table. A cup each besides their empty plates.
"Uh hmm," Ain agreed, running a finger on the left-over chili oil and then licking it.
"Hey! Quit that. You want another serving?" uttered Suraiya, a nervous glance around her.
Ain grinned broadly, wiped her finger clean with a tissue paper, and sipped her coffee. The sweet aroma calmed her. A long queue had formed two tables away from them.
"This is the working crowd. They would ease off after nine and then return for lunch. We usually bring our friends along so it's an even bigger one in the afternoon," said Suraiya, as if answering Ain's question.
Ain smiled and tossed a thought towards her breakfast partner.
You're not a mind reader, are you?
She spied a startled look on Suraiya's face, her eyes staring at Ain, followed by nervous glances to her side.
"Did you say something, Ain? I didn't see your lips move, but I heard you. Did you?" said Suraiya, an edge in her voice as Ain detected dark clouds gathering in her mind.
She realized then her mistake in treating everyone to be as open to her abilities as Arman.
"Yeah. I said you're like a mind reader."
A look of relief filled her as Ain quietly wiped the memory of her telepathic remarks from Suraiya's thoughts.
"This place rocks, doesn't it?" came her reply, then, "I told you it serves the best rice in the whole of Kuala Selangor."
Didn't she just say that?
Ain smiled at her new friend, masking her concerns whilst waiting for her next words, not daring to even sneak a peek into Suraiya's mind.
"These guys will disappear around nine, and then come back for lunch. And bring their friends along. This crowd is nothing compared to the one in the afternoon."
Dumbfounded, Ain continued smiling as though nothing had happened, and finished her coffee.
What have I done? What about Arman? Is it worse for him?
She extended her scan and found him in a bewildered state of mind, with no recollections as to what had happened to him. Aunt Maisara was consoling him, herself being at a loss to explain what was going on.
This is not right, Ain, and you know it.
She stood up, mind set on correcting as much as possible.
"I'm so sorry, Suraiya. Remembered something I left at my friend's house. Something very important to me. I hope your offer still stands. I need to take care of this first," she said.
Taken aback slightly, Suraiya nodded.
"Yeah sure. I'll tell the others about you. Once you're done, just drop by the office. It'll be great if you could join us around lunch. Then you can get to know the rest of the team."
"Any idea where's the closest I could get a cab?"
"There's a few just around the corner. Better get one of the younger guys. The older ones will charge you unfairly."
"Thanks, Suraiya. Appreciate this," said Ain as she left the stall and walked towards the direction her new friend had pointed towards. Saw four cabs, their drivers idling.
She chose a young driver whose thoughts were mostly on his mother and what he would be buying her for lunch. It was a quick drive, both driver and passenger keeping the communication to the minimum with her telling him where she was headed to and him answering with a nod.
The red pickup greeted the cab as it slid to a stop in front of the house she had left in a hurry just hours earlier. Ain paid her fare, heard him ask: "Do you need a cab back to town later, Miss? I can pick you around lunch. I live a few miles further down the road."
Ain scanned the driver's mind and was taken aback at the sincerity she detected in his offer.
"Yes please. Can you come here at before noon?"
Answering with a thumbs-up, the young cabbie then drove away from the house, leaving Ain who wondered how she was going to reintroduce herself to Arman and Aunt Maisara. She stepped up to the front door and knocked, followed with a soft greeting. The door opened and Aunt Maisara stood before her. A curious look on her face.
"Hello. Are you looking for Ayai? Please, come in."
She's forgotten me alright…
Overcame by the strangest emotions, Ain hugged the old woman, who returned the embrace after an initial surprise.
Both stepped inside the house, Ain closing the door behind her. Came face to face with Arman, his face haggard with worry and destitute, questioning looks in his eyes. Ain took a deep breath.
"Hello Arman. My name is Ain. It may sound crazy but I'm here to help you fill some of the blanks you have in your mind."
Taking charge, Ain led them to the sofa, had them sitting down and introduced herself, before venturing the story as best as she could to the listening couple. The increasingly incredulous looks on their faces and a general state disbelief in their minds did not stop Ain from completing her recount of what had happened the previous day.
A few minutes of almost cold silence enveloped the living room as soon as she said her final word, their eyes on her. Ain saw Arman looking at his aunty. She read in his mind thinking this was one cute but crazy woman with a far crazier story. Aunt Maisara meanwhile still digesting a tale way too incredible. She caught their feelings of pity towards her.
A wry smiled appear on Ain's lips. Looking firmly at Arman now, she motioned to the right side of his torso.
"You have a bruise around your ribcage area where the patient had slugged you," she said.
Aunt Maisara looked questioningly at Arman, who lifted his t-shirt for her to see a black and blue spot, eliciting an "Oh my!" from the older woman's lips, her face turning to Ain.
Arman grimaced in discomfort when his fingers probed the area Ain had mentioned, disbelief still evident in his eyes.
"Have you called your workplace?" asked Ain.
"No. I wouldn't know what to say to Dr Kendall anyway. Not when I'm not at work and hundreds of miles away."
"You won't find her there. She's staying at a hotel somewhere in Tapah and the male patient I mentioned is with her. I believe he's tracking me down."
Aunt Maisara gasped, then quickly covered her lips with one hand.
"But why, my dear? Why is he so obsessed with you?"
"I wish I know, Aunt Maisara. I think I was part of his team. I haven't found a person with clear memories of what happened to us."
Arman staccato laughter ricocheted off the walls.
"A so-called mind reader and she can't even read her own memory. Awesome! And you expect us to believe this amazing story you're telling us? Get real, lady! Dr Kendall is not like that at all. She wouldn't leave her office just because a patient asked her to."
He is so in love with her.
Aunt Maisara, true to herself, was more sympathetic.
"Ayai... The story is incredible, but it does tie in with you're being here. And, I don't seem to remember when you arrived. Funny that…"
Ain sighed. She didn't wish to demonstrate her abilities, remembering how Suraiya reacted to a simple telepathic poke. She had done her part, and in Aunt Maisara, she read the comforting thoughts of someone who found the incredible story plausible, linking it to her nephew's worrisome memory loss.
"I am sorry to have brought this to you. I really am. The situation left me... no, left us, with not much of a choice," she said, her eyes straight into Arman's.
"Think hard enough and you will unlock most of your memories, but I believed the ones where I'm in it are totally gone."
She could see Arman's mind working, thinking about his work, saw the translucent barricades she created becoming more elastic, then popping softly, the memory blocks emitting bright glows as it releases the terabytes in memories archived within. A look of wonderment in his eyes as recollection begins.
He sat down, his fingers scratching the top of his head, looking at her questioningly.
"Now what? If what you told us is true, I'm pretty much done where the hospital is concerned. I took off with a patient for god's sake…"
"Yeah. You did and probably saved her life. You also revealed to me about my being from Cyberjaya. That's a good lead and it's where I might find some answers."
"You can't just like …." Arman touched both index fingers to his forehead.
Ain smiled, and laughed, the first time since arriving.
"I wish I could, but I'm still learning the extent of this abilities I have."
Aunt Maisara, who had watched her banter with Arman with a bemused look, forced a cough and getting their attention.
"Wouldn't it be better if Ayai were to follow you then? He can be of help and being together might jog his lost memories."
Both Ain and Arman shook their head in unison. Ain smiled, reminded of the warmth she enjoyed with him during the whole journey.
"No, I don't think that's necessary" "You're not making me join her, Auntie" being their mixed responses as Aunt Maisara sighed, her lips pouting.
"Well, you two sort this out while I'll go make some tea," she said, rising from the sofa.
Watching her, Ain felt again the strange longing in her heart, something she was missing from her own experience and memory banks. Arman was spot on in his remark on her being unable to access her own memories, but somehow…
She sensed Arman looking at her and turned to face him.
"Why did you come back? You said you left in the morning to protect us from further attacks by this guy who's after you..."
The question caught Ain by surprise, the lull in her thoughts over Aunt Maisara leaving her momentarily distracted.
"I was worried about how you would fare with your memories missing."
"Are you reading my mind now?"
"Not for a while I haven't."
"Will he come back for me?"
"John Doe? I really don't know. I know I don't want to give him a reason to."
"It's not a choice for you to make," he said, his eyes staring at her as she glanced away.
Ain knew there was no correct response to that, as she extended her casual mind scan to beyond the edge of the village boundary and picking up the stoic thoughts of the two men following them, one sleepy and the other on full alert.
"It's a long way to Cyberjaya, you know," she heard Arman say.
"I'll manage. There is public transportation, and I am travelling light anyway."
"Money?"
"I pinched some cash from your wallet before I left this morning. You had apparently emptied your piggy bank at that house you're renting," she said, grinning broadly.
It was his turn to laugh.
"I'll be damned! I took the money from my secret cache, didn't I? The one in the bottom drawer?"
"I wouldn't know, but I would guess so. Paid for these clothes I'm wearing, the trainers outside."
Another grin and another snorting laughter from Arman.
No wonder she came back. I'm her ATM
Not really. Just a sweet person reacting to someone in desperate need.
Ain saw Arman's eyebrows arched, his jaws dropping slightly, and then a soft: "Oh wow… so that's how it feels like…"
Aunt Maisara came to the living room, a small tray in her hands, three cups and a teapot, the steam rising lazily from its spout.
"I hope you're fine with tea, Ain," she said.
Sipping the hot drink, Ain could see Arman popping more and more of the barricades she had erected in his mind, methodically recollecting interlinked benchmarks from his childhood onwards, his confidence returning as the memories came flooding in.
"Music distorts people's thoughts process and makes it difficult for us to read you," she said, motioning at the MP3 player charging next to a small, flat screen television. Arman nodded his understanding.
"Have you changed your mind about Ayai accompanying you, Ain? He'd make a good company, and it's about time he left that god forsaken hospital he calls his workplace."
"Sorry, Aunt Maisara. This is something I need to do alone. I don't wish to burden him anymore over this."
No words came from Arman, his mind pondering on the idea of accompanying her to see if he could help and finding his options limited.
"I promise I won't be a stranger once this is over, Aunt Maisara. Hopefully, things will turn out well and I can see you again sometime," said Ain.
Aunt Maisara remained quiet. Her eyes thoughtful. Ain caught the familiar thoughts of the young cabbie, humming a folk song in his mind, accompanying an image of a drawing pad he promised his daughter.
"I've got to go, Aunt Maisara, Ayai. My ride into town will be arriving soon. I'm sorry again for everything that I've done…. God! I'm so bad at this…" she said, a sheepish smile on her face beaming to the two sitting before her.
Arman stood up, went for his wallet and took out some cash.
"Here. You'll need this more than I do," he said, extending them to Ain, who pocketed the crisp notes, a soft "Thank you" escaping her lips.
The clock showed another twenty minutes to noon when they heard a soft honking in front of the house. Ain hugged Aunt Maisara then shook Arman's hand followed by a quick peck on his cheeks.
A quick "Goodbye" and she was gone again from the house.