Chapter One – The Beginning
Yang Xiao Long was eighteen years old on the first day of summer. She had bid her friends farewell, and wished them all the best for their future as they were about to make a fresh new start for college. For Yang, she didn't really know what to do with herself. She had thought to be many things: a lawyer, a journalist, a doctor, something practical at the very least. She was surprisingly clever despite the fact she acted constantly confused and drifting from the real world to her own. But she was always driven by determination, to be a woman who people would look up to and treat with renowned respect.
Yang had thought that it wasn't such a bad idea to join the police force. She had always admired them from afar and up close. Her father was a retired high ranked officer, and her mother was a detective. She thought that she could try to be different from her parents, not to be drawn in by the way of the law. But she would see the police officers in their uniform, and she would notice that they had a sense of justice to them, a sense of intense power and authority and made her want to make others feel as safe as she felt around them.
She had applied to a college in a busy but successful city to study Criminology and Law for four years, sponsored by the city's wealthy council due to her outstanding grades in her finals and her vast history in sports. Yang was a promising student. She was a student who would be perfect for whatever job she wanted. She had law schools begging her at her feet to choose a lawyers path, but she objected to such a bleak proposal. She was presented with security and apprenticeships from business academies, and yet she saw that to be the least profitable to her. But when the police force offered the sponsored scholarship to her chosen college for her, she grabbed the offer with both hands. She was willing and able to work harder than she had done to earn her goal.
But then fate decided to present to Yang two life changing choices.
On her graduation day, after being presented with her certificate and handshake and her parents crying and saying just how proud they were of her, Yang had decided to meet up with friends for smoothies. It was a relaxed meeting, where she laughed and joked and recalled embarrassing memories of freshman year. She would miss those days, she admitted, but she was more excited about the next four years of her life. When dusk began to fall, she left her friends and decided to walk through the fields to her new flat, which she was given as a graduation present from her parents. As Yang walked down the path, a rubbish bag with a plastic cup and takeaway box inside (someone had left this behind on the city metro), she couldn't help but take in the summer heat. She breathed in heavily and sighed in relaxation.
"It feels weird to be so… free." She said aloud to herself as she approached a bin. She threw her trash in the bin, ruffled her long blonde locks just as she made to turn and walk away. She was ready to see her new flat, which she had chosen when her parents made the bargain with her. But then Yang heard a rustling sound from the bin and froze. She turned her head slowly, a frown on her face. It was then she noticed something out of the ordinary.
A black duffle bag with a red zip was hidden in the tall grass. The bag looked as though it was ditched, covered in trash and dirt. Yang felt her heart race as she slowly approached the bag. She didn't know why she was heading closer to it, as the bag could have had anything inside of it. But she felt that she wasn't in any harm. Even if she was, she had her phone in her messenger bag to call for any help. Her hands shaking, she crouched by the bag and reached for the zip, and as her breath quickened and heart raced faster, she slowly unzipped the duffle bag.
Erupting from the bag was a baby's cry.
The baby was a newborn, at the most only a few hours old, wrapped in a white ragged cloth and surprisingly small. The baby's hair was black wisps with a hint of red, face bright red from crying and cheeks tearstained. The baby's face was light dotted with mud. And Yang was frozen to the spot as the baby cried, its fists clenched and waving around slightly, as if trying to free itself. Yang felt a tear roll down her cheek, followed by another, and then another, until she found herself softly wailing with the baby at such a cruel site.
"Oh God… who would… why…?" Yang wept, wiping the tears away from her eyes quickly. Yang looked over both of her shoulders, then back at the baby, and then found herself reaching for the child and gently pulling it out of the bag. The baby's arms slightly waved around as Yang stared at it, still crying at the top of its tiny lungs. Yang stood up slowly, body trembling but hands stable. She shushed the baby quietly, awkwardly rocking it in her arms gently.
"Shh… it's okay, dude… it's alright." Yang said gently. The crying subsided almost immediately as the baby slowly began to open its eyes, eyes of bright silver that met with eyes of violet. Yang felt her heart skip a beat. She brought the baby closer to her, and then she felt its head gently rest on her chest, tiny hands clinging onto her shirt as the crying came to a halt altogether to the point of gurgling. Yang couldn't help but let out a soft giggle, her hand gently stroking the baby's head. She looked at the bag, and saw, laying at the very bottom a small envelope, alongside a small bundle of what seemed to be flimsy baby clothes. Yang reached down, and grabbed the duffle bag with one hand wrapped around the baby.
"Hospital… I need the hospital." Yang murmured to herself. She slung the bag over her other shoulder quickly, and held the baby tightly as she ran through the fields. Yang didn't stop running on her way, running past the flats where she would live in as the baby gurgled louder. She ran to the hospital on impulse, pushing past people, who called out to her asking her where her manners were and to watch where she was going for God's sake.
"Sorry, excuse me, lady with a baby coming through!" She would yell back. People stopped to watch the girl run with baby in tow, confounded and amused. But Yang ignored the stares of those who passed her by. She was more focused on the life in her own hands. And when she reached the hospital, legs about to give away, lungs ready to explode, she stood in the centre of the corridor, red faced and dizzy.
"Please, I need some help!" She cried out. Patients and guests stared at her as she staggered towards the first nurse she saw, who rushed towards her with a concerned expression on her face. But Yang merely pressed the baby into her arms, breathing heavily and shaking her head.
"Just… check… baby… it… I…" Yang breathed. The nurse nodded at her, quickly taking the baby away. But then as Yang felt as though the baby was fine, it wailed again. But this time, its cry tore at Yang's heart. She froze on the spot again, watching the nurse cooing at the baby that Yang had found, and suddenly Yang felt a sudden urge to stay and wait, to ensure that the baby was indeed to safe hands. She wanted to stay by the child's side.
And so she did.
"Well, Miss Xiao Long, I'm happy to say that the baby is more than healthy." The doctor stated with a smile on his face in his office, the two of them separated by the doctor's desk. Yang sighed in relief, hand over her heart. It was late evening when the doctor had come out to her, after doctors and nurses had insisted that Yang should relax and rest when she constantly asked for the baby's welfare. But after pacing for three hours straight and asking any passing nurse or doctor if the baby was alright, Yang felt a great weight be lifted off of her chest.
"Thank God." Yang sighed. The doctor smiled again at her.
"You were right to bring her to the hospital, Miss Xiao Long. A lot of people may have walked past that bag today." He said. Yang frowned.
"She?" She asked.
"The baby. It's a girl." The doctor replied with a chuckle. Yang felt somewhat idiotic.
"Oh. Right." Yang murmured. The doctor flicked through a file, a seriously, stony expression on his face as his eyes flickered over the sheets. Yang started playing with her hands nervously.
"She's healthy and well despite the fact she seems to be a month premature, but she seems a little bit restless at the moment. However, after we keep her here to make sure that she's well nourished, she will be fine once we place her into appropriate care." The doctor declared. Yang froze slightly in shock.
"Into care?" Yang asked. The doctor raised an eyebrow at her.
"I am assuming that you were here just to make sure that the baby was well." He offered. Yang hesitated, numb on the inside as she nodded at him.
"Yeah. Yeah, I am." Yang mumbled, rubbing her arm gently. The doctor leaned forward in his chair, a curious look in his eyes behind his round glasses. Her thoughts wandered to the baby, when she held the little girl in her arms and how her head flopped and nestled into her chest as though it was made just for her.
"Is something wrong, Miss?" He asked. Yang looked at him sharply, coming back into focus.
"Um… can I see her? I mean, you know, just to hold her?" Yang asked. She didn't know why she wanted to hold this baby, and she could understand why the doctor was staring at her with a confused expression on his face. But his expression softened suddenly.
"An odd request, I must admit. But, seeing as we can't seem to reach the biological parents, I suppose I can let you see her, but not hold her I'm afraid." The doctor warned. Yang paused in thought, but it wasn't long when she nodded and she made to stand up.
"That's fine." Yang replied. The doctor nodded and stood up and walked towards the door. He opened the door for Yang, and she walked through slowly as she followed the doctor down the corridor. She saw a couple sitting down, holding each other's hands tightly clutching an IVF leaflet in their hands. But she paid them no mind as she reached the children's ward and was taken to the nursery, where she saw the cots lined up side by side through a large window.
She could see the baby that she found almost immediately, arms flailing as she cried in a cot closest to the door, a nurse by her cot tickling her underneath her chin with a strained smile on her face but an agitated look in her eyes. Yang couldn't help but bite her cheek so not to burst out laughing. The doctor eyed her with a smirk on his face.
"You can tell which baby she is?" The doctor asked. Yang nodded.
"Yeah." She replied softly. The doctor looked her up and down. She was dressed formally, wearing a white blouse and black pleated skirt with flat white shoes. He turned to face her, but her eyes were on the baby girl that cried and bellowed, a smile on Yang's face.
"I suppose, just for peace's sake, you can try and calm the baby down." The doctor said. Yang turned her head to him.
"I actually can?" She asked. He nodded at her, and Yang had to stop herself from hugging him. She nodded at him, heading towards the door, but before opening the door she turned her head to the doctor and nodded at him again.
"Thank you." She said. The doctor smiled again as she went through the door. The nurse looked up at Yang with a shocked expression on her face, which lightened drastically.
"Are you the mother?" The nurse asked with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. Yang smiled at her nervously.
"Not exactly. I-I found her, you see." Yang replied. The nurse sighed heavily.
"Well, little one won't stop crying for anybody. She's been fed and bathed, but she won't stop screaming." She stated whilst shaking her head. Yang chuckled.
"Let me try." Yang suggested. The nurse shrugged her shoulders as Yang slowly approached the cot, until she was looking down at the screaming little girl. Yang smiled and reached for the baby's hand and stroked it softly.
"Hey there, girl." Yang cooed. The baby quietened down almost immediately. The nurse watched in awe as the baby's eyes found Yang and as a smile graced her face. Yang giggled, her heart racing and glowing with sudden affection.
"Yeah, you remember me, don't you? Come here." Yang said quietly, reaching for the baby. She held the baby in her arms as she rested her head on her shoulder as she began to gurgle again. Yang smiled as she rocked her up and down gently.
"Amazing… just… amazing." The nurse said in awe. Yang chuckled as the baby gurgled. She placed her chin on top of the baby's head lightly and had to refrain from kissing her on her head. The nurse stood by the door, a smile on her face as she watched Yang walk up and down the nursery as the baby slowly became silent. She yawned quietly, and a smile fell on Yang's face.
"Don't worry. They're gonna find your mom and dad, and you'll be home soon enough buddy." Yang whispered to the little girl; but the baby was already asleep soundly in her arms, and Yang found herself laughing quietly again as she gently set the baby down in her cot, her heart sinking slightly. She left the nursery whilst playing with her fingers again, and saw that the doctor was quietly murmuring to another nurse gravely on the other side of the corridor. Yang waited for the nurse to walk away, and when she eventually did, she approached the doctor slowly.
"Is everything okay?" Yang asked. The doctor sighed heavily.
"We found the parents." He grumbled. Yang swallowed nervously.
"You don't seem too happy." She said. The doctor didn't reply, but the grave expression in his eyes made her realise why he looked so miserable.
"They're dead, aren't they?" She asked nervously. The doctor didn't reply again.
"Does she have any other family?" Yang asked, pressuring him.
"We can't disclose that information to you." The doctor sighed.
"Why not? You just told me that her parents are dead, why not tell me that she may or may not have family?" Yang asked.
"I never said that they were dead." The doctor stated.
"But they are, aren't they?" Yang asked. The doctor froze, looking as though to say that Yang was wrong. But he sighed again, his eyes to the floor for a brief moment before looking at Yang again. Yang felt her heart sink further as she looked through the window of the nursery where the baby slept.
"Is there anyone else at all?" She asked. The doctor placed a hand on Yang's shoulder and steered her towards the exit of the ward gently, with Yang somewhat resisting him.
"It's best if you leave the rest to us and social services. She'll be in safe hands until we find the right care for her–" The doctor calmly claimed. It was then Yang had decided that maybe she wasn't meant for college just yet. She was still young, her life was still ahead of her also, and the thought that had possessed her when she quickly turned to face the doctor was both irrational for a girl like her and impulsive.
"I'll have her." Yang blurted out.
But fate had presented Yang with two choices to make. And Yang knew, that deep down, she had made the right one.