Pride goaded me forward. Doubt nagged at me from the corners. Desperation kicked along a harried thought process. Fear waited patiently.

“You don’t need to talk,” the man said in a tone that was not exactly reassuring. The news was welcome all the same.

As much as my eyes darted this way and that to make out more details in the dim light they found nothing. The floor stretched out, bare and rough, in all directions, fading into shadows. The two of them stood just enough in the light for me to make out their shapes. Maybe they had a table behind them.

The woman stared at me, unmoving. Maybe her eyes were closed, her head just coincidentally in my direction. Was she even alive? I swallowed hard. The situation was bad enough, but I knew an awful truth that complicated the matter to an infinite degree.

“So, how can I help?” I ventured, more to fish for information.

“Shh,” she chided.

Apparently it wasn’t discussion time, so I couldn’t tell them if I wanted to that there was no Mr. Xie in my life.