✧𝔻𝔼𝕍𝕆𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ~ 𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃~✧

✧Xie Lian- His Angel✧

A/N- This fanart actually makes me sad to see since beautiful Xie Lian looks so beaten up... poor man, I feel so terrible for him. However, the art is very good! Nice job, artist!

EVER SINCE XIE LIAN had gotten introduced to alcohol, your home life with him was terrible.  He would come home late at night drunk out of his mind, and sometimes he would be terribly beaten up as well, by men he called, 'buddies.' You tried to get him to stay home with you like a good husband and not run off and get hurt, but he was totally hooked on drinking, and he wouldn't quit even when you cried and begged.

One lazy Sunday night, you were waiting for him to come home, sitting outside on your porch and reading a book. You heard sounds of moaning coming from down the street, but you assumed that it was just the wind blowing through the trees, and paid it no mind. But when the moaning didn't stop, and you heard it getting closer, you got a little scared. You closed your book, went inside, and got a knife to use if push came to shove. Then you went to go find the source of the moaning. When you saw it, you were terrified.

A man was lying in the long grasses by your home, his clothes terribly torn up and blood pouring from cuts all over his body, but mostly on his back. You knelt down by the man's side and tried to comfort him and get him to stop crying out in pain, but he wouldn't. He was saying something, but his speech was slurred and you couldn't make it out.

He's just an unfortunate drunk who got beaten up, you thought. Might as well offer him the comfort of my home for tonight. I don't think Xie Lian is going to come back home anyway.

You helped the man up to his feet and led him into your house, and in the strong lights of your living room, you made a shocking discovery.

The wounded man was actually Xie Lian!

In the darkness of the night, you hadn't seen his face clearly, but now in the light it was obvious. The man who had been hurt so badly and was crying and bleeding was none other than your husband!

"Xie Xie, my baby, what happened to you?" you cried out, tears coming to your eyes now. "Who hurt you so badly?"

A/N- Xie xie does mean thank you in Mandarin (with accents over the letters of course, my keyboard isn't set up to do those) but for this story it'll just be the nickname you call Xie Lian.

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out, only a soft gasp. He was wounded too seriously to speak at the moment. You needed to tend to his wounds urgently!

From your cabinet, you pulled out an old first aid kit and took out alcohol and Neosporin (Neosporin is a disinfectant cream that you can put on cuts before bandaging them)and set them aside to use for later. You tore apart the remaining parts of the back of Xie Lian's hanfu and threw them away, then used a wet rag to clean up his back. He whimpered when the rag scrubbed over his wounds, and your heart lurched to hear your powerful husband brought down like this. However, you needed to clean the wounds, or they would get infected, and he would be in much more pain then.

After you washed his back, you dried it, applied the alcohol and Neosporin, and swathed his entire back in bandages, wrapping them around his chest as well. He looked like a mummy, but hopefully the bandages would help seal the moisture in and heal the wound.

You held a Tylenol out in your hand to him, but he didn't show any signs of even acknowledging your presence, so you put it in his mouth on your own. The pill was meant to be swallowed, but if it was dissolved, it would have the same effect, so it didn't really matter. You gave him some water to drink. That, he swallowed.

You sat by his side for a long time, listening to the clock tick as your anxiety built. His breathing was even and deep, which was good, it meant he was asleep. If he was asleep, he wouldn't feel any pain. But when he awoke, you were afraid he would be in a world of violent pains, and that concerned you.

After sitting by his side for an hour with no change, you were getting drowsy. You didn't want to leave his side, so you brought a blanket downstairs to the living room and laid down on the floor below the couch he was sleeping on. It was hard to fall asleep on the hardwood floor, but you were tired enough that you fell asleep without much struggle.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You woke up to the feeling of hands running over your skin and the sounds of someone muttering in your ears. When you opened your eyes, you saw that a sweaty, disheveled Xie Lian was right on top of you, stroking your hair and murmuring things in a slurred, drunken voice. Angrily, you threw him off of you, forgetting that his back was all cut up. When he hit the floor and screamed in pain, you felt so guilty you almost cried.

"I'm sorry! I forgot you were hurt. I was just shocked to see you on top of me. You need to rest," you told him.

"Mmm... Y/N, you're an angel.... I love you," he slurred, rubbing his cheek against yours.

"You're drunk, you idiot," you retorted.

"You're an angel," he responded, giving you a sloppy, wet kiss.

"Shut your damn mouth and sleep, drunkard," you snapped.

His eyes looked so sad when you snapped at him, but you didn't feel bad. You hated it when he got drunk, and you had told him multiple times how much you disapproved of it, but he didn't stop. Because of his foolishness, now he was injured and you weren't going to treat him nicely. He had his warnings. Now you were done with him.

"Y-you h-hate me... I-I'm a mo-mo-monster..." he choked out through sobs. "I-I'm so s-so-so..."

He was cut off with a gasp of pain- he had tried to stand up and his hurt back had arched upwards, causing a great amount of pain to him. You were worried when you heard him gasp, but he managed to get up right after, so it wasn't that serious.

"You're not a monster," you told him, because he wasn't. "You're just an idiot who drinks too much. I kept on telling you to not drink, and because you didn't listen to me, look what happened to you. It hurts, doesn't it?"

"Ye-yes... i-it hurts s-so much..." he whimpered, trembling with sobs. "H-help me..."

You sighed in annoyance and wrapped your arms around him, holding his weak, shaking body in your arms and murmuring, "It's going to be fine, love. Your wounds will heal."

"But y-you h-hate me... am I a bad h-husband... A-am I a-"

You quieted him with a finger to his lips and whispered, "You're beautiful, Xie Xie. You're a great husband. You just need to stop going to the bar and getting drunk. I don't like that, understand? Men that drink are not men I want to associate with."

He didn't respond to that, just held on to you and breathed deeply. His trembling had ceased, and his breathing was returning to normal. You felt blood seeping through his bandages, and realized that him exerting himself had opened his wounds again. Gently, you pushed him down onto the couch and said, "Lie down. Your wounds have reopened, I need to treat them again."

He grabbed your wrist when you stood up to get a needle and thread. You would try to sew the bad ones closed yourself. You were exceptional at sewing. If you were lucky, your stitches would be solid and hold. The process would be hard and painful for Xie Lian to go through, but it would help him in the long run.

"What is it that you need?" you asked, noticing his tight grip on your arm.

"I-I love y-you... s-so much," he said with tears in his eyes. "Y-you're an a-angel..."

"Hush, my love," you murmured softly. "Let your angel heal you."