S.I.D.

Chapter 19

"Yunlan..." Shen Wei mumbled again, a crease forming between his eyebrows, and his hand instinctively felt for Zhao Yunlan's leather jacket sleeve and firmly held it.

That almost childlike gesture melted Zhao Yunlan's doubts away. With his finger, he gently stroked the crease between Shen Wei's eyebrows until he sighed and relaxed and fell into a deeper sleep. He put his head down on the bed and whispered back, "Xiao Wei...what am I going to do with you?"

Shen Wei opened his eyes and wondered where he was. He took a few minutes to collect his thoughts - he remembered following Dr. Ouyang last night. They went to the restaurant, then to his mistress' place where he took out his sword and rushed them. The bodyguard had a gun and he remembered the tremendous blow to his chest - his chest! He probed at it and winced when he felt the bruise, but no bones were broken. Thank goodness he wore the bulletproof vest that Zhao Xin Chin had insisting on sending to him.

When the bullet hit him, he remembered in his final moments of consciousness that he regretted not being successful in harming the doctor. He was sure the bodyguard and assistant would later finish him off and then hide his body, but he had hoped that someone would have heard the gunshots and would call the police. It looked like the noise did get someone's attention, and miraculously he was ALIVE! But who was his savior? As his mind cleared up more, he realized he was in the S.I.D. office, and was this Zhao Yunlan sleeping at his bedside?! Shen Wei groaned inwardly; one secret was out and in the worst way, and soon the whole story would be out in the open. He needed to get away and recoup.

He sat up, trying not to shake the bed too much, stifling the groan from the pain in his chest. He started to slide off the bed but a strong hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him back in.

"Where do you think you're going?" Zhao Yunlan's head came up.

"Um, I, I need to leave. I'm not supposed to be here," Shen Wei could not even think of a good excuse or lie.

"Uh-uh. You just took a bullet, and vest or no vest, that's gotta hurt. Besides, we all have a few questions for you." And with that, everyone walked in and stood around the bed, effectively caging in Shen Wei so that he could not escape.

Shen Wei looked around at everyone's faces, trying to read their emotions and the mood. Were they angry, having been deceived all this time? He would not blame them. He would tell his story, and then turn himself in to the police to receive his punishment, but it would never be enough apology to everyone who had placed their trust in him.

"This sword of yours, it's awesome!" Lin Jing spoke up.

"Yeah, but you need to use it better." Brother Chu quipped.

"Oh, like you'd be able to dodge a bullet any better?" Zhu Hong chimed in.

"You shouldn't have run up to them swinging a knife like an amateur. What happened to a fancy scenario like all the other missions?" Da Qing joined in.

"You got hurt! You could have gotten killed!" Wang Zheng was nearly in tears. Sang Zan rubbed his wife's back.

"So what's the plan?" Little Guo had his laptop fired up and ready.

Zhao Yunlan watched Shen Wei's expression go from apprehensive to surprise, and finally to relief.

"So now you know that we were all worried sick about you."

"Thank you, all. Um, you know about what I tried to do tonight already. The rest of my story concerns Chief Zhao's family. Maybe I should just tell you in private?" He turned to Zhao Yunlan who shook his head.