Chapter 8 Forget-Me-Not

"Xue Xue!" Janny yelled and dashed into the hospital room.

Xin Ran looked up from the magazine, her large round eyes filled with perplexity as she absorbed the sight of the unfamiliar female figure before her. She had been expecting that Jing Yue would be here to revisit her, but she had thought wrong when instead of Jing Yue, a woman had entered her room without the slightest warning!

Her head whirred with confusion upon seeing the peculiarly-dressed young lady hysterically scrutinizing her like she was a guinea pig being experimented with. Then, she snaked about the room to check for any clues of her being unwell or probably even tortured! Firstly, she glanced carefully at the patient card hanging to Xin Ran's hospital bed, and then at the solid white walls of the room. Eventually, she found nothing and gave up.

Xin Ran closed her eyes and tried to recall whether she had known this woman. She compiled in her mind, an image of

Janny's long beautiful dark tresses along with her dainty figure and put t together with her lack of fashion sense. She curiously wondered how she was acquainted with the girl. Was she someone from her past, or a colleague, a neighbour or a classmate? Apart from a brief memory of her kiss with Jing Yue, she was unable to remember anything from Ying Xue's past, nor about Xin Ran apart from the image of the goddess in her mind.

"Xue Xue, you don't remember me?" the girl looked slightly disconcerted.

She hesitatingly stared at the girl and opened her mouth to explain. 

"You don't have to say anything, you hit your head, correct?" the girl anxiously deduced. "It must have been a bad accident that you shouldn't tire yourself out by explaining to me!" 

She was a little agitated when she spoke and was on the verge of breaking down emotionally. Xin Ran had never seen a person act as sentimentally as Janny.

"What is your name?" she voiced softly.

"I'm Janny."

Janny! So this woman was Janny? She had recalled Ying Xue mentioning Janny in one of her notes, and Xin Ran gathered that Janny was someone relatively crucial to Ying Xue.

"Janny... you are my...."

"We work and live together, Xue Xue," Janny pronounced every word gradually, before halting to wipe her tear-stained eyes with her sleeve. "Xue Xue, I'm just glad you are alright."

"Tell me something," Xin Ran said. "I don't remember, and I want to."

Janny cleared her throat and tried to recall one memorable event for her to relay to her amnesiac friend. When she had read of her friend's tragedy, she hadn't expected that her friend would have lost all her memories before the auto accident. She heaved a sigh and told her about their initial encounter, the interview at the firm for their internships.

They had been fresh graduates, not knowing how to act or dress. They had just gone with random advice from the internet on what to wear for an interview. 'smart casual' since they were interns and expected their work to be a bit messy. After all, they were assisting an architect who they presumed would be making several site visits.

"I am Janny, Jie Ni."

"I am Ying Xue. You can call me Xue or Snow."

Both girls just smiled at each other. Ying Xue had short hair then and had less makeup on. Janny hadn't changed much from now. Come one year later, the girls were both twenty-three and had officially graduated with bachelors from their respective universities almost a year ago. Time had flown fast, and now, thinking back of all their encounters in their office and how they shared joy and sorrow, having no one but each other, Janny was devastated to learn that her friend had no recollection of those precious memories.

When they were drunk at their flat, Ying Xue had even admitted to her one of her strenuous past remembrances from her university days. She had been in the library, while attempting to source for information for her assignment through a particular book, only to discover through the system that a senior going by the name of Jing Yue had borrowed it. She had made lots of endeavours to look for this Jing Yue, but failed every time. She didn't know how Jing Yue looked apart from what went around about him. There had been a particular man eyeing her in the library every single time, and that induced some discomfort. 

Later, she was informed by her course mates that Jing Yue couldn't be found in the study corridors or cafeteria, because he rarely departed the library! However, she was a freshman, and he was a final year student, so their paths had not crossed, so she ended up having to switch to a different topic for her assignment. However, her curiosity about Jing Yue didn't end there, and Ying Xue swore to Janny that she would find Jing Yue one day.

"Did you still want the book, even after so many years?" Janny teased.

"I'm just curious about the man who I couldn't find all those years," she admitted. "But surprisingly, I found a piece of paper that had his name and number on it. I've been keeping that piece of paper for so many years. Finally, I have found the courage to text him."

Janny saw her fidget with her phone for a few moments, and then hesitated and placed the phone back on her table. She hadn't managed to text the number in the end. 

When Ying Xue was asleep the same night, she took the initiative to steal the phone from her friend's bedside table and text him instead, copying the number and saving it as another contact. She then deleted the messages she had sent, allowing it to appear as if the messages had originated from the number as if he was the one with her number.

Fortunately, she hadn't noticed and welcomed this new 'friend'. Given her amnesia, she probably would not find out what her friend had done, even if it was for her good. 

"Thank you, Janny. I'll take a nap now. I didn't sleep well last night."

"I'll be staying around for the weekend," Janny replied, and Xin Ran nodded, letting out a shrill yawn before succumbing to her weariness. As Xin Ran drifted off to sleep, Janny saw the sexy figure of a man in a black suit slink behind the window just outside Xin Ran's hospital room. Janny inhaled deeply, intimidated by the presence of the dark soul that she perceived to be here to claim their souls for his consumption. She remained silent, and a few minutes later, the man disappeared.

In his place, a nurse made her appearance, and informed Janny, "Mr Jing asked me to present this bouquet to Miss Tang since she was asleep."

In her arms lay the most splendid bouquet comprised of forget-me-nots, thrilling Janny. 

Forget-me-nots. The sender was desirous of sending the message 'Forget Me Not!' to Xin Ran! She looked towards her sleeping friend and pondered if she had found love, but forgotten it all. Perhaps after she woke up, they could have another heart-to-heart, and she could understand further about her friend's condition.