2

XIU POV

  My eyelids are heavy but I force them open. I can hear my father's low voice and the nurse's quiet whispers. I know they are talking about me but I can't distinguish the words. I am too drowsy. I just received my medicine an hour ago so I am at my weakest. 

After a few more blinks I turn my head to find them standing only a few feet from my bed. 

"My beautiful daughter looks like a skeleton. Why is the medicine not helping her? Money is not an issue. Make her better," my father angrily spews at the nervous-looking nurse, and I smile weakly. 

Just hearing that he cares about me warms my heart. He has never shown me much attention unless it involved my studies or teaching me something about the company. He had actually started giving me one-on-one tours of our beverage company and talking about when I would be taking over before I got sick. 

"Sir, her cancer is stage four. Her bones are riddled with it... There is no getting better. Xiu is going to die," she explains yet again. 

Many doctors and nurses have all said the same thing to him, but he won't listen. He wants his one heir up and out of this hospital. He has never had a problem his money couldn't solve until now. I just can't be what he wants me to be. I keep getting weaker and weaker. My joints feel stiff, and many are swollen, making it painful to move. The medicine isn't working and I want to stop taking it, but Father won't let me. He insists they just haven't given me the right medicine yet. 

"Fu Qin," I say, calling him father the formal way like he taught me to do in public, and his eyes dart to my sunken face. 

"Xiu, you are awake," he says moving to my bedside. 

  He takes my hand and I see his eyes tighten at the sight of the IV. 

"Xiu, I am trying to bring in a new doctor. He might do a better job than these failures. Stay strong, Daughter. I will make you well again," Father says and my dry lips curl up in a smile. 

He sounds so passionate. All my life, I have only heard him sound this passionate when he spoke about the business, never when he was speaking to me. 

"I will, Father. Can you have them bring me some water," I whisper, and the nurse disappears before Father can order her to. 

  He stays quiet as his eyes look me over and I am too weak to say anything to him. After a long minute, Father sighs. His rigid shoulders slump, and his aged face seems to grow older before my eyes. 

"It won't work, will it? You are too sick. They keep telling me, but until now I have refused to listen... But look at you. You are like a withered tree. I am an old dog and you are a living corpse... My family name is ending. I must make other arrangements... I," he says before the nurse comes back in with my water and he falls silent. 

  He looks into my eyes and I know I will never see my father again. He has given up on me. I am dead to him. Before I got sick I was useful even if I was born a girl, but now... Now I am sick and useless. I can't run his company or give birth to an heir. He is done with me and we both know it. 

He takes a step back, and my hand falls to my bed, cold, vulnerable, and alone. 

"Ba ba," I whisper as he turns away from me. 

He doesn't say anything else before walking out of my hospital room and a single tear slides from my eye. My life was spent trying to please him... Trying to make him proud and now he is abandoning me. I am nothing to him. I don't believe I ever was. 

"I don't want any more medicine," I whisper and the nurse looks at my face. 

  "I am sorry, but your father...," she says but I interrupt. 

"My father isn't coming back. He has to do what's best for him. I must do what is best for me," I say and she searches my face for only a second before bowing. 

She leaves silently and I finally allow the tears to flow. All I ever wanted was his approval... his love. Now I have no wants. I have no desire for greatness. All I have is fear and a crushing weight of loneliness. 

  I sob quietly, and when my body is utterly spent, I fall back asleep with the hope of never waking up. 

*******

"Excuse me... I am so sorry for waking you," I hear someone say as a warm hand lightly presses on my swollen and tender shoulder. 

My eyes flutter open and land on a caucasian woman dressed in a simple panties suit. She looks older than me, maybe thirty, but pretty. I wonder what she is doing in my room. Maybe Father has sent her. Maybe he isn't finished with me. Instantly, my body fully awakens, and my eyes widen with hope. 

"Evening Ms. Zhong. My name is Sarah Smith. I work with the United States government. I have come here today to ask you a very important question, and depending on your answer, then I will be taking you to meet my superior," she says as she steps back and offers me a small smile. 

So Father didn't send her... I swallow my disappointment and keep my face neutral. Even though he didn't send her it still sounds as if her question is important. She works for the United States and they are powerful. 

I force myself into a sitting position on my bed and her eyes rake over my sickly appearance, which instantly makes me annoyed. I hate the pitiful looks from the hospital staff, but having a foreigner look at me in that manner is infuriating. I am Zhong Xiu, not some pathetic weakling. 

  "This question is personal, and you might not want to answer, but in order to continue, you must... and you must answer honestly," she says while staring intently into my eyes.

I simply nod my head so she will proceed. I have nothing to hide from the United States or their government. All of my Father's exports are done legally, and we follow all of the FDA requirements when it comes to labeling our drinks. If she thinks they will get me to expose him or testify in some accusation she is wrong. 

"Are you a virgin, Ms. Zhong," she asks boldly, and for the first time in my life, my mouth falls open in horror. 

How dare this stranger from a foreign land come into my hospital room and ask about my maidenhood. I am on my deathbed and she is wondering if I have slept with someone... Wait. 

"Excuse me. I am dying of cancer and you have traveled from your country to mine to inquire if I have had sex," I ask slowly and clearly. 

She fidgets uncomfortably and bites her lips before replying. 

"I am so sorry. I can't explain why I need to know. I just need to know... Then I can take you to my superior. She will explain everything. You might... you might live," she says desperately and I search her eyes for the lie. 

How can my virginity save me from certain death? How can some strange woman from America provide me with a cure? 

"I am a virgin. I have never even kissed a man," I answer slowly and her entire face transforms from anxious to joyous. 

"That's wonderful, Ms. Zhong. I have already gotten permission from your Government to take you with me. There is a helicopter waiting for us on the roof. I will grab a wheelchair... (She looks at the door excitedly before looking back at me) This isn't how this is normally done, but my superior had an issue in Ireland. She is the only one who can complete the final steps so we will have to meet with her at her office in my country. Hopefully, my co-workers will have also been successful," she says before heading for the door and disappearing for a second. 

When she reappears she is pushing a wheelchair and smiling. 

  "Ms. Zhong, we have to move quickly. This is technically a secret," she says as she sees I am not moving to get out of my bed. 

"What is a secret? What is this about," I demand and her smile falls a little. 

"I am legally forbidden..., but... If you come with me now there is a chance that you will be cured. You will not die an untimely death. You will be saved. You will be safe. You will be taken care of. You will not want for anything. You will be happy. Please come with me, Ms. Zhong " she says in a pleading voice that triggers a painful memory of me pleading with my father to let me play outside for an hour. 

He, of course, insisted that playing wasn't beneficial for my development and I needed to apply my energy toward more useful endeavors. My happiness wasn't important to him. He only cared about forming me into someone he could be proud of and would bring our family name greatness. 

"Alright. Take me to this happiness," I whisper and she beams before assisting me into the chair.