CHAPTER 7

Warning: Parts of this chapter may be disturbing for some users. Reader discretion is advised.

[January 7, 2008]

It's a week after New Year in Canada and things are going 'back to reality' for everyone, and the besties are no exemption to it. Miriam and Priya have returned to Germany and Montreal, respectively, and Abby and Mei are now back to school in Toronto. On the other hand, Tyler is now spending his last few months as a civilian before heading off to the RMC into his 4-year journey of becoming a regimented person and military officer.

"Bye mother, bye dad!" softly yelled Mei from afar at the door as she headed out of the house to head off to school.

"Take care and have fun!" replied Ming from afar. She then ran to Mei with a small thermos and said, "don't forget your tea, sweetie.".

"Thanks, mom!" smiled Mei as she put the thermos on the left-side pouch of her backpack and left off to the streetcar stop.

It was a snowy day and Mei was wearing a navy blue bomber jacket above her long-sleeved scrubs. As the year changed, she also decided to shear her hair to almost chin-level, which was her hairstyle years back, especially in 2002, during her adventures and shenanigans with her besties.

As she was about to approach her stop, suddenly, a familiar car pulled to her side.

"Need a lift, madam?" asked Tyler.

Mei gasped in shock, but was cool with it. She saw him again.

"Oh hey, Tyler! But don't you have work today?"

"Boss closed down the shop until next week, they're still in Halifax." laughed Tyler.

"Sweet, but I think I can handle myself, thanks for the offer!" chuckled Mei. Deep inside, however, she wanted to join Tyler.

"You wouldn't really look good with snow on your head if you waited here for the tram, dork," laughed Tyler.

Mei rolled her eyes, but quickly gave in.

"Fine, S.E.T.! I'm coming with you."

S.E.T. stands for Stupid Evil Tyler.

She then entered the passenger seat and positioned herself comfortably, buckling her seatbelt, then did her usual bestie handshake with Tyler.

"School starts what time, dude?" asked Tyler.

"Stars at 9. Thanks for the lift tho, appreciate it," replied Mei.

They then drove across town to Mei's college. It was an eventful 10-minute drive without much traffic on snowy roads. She dozed off during the ride, however.

"We're at school, dork!" said Tyler. "Hey, wake up," he added, tapping on her left shoulder to wake her up as she fell asleep during the ride.

She wasn't budging and was groaningly mumbling a few words, with saliva dripping slowly from the corner of her mouth as she snored earlier. Tyler took a piece of tissue to wipe it off and wake her up again.

"Meimei, we're at school, wake up, dude!" She was then jolted awake in a jiffy, then her panda ears popped out of shock.

"WAIT, HUH, WHAT, WHERE ARE WE?" gasped Mei, jolted from her short sleep in the car.

"Dork… Look to your right. That's where we are now." said Tyler. Mei then got back to her senses.

"Right, how long was I asleep tho?!"

"Probably 1 hour." laughed Tyler.

Mei's tail then popped and she was visibly horrified.

"Nah, just kidding, you're just in time for class! It's still 8:40."

Mei pushed him in the shoulder. She wasn't having any banter but she was also cool with it. Somehow.

"You sicko, what were you thinking?!"

Tyler laughed at her and he went,

"What the hell, can't take a joke, do you?!"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes and laughed it off, calmed herself to conceal her tail and panda ears, then left the vehicle.

"Thanks though, see you around! Take care."

"Gotcha, Meilin! See you around"

Tyler then drove off and Mei marched into the school building. She greeted Abby who was sitting in one of the lobby chairs, reading her notes. This time, they're classmates.

"Sup, Abby!": greeted Mei as she approached her friend. The two exchanged their signature bestie handshake.

"Still sleepy, I wanna go home and lay in bed all day…." groaned Abby who was a little less energetic for the day. It was understandable as it's a winter day and the sun was still starting to rise.

"Kind of… The same! But let's go to our room now, class starts in 10", replied Mei, who was also sleepy but forced herself to school nevertheless as she didn't want absences without a valid reason.

"We can always nap in the library during our break time, right?!" jolted Abby who was energetic again.

"Probably. Would love to try later on," replied Mei enthusiastically.

They then walked into their class and after a few periods, were finished by 1 in the afternoon. The pair's last class would be 3-4 pm and they decided to eat something.

"How about pizza slice?" asked Abby.

"I'll probably have a pizza margherita slice with tonnes of olive oil and chilli powder!" replied Mei.

They then walked into a pizza parlour off-campus and the two ate a pizza slice each. Abby had 4-cheese pizza and Mei had margherita. After lunch, the pair went into the library. It had 'designated sleeping stations' where students who intend to take a nap would occupy it without any disturbance.

"Much needed sleep!" said Abby who proceeded to rest her head on the table, which was divided into cubicles and a large drawer underneath to store her bag.

"Need this too!" said Mei who also did the same as her friend.

After resting for 1 and a half hours, the two woke up and proceeded to their next class. As they walked down the corridor, they were surprised to see an unexpected former schoolmate to actually be a schoolmate yet again.

"O…M…G! It's you two again! You're taking up nursing?" gasped Stacy as she saw the two girls whom she was batchmates with from high school

Mei and Abby also gasped and the trio had a small group hug and released right away.

"Uhm, no, we're taking up Masonry! Whatchuthink, Stace?!" laughed Mei sarcastically, still surprised that she's unknowingly schoolmates with Stacy.

"Yeah, why would we be studying here in the first place, then!?" added Abby laughingly and sarcastically.

The three shared a laugh and were joyful that they've got a former schoolmate joining them.

"We thought you'd be taking up Pharmacy, what made you suddenly choose nursing?" asked Mei.

"Sudden changes of interests, babe. I've been interested in thing lately,"

"But where have you been so far, we haven't seen you around since fall term," asked Mei again.

"I'm pretty hard to find," laughed Stacy. "Nah, how do we expect to find each other easily in a huge campus with a large student population!"

"Welcome to the club, Stacy, future RN!" smiled Abby energetically.

They waved goodbye to each other shortly then proceeded back to their respective classes. 4 PM came and it was Abby and Mei's time to go home and retire for the day.

"So it's just the two of us again, I guess?" sighed Abby, who was clearly missing Priya and Miriam, who study in different places.

"I feel like we should integrate Stacy with us, but she's got her own squad," said Mei. "The more, the merrier, but I think it would also be better to keep it to just the five of us?"

"She looks like good bestie material, how I wish she were also part of our group!"

"Yeah, right. But I think her two friends have since then relocated to Vancouver?"

"Heard so. Heck, I wouldn't want to trade my southern Ontario life for a Pacific one," replied Abby.

"There's a lot of us East Asians in Vancouver, but I think I'll just stick to Toronto, babe," said Mei.

"Same, dude… Same!"

The two then hugged each other briefly and bid goodbye to each other, then proceeded home via the streetcar.

At the Temple, as Ming and Jin were shovelling snow, she received a phone call from Chen, one of her sisters. The number began with +852. As she answered, she entered Sun Yee's shrine.

"Hey, Chen! How's everything in Hong Kong?" greeted Ming on the phone.

A brief silence occurred. There was audible sniffling and sobbing in the background. On the other side of the phone, there were local paramedics and police talking with each other loudly in Cantonese. It was 4:15 in the morning and afternoon in Hong Kong and Toronto, respectively.

"Chen… Are you alright? Come on, talk to me." said Ming concernedly and sternly.

There was still silence then Chen finally spoke, sobbing.

"Ming…. It's mother….." sobbed Chen.

"CHEN, please make sure the next few words you're gonna tell me are good!" replied Ming sternly, though she was visibly concerned.

"Mother's gone, Ming. Just 15 minutes ago…." cried Chen.

Ming felt so stabbed in the heart and in shock, dropped her phone. Jin paused his work and quickly ran to Ming.

"Ming, sweetie… What's going on?", asked Jin worriedly.

Ming just sat there, saying nothing, not moving a muscle. All the memories of her with her mother flashed into her mind, from childhood to adolescence, even to the moment she and Wu had a huge fight. To Mei's birth, graduation from High School, and their recent Christmas/New Year gathering together in 2007, until January 3 when they dropped her and her sisters off at Pearson Airport for their flight to Hong Kong. Little did she know that would be the last time she'd be with her mother.

"Ming?! MING!" said Chen frantically as she was also sniffling through tears. A Hong Kong Fire Services medic approached her.

"Madam, we're taking your mother to Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai." informed the medic in Cantonese.

"Okay, thank you." said Chen slyly.

The medics then loaded Grandma Wu, who was now lifeless and lying in a gurney, into the ambulance, where she would be taken to the hospital to be inspected by a medical examiner and taken to a morgue if confirmed and pronounced dead.

Mei then entered the temple and then the shrine. She saw her mother sitting motionless and Jin was just hugging her, trying to ease her pain.

"Mom, is everything okay?" asked Mei concernedly.

Ming heard her daughter's voice and immediately ran to her and gave her a hug. Tears began streaming from her eyes like a faucet out of control.

"Your grandmother, Meimei…. Is gone."

Mei was shocked by her words and asked to repeat it as it wasn't clear nor sinking in, at least for her.

"Say… What, again mother?" asked Mei again, visibly concerned and in shock.

"Grandma is gone, Meimei…. I wish we had been to Hong Kong with her… With your aunts!" said Ming who was now starting to sob, but trying her best to control herself.

"B..but… She was healthy… Right?" stammered Mei. "She suddenly can't

A very shocked Mei then went full panda and cried along with her mother, with Jin remaining very calm and trying his best to comfort his wife and daughter.

To be continued

A/N: So hey, here's another one. I really planned for this entire story to not just contain romance and bits of comedy, but also some hurt and angst, like in this chapter.

As with all the previous chapters, your review will be highly appreciated! :)