Wild Creatures

Chapter 139

The girls are safe, they are receiving care and that's all that matters for now.

The second nurse brings them to the children's ICU. They're not allowed inside because it's a contained area, to protect all the babies inside from infection. The nurse that brought them here can enter though, and she puts a mask over her nose and mouth, and goes to two incubation tanks on their left, pointing at the two tiny bundles lying side by side, both with oxygen tubes fitted on their faces.

They watch the tiny little bodies, tiny little hearts pumping blood through those small bodies, their chests reassuringly moving up and down. Watching that fragile movement is the single most important factor in making them feel better.

The nurse comes outside again, pulling off her face mask.

"Visiting hours are until eight, then you have to leave."

"Can we leave our numbers here, with you?" Wei Ying asks her. He knows he sounds desperate, but the thought of leaving the babies without any family to care for them seems awful. "When can we come back here?"

"Tomorrow at two," she answers, sympathetically.

It feels like such a long time away from them.

"Trust me, they are getting the best care here. They'll be fine," she tries to reassure them, but Wei Ying has turned his attention back to the two little girls inside that room.

When she leaves, Lan Zhan calls his brother and explains the situation to them. They've reached the manor by now and XiChen tells them that he's told Uncle Qiren what happened.

There's nothing more they can do or say, so Lan Zhan ends the call.

****************

At eight o'clock, they are all but thrown out of the hospital, and Lan Zhan feels terrible for having to pull Wei Ying from where he's plastered against that glass, watching the little girls breathing.

"But Lan Zhan, Sweetheart, no one's watching them! What if they suddenly stop breathing?" His voice is thick with tears.

"They're hooked up to machines that will warn the staff even before anything like that happens," Lan Zhan tells him.

He can't blame Wei Ying for wanting to stay, either. He feels just as attached to the babies as Wei Ying does, and he wishes that they remain strong, and keep fighting for their lives.

They drive home in a morose silence, both feeling exhausted by the day's events, but they know it isn't over yet.

A-Yuan and JingYi are still awake, too anxious to go to sleep and insisting on waiting for their parents to come home and tell them what was happening with the babies.

So it's time for a family meeting.

In Uncle Qiren's study, Da Tuzi brings some honey infused chamomile tea, just the thing to soothe and comfort both Wei Ying and Lan Zhan from their afternoon spent in the ER, surrounded by the smells of bleach and bad hospital food.

Wei Ying says as much, not wanting to eat anything at the moment. Lan Zhan doesn't even want to drink anything, but he can appreciate the gentle fragrance.

They repeat everything they learned at the hospital, and explain to the adults what the nurse had told them was the common protocol for children who had been abandoned.

It sounds very much up in the air and full of uncertainty.

"It seems to me, nothing can happen until you make a decision," Uncle Qiren tells them, stroking his beard.

"What do you mean, Shifu?" XiChen asks, his brow furrowing.

"Well, the hospital can't really help you because at this point, you're only the people who brought the babies to them. They are being kind in allowing you to see them but from a legal standpoint, you are nothing to them." He does not wish to be cruel, he's merely stating facts at this point.