I'M STILL HERE

Every Step

        LiCu grits his teeth as tried to make a step,being that one of his injuries is shattering his leg  in five places and being in a coma for months made him need to go through physical therapy

"Don't force yourself, you'll get hurt" WuXie scolded while SuWan nods in agreement

"I can do it!" LiCu stubbornly tries to take another step

"YaLi… you have to take it little by little, look at you, you're already pale, you need to take a break!" SuWan says

"They're right you know, You have to take this slowly no need to rush" His therapist told him, guiding him back to his wheelchair

"Alright" LiCu said though a little low and downcasted

   LiCu wants nothing more than all of this to be over, he wants to walk, he wants to be not stuck in his four walled room and he's starting to get sick of the smell of antiseptic

  He buries his head in his pillow the moment they got his settled in on his bed, he groaned out in frustration

"I know you want to get out of here but you have to take it slow YaLi,you will just hurt yourself if you force it"  SuWan says

"I know that!" LiCu sighs, turning to his friend, "hey… when are you going back abroad?"

"Oh, when you get out of course! You think I'll miss you going home?"

"What about your classes?"

"Don't worry, I will just take supplementary classes"

    LiCu sighs again nodding

     

"What are you doing?" LiCu asked puzzled as WuXie gently give his legs a squeeze and run his thumb on circles on some of the joints on his ankles

"I'm giving you a massage"

"Wha– heck! It's embarrassing stop!"

"What's embarrassing about a massage? I found that they can help with recovery"

"And where did you even got that?"

"From Hei-Ye, he's a masseuse before you know"

"Still!"

  LiCu squawks but WuXie ignores him still doing the gentle presses , oddly enough LiCu can feel his legs relax a little that he just let WuXie do what he's doing

And they both found themselves a in silence, until LiCu himself breaks it

"What are you thinking? You look like you want to say something I can see your wrinkles"  he says a little lightheartedly but also concerned, WuXie's frowning and his lips are pursed

"What wrinkles? I'm not that old, hey!" WuXie replies back trying to get back but fails to hide the slight edge in his eyes

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about those days when you were…"

"..."

"I really thought I will lose you" he says that so softly, his voice cracking a bit, and LiCu can feel a lump forming in his throat,this is the first time WuXie spoke to him like that ,WuXie rarely shows how vulnerable he is ,if he does it's mostly in front of XiaoGe, he has this notion that he should be the one protecting people that he doesn't let them know how weak he truly feels

 
"I… remember some things, when I was in a coma, it's like a dream, I dreamed that I wanted to give up, that I didn't want to wake up, that I was ready to go but, I heard your voice I think? And Lao-Zhang and, I guess that's why I got to wake up"

   WuXie looked at him with a mixture of pain and relief in his eyes, he had reached out then, slightly ruffling LiCu's curls and sweeping the bangs off his face

"Excuse me,Mr.Wu, it's LiCu's time for Physical Therapy"

    They both looked up at thr nurse and WuXie gives her a nod

"Alright kiddo, up you get"

   LiCu lets WuXie hoist him up to his wheelchair

"WuXie, stay with me ?" The boys asks a bit shy

"I'll be there at every step" And WuXie beams at him