"Now all we can do is wait for him to come out of it himself once the drugs wear off, I do warn you that he might pretend to be unconscious longer than he actually is since he might not feel completely safe at first, and as I warned everyone from the start there's a chance he'll have amnesia, as such keep what you've been doing and don't refer to him by name, not until we do neurological checks, once that's done we'll start seeing if we can't trigger any memories with his name and the photos his friends and comrades have sent over regularly"

Three days later and Li was fully awake and able to have the neurological tests needed done and it was quickly obvious that he did have amnesia, quite severe amnesia too because he didn't know his own name, what his job used to be, and he'd also forgotten the four years of torture and rape

"All of the amnesia is hopefully temporary, especially his name and occupation, but don't be surprised if he doesn't immediately react to his name whenever you use it, but hopefully consistency will help him realize we're telling him his actual name so that should help eventually"

"Right, plus he still has a long road ahead of him doesn't he?"

"Yes he does, and for the record we're going to take things slowly, first let him get used to his medical condition and started on physical therapy and then when we feel he's ready start actually really working on his memories with pictures and letters"

And so the long road to recovery for Li begins, and hearing his own name did help with consistency but they could tell that he didn't exactly believe them regarding his name, a month and a half into therapy they started reading Li the letters his friends and comrades had written him while he was in a coma but there was still no real spark of memory

"It's looking more and more like his amnesia might be permanent"

"Actually I want to try one more thing first"

"What's that?"

"Chinese, we get one of the officers who speaks Chinese to read the letters that we haven't read to him because it's written in a foreign language, and maybe also the ones written by that Kenmochi guy which means we'll need a Japanese speaker as well"

"You know that might actually work, let's give it a try and go from there"

And so a week later they start reading the letters that were written in Chinese to Li through an officer that spoke the language, and though it was brief the officer in the room and the doctor and nurse could have sworn they saw a spark of something in Li's eyes. This would continue during the entire time Li was in inpatient physical therapy, though it was becoming more and more obvious that Li's memories were being triggered, the trigger was always brief, or so they thought because in actuality Li was internalizing the language and the words being said, hoping each day that an actual memory besides vague flashes would come to him and then the day he learned he would now be considered an outpatient he did have an actual memory come to him and that memory was the last time he saw his Japanese friends in person two months before his abduction

Two months before abduction

"Well I guess this is goodbye then"

"For now yes, but I'm hoping to get some time off soon and come visit you guys instead of you visiting me"

"That would be nice, we'll give you a tour when you do come over"

"I'll call once I can arrange the time off"

"Please do, Kenmochi and I will arrange to take some time off as well while you're over there"

Suddenly the group's flight is heard overhead on the intercom

"Well, that's our flight"

"Yeah, hope to see you soon Li"

"Same here Kindaichi"

And with that the Japanese group boards the plane not knowing that would be the last time they would actually see Li for about six years after having thought him dead for about three and a half years

Present

The people around him had stopped talking and simply waited for him to come back to the present when they realized that he was actually remembering something, and that one memory trigger actually triggered all but his captive years in regards to memory, though he also remembered where he was at the present and the fact that he was stuck there for a bit longer due to his medical condition (which he was thoroughly confused about)

"Mr. Li?, are you OK?"

"I...I remember...I'm detective Li of Taiwan though I was going through the process of transferring to Hong Kong...why am I in the US?"

The doctor who had been called when it was obvious Li was in a flashback sighs at hearing that

"Detective what do you remember last?"

"I was going to be meeting someone regarding a case of mine, and then...nothing until I woke here in obvious need of medical attention"

"Right, first thing you need to know is that you're missing about six years of memories, the second thing you need to know is that we're not going to be talking about those six years since we want you to remember on your own if at all possible, but I will tell you that you've had a rough six years"

"I see...is those six years part of why there's always a police officer with me?"

At that the doctor simply looks to the police officer in the room which let the officer know that it was his turn to speak up while trying not to force any memories on him

"Partially, most of the danger has passed we believe, but we're also here in support of a fellow police officer, one who's far from home"

"I see...thank you for being by my side during this time then"

And so Li was discharged from in hospital therapy but he still had to go to outpatient therapy for a while longer plus while he was mostly weened off of the dialysis he still needed it twice a week so he knew he wouldn't be going any where's quite yet

"Um...where am I staying?"

"Don't worry things have been arranged I promise"

And so Li is taken to a very special apartment, one that had long been partially owned by the police since they kept a running rental agreement even when empty because that was one of the few safe houses that didn't look like a safe house, it was also used in case a foreign police officer was going to be training with them for an extended period of time

"This is where you'll be staying for now, everything regarding the facility is already paid"

"But the contract..."

"Is under the police department's name, this is a safe house Li, or for situations like yours where a foreign police officer is going to be here for an extended period of time and needs a place to stay while here, generally the officer is training with us but your situation has also happened once"

"I see, thank you for explaining things to me, are there at least basic necessities?"

"Yes, and we're going to be helping pay your groceries while you're here...don't argue we also do this for foreign officers training with us and people using this as a safe house"

"Very well, um...where's the post office and what are it's hours?"

"Want to write to some people huh?, well the post office is closed on Sundays and regular hours are between 8-5 last I checked, as such you can't send anything out today, but you can still write the letters now if you want"

"I just realized I have no envelopes"

"Don't worry, that's one of the things we tend to keep at the apartment for situations just like yours where someone will be away from home for a time and will want occasional contact with friends and family back home"

"Thank you"

And so the next day Li sent out several letters to people who he knew would be relieved to hear from him, especially since the letters would make it obvious that he at least had some of his memories back, but he also knew that they wouldn't push him regarding exactly how much he remembered. A month later and Li is told that he was finished with dialysis except for two check up sessions where he would not be hooked up to the machine but would have blood work done just to make sure that what the labs said was the absolute truth and that his physical therapy sessions were being cut back to twice a week, he was also told that his abductors that had escaped initially had been caught but that since he didn't have any memories he would not be called to testify against them regarding his time in their captivity

"I see...how long was their justice delayed?"

"They were seen as fast as possible in all honesty after their initial trial, due to...well things that happened while you were in the coma and not in the coma a lot of trials were delayed until recently, fortunately everyone involved understood to a degree what was happening including the prisoners so they know that their rights to a speedy trial were not waived deliberately"

"Why wasn't I told about this sooner?"

"Honestly it was because of the combined fact that we wanted, and still want you to remember things on your own and the fact that with court cases delayed for a period there wasn't really a need for you to know about them, especially since as far as the courts are decided you can't testify, your amnesia doesn't help matters in some ways but it protects you in others"

That night though Li would start to remember the past six years of his life through dreams, when he woke up each time he didn't remember what he was dreaming about, but the dreams were the start of his mind being ready to accept what he'd been through for so long. The next day he went for his usual physical therapy appointment and thought things were fine during the appointment more nightmares were triggered that night, and the next day during a psychology appointment things didn't go much better, though he was able to talk about how he felt regarding not seeing the people who hurt him being convicted of crimes he didn't even remember though he had been told most of his injuries from the start, he'd also been told that there was one thing that the doctors were keeping from him for his own sake, that they were hoping he would never remember this one situation regarding his health

"How do you feel regarding the fact that your own health is being kept a secret from you?"

"I'm okay with it, primarily because there can only be a few reasons why the doctors haven't said anything with the knowledge I have amnesia, and none of them are particularly pleasant thoughts"

"Very well, now then you said you've been having nightmares the past two nights, can you remember the nightmares?"

"No I never remember them when I wake up"

"Understood, hopefully at some point you'll actually remember and that will likely help you in the future as well in case these nightmares are actually memories that your mind is finally beginning to process"

"I see your point regarding that, if what I'm dreaming is actually memories then it will help me piece together a huge blank period in my life, though I might not remember in time for the case that's going to be happening soon"

"Exactly, now then just remember that no one is going to force you to try and remember, your mind will allow the memories to come when you're ready to face them, the mind knows what's needed even if you don't"

The next month isn't the easiest and Li suffers a setback which forces him to go back to daily physical therapy sessions, but the therapy sessions were just what was needed because it allowed him to watch video of the trials that he couldn't participate in and while the videos were obviously edited for not only timing but also to keep mention of whatever he was forgetting physically out of the conversation it was triggering more memories actively and not just through dreams either which everyone including Li was relieved about, though it meant more psychology appointments to deal with the memories of torture for six years, it also let the law enforcement community know that there was actually more work to do abroad regarding his captors. What Li was still forgetting but would soon be reminded about was that he had been raped repeatedly, he didn't know that some of the blood work was testing for STD's which he would ultimately be cleared for but he knew that the amount of blood work taken wasn't exactly normal for his situation but he never questioned the doctor's need for taking it either