Chapter 4: Is it? Or is it not?

As my eyes adjusted to the inadequate lighting, I could just make out that the man was wearing glasses, a hoodie and jeans, his knees bent and his sneakered feet crunched up against the wall of the alcove. He looked up as I gave him a quizzical stare and he said in Mandarin but with a Taiwanese twang, "I'm sorry, Miss....I'm in your way. But this was the only safe place I could hide in."

Hey! That voice and that slurred pronounciation sure sounded familiar!

"Was he...? Could he be...? Nah, couldn't be! Steph's right; I'm crazy..."

I inched nearer and as I took in his whole face more thoroughly, my jaw dropped and I almost reeled over in recognition and shock. Gone were the numerous warnings in the back of my mind about talking to strange men in quiet carparks (or anywhere else, for that matter), even those who appeared injured, incapacitated or looked like a celebrity. I had oohed and aahed over too many thousands of photos of this one man to be making an erroneous identification.

There was no mistaking his sharply-angled cheekbones, those small almond-shaped eyes, that aquiline nose (so much more defined than the average Chinese guy's), the perfectly-shaped lips, the gently receding chin with a hint of stubble and, wait a second, was that a beauty mark under his left eyebrow and the deepest dimple ever in his left cheek, made even more distinct by the way he was grimacing?
Once again, I must have looked a right idiot as realisation dawned on me that right there, right then talking to me was none other than...
"Omigod! You're...you're.....are you all right??", I stuttered in English, my heart palpitating away, trying to make sense of this impossible situation and yet feeling concerned as I noticed how immobile his left wrist and hand were.

He inclined his head slightly and for a moment, his facial expression turned to one of bemusement as he  answered my incomplete question, once again in Mandarin:
"Yes, I'm Jay Chou...this is strange, right?"
Thanking my lucky stars that the Singapore education system had made me adequately bilingual, I replied in his lingo:
"Very! Don't joke with me. Is it really you?? Never mind, what happened to your hand? Let me have a look; I'm a doctor...and no, I'm not joking," as I noticed his raised eyebrows when I mentioned my profession.

I turned around to check if we were still alone; we were. I squatted down next to him and reached out for his injured limb, which he reluctantly let me take in my hands.
My medical training had kicked in and taking a deep calming breath, I quickly noticed that there was no outright deformity of his wrist...which was a good sign. His fingers were long and elegant, with short clean nails and there was a silver ring with a huge green stone on his little finger. I palpated his wrist gently whilst keeping an eye on his face to see if my actions were causing him any further pain. He winced a little when I attempted a flexion movement but as far as I could tell, it was not likely to be broken or dislocated.(Thank God...I wonder if his hands are insured...)
Oh and did I mention how soft the skin on his hand was? Yes, his piano-playing hands which were not meant for holding guns, as he had quipped during a promotional stint for The Viral Factor.

I gave a small smile and said, "It looks okay. Probably a bad sprain. An ice pack would be good. Want to explain to me what's happening? Where are your friends or staff, anyway?"
Actually, I was still harbouring a small bit of reservation as to whether he really was who he claimed to be...given my recent head injury and the apparent hallucination earlier on, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He nodded and made an attempt to get up from his uncomfortable position, placing his uninjured right hand on the ground and I instinctively put a supporting hand below his right shoulder to help him up.

That was when we heard the swing door of the carpark exit door open, with male voices saying  something in Mandarin, and before I knew it, 'Jay' had shaken off my hand, scrambled to the back of my car and all but disappeared from view, as two men emerged from the doorway and entered the carpark.