2 Repaying My Debt Of Gratitude.....

Bobo woke Meilin up the next afternoon by poking her cheeks . She woke up to find a cold wash cloth on her forehead and a blanket that covered her body. Also there was no trace of the fever. What little Meilin didn't know was that last night someone fed her a fever medicine and a painkiller in her sleep.

Meilin was confused at this...

She remembered the incidents of last night and crying to herself with only Bobo by her side.

Her attention turned to Bobo who was sitting beside her, waiting patiently as he waged his tail excitedly. She picked up the little guy and cuddled with him . Bobo enjoyed Meilin's affection on him and returned it with his own by licking her affectionately.

Suddenly as if remembered something extremely important Bobo jumped out of Meilin's embrace, ran towards the bedside table and started barking at it as if he was looking at something . Meilin observed Bobo's actions in order to find out what the little guy was trying to say to her. She sat up on the rug and looked at Bobo's back which was facing her. She couldn't see what Bobo was seeing because her sight was blocked by Bobo himself.

" What is it Bobo???? What are you looking at??? "

Thinking that Meilin didn't understand what he was trying to say Bobo struggled but managed to pull out little bit of a small luggage bag. Seeing Bobo struggling with something she finally got up and went over to him. As she went over to the bedside table she saw a packet sitting on the table with her name on it and a small luggage bag underneath it with which Bobo was struggling at the moment. She kneeled down on the floor and helped Bobo pull out the small luggage bag and opened it.

She was stunned momentarily as she saw the contents of the luggage bag. The bag contained an envelope , her daily essentials from home and a few sets of lounge wear clothes which was also from home.

This left Meilin in deep thought.

After they finished checking the luggage bag, Bobo once again started barking at the bedside table. This time his sight was on the packet that sat on table. Meilin stood up,grabbed the packet and emptied it's contents on the bed. As she emptied the contents of the packet, Bobo kept barking as he stood on his hind legs while holding on to the bed for support. Meilin assumed that Bobo too wanted to check out the contents of the packet, so she picked up the little guy and placed him in the bed. No sooner Meilin placed Bobo on the bed the little guy started sniffing all the contents of the packet. The contents of the packet left Meilin in deep thoughts once again.

The packet contained a fever medicine and a painkiller for children along with an antibiotic flu medicine and some multi vitamins. When Meilin emptied the packet all her focus was on the medicines because of which she failed to notice that along with the medicine was also an envelope until Bobo directed her attention to it. She took the envelope from Bobo and opended it. Inside was a detailed prescription for the medicine and a letter. Meilin recognised the hand writing immediately.

It was from her father.

Something crossed her mind and she placed the two envelopes together. She scanned through the prescription and set it aside.

Then she went on to read the letter.

The letter was indeed written by Dr. Li. Actually even the prescription was written by Dr. Li. On the plain white page Dr. Li's beautiful handwriting danced across with words. The letter only said two sentence

[ Follow the prescription and get well soon. Also check underneath the bedside table. ]

After that she took out the letter which was in the bag and read it. It said...

[ Meilin listen carefully. From this day forth you are to stay in this house until further notice. I have stocked up the ration in the pantry and fridge, it should be enough for you to last for a month along with Bobo's stuff. Underneath the bedside table is a bag with all your essentials from home and some clothes. Don't even think of stepping outside this house.... It's for your own good. Also if in any case Eisuke comes to the house, pass on my message that whatever he needs is in the basement chamber. You don't need to worry about your elder sister.... It's of no use anymore . She is where she is and we are helpless right now.

P.S : Take Care Meilin ]

Meilin frowned at the mention of her sister and at her father's attitude towards her. But can't be blamed. She couldn't help but worry about her sister. Especially because of the last sentence from her father's letter. But she was still positive. She thought that her father must have hidden her sister like he has done with her. Meilin was still a naive little child . And she was not wrong to think so because she was constantly kept in the depths of darkness by the adults for they saw her as their only ray of hope which under no circumstances be allowed to vanish.

Meilin sat on the bed quietly. She didn't know what to think. It had only being one and a half month that her mother passed away and now she doesn't even know where her sister is and when she will be able to see her. She felt helpless and was extremely frustrated at her father. But that the given moment what other choice did she have....

" Bow... Bow... Bow "

Bobo's barks pulled out Meilin from her thoughts and attracted her attention to the opened door which was locked night. Seeing the door open Meilin wanted to check out the place. Unfortunately that had to wait as Meilin's stomach growled very loudly and wants to be fed immediately. Thus Meilin decided to take care of her health first and investigate later.

She requested Bobo to wait which Bobo obediently followed until Meilin showered and completed her morning routine , only then did he left the room. Bobo guided Meilin straight to the kitchen pantry.

Upon entering the pantry Meilin was stunned. The shelves were indeed stocked with all kinds of ingredients which were normally found in the kitchen back at home. Three fourth the pantry was for her and one fourth was dedicated for Bobo. Meilin quickly checked the fridge and it was the same. There was also a section of gravy food for Bobo in the fridge as well. Seeing those gravy foods Bobo barked happily.

" You want one?? " Meilin asked holding one of the gravy packet.

Bobo ran back to the pantry and returned with his food bowl. A genuine smile formed on Meilin's lips seeing her companion's antitics. She emptied the contains of the packet and placed the water bowl. Wasting not a second further Bobo dug into his food. Meilin used this opportunity to cook herself some omurice. It's a simple egg rice chicken recipe which she learned from her mother.

After their meal they toured the house but unfortunately the house was under lock and key except for the bedroom in the attic . Three days passed after that and still their was no sign of Dr. Li or Yuki leaving Meilin alone .

One week after, deep into the night Dr.Li returned home ever so silently. But it didn't miss Bobo's senses. When Bobo sensed Dr. Li's arrival he poked Meilin up . As soon as she woke up they heard the sound of a car door shutting . Looking out from the window they saw Dr. Li entering the house . Meilin and Bobo hid under the covers and didn't dare to make a sound. Dr. Li on the other hand went straight to the attic and check Meilin. Seeing the half empty medicine bottles he understood that she took the medicines as per prescription. He touched her forehead to check her fever and was relieved to see that she was cool as a cucumber.

After that he entered the locked basement to leave a package and then came out of the house within two minutes. He entered back into the car and left. Meilin saw her father entering the car and leaving from the the attic window. At that moment she was unaware of Faye's cruelty towards her in the name of hope for others for that was the very last time she was seeing her father .

Elders have said that great achievement require great scarifice.... But in reality some scarifices are just so unfair....

....

It's been three days since Dr. Li last visited Meilin. By now Meilin is use to staying alone by herself.

She was about to go to bed when suddenly two cars stop right in front of the house. The showers were still heavy so Meilin was unable to see who the people were. She was curious as well as scared. She along Bobo hid themselves inside the bath tub .

A minute or so later there were voices calling her from downstairs. Gradually the voices were getting closer and closer. Amongst those several voices Meilin recognised one voice, but she was to afraid to come out. As if understanding her inner turmoil the voice itself found Meilin.

Meanwhile, at the front gate of the house four men along with six bodyguards arrived at Dr. Li's waterfront house. Upon entering the house they looked everywhere for its resident. Amongst the four men one was a prominent figure, Eisuke Ichinomiya.

" Eisuke, we've checked the whole house but there is no one around... " one of the remaining man spoke.

" Maybe he hid her somewhere else.. " The youngest of the men spoke.

" That's not possible. Did you check the attic, I remember it was also a room?? "

The blank expression of the men told Eisuke that they didn't consider checking the attic.

" Fine keep looking for things in the rest of the house for clues, I'll go check the attic. "

Everyone nodded in understanding and went back in there search.

Eisuke confidently reached the attic and turned on the lights.

The room was empty. But Eisuke wasn't least bit bothered by the facts. His sight landed on the half empty medicine bottles and a bitter sweet smile curved on his lips. He strode through the room and opened the bathroom only to find Meilin's desperate attempts to keep Bobo low.

" So this is were you've been hiding all this time? " He said with a hint of mischief .

Meilin stood stunned in the bathtub.

All her emotions flicker in her clear deep voilet eyes as tears strolled down her cheeks. She opened her mouth to say something but no words came out.

Seeing Meilin's teary face with a hint of fear Eisuke felt as if his heart was ripped into pieces. He sat on the edge of the bathtub and hugged Meilin to comfort. In the warm embrace of her loved one grief washed over her. She cried her heart out.

" Mommy is gone.... And we don't know where sister is... And Dad, I don't know what happened to him... He is not daddy... He not daddy...." Her muffled voice echoed in the empty bathroom as Meilin hid her face in Eisuke's broad chest. He didn't know what to do, so he allowed her to cry her heart out as it was the best way for her to lighten her weight, hugging her tight so as to let her know she wasn't alone.

After a few minutes Meilin finally calmed down " Uncle Eisuke what are you doing here and how did you find me here?? "

" Me!! I am just repaying my debt of gratitude." Eisuke said as he wiped away her tears and embraced her once again with a kiss on her forehead. Meilin didn't understand what he meant but at that moment she couldn't care less. She was happy to have someone with her in her difficult times. She cherished the moment by hugging back Eisuke.

Sadly that didn't last long...

" Eisuke !! We found the basement chamber and the safe, but both are locked with password and finger print."