Chapter Three: The Deleted Thirteen Minutes

That night they entered Cloudrest's rehabilitation center. Qiao Mi handled access while Chenzhou posed as a maintenance technician. Synthetic sunlight filled the lobby. Elderly residents wore recollection bands and smiled with nearly vacant bliss. Patient Seven was Lin Suqin. Her file claimed severe cognitive decline and voluntary transfer of three apartments to Cloudrest. When she saw Chenzhou, she seized his sleeve. “Xiaofei, you finally came back.” He knew she had mistaken him for someone else. He touched the old jade bracelet on her wrist. Memories flooded him: young Lin collecting her first textile-mill wage; carrying her feverish son through rain; learning that the grown boy had died during a coastal rescue.