Wu Xie spun in circle and tried desperately to understand where he was.
Zhang Qi Ling was looking at this young man who seemed confused and lost.
What is the difference between life and death, heaven and hell, this life and the next, rested on the s...
Wu Xie blinked and looked around to see he was back on the stone steps of the courthouse, Zhang Qi Ling's hand held tightly in his own. He looked down and was caught in Zhang Qi Ling's sharp, midnight gaze. Zhang Qi Ling's fingers squeezed his own and the dark haired man rose gracefully until they stood nearly chest to chest, their hands held tightly at their side. With his free hand, Zhang Qi Ling brushed away dark brown strands of hair from Wu Xie's temple.
"We missed each other this time, Wu Xie." Zhang Qi Ling smiled sadly and whispered, "I missed you."
Wu Xie nodded and threaded his free fingers through Zhang Qi Ling's black hair. He pulled Zhang Qi Ling down until their foreheads touched like one of a thousand moments they had missed this life and sighed. "We missed each other this time but we won't next time."
Zhang Qi Ling closed his eyes and willed the promise onto his very soul. He pulled back and tilted his head toward the door. "Let's go eat, Wu Xie."
Wu Xie smiled brilliantly and with their fingers entwined and Zhang Qi Ling's thumb rubbing circles into his hand, they made their way inside the building.
***
Zhang Rishan watched his cousin like he had for the last three months. He watched him sleep in his hospital room, his face gray and his hair limp against the starched whiteness of his pillow. Tubes and wire covered his body and machines beeped constantly, the green, blue, and red lines and buttons glowing in the dim room.
The aneurysm had caused his cousin's brain to bleed and although the emergency exploratory surgery had stopped the hemorrhage and relieved the pressure, Zhang Qi Ling had yet to wake up.
The dimness of the room was chased away when the door cracked open and light flooded across the floor. Zhang Rishan turned black eyes to the petite lady in the doorway as she stepped inside. "Rishan," the voice began and Zhang Rishan felt the rich voice resonate deep inside his chest. "We need to leave now." The 'I'm sorry' hung in the air unspoken.
Zhang Rishan shifted his gaze back to his sleeping cousin and sighed. The door slipped closed and the dimness swallowed the room again as Liang Wan moved silently toward her chair. A light hand fell on his shoulder and his eyes slipped closed when he felt Liang Wan's finger slide up and down the side of his arm. "How is he today?"
Zhang Rishan opened his mouth to respond when a gentle sigh pulled their attention. He stood from his seat beside the bed and walked to Zhang Qi Ling's side. In the single light of the room, Zhang Rishan watched his cousin's face relax and a smile pull at his chapped lips.
"Wu Xie..." Zhang Qi Ling whispered and Zhang Rishan had never heard his cousin's voice filled with such wonder, such need, such contentment... such love.
Zhang Rishan gathered Zhang Qi Ling's hand into his own while the machines blared to life.
"Goodbye, Xiao ge."
***
Laughter echoed throughout the cafeteria and one of the cooks turned toward the sound and saw two men sitting together in a C-shaped booth. The dark brown haired man's laugh rang like a crystal bell and the cook's eyes widened when he noticed that he wasn't the only one drawn to the sound. For a moment, every set of eyes in the room landed on the dark brown and his dark haired companion, but neither man had eyes for anyone else.
In fact, as the dark-haired man wrapped his hand gently behind the man's neck and played with the dark brown hairs at his nape, the cook realized that to these two men, no one else existed, no one else belonged in their world.
On the table, the perfect hot pot anyone had ever seen went completely untouched.
***
A nurse in teal scrubs hurried past, perhaps for the thirteenth time, while the dark haired man and his big brother close and waited for news. The double doors into the OR beeped and swung open slowly and a doctor emerged, looking around the room until his eyes fell on the anxious relatives. Breaking eye contact, the doctor pulled his surgeon's cap from his balding head and shoved it into the pocket of his lab coat. He came to stop in front of them and met their gazes once more with black and somber eyes.
"Mr. Wu, I'm sorry. Mr. Wu Xie's condition upon arrival was severe. The internal injuries were too numerous for us to locate and mend. He didn't make it through surgery."
Wu Sanxing's knees nearly gave out and Wu Erbi's face paled as devastation clouded his eyes.
The doctor shifted and watched a tall black man and his girlfriend exit the elevator and walk behind the grieving relatives of Wu Xie in front of him. He cleared his throat and said, "Before he died, Wu Xie smiled and said 'Zhang Qi Ling'. I don't know if that's a comfort."
As the doctor walked away, Wu Erbi and Wu Sanxing processed the words and looked at each other in confusion, neither noticing as the two individual froze behind them. Wu Sanxing turned in to Wu Erbi and tensed when a voice sounded behind them.
"I'm sorry, I know now isn't the best time but I couldn't help overhearing..."
Wu Erbi and Wu Sanxing turned and looked into two sets of eyes that were mirrors of their own, swirling with grief and confusion. The tall man with his impossibly black hair and suits swallowed and continued in a slow and steady voice.
"You see, my cousin, Zhang Qi Ling, just passed away two floors up and his last word was 'Wu Xie'."
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