Blessings (A YiZhan Short Story)

Chapter 3: Blessed Saviors

Wang YiBo POV

"Zhan-ge!"

His name burst from my lips in a piercing scream and wrenched me from my nightmare. Harsh panting breaths escaped my lips as I sucked in lungfuls of air that seemed to dwindle with each painful inhalation. My heaving chest did little to slow the rapid staccato of my heartbeat, making it even harder to breathe. Beads of sweat trickled down my face and fell in rivulets into the sweat-soaked pillowcase. The residual of the nightmare was still so vivid in my mind and despair hit me all over again.

Burying my face in my hands, I wailed, I cursed, and then I cried some more. Three years and I still miss him so fucking much. He was the air I breathed, the water I craved for, and without him, I felt empty. So very empty. Oh God! Will this feeling ever go away? Will the hole in my heart ever heal? Will I ever get over him? How the fuck do I move on from this? How did people survive this pain? How?!

People who say "time heals all wounds" must be fucking crazy! Heal what fucking wound? My heart was still as raw as the day I left him. My only hope was that he wasn't to hurt by it and that he has moved on, to live a life that was meant for him. And yet, every time I pictured him with another, it broke my heart all over again.

Suddenly, my alarm clock went off jolting me from the melancholy I was drowning in. "Fucking hell!" I muttered as I draped an arm over my closed lids, my breathing shallow and ragged as I continued to gasp for air. I had completely forgotten about the book signing today and after that nightmare, I knew I wasn't fit for company.

Too late to cancel, I thought wearily. Xie Lian might not be mad at me, but Hua Cheng would strip my balls off and hang it on his wall. Then he'd throw darts at it for good measure. I shuddered and covered my jewels.

Dragging myself out of bed, I grabbed clean boxers and headed into the shower. As the hot water sluiced down my body, slowly relaxing me enough that the tension in my shoulders eased somewhat, I began to feel like myself again. Glancing at my watch, I still had another hour before I have to hit the road. With that, I ducked my head under the water and let it cocoon me.

When my hands began to prune up, I sighed and got out of the shower. After rushing through the rest of my morning ablutions, I quickly grabbed my keys and headed out. As I closed the door, I glanced around the quaint little place I called home. A small cottage in the woods away from prying eyes and nosey neighbors. Who knew a place like this existed, but I was glad my parents found it.

D'Iberville, Mississippi was just a small city located in the southern region of the United States. It wasn't known for anything, not like Biloxi or Gulfport where the casinos lined the beaches. It really was just a blip on the map.

When I left Houston, left him, all I thought about was getting as far away from him as possible. I didn't want the temptation to lure me back because if I came back, I wouldn't be able to walk away again. Leaving the first time left me an empty shell of myself, not that I have recovered from it. No, far from it. Leaving him a second time? I would rather die than to subject myself to that hell again.

For months on end, I was neither living nor surviving. I just... was.

I would have become a statistic had fate not intervened.

Ha! Fate was a funny thing. A fickle thing.

When one door closes, another opens and that was how I found myself on the New York Times Best-selling list. Me! Wang YiBo! But with all the successes awarded to me, I was not happy. What was success when one couldn't share it with the ones you love?