Imperfect Desires

-An City Hospital-

Outside the emergency room, Darren and Bai Xiu were pacing around while Dylan had gone to deal with the paperwork. While Darren's eyes were stuck on the closed door of the emergency room, Bai Xiu's eyes were observing him.

Biting his nails in anxiousness, he mumbled, "What really happened?"

"Alcohol overdose," came the reply from Bai Xiu. Darren lifted his eyes to look at her inquisitively and she elaborated, "Uneven breathing, slow heart rate, clammy skin, low body temperature and inability to wake up... All these are the symptoms of alcohol overdose."

Darren's eyes went wide as he understood the situation. He was having difficulty accepting the fact as he said, "My goodness, this superstar is even more reckless than I originally thought."

One corner of Bai Xiu's lips lifted upward slightly as she said, "You know who she is. Is that why you kissed her?" Darren stayed quiet in response giving a silent affirmation and she went on, "You heard her talking over the phone, right? But since you don't look shocked, can I assume that this is not your first meeting?"

Darren took a long breath as he sat down on the bench and said, "Technically, this was my third encounter with her. Four months ago, when I came to spend my summer vacations with Dylan, I had literally no clue who Chen Xiu is. But from the time she ran into my life, I feel like all I hear is her name. It's hard not to get curious when you hear so much about a person."

"It's harder to avoid curiosity if the said person has a reputation like Goddess Xiu." Darren looked at her while she went on, "She has that comfortable aura around her that makes people want to get close to her. It's hard to find someone like her unattractive. And that makes it even weirder that a person like her is actually a loner."

"A loner? Are you sure about that? She must have a lot of friends," said Darren.

Bai Xiu shook her head at him as she answered, "If she had friends, she wouldn't bring along a stranger like me to accompany her to the bar. I guess drinking solo would have looked more pathetic, so she chose to cover it up by offering me a meal." Taking a brief pause, she snorted to herself, "I guess being a nice and innocent girl really makes you an outcast." Intertwining the fingers of her both hands, she closed her eyes and prayed softly, "Dear God, please take care of Sister Xiu. Give her enough strength to fight. Amen!"

"You're one of her crazy fans?" he asked out of curiosity.

Bai Xiu narrowed her eyes at him and replied, "I'm her crazy fan but apart from that, I truly want nothing but happiness for Goddess Xiu."

"She's not a real Goddess. If she was, she wouldn't need your prayers," said Darren.

Bai Xiu was about to retort but held herself back when the doctor came out of the room. The doctor looked at Darren and Bai Xiu before his eyes caught sight of Dylan walking in their direction. When the three of them were together, the doctor said, "Qiu Hedi, would you mind telling me who the patient is?"

Dylan looked at Darren and said, "Umm... Uncle, it's my best friend's girlfriend. You need to take good care of her."

The doctor looked at Darren with a strange gaze before speaking, "I'd say your best friend needs to take care of his girlfriend. How can you let her abuse the use of alcohol?"

Darren was gonna say something but Dylan held his hand and looked at him with pleading eyes to not reveal the real truth. If his parents got to know about it, Dylan knew he'd be dead meat. So, he had to make up the story as he said, "Uncle, actually, they broke up this morning. I'm sure she must have been really upset and that's why she drank so much. Why don't you tell us her condition?"

The doctor calmed down a little before he said, "Follow me to my office." 

The three of them exchanged glances before following the doctor back to his office. As they sat down, the doctor turned on his computer screen and turned it towards them saying, "On Dylan's insistence, I did some other tests and during the M.R.I. we have found this..." he pointed at scans and continued, "The patient's frontal lobe has some damage."

"Frontal lobe?" asked Bai Xiu.

"Yes, the frontal lobe is responsible for emotional control, short-term memory, judgments, and other vital roles," the three of them looked intently at him as he continued, "There are two possible reasons for the damage. Either she had an injury or the excessive use of alcohol. And I'm inclined to believe the latter."

"Uncle, you mean that her condition is serious?" asked Dylan looking rather anxious and restless. 

"For now, she is fine. Except for having blackouts and memory gaps, I don't think she's experiencing any other side-effect. But yes, her condition can get serious if she didn't stop drinking," said the doctor in a professional tone.

"Will she remember what happened tonight?" asked Dylan again.

"Most probably, not. Also..."

The doctor was about to continue when he heard a knock at the door and a nurse entered with a file, "Doctor, these are the blood tests that you asked for."

The doctor took the file from her hand and looked at Darren as he said, "I'll suggest you pay some attention to her if you don't want to lose her. She is not awake but you can see her."

Both Bai Xiu and Dylan instinctively looked at Darren and he hesitated a little before going to the ward Xiu was shifted to. Seeing her all pale and frail on the hospital bed, he felt weird. He walked up to her side and touched her hair. "The doctor said you'd forget me and I really don't like the sound of that. Little Red, I have enough people in my life who forgot my existence. So, don't you dare to be one of them!" His thumb rubbed her cheek as he went on, "Little Red, I hope you remember what you're saying if you forgot this night... I'm so gonna murder you!"

"Daz, we gotta leave now," came Dylan's voice from the door and Darren nodded his head in understanding. 

Taking a piece of paper, he scribbled something on it and passed it to Bai Xiu saying, "Can you give this to her when she wakes up?" Bai Xiu took the folded paper from his hand and nodded. "Take care of her."