Chapter Two

"Toss it over! Come on, hurry!" There was urgency in Rachel's voice.

"Don't you think we should check if she's still alive."

"No one can survive such a beating. Didn't you see how they almost splattered her brain out? The guys did a good job. Her head and face is destroyed. Toss this trash into the river before someone sees us." Rachel urged. She darted her eyes back and forth the darkness of the overhead bridge on which they stood.

Bruce grunted as he lifted the bag enclosing Lillian's body. "I don't know why you didn't pay them to dispose of the body too." He whined.

"You want it to be traced back to us? Is that what you want?... Just hurry up and let's get out of here!"

Lillian heard the voices in a haze. Her body felt numb and alienated. The physical pain she felt was like nothing in the world.

Her breathing was so slow, she thought she would die the next minute. She held her breath when she was lifted. The pain heightened with the contact. She felt herself rise. Her pain increased with the height.

There was silence, then a whooshing sound and splash! The liquid and then the shivers. She felt cold and sinking. Deeper and deeper, she sank. Liquid clogged her airways. She couldn't breathe.

Was this it? Was this her life passing in front of her? Surprisingly, she was calm. She was too exhausted to panic. Her fight had seeped out of her. She again felt the darkness she was getting so accustomed to taking over.

She didn't fight it. She welcomed it and gave it passage as she bid the world goodbye.

★★★★★★★★

A few miles away, seated in a small boat was the grieving Mr Knox. He had always loved the river. It gave him a sense of calm in his darkest moments. Moments such as this.

He had just lost his daughter that morning. The pain of the news was still fresh in his mind. He couldn't face the world just yet. He couldn't come to terms with the loss. He had kept the news a secret. It made it easy and yet so difficult as they couldn't even find her body. He shook his head at the thought. It was a sickening disaster.

As Knox let the current of the river direct his boat, drifting him along the coolness of the calm river. He caught sight of the figures up ahead the bridge. He focused his gaze on them, trying to make out their activity in the darkness.

He had barely thought of the possible things they could be doing when he heard the splash. Curious, he stirred his boat to the direction of the drop.

He saw it as soon as he neared there and he knew what it was. He couldn't be mistaken. It was a bag, the length of a human. His instinct kicked in. He dived into the river without thinking twice to retrieve the bag.

"She's alive." He whispered in shock when he opened the bag. Quickly, he carried the almost lifeless body and headed back to the city where he could get to a hospital.

★★★★★★★★

"Where did you find her?" Dr Tony asked his friend, concern bathed his voice.

"She was thrown over the bridge. I think they were trying to kill her." Mr Knox responded.

"They were." Dr Tony confirmed. "She has multiple fractures, an indication that she must have taken a good beating. It is clear that the intention was to ensure she died. It's only by a thin line that her skull is still intact. But I fear the damage that has been done."

Mr Knox could feel his heart race as his friend related the report to him. He was glad to have been there when the incident happened.

"What damages are you referring to?" Knox's voice was clothed with anxiety.

"I fear she may have suffered brain damage. It's possible she may not remember a thing. Who she is, her name or where she's from. Chances are that she would suffer a memory loss."

"What are we looking at here?"

Dr Tony looked at his friend, weighing his readiness for the information he was about to drop. He sighed resignedly before speaking.

"We are looking at a 95% chance that she won't remember a thing…" He paused before adding. "It's a miracle she's still alive" Tony said that in an attempt to elevate the worry in his friend's eyes. "You brought her in at the right time." He praised Sam Knox.

"Thank goodness I was there." Mr Knox said almost to himself.

"But there is one slight problem. She needs to undergo surgery to restructure her cranium. Her face is badly disfigured. She would be needing plastic surgery."

Sam Knox felt his heart constrict involuntarily at Tony's revelation. He couldn't explain why he felt so bad for the poor lady. It felt like he could feel every pain she felt and wanted to take it all away from her.

"Go ahead then! Save the young woman's life immediately." Mr Knox urged quickly. He really felt drawn to the woman he had found. He could feel an inexplicable connection to her and it gingered him to ensure she survived this ordeal.

"Of course we will. You'll have to make payments for the operation. The thing is we don't…"

Mr Knox cuts his friend. "Tony, you know money is not a problem. Whatever the cost, I'll cover it. Just don't let anything happen to that girl."

Tony smiled at the insistence of his friend. "I know money is not a problem. The problem is we don't have a face model for her. If we are going to fix her face, there should be something we'll work with."

As Mr Knox listened to his friend ramble the medical jargons. His mind lit bright with an idea. Maybe this was it! Maybe this was why he felt connected to the girl. Maybe this was how life thought to repay him after his devastating loss.

Sam Knox dipped his hand into his pocket and fished out his phone. "You need a model, use this." He held up the bright screen to Tony's face.

Tony's face turned pale as he stared at the picture. "This is your dead daughter Ashley!" Tony exclaimed in shock. He was the only person Knox told about Ashley's death that morning.

"She's dead Tony." Knox said in a throaty voice. His eyes watered up. "You and I are the only ones that know about that. And you say this girl won't remember a thing. So why not give her an identity? It would make her life easier instead of waking up to figure out who she was." Knox's eyes pleaded with his friend. "And I can have my daughter back… No one has to ever know."

Tony looked at his friend, pain and desperation evident in his eyes. Knox was finding it hard to accept the death and Tony felt sympathy for his friend. "I'm not so sure about…"

"Please, Tony. Please. She was the only thing I had. You know everything. Help me heal. Help me ease this pain I feel. Please." Knox entreated.

"Are you sure about this?" Tony asked, his mind deeply considering Knox's appeal.

"YES."

Tony inhaled deeply. His eyes shone with resolution and his voice was very determined when he spoke.

"The surgery will last 16 hours. Be ready for whatever happens after this."