White Diamonds (28 page)

Leon sat up startled.  “I fell asleep.”

“Guess so.  I just got up a little while ago.  How about a trip, honey?  Let’s go back to Shanghai and see the sights.  This is my first trip abroad and I want to go everywhere and see everything.”

Krissy watched as Leon’s demeanor did an about-face change.  “No.  We cannot go into the city yet.”  He walked toward her and she nearly cowered but not quite, though her knees felt a bit weak.  Very gently he put his arms around her.  “I don’t think you’re ready yet, dear.  I’m thrilled to death that you’re feeling better, but it would be best to wait.  Let’s not rush things.  Besides, the air is so much fresher out here in the country.”

Krissy felt her heart melting in the warm embrace of Leon’s arms.  But she would not fall for this man, her kidnapper, her betrayer, and she would not be the subject of his deranged tests.  It was because of him that she thought she was having a heart attack when the medication had begun to wear off.  Shit, am I addicted to the stuff?

“What kind of medication are you giving me?”

“Oh, um, it’s an anti-seizure medication.  Head injuries are notorious for causing seizures.  The medication quiets the brain.”

All this medication stuff made little sense to Krissy who knew very little on the subject.  “Oh,” she said quietly.  “I have to go somewhere, anywhere.  I feel all cooped up in the house.”

“How about a drive, honey?  We can go up into the mountains.”

So you can kill me?  Krissy was more than a little afraid of this man who claimed to be her husband.  He could kill her and dispose of her body quickly and easily and no one would even hear her scream.

“Okay, but wouldn’t you like to go into the city instead?  This is the first time I have been anywhere outside of the United States.”

Thinking on his feet was nothing new to Dr. Chen.  It had gotten him this far and it had not failed him yet.  “We can do both.”

Krissy smiled, though she was more confused than before.  If I only knew what was going on inside that man’s head.  He acts like he really cares about me.  Maybe he missed his calling.  He should have gone into acting.

Krissy began to pack and Leon walked away.  Guilt would not overtake him now.  He would not let it.  He would not let this beautiful woman get to him.

When Krissy bent over to pick up her suitcase, her head began to throb.  With dizziness quickly following, she forced her body to the bed, grabbing onto the spread and pulling herself upward.

“Leon!”

Over the throbbing in her head she couldn’t hear her own voice.  She felt as if she were dreaming when she noticed the doctor watching over her.  She was in the emergency room and she felt sore from the accident.  It was Leon and he seemed so caring and loving.  He kissed her hand and the band of gold that circled her finger, but there was something disturbing about the loving scene.  Krissy noticed the look of concern in the nurse’s eyes and she also noticed Leon quickly dismissing the nurse from the room.  Why did he do that?  Did the nurse know the truth?  Krissy’s dream world went blank and she felt her body being shaken.

“Krissy, wake up!”

The look of concern she remembered from her dream was on the face of the man leaning over her with a syringe in his hand.

“Honey, I’m so sorry.  I must not have been watching the time.  I found one of the syringes beside the computer.  It’s not like me to be so careless.”

Krissy wanted to shout at him that he got what he deserved and that she had left it out on purpose and that she knew about the basement, his notes, his experiment, and more.  But she wanted to remember a little more first, so she tried to stop him from giving her more medication.

“No, Leon, I don’t like the way it makes me feel.”

The needle was in her arm before she could stop it and her eyelids fluttered before sleep overcame her.  While Krissy slept, Leon returned to the basement and to his computer.  It appeared to have been untouched, the screen coming alive with his most recent notes.  But he could not believe his carelessness.  He didn’t want Krissy to die.  He needed her now in more ways than she could ever understand.  He packed quickly and loaded the car.  His laptop was updated from the main computer and then he went back to the bedroom to get Krissy.

Helping her to the car was not easy in her sleep-induced state, but it was easier than waiting until she awoke again before leaving.  This way she had no choice.  She would wake up in a grand hotel in Shanghai with nothing to worry about.

Leon decided to forget the mountain getaway and take Krissy into the city as she had begged him to do.  As he drove, he glanced nervously from Krissy to the city looming ahead and back to Krissy.  Was now the time to prove his case?  Maybe I should confess to Krissy what I’ve done and why I had no other choice but to do it.  I should have told her long ago.  Using her this way was wrong but it was the only way.  He would do anything for his father.  It was his duty to clear his name.

The first doctor in the family, the senior Dr. Chen had been groomed to be a physician from his first day of life.  Sent to the States to study in one of the finest medical schools, the man had excelled in his studies and was awarded a research grant to the facility of his choosing.

Leon gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as he thought about what happened next.  Leon’s father had taken a walk on the beach one sunny afternoon after nearly completing his fellowship and met the woman who would change his life forever.  She was beautiful, kind, and embodied what at the time was considered the all American woman.  Of European descent, the blue eyed blonde had grabbed onto the doctor’s heart and never let go.  She was everything he had ever wanted, and after a brief courtship the two of them were married.  A year after that Leon was born.  The three of them lived in a beautiful home, the doctor had accepted a prestigious offer as director of medicine at one of the city’s hospitals, and all was picture perfect.

The Chinese government had been furious, knowing that one of its best had been lost to one of its most despised enemies.  The doctor’s marriage had not only given him a son.  It had given him U.S. citizenship as well, and when his fellowship was over he had refused to return to China.  The disgrace his family had felt was immeasurable and they were forced to flee to Hong Kong or spend a lifetime in prison.  Leon had tried to locate them but had learned they relocated to Canada a few years prior to the Hong Kong Handover in 1997 when control was relinquished by Great Britain and returned to the Chinese government.  Leon had begged his father to take him to visit his grandparents, but the older gentleman had hung his head.  He was too ashamed.

Leon slowed and stopped the car along the side of the road.  He leaned his head back and turned toward the sleeping woman beside him.  She was beautiful, like his mother.  She was sweet, like his mother.  He slammed his fist against the steering wheel.

“What the fuck am I doing?”

Krissy’s eyes opened and she looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings.  Her hand was on the door handle when Leon stopped her.

“Let me go!  Let me go!”

“Krissy, wait.  Listen to me, please!”

Through her blurry eyes, she saw the doctor’s face innocent and caring, as it appeared in his photograph.  There was sincerity in his pleading, or was it the drugs flowing in her system that were confusing her?

“What’s wrong?  Why are we stopped out here with no one around?”

She struggled to sit up but slumped back down.  Leon wrapped his arms around her and held her in his arms.  She felt like dead weight in his arms, but he was determined to admit the truth to this woman who had stolen his heart.

“Krissy, all these years…”  He stopped to clear the catch in his throat, but Krissy had fallen back asleep.  “Krissy, listen to me!”

“Uh, okay.”

He laid her gently against the back of the seat and held her face in his hands.  “Krissy, stay with me, baby.”

The smile was forced but Krissy was doing her best.  “Are we at the hotel?”

“Not yet.”

“Krissy, all this time I was living for someone else.  I was living for my father.”

“What are you talking about?”

Leon knew that it was not safe to remain on the side of the road, so he drove on into the city and to one of the finest hotels he could find.  Krissy deserved at least that much.

Krissy was beginning to come around and the lights of the city were a welcome sight to her.  “Are we going home now?  Are we at the airport?”

“No, but soon we will be back in the States.”

He checked them in and wasted no time getting Krissy out of the lobby and away from suspicious eyes.  The woman with the golden blonde hair and the bright blue eyes stood out in a crowd here and to the untrained eye she appeared drunk.  Someone could easily mistake her for a hooker who had come to prey on unsuspecting businessmen and in the process was taking ‘business’ away from their own women of the night.  Krissy was in the country illegally and Leon knew he needed to get her out as soon as possible.  Krissy stumbled through the door of the room and went straight to the ice bucket that held a golden bottle of sparkling champagne.

“Ooh, fancy!”  She popped the cork and poured two glasses and downed a few strawberries.  “Try some.”

Leon took a sip and then he took the glass from Krissy’s hand.

“Hey!”

“Krissy, it’s not good to drink with the medication you are taking.”

“About that…what did you want to talk about?  You said something about your father.”

He took her hand and began to lead her to the sofa, but she pulled away.  “I think I’ll stand.”  Crossing her arms in defiance, she waited to hear the truth from this man, whoever he was.

Leon closed his eyes and when he opened them Krissy noticed the tear on his cheek.  Was that for effect?  She wasn’t buying it.

“What is it now?”

“Krissy, I have been living for my father and for my father’s honor.”

Rolling her eyes in disbelief, Krissy tapped her foot on the floor.  As Leon recounted the story of his father, the kindness in Krissy surfaced.  She lowered her arms and began to feel bad for him, but a sad story did not justify what he had done to her.

“That’s too bad, Leon, but what does that have to do with me?”

“Don’t you see?  For years I saw the hurt and betrayal in my father’s eyes.  I still see it.  I had to do something, somehow buy back his respect.”

Krissy slowly walked toward him and sat down beside him.  “Do you know how crazy that is?  Do you hear yourself?  There is no way you can do that.  Your father doesn’t care any longer.  Why should you?”

“But he did care at one time and that’s what I witnessed, what I remember…his caring, his shame.”

“How is any of this about me, Leon?”

“You are I are not married, Krissy.  I tricked you into coming here with me.”

“Drugged me, you mean, don’t you?”

In a whispered voice, he answered, “Yes.”

Krissy slapped him hard across the face.  “You bastard.  I thought I was having a heart attack that time when I was probably going into withdrawal.”

Leon looked straight ahead, no longer fearing what might come to him during his admission to Krissy.

“You were in no real danger, Krissy.  The anti-seizure medication was at a higher dose to make you sleep.  I knew your memory would return sooner or later.”

“And then what, huh?  What was your grand plan then, doctor?”

“By then we would have been long gone.  I would have convinced the government that I had invented the perfect combination to induce forgetfulness and that it was theirs to do with as they pleased…for the right amount of money, that is.”

“And what was your plan when they discovered the truth…that your worldly contribution did not prevent memory return?”

“I don’t know, Krissy.”

“Well, I know.  You wanted revenge for how your father was treated.  You didn’t want to make things right or clear his name.  Hell, I know revenge when I see it.”

Silence filled the room as Leon tried to adjust to the truth.  He had been living a lie for years and now here was the truth staring him in the face.  Krissy was right.  He wanted revenge for his father.

“Is your father happy?  Are your parents still together?”

“Yes. They have always been happy.”

“Then let it go, Leon.  I want to go home…to the States.”  Krissy was tired but she needed to know one more thing.  “Why me, Leon?”

“It was time and you were there.  The situation was too perfect to pass up.  The pieces all fell into place perfectly.”

Krissy got up, opened the bottle of champagne and drank it straight from the bottle.  “This won’t kill me, will it?”

“Slow it down, Krissy.”

“Aw, come on, doc.  You’re killing my buzz.”

“Set it down, Krissy.”

With one last big gulp, Krissy set the bottle down and flopped down on the bed.

“Krissy, you can’t come off of the medication cold turkey.”

“Or can I?”

“No, you cannot, but I can make it so you won’t sleep again like before.  I promise.  You will notice very little change as the substance leaves your system.”