Chapter 4

Wei woke up like every other day, and started his morning routine like any other day.

He always prepared himself a healthy breakfast, took a quick shower, set down to eat before changing into his work clothes and head out.

Unlike any other day though, his breakfast wasn't at all quiet. He was used to a bit of conversation, but this time it was more like a massive rain of questions.

He raised his tea cup to take a sip.

"No Luca, I have no idea what happened to the girl... how would I know, I haven't... well, I haven't seen her again, have you?... No, you haven't, so she's probably..."

Wei sighed, he was worried too for the poor girl, but what could he do?

"They were arrested, so they won't hurt her again, don't worr... I don't know and I'm not going back to ask him, he's not our concern anymore... look... but...no..."

Wei's fist fell on the table.

"That's enough! Takeo, we're not going to punish them! Huan, I'm not going to ask that man anything! That means, Luca, that I won't be asking him news on the girl either! It's getting late, I must get dressed now."

He got up impatiently and prepared himself to go to work like he did every day. This time however his hand stopped a few inches from his work bag and he seemed frozen in place.

After a few seconds he sighed. "I... I must admit that you're right Gelan, if I hadn't stopped the other night then I wouldn't have been driving there yesterday morning and the girl probably... yes, you were right, it was the right thing to do but... yeah, I guess you're right again, I should probably listen to you more..."

Instead of taking his bag, he made a call to work saying he had an emergency and would only be able to get there in the afternoon.

He took his car keys and reached the door. His hand had just touched the handle that he turned around, waving his hand in the air.

"The girl is sleeping, Andrew! She can't eat, I'm not going to bring her homemade cookies!"

"Gosh, you're impossible," he opened the door and got out.

He reached his car and got inside. He hadn't used his car in weeks, since the last time it rained, and now he was using it for the second time in two days.

He shot a glance at the passenger seat, then shook his head and drove away.

He arrived at the hospital and asked, "Can you tell me what's the room number of the girl that arrived yesterday?"

"That's a bit vague, sir, could you be more specific? What's her name?"

Only now Wei realised that he didn't know it. "I forgot to ask her her name," he said, and the nurse gave him a puzzled look.

"Yesterday morning a girl was hurt and brought here. They kil... almost killed her."

"Oh you mean the poor girl that got stabbed, she's in room 57, you can visit but you can't stay for long if you're not a close relative."

"Thank you," he simply said, and went to find it.

She was in a small room with two beds, hers was the closest to the exit, and he could see her through the glass on the door.

She looked... different than he remembered, but he couldn't say how.

He stood there a few minutes, murmuring from time to time, "She's alive.. okay I will go in, just... isn't it funny that she looks more fragile now?"

Suddenly he heard his name out loud and turned around to meet Yunlan's eyes.

Seeing him again caused his heart to beat faster, he wanted to get out of there so he excused himself and moved to walk away, but he was stopped by the man's arm.

He froze, and that hesitation was enough. He got reminded that he had promised to go in, so he did.

They entered the room together and sat on a chair on either side of the bed.

Wei could now look at her closely.

She had her hair a faint shade of blue but that wasn't what attracted his attention.

He focused on her face and figure.

She had well-toned arms and her cheeks were full. She was very pretty, much more than the pale slim figure that had appeared in front of his windshield the day before.

It was undeniably her and yet she looked so much better, even in her current state. It was the first time this happened to him, he never had the chance to see one of his friend's bodies before.

"Oh Gelan, you must have been so beautiful," he murmured, "Maybe we can do something... I want her to wake up."

Yunlan was more and more confused by this man. Did he know the girl's name? Was Gelan her name? How did he know it?

He observed him undisturbed, Wei was so focused on the girl that he didn't notice the gaze that didn't leave his face for a second.

Yunlan heard his last words and thought he was talking to him, "I'd like to help, but what can we do? They say that talking to patients in a coma might help, so we could.."

"Do whatever you can please, take all you need, it's okay.."

Wei's voice was soft, and it puzzled Yunlan even more.

What should he do? What should he take? He once thought he was a smart man but whenever he was with Wei he felt like he didn't understand what went on half of the time.

Wei kept his eyes on the girl, it was as if Yunlan had disappeared; he took her hand in his and held it as high as he could without causing troubles, he closed his eyes then spoke in a soft, barely audible voice, "Do it Gelan, help her come back."

Yunlan saw his face become tense before he continued, "Feel my energy, take what you need," and he squeezed the girl's hand gently, becoming paler by the second.

Yunlan was getting worried, the guy wasn't just weird, he was now losing all colour from his cheeks and lips and Yunlan started to get seriously worried when he tried calling his name but got no answer, he looked at the hands still joined and he could swear he saw a finger move.

And it was her finger.

Did he imagine it? "Did you see that?" he asked, and right then Wei opened his eyes again and said, "I need to go now."

Wei released her hand and tried to get up, but he had moved too quickly, his head felt dizzy and he stumbled. He fell back on the chair and took a deep breath, time enough for Yunlan to rush at his side and hold him by the shoulders.

Wei shivered and tried again, he wanted to get out of there and this time he managed to stay upright, thanks to Yunlan's arms keeping him up.

He wanted to shake him off but he was too weak and Yunlan's hands on his shoulders were the only thing keeping him from falling down.

"I need to go now, I want to go home," Wei said again, and Yunlan helped him out of the room, leading him towards the waiting area where he had him sit down.

Wei wanted to protest but Yunlan forced him to lay his back against the chair then quickly disappeared to come back soon with orange juice and an energetic bar.

Wei took them both gratefully.