“That sounds perfect.”
Peik Lin lingered in the gardens a while longer, discovering a tranquil little grotto that sheltered a large stone carving of a very fat laughing Buddha. She decided to burn a few of the joss sticks that were sitting in an urn in front of the sculpture and then headed back to her room to change into her bikini. Upon entering her room, she noticed that the green message light on the telephone was blinking. She hit the button to listen to the message. It was Rachel, sounding extremely out of breath: “Um, Peik Lin, could you please come to my room? I think I need help.”
Alarmed, Peik Lin instinctively grabbed her cell phone and saw that Rachel had called three times. She rushed out of her room and ran down the long corridor toward Rachel’s room. Arriving outside the room, she began knocking on the door, but there was no answer. A hotel employee walked by, and Peik Lin grabbed him urgently. “Can you open this door? My friend is sick and needs help!”
Within a few minutes, a desk manager arrived with a security guard.
“Can we help you, miss?”
“Yes, my friend left me an urgent message asking for help. She wasn’t feeling well, and now she’s not answering,” Peik Lin said frantically.
“Er, maybe she’s asleep?” the manager said.
“Or maybe she’s dying! Open the fucking door now!” Peik Lin screamed.
The manager swiped his pass key over the door, and Peik Lin rushed in. There was no sign of anyone in the bed or on the private terrace, but in the marble bathroom beside the deep soaking tub, she found Rachel lying unconscious in a pool of dark green bile.
* * *
* The younger generation of Singaporeans have taken to referring to Mainland Chinese as “PRCs” (for People’s Republic of China), while many of the older generation still use the term “Mainlanders.”
8
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CHINA
BEIJING, CHINA
3:54 p.m.
Nick was poring over an old biography about the Sassoon family in the Western Languages Reading Room of the National Library when his cell phone started buzzing. He put a manila folder over the open book to hold his page and went out to the corridor to take the call.
It was Peik Lin, sounding close to tears. “Oh my God, Nick! I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’m at the emergency room with Rachel. She passed out in her hotel room.”
“What? Is she okay? What happened?” Nick asked in shock.
“We don’t really know. She’s still unconscious, but her white cell count is extremely low and her blood pressure is through the roof. They have her on an IV of magnesium to stabilize her, but they think she maybe has an extreme case of food poisoning.”
“I’ll get on the next flight to Hangzhou,” Nick said decisively.
4:25 p.m.
Racing through Beijing Capital International Airport, Nick had just reached the China Airlines counter when Peik Lin called again.
“Hey, Peik Lin, I’m trying to get on the 4:55 flight.”
“I don’t want to alarm you, but the situation has gotten progressively worse. Rachel’s still unconscious, and her kidneys have shut down. The doctors are running tests, but so far they have no clue what’s happening. Frankly, I’m losing confidence and I think Rachel should be medically evacuated to Hong Kong, where she can get the best care in the region.” “I trust you. Do what you think is best. Should I charter a plane?” Nick asked.
“Don’t worry—I’ve already arranged that.”
“I don’t know what we’d do without you, Peik Lin!”
“Just get to Hong Kong.”
“I will. Listen, I’m going to call my uncle Malcolm, who is a heart surgeon in Hong Kong. He might be of help.”
6:48 p.m.
When Peik Lin’s Gulfstream V landed in Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok International Airport, there was already a medical helicopter waiting on the tarmac to airlift Rachel to the hospital. Peik Lin emerged from the aircraft to find a man in mustard yellow jeans and a cobalt blue Rubinacci blazer awaiting her.
“I’m Nick’s cousin Edison Cheng! There’s no room in the chopper for you, so come in my Bentley,” he said over the roar of the helicopter’s propellers. Peik Lin followed Eddie to his car numbly, and as they began making their way to the hospital, Eddie said, “My father is in Houston getting an award at the DeBakey Medical Foundation, but he’s already put in a call to Queen Mary Hospital—that’s our top emergency care center. I’m told the whole kidney team is waiting for her arrival.”
“I’m so glad,” Peik Lin said.
“Now, Leo Ming happens to be my best friend, so his father, Ming Kah-Ching, who I’m sure you’ve heard of, has already put in a call to the hospital’s chief executive to add even more pressure. The emergency medical ward, by the way, is in the Ming Kah-Ching wing. So Rachel will be treated like a VVIP from the moment she arrives,” Eddie boasted.
Like Rachel cares about that right now! Peik Lin thought. “As long as they treat her EFFECTIVELY, that’s all I care about.”
They drove in silence for a few minutes, and then Eddie asked, “So was that your GV, or did you charter the plane?”
“It’s my family’s,” Peik Lin answered. I bet he’s going to ask who my family is.
“Very nice. And if I might ask, what line of business is your family in?” She looks Hokkien, so I’d guess either banking or real estate.
“Construction and property development.” Now he’ll want to know which company. I’m going to make him work for it!
Eddie smiled at her cordially. Damn Singaporeans! If she was from Hong Kong or China, I would have known everything about her family the moment she stepped off the plane. “Commercial or residential?”
Okay, let’s put him out of his misery. “My family started the Near West Organization.”
Eddie’s face lit up. Ding ding ding! The Gohs are ranked number 178 on The Heron Wealth Report. “Oh, you guys built that new condo in Singapore with the sky garages, didn’t you?” he said nonchalantly.
“That was us.” Now he’s going to tell me what he does. Based on the outfit, I’m guessing either weatherman or hairdresser.
“I’m the managing director of Leichtenburg Group Asia.”
“Ah, yes.” Another banker. Yawn.
Eddie flashed Peik Lin his Cheshire cat grin. “Tell me, are you satisfied with your private wealth management team?”
“Very much so.” I don’t believe this fucker! Rachel’s being rushed to the hospital in critical condition and he’s trying to land a new client!
7:45 p.m.
Peik Lin and Eddie ran up to the reception counter at the emergency medical ward. “Yes, can you tell us where Rachel Young has been taken? She would have been admitted in the past hour. She came in by air ambulance.”
“Are you relatives of the patient?” the woman at the counter asked.
“Yes, we are.”
“Let me see…” The woman began typing into her computer terminal. “What is the name again?”
“Rachel Young. Or maybe she was admitted as Rachel Chu,” Peik Lin said.
The woman scanned her computer screen. “I’m not finding anything here. You should go to the main reception hall at—”
Eddie banged on the counter in frustration. “Stop wasting our time! Do you know who I am? I’m Edison Cheng! My father is Dr. Malcolm Cheng—he used to be head of cardiology! The cafeteria is named after him! I demand to know where they’ve taken Rachel Young right now or you will be out of a job by tomorrow!”
Just then, they heard someone call out behind them, “Hey, Eddie! Over here!” They turned to see Nick poke his head out from behind a pair of swinging double doors.
“Nick! How the hell did you get here before we did?” Peik Lin said in shock as she rushed to him.
“I called in a favor,” Nick said as he hugged her tightly.
“You know Captain Kirk or something? Beijing’s an hour farther from Hong Kong!”
“I managed to catch a military transport jet. We didn’t have to deal with any airspace delays, and I swear we were flying at Mach 3.”