BOOK 3. Shen Wei works in a bank in the background because he does not like to mix with the customers. After a raid, he is mistaken as the inside man but only briefly which leads to him meeting Zhao Yunlan. The story follows their relationship th...
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Yunlan was settling down for the night after his busy day, he was tired and he had lost sleep from the previous night, but he had kissed Wei and still couldn't believe it, he had kissed a sleeping man. It felt right and his emotions were balancing out better, he wanted Wei to live and be a part of his life, not just sleeping but awake, and he desperately needed to know if Wei's feelings were the same or if he had taken advantage of the situation. The nurse didn't think so or she would have said something. If Wei had updated his recording to include his name, he must have done it straight after his visit to Wei's house when he had fainted, and then took it to the hospital to be included with the rest of the recordings, so the nurse would have known if Wei had the same feelings towards him, he was just guessing, but it made sense.
He slept easier than the night before up until his phone rang, and it was a call from the hospital to come immediately. Yunlan never even dressed, he threw on a coat over his PJ's and drove like a mad man, running to Shen Wei's ward as soon as his feet left the car. The nurse met him coming in, and explained that his heart had stopped and they had to work to get it started again, but he was being monitored constantly and if he wanted to spend time with him, he could. Yunlan entered his room to see a few more wires added to his collection and he sat beside the bed holding his hand to his face watching him breathe. His mind shut down, he just listened and watched until he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and he laid his head down while still holding Wei's hand.
Nurses came in to check on a regular basis but never disturbed either of them, allowing Yunlan to sleep and awaken himself when he was ready. They removed some of the wires that monitored Wei's heart as it became stronger and more regular but they didn't know what had caused it, hoping that it wouldn't happen again. The sound of the breakfast trolley awoke Yunlan and he glanced over at Wei who looked more like himself again minus the wiring. He was offered some breakfast which he accepted, realising that he had to eat whenever possible because he could be called the same as last night, and he went to the nurse to receive the next recording.
"Are you sure you would like one today?"
"Yes, Wei did these, I have to listen." and he pressed play.
"Good morning, I'm hoping that you slept well last night, but just in case you didn't, I'll go easy on you today. Take the day off work if possible but not if you could get fired. And go to the sea or the beach, visit an attraction, eat candy, ice cream, and bring me back a post card to prove you've been, plus a fridge magnet for the nurse's fridge. They would love that."
Yunlan almost broke down and the staff were aware of his feelings, one of the nurses helped him to sit down while another brought him some tea. The usual nurse he dealt with came down to his eye level, and spoke to him.
"If it's too difficult, don't do it today, do it tomorrow."
But Yunlan gave her the tape to listen to and she smiled, changing her mind.
"Maybe today is the day that you should do this."
"What's your name nurse, I've never asked you?"
"Call me Gelan." and she smiled even wider.
"Wei was very intuitive when he recorded these, he followed his feelings, therefore I have to trust his judgement, and I think I'm going to the seaside today." and he felt better.
In his own way, Shen Wei was helping him to cope with the situation which was rather strange but beautiful at the same time. Yunlan phoned in sick and spoke to Lin Jing asking him to cover for him today and explained about the hospital call but asked him to keep it confidential. He then took the car home, bathed and changed before looking for a nice place to visit.
The journey out to the coast would have been long and tiring, so Yunlan picked the option of going to an attraction instead and he felt that if he went to Sea World, then at least he could see the inhabitants of the sea, and maybe that would be just as good as the seaside.
He'd never been before, never made time to go, was never interested enough, but now, yes he would pay the entrance fee to watch the fish and see what else there was on offer.
This place was huge, he lost count of the different types of fish and the numbers of tanks. he walked through glass tunnels with sharks swimming above him and watched handlers feeding the dolphins, plus the smaller fish which were poisonous, or piranha which could strip meat to the bone. He found the cafeteria and sat with some coffee just watching people walk past and the behaviour of children who were over excited to see all the fish. Behind him was a glass wall which he hadn't paid attention to when he sat down but now he did and found it relaxing watching the inhabitants of the tank swimming around as he could feel himself slowly drifting off to sleep.
An older lady came over to wake him up, letting him know that Sea World will be closing soon in an hours time and he couldn't believe that he'd been left to sleep peacefully for most of the afternoon.
"It's alright, don't worry about it, you're not the only one who has done that. We usually let people sleep, the fish have a way of relaxing the mind especially the people with painful situations and that's why we don't wake them. The fish are very wise but subtle. The shop is still open if you wish to buy anything."
Yunlan thanked her and made his way towards the shop for a postcard and a magnet for the nurse's fridge. He also picked up some rock candy and a keyring for Shen Wei before the bell signalled the closure of Sea World. On his way out he glanced back, thinking that he'd like to come back some day when Wei had recovered, he was sure that the fish would be good for him as well, while he drove back to the hospital feeling refreshed and very much calmer than he had been that morning and he handed the fridge magnet to Gelan along with the candy and the nurses thanked him as he headed towards Wei's room.
"Good afternoon, well, nearly evening. I was at Sea World today and watched all the fish, it was wonderful, when you are better we can go there and I've brought you back a postcard and a key ring to hang on a drawer handle. It might rattle a bit when they open the drawer but that doesn't matter."
Yunlan brought his chair over to sit down and talk some more about the fish he had seen while he held Wei's hand and showed him the postcard with the dolphins before dropping it in his drawer, promising to remember to bring some sticky tabs to put it on the wall tomorrow. He admitted that he fell asleep in the cafeteria in front of a huge glass wall which was part of a tank and an older lady woke him up before the centre closed.
"Thank you for pushing me into that situation, work has always come first with me but today it didn't, and I have you to thank for that, the world didn't collapse without me being there, and I enjoyed something new."
Yunlan was still holding Wei's hand as he talked about going home and he felt the grip tightening and then release. he stared at him, willing him to do it again but it never happened and he was beginning to think that it was his wishful thinking when his grip tightened again and Yunlan pressed the buzzer for a nurse. Gelan entered the room, finding Yunlan in mild shock and trying to explain what he had felt, but she wasn't very hopeful and she took Wei's hand while talking to him and his grip was almost too strong for her delicate hand, causing her to try and wriggle out of it.
"Its a good sign, yes?" Yunlan said staring at her.
"Yes definitely, is a great sign." and they both laughed.
