Having just stepped out of the airport, I hailed a taxi and headed straight for the hospital. It was just as I remembered: the air thick with the smell of disinfectant, a constant, unceasing flow of people coming and going. Tucked securely against my chest was the poultice my sister-in-law had made from her own blood and hair. My steps were light as I approached Room 1513; this was the first moment of ease I’d felt in days, the massive weight on my heart finally beginning to lift.
“Sis…” I pushed the door open to find a small boy sitting on the hospital bed.
“Excuse me, where is the patient assigned to this bed?” I asked, surprised my sister wasn't there.
“Aren’t I the patient assigned to this bed?” the boy replied cheekily.
“Uh, I mean the auntie who was staying here three days ago.”
The boy shook his head. “I was admitted this morning.”
“Then, have you seen an uncle wearing a police uniform around here?”
“I saw one downstairs in the main lobby, and also on the driveway, but there are no police uncles up here.”
Sigh. It was like talking to a wall. I pulled out my phone to call Old He, but it consistently showed ‘out of service.’ Strange—I’d spoken to him barely two hours ago. Why would he suddenly be unreachable? He hadn’t mentioned my sister being discharged or moved rooms over the phone!
It suddenly occurred to me that if she had been transferred or discharged, the nurses' station would know. So, I jogged over to the station. A thin, slight nurse was busy copying down examination notes.
“Excuse me, where did the female patient who was originally in Room 1513 go?”
“Are you asking about Ming Xiaohui?” The nurse lowered her pen when she heard me and looked up.
“Yes, where is she?”
“And who are you to her? We’ve been trying to reach her family, but we haven’t gotten through to anyone.”
I froze, a cold dread creeping up my spine. “I’m her younger brother. What happened?”
“The night before last, during the doctor’s rounds, Ming Xiaohui was no longer in the room. The hospital has been trying to contact her next of kin; you should be her only contact, right? Her cell phone has been unreachable. We had to reclaim the room this morning and assign it to another patient.”
Hearing this, my legs suddenly felt weak, my head swimming. I quickly grabbed the edge of the nurses' station desk to steady myself. What on earth was going on? Where was my sister? The Gudu poison was about to strike, and I was frantic.
Right, I need to try Old He again. We just spoke; there’s no way he could have vanished. I picked up my phone and dialed his number once more—still out of service.
Calming myself down to think rationally: a monk can run, but the temple remains. I decided to head straight to the Public Security Bureau. I bolted out of the hospital, hailed another cab, and sped toward the police station.
After getting out, I relied on my memory from last time and headed toward the third-floor offices, only to be stopped by a guard at the main entrance: “This is the restricted office area. If you have business, please proceed to the lobby.”
“I’m here to see Officer He.” Blast it, the more you rush, the more things go wrong! There was no guard here last time. Why the sudden appearance now?
“Which Officer He are you looking for?”
“Officer He Jiaming. His office is on the third floor; I’ve been here before.”
“Oh, please wait a moment while I notify someone.”
The guard stepped into the booth and spoke on the phone inside for several minutes. Finally, he hung up and turned back to me. “Officer He Jiaming is not in the bureau today.”
I stood there dumbfounded! Had they both evaporated into thin air? I’d talked to him two hours ago, and everything was fine. In just two short hours, everything had changed! My sister gone, Old He gone—how could they both just disappear like that?