"Aiyah, there's a plastic cup right here." Su Yi gestured to the bedside table.
"Oh, silly me, I didn't see that. Ah, Bishop See, do you see a water carafe by that table behind you? There should be an insulated silver carafe, with an art nouveau motif of stephanotis flowers carved along the handle."
"Just get me the goddamn cup," Su Yi said.
"Oh dear, Mummy, language. Bishop See is in the room," Victoria said, trying to hand over the cup.
"Do you not see that my hands are tangled up in tubes? You need to help me sip the water from the straw!" Su Yi said in frustration.
"Here, do allow me." The bishop stepped in and took the cup from a frazzled Victoria.
"Thank you," Su Yi said gratefully after she had taken a few precious sips.
"Now Mummy, Bishop See and I were speaking earlier over breakfast, and I was reminded that you've never been baptized. The bishop has kindly brought with him a little vessel of holy water from the River Jordan, and I'm wondering if we might do a ritual baptism right here in this room."
"No, I don't want to be baptized," Su Yi said flatly.
"But Mummy, do you not realize that until you are baptized, you can never enter the kingdom of heaven?"
"How many times do I have to tell you I am not a Christian?"
"Don't be silly, Mummy, of course you are. If you're not a Christian, you won't be able to go to heaven. Don't you want to be with Daddy … and all of us in the future that is eternity?"
Su Yi could not think of a worse fate than to be trapped with her eem zheem*2 daughter throughout all of eternity. She simply sighed, tired of having this conversation again.
"Er, Mrs. Young … if I might ask," the bishop began gingerly, "if you aren't a Christian, what do you consider yourself to be?"
"I respect every god," she replied softly.
Victoria rolled her eyes derisively. "My grandfather Shang Loong Ma's people were Buddhists, Taoists, Quan Yin worshippers, all that mishmash of religions … you know, in that old-fashioned Chinese sort of way."
The bishop adjusted his collar, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Well, Victoria, we really can't force your mother to be baptized, but perhaps we can pray that she will allow Jesus Christ into her heart. We have to let Jesus come into her softly, gently."
"I don't need Jesus to come into me," Su Yi said agitatedly. "I am not Christian. If I'm anything, I'm a Jain."
"Mummy, what on earth are you talking about? What is a Jane? Are you confused and talking about your friend Jane Wrightsman?" Victoria asked, looking up at the IV machine to make sure her mother wasn't being overdosed with some crazy opiate.
"Jainism is an ancient religion that is an offshoot of Hinduism-"*3 Bishop See began to explain.
Victoria stared at her mother in horror. "Hinduism? You can't possibly be Hindu. My goodness, our laundry maids are Hindu! Don't say you are a Hindu, Mummy-it would absolutely break my heart!"
Su Yi shook her head wearily and pressed the buzzer in her right hand. Moments later, her lady's maids entered the room. "Madri, Patravadee, please show Victoria out," she ordered.
"Victoria, come, we can say a prayer together outside," the bishop urged, glancing up at Su Yi's heart rate monitor nervously.
"Mother, you can't just order me out of your room like this. Your soul is in peril!" Victoria shrieked, as Alix entered the bedroom amid all the commotion.
Su Yi glanced up at Alix pleadingly. "Please tell Victoria to leave. She is irritating me to death!"
"All right then," Victoria said in a quiet voice, as she turned swiftly and stormed out of the bedroom.
Patravadee turned to Su Yi with an attentive smile. "Madame, your usual porridge this morning?"
"Yes. And tell them to put an egg in it today," Su Yi instructed. As soon as her lady's maids left, Su Yi let out a long sigh.
"She means well, Mummy," Alix said diplomatically.
"Why does she always have to be such a nuisance? And I can't stand that fat little lan jiau bin*4 See Bei Sien. You know he only wants money for his cathedral building fund. Victoria writes him so many checks every month her account is always going into overdraft."
"Victoria may have her irritating ways, but she has a good heart. She is the most generous person out of anyone I know."
Su Yi smiled at Alix. "And you are always the peacemaker. Even when you were a little girl, you were always the one to heal the rifts between your sisters. Will you be sure to keep the peace after I'm gone?"