Chapter 12 — The Day I Return

Back at the hotel at night, Nguyen Tieu Ngu was curled up on the sofa watching a movie.
"Second sister! You're home! I'm in the room alone and I'm about to grow mushrooms!"
“Take me out to eat tomorrow.”
“Really?! What to eat?”
“It's up to you.”
She let out a loud scream, then suddenly fell silent, leaning close to my face to observe carefully: "What's wrong with you today? You look so heavy in your mood."
"Do not have."
"Idiot. Your eyes have blinked three times. Every time you wonder about something, your eyes blink again."
“…You're looking too closely.”
“Of course, I'm the head assistant cum best friend cum bodyguard cum…”
“Nguyen Tieu Ngu.”
"Have!"
“Let me investigate something for you.”
She immediately sat up straight: "What's going on?"
“Ky Lang's heart surgery three years ago — what method was used, which hospital, and who was the surgeon.”
Nguyen Tieu Ngu looked at me, his eyes gradually widened.
“You… believe it?”
“I'm not sure.” I sat at the table and opened my laptop, "That's why I had to look it up."
“But didn't you say yesterday that there's no longer any possibility?”
“You're telling the truth.”
“So why are you interrogating him?”
My fingers stopped on the keyboard. That's right. Why look him up? I myself don't know.
“Probably just… wanted to confirm.” I said, “See if he lied to you.”
Nguyen Tieu Ngu looked at me for five seconds, then took a deep breath.
"Okay. Let me check."
She took out her phone and started scrolling through her contact list: "I have a classmate who works at the Cardiovascular Surgery Department at Hiep Hoa Hospital. I should be able to look it up - but you have to give me some time, two days."
“No rush.”
"Okay." She made a phone call and then went out to the balcony.
I sat at my desk, facing the Zurich lab's data sheet on the computer screen. But no words entered my head. My mind was filled with the words Ky Lang said last night.
“Heart disease runs in the family.”
“The most optimistic scenario is to live until age forty.”
“My mother found me.”
I closed my eyes. If all of this is true — Then during those eight years, every day I hated you, you were in a hundred times more pain than I was. It's not that he doesn't like me. It's that he thinks he's not worthy and is afraid he'll drag me along. But — The words behind the word "but", I don't dare to think about anymore. Because if I keep thinking that way, there is only one conclusion: You love me. Loved me from the beginning. Over the past eight years, every time I refused, it was like stabbing myself with a knife. But that's not the reason. That's not a reason for you to make decisions for me. That's not a reason for you to marry my sister. That's not a reason for you to disappear for three years without contacting me. My logic is tied into a dead knot here. Reason says: He is wrong. Emotions say: He is too miserable. The conclusion is: I'm very confused. So - check clearly before speaking. If what you say is true. If your disease really exists. If my mother really did that — Then I need to reconsider a lot of things. But not today. I'm so tired today. Turn off the computer, take a shower, and go to bed at 10:30. Nguyen Tieu Ngu finished calling, curled up in the blanket to look at the phone.
“My friend said he would ask for help tomorrow.” She raised her head to look at me, "Don't worry, I won't talk nonsense."
"YES."
"Good night."
"Good night."
The light is off. Tonight I fell asleep quickly than yesterday. Maybe because it's too tiring during the day. It's also possible that when there's something that requires waiting for an answer, on the contrary, there's no such panic in my heart anymore. At dawn, the phone screen lit up. I'm not awake. The next morning, when I read that message, I was brushing my teeth — holding the toothbrush in my mouth, one hand swiping open my phone. Black cat representative photo. Sent at 2:41 am.