by Kevin Kwan
Rachel tried a mouthful and smiled at her friend in surprise. “Wow…they’re sweet!
“Pretty amazing, right?”
“I haven’t had seafood this good since Paris,” Rachel said.
“I always say that only the French can compete with the Chinese when it comes to preparing seafood. I’m sure you guys ate your way through Paris.”
“Nick and I did, but food wasn’t really the focus for Colette and her friends. Remember how I used to accuse you of ‘irrational exuberance’ whenever Neiman Marcus invited you to a trunk show? Well, these girls went completely batshit insane in Paris! They hit the shops from morning till night, and we had three extra Range Rovers tailing us everywhere we went just to carry the shopping bags alone!”
Peik Lin smiled. “Sounds familiar. These PRCs* come to Singapore on crazy shopping sprees too. You know, for many of them, shopping on a massive scale is how they validate their success. It’s a way to make up for all the suffering their families had to endure in the past.”
“Look, I get it. I come from an immigrant family that’s done well, and I married a guy who’s well-off. But I feel that there’s a certain limit I would never go over when it comes to shopping,” Rachel said. “I mean, when you’re spending more money on a couture dress than it takes to vaccinate a thousand children against measles or provide clean water to an entire town, that’s just unconscionable.”
Peik Lin gave Rachel a thoughtful look. “Isn’t it all relative though? To someone living in a mud hut somewhere, isn’t the $200 you paid for those Rag & Bone jeans you’re wearing considered obscene? The woman buying that couture dress could argue it took a team of twelve seamstresses three months to create the garment, and they are all supporting their families by doing this. My mother wanted an exact re-creation on her bedroom ceiling of a Baroque fresco she saw at some palace in Germany. It cost her half a million dollars, but two artists from the Czech Republic worked on it every day for three months. One guy was able to buy and furnish a new house in Prague, while the other one sent his kid to Penn State. We all choose to spend our money in different ways, but at least we get to make that choice. Just think—twenty years ago, these girls you went to Paris with would only have two choices: Do you want your Mao jacket in shit brown or shit gray?”
Rachel laughed. “Okay, point taken, but I still wouldn’t spend that kind of money. Now I don’t think I can eat any of these braised meatballs. They’re reminding me too much of a steaming pile of Mao.”
After lunch, Rachel and Peik Lin decided to do some exploring around the resort, which was set on seventeen acres of landscaped grounds designed to resemble the gardens of an imperial summer palace from the Qing dynasty. As they meandered along the covered walkways, inhaling the fragrant cherry blossoms and admiring interconnected lily ponds, Rachel started to feel a little queasy. When they reached a garden filled with carved scholar’s rocks, she took a seat on one of the benches.
“Are you okay?” Peik Lin asked, noticing how pale Rachel suddenly looked.
“I’m going to head back to my room. I think it’s getting a little too humid for me.”
“You’re not used to this. This is paradise compared to Singapore this time of the year. Wanna cool down in that infinity pool by the lake?” Peik Lin suggested.
“I think I just need to lie down for a while.”
“Okay, let’s go back.”
“No, no, you should stay and enjoy the gardens,” Rachel insisted.
“Shall we meet for afternoon tea on the terrace around four?”
“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.”
“Let me guess…Uncle Alfred made a call?” Eddie asked.
Nick nodded. He ushered the two of them into the waiting room of the adult intensive care unit, which was lined with comfortable leather chairs. “I was able to see Rachel for a few minutes, and then they made me leave. They’re trying to restore her renal function right now. The doctor needs to ask you some questions, Peik Lin.”
Several minutes later, the doctor entered the waiting room.
“Everyone, this is Dr. Jacobson,” Nick said.
Eddie got up from his chair and extended his hand with a flourish. “Edison Cheng—I’m Malcolm Cheng’s son.”
“I’m sorry, am I supposed to know that name?” the raven-haired doctor asked.
Eddie looked at her in astonishment. The doctor grinned, “Just kidding. Of course I know your father.”
Eddie was never more relieved in his life.
“How is she?” Nick asked, trying to remain calm.
“Her vitals have been stabilized for the time being, and we’re running a range of tests. This is a very perplexing case. We’re still not able to pinpoint what led to such rapid multi-organ failure, but obviously there is something extremely toxic in her system.” Looking at Peik Lin, she asked, “Can you tell me everything your friend ate or drank in the last twenty-four hours?”
“I can try. Let’s see, when we first arrived last night at the Four Seasons, Rachel had a Cobb salad, and then a strawberry and lychee mousse dessert. This morning we skipped breakfast, but we had a very simple lunch of Hangzhou river shrimp, sautéed young bamboo shoots, and roast duck noodle soup. There was also some chocolate-dipped ginger in our rooms that Rachel might have eaten. I didn’t eat those. Oh wait a minute—she had a massage this morning that supposedly used pieces of crushed jade and lotus seeds.”
“Hmm…let me look into that. We’ll put in a call to the resort and get a full list of anything she might have possibly ingested or been exposed to.”
“What do you think it could have been, doctor? We’ve basically eaten the same foods, and as you can see I’m totally fine,” Peik Lin said.
“Everyone’s body reacts differently. But I don’t want to jump to any conclusions until we finish running all the toxicology tests,” the doctor explained.
“What’s your prognosis?” Nick asked worriedly.
The doctor paused, hunching her shoulders. “I’m not going to kid you—things are quite critical at the moment. We may have to put in a TIPS*1 to staunch the worsening liver failure. And if she develops encephalopathy, we will have to put her in a medically induced coma in order to give her body more of a fighting chance.”
“Medically induced coma?” Peik Lin said in a hushed tone, promptly bursting into tears. Nick held her in his arms, desperately trying not to lose it himself.
Eddie went up to the doctor. “You do everything you possibly can. Remember, Dr. Malcolm Cheng and Ming Kah-Ching will hold you personally responsible if anything happens to her.”
Dr. Jacobson gave Eddie a slightly annoyed look. “We do the best we can for all our patients, Mr. Cheng, regardless of who they are.”
“Can we please see her?” Peik Lin asked.
“I can only let you in one at a time,” the doctor replied.
“You go, Nick,” Peik Lin said, sinking back down onto the couch.
8:40 p.m.
Nick stood at the foot of Rachel’s bed, watching helplessly as a team of doctors and nurses hovered over her. Two days ago they had been in their suite at the Peninsula, where she had been excitedly packing for her spa weekend with one of her best friends. Don’t you have too much fun in Beijing now! No flirting with any sexy librarians, unless it’s Parker Posey, Rachel had teased, before giving him the sweetest goodbye kiss. Now her complexion had turned yellow and there were cables, cords, and tubes in her neck and abdomen. It was just so unreal. What happened to his beautiful wife? Why wasn’t she getting any better? He couldn’t even begin to imagine losing her. No, no, no, he had to wipe that thought out of his mind. She was so strong, so healthy. She was going to be okay.
She had her whole life ahead of her. Their whole life together. Nick left the room and walked toward the waiting room. Passing a handicapped toilet, he let himself in and locked the door. He took a few deep breaths, splashed some water on his face, and looked at himself in the mirror. Then he noticed the mirror itself—a round, backlit mirror that looked like it came from some pricey design showroom. He glanced around and saw that the whole space had recently been redecorated. Tears started streaming down his face uncontrollably. If Rachel pulled through—no—when Rachel pulled through this, he was going to build her the most insanely beautiful bathroom the world had ever seen.
9:22 p.m.
Nick reentered the waiting room and found Peik Lin and Eddie huddled over Styrofoam bowls of wonton noodles. His aunt Alix and cousin Alistair were sitting in the chairs across from them. Alistair got up and gave his cousin a warm hug.
“Oh Nicky! This is so vexing! How is Rachel?” Alix asked anxiously.
“There’s not been much change,” Nick said wearily.
“Well, I know Dr. Jacobson very well. She’s the best, really, so Rachel is in very capable hands.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“And your uncle Malcolm called—the hospital has been updating him, and he’s asked his colleague who is Hong Kong’s top hepatobiliary specialist to come in and give a second opinion.”
“I can’t thank him enough.”
“He only wishes he could be here. Gum ngaam,*2 ah, the one time you have a medical emergency in Hong Kong and Malcolm is away! We brought some siew yook and wonton meen.*3 Are you hungry?”
“Sure. I think I should eat something.” Nick sat in a daze while his aunt proceeded to arrange assorted takeout containers of food and plastic utensils around him.