The sound of the monitor beeping was the only thing that made a sound in the quiet VIP section of the hospital that had been allocated to the powerful and influential Zhi Yuan.
Sunlight poured into the well-decorated room through the window, and two nurses stood close to the bed of the man who has been unconscious in this room for the past three weeks without any sign that he would wake up. They were doing their daily routine check-ups.
Suddenly, his eyelids fluttered open, his vision blurred as he tried to figure out where he is.
The white ceilings and the cream-colored walls were all he could see at that moment. He tried to lift his arm, but it was no use; only his fingers were moving. He couldn't feel the rest of his body.
"I think he is awake." A voice pierced through the fog that had settled over his mind, pulling his attention to a figure at his side. "Quick! Get the doctor." She called out to the other nurse who was standing close to the door, and she rushed out.
He struggled to move but he simply ended up banging his head on the bedpost.
"Relax, Mr. Zhi Yuan. You are safe. Please don't try to move; it would only make you feel dizzy." She said, but he wasn't listening. Her voice sounded like a low rumble to him, and he was still struggling to see her properly and comprehend what she had said.
As if on cue, the door swung open to reveal a middle-aged man in a white coat. The doctor managed to calm him down by giving him an injection.
"Tell them he is awake." The doctor said in excitement. They all seemed to be excited except for the man on the bed who had no clue or idea what he was doing in a place like this and how he had ended up there.
They waited for the injection to take effect before they propped him up on the bed and brought him something to eat. He wolfed down the food without a single pause. It felt like he had not eaten for days, and his stomach felt like a bottomless pit that would never get filled.
After he had eaten to his satisfaction, he was about to lay back down on the bed when a woman walked into the room accompanied by a man. She had a delicate face, framed by silky black hair, and her eyes were a shade of deep brown, reflecting a mixture of emotions like concern and something he couldn't quite understand.
"Boss! You're awake!" The man beside the woman stepped forward, his features sharp and his eyes keen and calculating.
"Who are you?" Zhi Yuan asked, and the aura in the room changed immediately. Everyone looked up at him in shock, including the doctor. He looked around in confusion at the faces of the people he had never met before, and they were acting like they have known him all his life.
The doctor's brow furrowed as he approached the bed. He pushed Zhi Yuan's head backward and flashed a small light into it. He sighed deeply and stepped away from his bed to have a conversation with the woman and the man who had walked in earlier.
"He had suffered a very severe head injury, so it appears that he is experiencing temporary amnesia." Amnesia! The words hung in the air above them all, like a thick cloud spreading its gloom across the room.
"So you are telling me that he just might not remember anything?" Xiao Mei asked, excitement and disbelief visible in her voice.
All this while, she had hoped that he would not wake up from his coma. But then she had received the news while she was in a meeting with her Dad, and he had insisted that she left immediately to tend to her husband-to-be, and she despised him more for that.
Since he had walked into her life, she had been treated like nothing more than an object that he kept around for his pleasure. Her father had given her a mission after her years of studies and dedicating her life to the company. He had simply told her that her only job is to get married to Zhi Yuan and to ensure that they stayed married.
She had never been more humiliated when he had looked her over at the dinner her father hosted to introduce them. He had plainly said, "Do you have any more daughters? I don't like this one." He sounded like a jerk, and that he is.
Everyone knows Zhi Yuan, a ruthless businessman, and none of his businesses are legal. Not much is known about Zhi because he loves to stay private and to keep the media curious about him, but Xiao Mei knew he was just an attention-seeking freak with a huge ego.
The doctor cleared his throat, drawing their attention once more. "Xiangu, I believe he should be surrounded by familiar faces; it might help with his recovery. So, I suggest that one of you spend some quality time with him here until he is discharged." The doctor suggested, and Xiangu nodded. His eyes drifted over to Xiao Mei.
"I think you should stay with him." He advised, and she frowned in response, but she knew she had no choice since Xiangu and the doctor were now looking at her with those eyes that she couldn't quite resist.
Xiao Mei pouted but turned around with a smile to face the man she is to spend the rest of her life with.
"Zhi Yuan!" She waved. "How are you feeling?"
Zhi Yuan tried to speak, but his throat was dry, his words were just raspy whispers. "Who... Who am I?"
The woman's eyes widened, her lips trembling as she searched his gaze. "Zhi Yuan, it's me, Xiao Mei. Don't you remember?"
Zhi Yuan. The name echoed in his mind as if it held a key to a memory he couldn't access. "Xiao Mei?" He repeated, his voice barely audible. He could feel a sensation at the back of his head; the name sounded so familiar yet so unfamiliar.
Confusion coupled with the unstable and broken memories swirled in Zhi Yuan's mind. Rain, pain, and then... darkness. He struggled to remember, to piece together the events leading up to this moment. He looked at his own hands, his fingers long and elegant, and it was as if he was seeing them for the first time.
He looked into the eyes of the beautiful woman before him, searching for answers, for a connection that might bridge the gap in his memory. "Xiao Mei... are we... close?"
She nodded. "We're engaged, Zhi Yuan. We were supposed to get married before... before the accident."
She didn't sound so disappointed that they had not gotten married, but that was the least of his problems at the moment.
The doctor and Xiangu stepped closer to Xiao Mei and Zhi Yuan.
"Temporary amnesia is not uncommon after such an injury. With time and the right support, your memories might return." He said with a soothing voice. He excused himself and stepped outside. Just before he disappeared out of sight, his white coat flashed dramatically in front of Zhi Yuan as if he was just seeing it for the first time, and he gasped in shock as the first wave of memory hit him.
The rain... The cold... The truck... The stranger with the white cloak... The second chance.
Zhi Yuan could feel his head spinning as the truth hit him hard. He isn't familiar with the name Zhi Yuan because he isn't Zhi Yuan. He is Jian, and he had died last night.
The realization must have been too much for his fragile mind because Zhi Yuan collapsed back on his bed.