The Alchemists

Jean arrived at the hospital with his mother who insisted on seeing her 'grandchild'. Rosalind also wanted to accompany Jean during his bone marrow biopsy.

Doctor Chou from Raffles Hospital welcomed Jean and Rosalind in his consultation office.

"His parents are waiting in the patient's room. They can't wait to see you." Doctor Chou coughed, "But they begged you not to mention to Terry that you are blood-related. He doesn't know that he is not the biological child of his parents yet."

"OK..." Jean nodded in understanding. He just wanted to help, but he realized that his presence may cause the Chan family to feel a little threatened, even though they were the one who conceived and gave birth to their child, Terry was still genetically Jean's flesh and blood.

When they entered the hospital room, a married couple in their late 40s stood up to greet Jean. The wife was a mixed Asian-European woman and her husband was a Singaporean. He worked as the general manager of a private bank. Kendrick Chan was very rich and he deeply loved his wife, Sylvia.

After 15 years of marriage, they still weren't blessed with a child of their own. Therefore, they finally decided to try the IVF program with an embryo donor because their egg and sperm cells were not healthy enough. After failing many times, the last embryo reached its final gestational age and was born safely, making them the happiest parents.

Terry was their only child and they both spoiled this child badly. Jean could only imagine how sad they were when their 4-year-old was suddenly diagnosed with leukemia last year.

They tried everything there was to cure Terry, and the final option was a bone marrow transplant. This was a very difficult option because neither of them was Terry's biological parents. They had to find information on the sperm- and egg-cell donor and beg for their help.

They were initially very pessimistic that Jean, who was very famous, wanted to come and help. He didn't have any relationship with his biological son, as he only acted as a sperm donor. They laid more hope on Finland, who was a regular folk.

But, to their great surprise, they weren't able to locate Finland's whereabouts while Jean easily fulfilled their request.

"Hello, Terry... how are you?" asked Jean, smiling to greet the 5-year-old boy who lay weak on the hospital bed. He was momentarily stunned because Terry's face looked very familiar to him. "I brought a toy for you..."

He handed over a small panda plush toy and was greeted with Terry's smile. This child would definitely grow into a very handsome young man.

His face already showed the perfect lines and his cat eyes were exactly like Jean's. At first glance he looked like a miniature version of Jean. Rosalind couldn't help holding her breath. She felt like she was seeing her son of 20 years ago. They look so much alike.

"I'm fine..." Terry nodded, "Thank you for the toy. Panda is my favorite animal."

"I'm glad you like it."

Jean had a brief conversation with Terry before the doctor told them to get out so the patient could rest.

"Thank you very much for coming. We are indebted to you..." Sylvia Chan whispered emotionally after they left Terry's room.

"It's okay, I'm happy to help. Hopefully my bone marrow matches Terry's," Jean said.

"I hope so too..." Kendrick Chan hugged Jean gratefully. "Thank you..."

The doctor immediately scheduled a biopsy for Jean and they waited for the results nervously. If the bone marrow doesn't match... their only hope would be Finland.

Where was the girl now? thought Jean anxiously.

***

Caspar just landed his helicopter on the roof of the Continental hotel. He finished composing himself on F Island and must now return to the real world. From the sky he could see several TV broadcast cars in the parking lot and he became curious with what was happening in the hotel.

As soon as he entered the penthouse, he called the receptionist to ask who the famous guest in their hotel was and why so many reporters were attracted to come.

"Oh... there is a press conference in one of our halls, sir. There is a team of doctors from Raffles Hospital and the movie star Jean Pierre Wang," said Manager Park.

Instantly Caspar's mind flew to Finland's friend. Famke wiped away his memory a few years ago, and then shot him in his apartment. He then fell into a coma for nine months, which marked the start of the problems between him and Finland, and finally the girl left him.

Clouds immediately covered his mind. With long steps he descended to the ground floor and headed for the Orchard Hall where the press conference was held. In the room, dozens of journalists were gathered and recorded carefully all the things presented by the team of doctors and Jean.

Caspar was about to step toward Jean, when suddenly some words caught his attention.

"... Unfortunately, the test results show that Jean's bone marrow is incompatible with the patient. Therefore, we kindly request anyone who knows Miss Finland and her whereabouts... to contact her and inform her of this situation. Miss Finland is our only hope..."

Caspar was soon able to link the information he received piece by piece and concluded that the child produced from the embryo made of Finland's eggs and Jean sperm was now sick and needed a bone marrow transplant.

Jean had been tested and he was found to be incompatible, so they hoped to find Finland. The family and doctors had exhausted their options and were asking the internet community all over the world to help find Finland.

A speck of guilt stuck in Caspar's heart when he remembered that he was the person responsible for wiping out Jean's memory. Maybe they could break even if Caspar helped the boy get the bone marrow donor he needed.

He took out his phone and contacted Jadeith.

"I need to look for Finland. This is an important matter," he said quickly.

The phone rang 10 minutes later.

"Miss Finland is in Manaus with Mr. Lauriel..." Jadeith said nervously. He did not like to convey such news to Caspar, because he could imagine Caspar's mood going down the drain.

"Manaus...? Brazil?" Caspar asked in disbelief. "How long?"

"It's been two weeks."

"Oh..." Instantly his pity for the boy and his guilt towards Jean was eroded by the thought of Lauriel taking Finland to his special place. He was very jealous. Caspar knew he would never get rid of this bitter feeling.

He left the Orchard hall and returned to his penthouse. He no longer cared if the child died.