Venom

《 Forty - Four 》

"Lorenzo!"

Jia's worried voice boomed in the quiet hallway. Rosy and Kevin ran to catch the exhausted man. They held him tightly and laid him down on the conjoined chairs. Rosy sat down next to her friend and looked at the doctor.

"Doctor, please save that man inside or I will lose my precious friend too." Rosy pleaded and the woman nodded. She went back to the surgery room to join the other doctors.

A few minutes later, the elder awoke again. He sat up slowly and Rosy held his face in her hands. Her voice was slow and steady as she tried to make him listen. "Lorenzo, please get a hold of yourself. Be strong for Yifan."

"If I lose him, I will never forgive myself." He began crying again and Rosy embraced him.

Nico and Jade entered the hallway again. Both of their right arms were aching and wrapped in bandages. The two sat down on the chairs facing the kids. Tears welled in Kevin's eyes and he looked at Jia. "I'll be back, Grandma Jia."

Taking a deep breath, the tall man left the hallway abruptly. Nico saw how tense Kevin looked and he stood up. The others tried to make him sit but he shook his head. The green-haired man went the same way he had seen his friend leave through. The older man went inside the elevator and went down to the ground floor. Nico walked around the reception area as his green eyes looked for a muscular man. He walked out of the building and went to the alley next to it.

As expected, the shorter man found Kevin hiding in it. The taller man was leaning against the wall while staring down at the ground. His face was blank but Nico knew better. He walked to the younger man and stood in front of him. He lifted his pale hand and set it on the man's broad shoulder.

"Kevin." The shorter man said his name and the other man looked up.

Without a word, a tattooed arm wrapped around Nico's slim waist and he was pulled in. The green-haired man felt the muscular man shatter in his arms. Nico lifted his arms and placed them around Kevin's shaky back. The green-haired man embraced his friend and the taller man broke apart. His sobs were quiet but still heartbreaking.

"It's okay." The shorter man said softly. "It's okay to cry. You don't have to pretend to be strong for the whole family. I know you're hurting just as much as us."

"Nico..I.." Kevin's hot tears stained Nico's shoulder but he didn't care. "I saw when a group of men...they came inside and shot at Yifan and I...I just stood there as the bullets.."

Kevin's large hands gripped Nico's waist desperately. "Yifan will be okay, Kevin."

"My younger brother is now laying there..fighting between life and death." Nico ran a hand down the man's back as tears welled in his own eyes. Kevin's broken voice shattered his heart. "It was over so quickly, I couldn't even process anything. I-I held his hand until the ambulance came."

Nico pulled away and held the man's face in his hands. Hot tears dropped from his green eyes and he shook his head at the taller man. Suddenly, Nico couldn't bear to hear Yifan's condition when he was injured. "S-Stop..please."

"He kept..kept whispering Lorenzo's name as we tried to keep him awake. My heart dro-"

"Kevin, I'm so worried for him." Nico confessed and this time, Kevin embraced him again. A pair of muscular arms held a thin waist tight as the two cried. "Why would anyone hurt our Yifan? He's such an angel. Why Kevin?"

Nico sobbed and Kevin held him tighter. "I wish I was at work at that time. I-I would've taken all those bullets for him. Yifan doesn't deserve any of this, Kevin. He's t-too young. What if we los-"

A finger pressed on his lips and stopped the smaller man's sentence. "Nothing will happen to him. Yifan won't leave us."

The taller man pulled away and wiped his tears. Nico felt his hands shake and he looked down. "I'm so scared to go back inside. I'm afraid of what the doctors will say."