3 Arrival

<i>"So, did you?" Sam asked, her face thrown back and fair skin bathed on the bright, summer sun.

<i>"I'm sorry, did I what?" Amelia stumbled, trying hard to take her attention back from a group of scarcely-dressed guys playing volleyball near the shore line.

<i>Sam only laughed at her friend, fingers playing distractedly with the thin, whitish sand.

<i>"Did you ever had this feeling... Like you were destined to die young?".

<i>Amelia blinked once. And then twice.

<i>"Eh... No?" she answered slowly, studying her best friend carefully from behind her large, dark sunglasses "Is that even normal?"

<i>"I guess" Sam answered, sending her a smile before letting her eyes get lost on the long, foamy waves that danced over the diamond-like water "It's just a feeling... I've never felt like I'd grow old, you know? Like I never believed life would get me that far.".

<i>"Well, I don't like to think of myself all oldie and wrinkled either, but that doesn't mean I pretend to die young!" Amelia retorted in an annoyed voice "That is what plastic surgeries and facial creams are for these days, my friend... Growing old is unavoidable, aging is optional!".

<i>Sam couldn't control the loud laugh that bubbled through her with her friend's righteously indignant expression. And, just like that, they both had dropped the subject, starting to talk about more pleasant things.

But that feeling stayed. And, trie as she might, Sam was never able to ignore that small voice telling her she didn't have much time left... And at that moment, with all that darkness around her, the ringing on her ears and the pain in her head, the only thing she could think about was that she had been right. That her life was never meant to last for long.

On her fuzzy, very confused mind, there was only one explanation to what was happening:

<i>"Oh God, I must be dead!"</i>

Barely 22 years old, and dead. This was SO not happening to her!

"This is bad!" she heard what seemed like a male voice coming from somewhere far away.

"Doctor Li, please save my sister!" a feminine, very young voice followed in a heartbreaking tone.

Sam though she could hear some arguing and another man shouting orders, but everything was a mess and her head still hurt too much.

<i>"Death should be painless..." </i> she pondered, feeling dizzy and tired, her chest feeling like it was on fire <i>"What is going on?"</i>

Sam was never one to pray or believe that forces bigger than herself were at work somewhere on the universe, but at that moment, just before everything disappeared once again, she started to silently pray, for anything that could hear her.

Someone had to help her. Someone had to tell her what was happening. But the silence was suffocating, and even though she prayed, no-one answered.

___________________________

"Zi Zhu?" the voice came from far away, becoming closer and closer, until she though she could recognize it "Is my uncle back already?".

Ah... It was the same voice from before. The girl.

"Third Young Miss, Master Jiang is still at the palace" another young voice answered in a subdued tone.

"I see" the Third Miss murmured to herself "Then you can go back first. I will stay with Yue'er a while longer."

Sam felt like frowning at the weird conversation. Even though she could understand every word they were saying, it still felt wrong, as if the cadency and the sound should feel foreign to her ears – and for some unknown reason, weren't.

"Young Miss, you have been here for almost two days! You didn't rest or eat properly since Fifth Miss was found!" the girl seemed to be holding back tears at that point "Please, Miss! Your sister knows your devotion in her heart! She wouldn't want you to harm yourself like this!"

The girl that was supposed to be the Third Young Miss sighed deeply, sounding completely drenched of energy.

"Forget it" the girl she said softly " Zi Zhu, ask A Bi to come and take my place... I don't want to let Yue'er alone".

"Your servant will do it immediately". the girl, Zi Zhu, answered quickly, her voice losing the tension from before and sounding almost childlike.

It was all very weird, Sam thought, feeling her head hurt as she tried to organize names, words and informations with some kind of logical order on her head. Suddenly, she felt a delicate hand grasping her own, tight enough so she could feel the slight tremble of the other's body...

Her body contracted. Pain pulsated though every limp, making her mind shine with shining dots.

She gasped.

And then light. Blinding, painfully bright light stabbed at her head. She groaned, not understanding what were all those colorful shadows suddenly crowding her.

"Yue'er..." she though she heard the girl call, over the blood rushing on her years "Yue'er, you're awake?".

Sam didn't answer. There was simply too much pain. Her head felt like it was trying to split itself in two, the noises, the colors... Everything maximizing to a point she felt nauseous.

Her eyes closed once more, her lungs hurting with the strength to breath.

From afar, she could still hear the young girl's voice.

"Yue'er, you have to wake up... Qing Shan is begging you! Please, wake up".

______________________________

Sam had been in and out of conscious through those last couple of days.

She didn't understand anything, wasn't able to make sense of what she heard or saw. It all felt weird, unknown, like she was watching her life through a large, beaten glass.

Slowly, though, the pressure on her chest begun to lift, her limbs feeling lighter every day. Her muscles still hurt, and every impulse to try and move would end up draining her last bit of energy, making it impossible to even think.

The feverish hue was still there, just like the difficult breathing, but at least Sam could manage understanding a bit better what happened on her surroundings.

But, mainly, Sam seemed to always know when she was by her side. The kind girl with the delicate voice.

Qing Shan.

Sam had never credited much those theories about comatose patients still being able to hear people around then, but right now she felt grateful that not everyone shared her skepticism. Or else, her days at the hospital might have turned out worse than they already were.

She was probably family to the girl she supposed shared the hospital room with her. Someone named Ying Yue whose relatives were always coming and going.

Qing Shan stayed in the room for at least one hour everyday, always reading something, talking about gossips and people she didn't know, or simply remembering about their life in... Well, she supposed was the mansion of the family.

Once, she even brought a instrument to play and sing for then. The light tones and her sweet voice made Sam's heart ache and her still closed eyes burn with unshed tears.

It was all very weird... As if she was stuck in some kind of in-between moment, even though she wasn't certain what exactly would be waiting her "after" all that.

__________________________________

The light was so bright that she couldn't keep her eyes open. Her whole body ached, and she felt stiff and sore all over, as if she had been ran over by a truck.

With still tearing eyes, she tried to raise her hand to cover her face.

"Ouch!" she grumbled, feeling her throat burn as if she had eaten sand, her tongue so dry Sam was astonished she could produce any sort of sound.

She had just wanted to ask someone to please close the blinds and turn out the light, to please lt her sleep a bit longer, but her strength seemed to have deserted her. In fact, Sam was about to try and reach out for her cellphone, maybe to call Amelia for some help, when the sound of porcelain crashing on the wooded floor broke the silence on the room, small droplets of water landing on her still immobile hands.

"Oh, thanks the Heavens!" someone cried – a bit too loudly – and than apparently dashed through the door, still screaming " Third Miss! Master! Third Miss! Fifth Miss has woken up! She is awake! Third Miss!".

Sam groaned, squinting a bit while trying to find a more comfortable position for her aching body. It felt as if she didn't move a single muscle for ages! And than all that shouting still ringing on her years... What was the problem with these people!?

Why is it that her apartment felt so noisy that early in the morning? She didn't understand.

"I must've had a hell of a night" she grumbled, desperately trying to clean the fog on her head and brush the sleep out of her eyes.

Every time she tried opening them, however, she ended up being forced to close them again, unable to see anything beyond that blinding light. When she finally could discern a little about her surroundings, she couldn't help but frown, her foggy brain trying to understand what was happening.

Everything seemed big, intricately decorated, and a mess of blues and whites that her eyes couldn't still understand. And then there was the smell... The room smelled just like Amelia's living room – of strong incense and medicinal herbs.

Sam frowned. It was definitely not her white-walled, surgically clean bedroom.

A door slammed open suddenly, making her heart jump.

"Yue'er!" a girl screamed from the door, covering her mouth with her hands "Yue'er! You are awake! You are finally awake!".

Sam couldn't really make up the girl's features, as she was too faraway and her eyes still too weak, but even her shortcomings couldn't mask the beauty of the girl's long black hair, flowing down her back like a midnight river, or even the delicate cut of her clothes, of light green and white brocade. Sam was about to try and turn her head to the other side, confused at what she was hearing, and considering whether she was not the only person on that strange place, when, all of a sudden, the girl fell to the ground beside her bed, took her hand in hers and lowered her forehead to their joined fingers.

"Oh God!" she cried, still clinging to Sam for dear life "Oh God! I though we had lost you!"

Sam felt her body going completely cold, a weird, foreboding feeling starting to creep over her like cold water down her spine.

Her breath became faster, the first strings of panic gripping at her insides.

"Yue'er!" The girl looked right at her stunned, wide eyes, tears still running down her beautiful, very white, very asiatic, face "Yue'er you came back to us! You are really here!"

Desperately, Sam tried to sneak a glance to her left side...

There had to be another girl there.

There simply had to be!

But it didn't matter how much she looked or tried to turn her head, she could only see more furniture and some kneaded clothes on a corner.

Apart from the two of them, the room was entirely empty.

A very strange, very unknown room.

"Oh my God!" she whispered, her voice a rasping sound barely high enough for her own ears.

"Yue'er" Qing Shan called, drying her tears with a prettily embroidered handkerchief, her dark eyes locking in on Sam with such strength that she could barely breathe "Jiejie wasn't good for you... I didn't protect you enough. Yue'er do you trust me? Jiejie won't let anyone bully you anymore. I will protect you from now on".

Sam could barely acknowledge her words, her head still spinning nonstop trying to understand what was happening there. That girl couldn't mean... She didn't actually think Sam was...

She started hyperventilating.

No, no. It was impossible. Totally inconceivable.

Madness.

Right?

"Who... Who are you?" she finally managed to whisper though parched lips, gripping at the covers in an effort to overcome her shallow, incessant breathing "Where am I?"

Jiang Qing Shan dropped her hands suddenly, as if they were on fire. Her big, black eyes growing round as saucers.

"Yue'er..." she starter in a clumsy voice, not wanting to believe on her own ears.

"Wu Xiaojie" a very young girl cried softly from her place near the door "What are you talking? Don't play games like this! San XiaoJie will be very worried if you do it!".

Sam panicked.

"Not... Yue'er... Who... Where... I... I..." She gasped, gripping her chest with the pain.

She couldn't breath. God, she couldn't breath!!

What are they talking about? Why can't they understand? Her thoughts spinning like the wheels of her car before...

Before the accident.

Her body doubled over, her head aching with the speed of her thoughts and the difficult to find air.

"Oh God..." she repeated, tears threatening to flow as image after image of the car crash assaulted her senses.

I can't breath. I can't breath. I can't breath.

She was going to die.

She was really going to die.

"Zi Zhu! Call Doctor Li! Fast!" she though she heard Third Miss shout, but Sam wasn't sure of anything anymore.

It was all too much. All too weird.

Maybe she wasn't dying... Maybe, she was already dead.