Secret & Lies (the forsaken #1) [WangXian FF]

9

Wei Wuxian woke up in a daze, and it took him another minute to remember that he was supposed to be dead. He jolted up and quickly did the body parts check. Everything seemed in its place, no scars, no burn marks, no broken bones, only that uncomfortable soreness from being asleep for too long. He was dizzy but he tried to take a look at his surroundings anyway.

It smelled like a hospital, but it looked like he was in a private room, only accompanied by the sound of soft hums of the machinery beside his bed.

He reached for the call button, and not a minute later a pretty nurse came into his room.

"Mr. Wei, you woke up! I will call the doctor here, please wait a moment."

"Wait a second, nurse, can you please tell me where is this place?"

"You're in Cloud Recess private hospital, Mr. Wei. Don't worry, everything has been taken care of, you should just concentrate on getting better." She gave him a sweet smile.

"Ah, did I come in with someone? Tall, long dark hair, handsome?"

"No, someone delivered you alone. No one else was with you."

"And when was this?"

"Three days ago."

Three days? He was unconscious for three fucking days?

"When I was out, was there any news about… explosion? Bomb? Casualties?"

"Not as far as I know of, Mr. Wei." She started to raise her eyebrows from the questions Wei Wuxian asked her. "Everything was calm and peaceful around here, no sign of bombing or explosion or any kind of terrorist act, at least for the last three days."

Wei Wuxian was not surprised, he kinda expected it since he was still intact.

"One more thing nurse, may I have my phone?"

"Sure, let me find it out for you." She walked out of the room and Wei Wuxian wondered why, because the patient's belongings were supposed to be kept inside the patient's room supposedly. 

Unless there were special circumstances.

Soon after, the doctor came. He was a young and pleasant guy, and he checked his vitals, then declared that he was fine and welcomed to leave at any time he felt like it. Wei Wuxian did not want to waste his time and told the doctor that he wanted to leave straight away. The doctor nodded and he signed some kind of release document and gave it to the nurse who just came back from retrieving Wei Wuxian's personal stuff.

"Thank you." 

"Not a problem Mr. Wei, I will arrange your transportation for you if you'd like?"

"Yes please."

After the nurse left him, he took the sealed plastic bag that contained his belongings and ripped it apart to find his clothes, and shoes intact. His phone however, was a different matter. 

His old phone was an encrypted military grade smartphone, a standard for him and his teammates. The phone on his hand though, although it looked the same from the outside, he could tell right away that it was not his phone. The encryption was a few levels higher than his own, and although he didn't have any contact number saved beside Lan Wangji, Jingyi and Wen Qing, right now it wasn't even there.

The other thing that he found inside his jacket pocket was a cashier's check for one million dollar for service rendered.

Wei Wuxian was shaking in anger.

Fuck you Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian planned to tear the check into tiny pieces and throw it to Lan Wangji's face. This was so insulting.

Now if he could only find that bastard alive.

The first thing he did was going to Lan Wangji's shooting location. He went inside to find out that Lan Wangji had cancelled his contract due to some personal reason, and no one seemed to know his whereabouts.

Then he went straight to Lan Wangji's apartment.

He rang the intercom but no one answered, so he went to the receptionist and asked about it, but she did not know anything, so Wei Wuxian decided to enter Lan Wangji's apartment just like he did the first time he met him.

After he made the plan carefully, all he had to do now was wait until nightfall.

Night came soon enough and the only thing Wei Wuxian was wary of was Xiao Bai. But he brought a huge piece of meat to bribe the white tiger if the need arose, beside he had a feeling that he wouldn't find Lan Wangji there anyway. He just had to try.

Wei Wuxian landed with a soft thud on Lan Wangji's balcony and he found that the apartment was dark, just like when he entered a few days ago. Was it just a few days ago? He felt that it was longer than just a few days.

He opened the glass door and walked in quietly whilst listening to any sign of life.

Just as he thought, there was none.

Wei Wuxian then walked to the kitchen, checked the trash bin and opened the fridge to find it all empty aside from a few bottles of water. He opened one and drank it then threw the bottle against the wall in anger.

Where the hell were you, Lan Wangji?

He needed to know how they escaped the inevitable blast, he needed to know what exactly happened, and most important thing of all, he needed to know if Lan Wangji was okay.

Wei Wuxian reluctantly admitted to himself that maybe, maybe he had some selfish reason behind his irrational behaviour, after all Lan Wangji was just someone who irritated him as much as he did him. Hell he could probably blame this on once in a lifetime anomaly because he never did shit like this before. 

He then threw himself on the comfy couch and groaned out loud. Maybe he should ask Wen Ning to find Lan Wangji. 

But no. What kind of reason should he give, if Wen Ning really did find him? After all that bastard had already cut all ties to him and even gave him a lump sum. Like he needed to buy his silence or something. So insulting.

So, it should end here. He should stop this futile effort. Right?

He was so frustrated at his situation right now, and for the first time in his life, he felt so helpless and didn't know what to do.

-----

"Don't you want to see him?" Xiao Xingchen observed Lan Wangji closely while the latter looked at the panels of hidden security cameras inside his penthouse that were installed after the first break in. "At least let him know that you're okay."

"Why should I? I owed him nothing." Lan Wangji tried to act indifferent, although he felt something like pain squeezing inside his chest. Probably indigestion.

Xiao Xingchen just rolled his eyes.

"Suit yourself." He took a bowl filled with bitter smelled liquid, and gave it to Lan Wangji. "Time for your med."

Lan Wangji took the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

Xiao Xingchen knew that the tonic was very bitter, but Lan Wangji showed no expression, nor he asked for water or anything to lessen the bitterness.

"You know we have to find that antidote sooner rather than later right? Your body is already at its limit. I'm afraid the meds only can do so far."

"Even if you don't remind me, I remember, Xingchen. It's my body after all." 

"If you know it, why did you do what you did back then? You should've known it would affect you this much."

"Do you need to question my judgement? I know what I was doing. I chose to do it." Lan Wangji spoke with gritted teeth, as if trying to contain his anger.

"Fine. I won't judge." Xiao Xingchen stood up and prepared to leave. "At least no one would recognize you right now."