One fateful meeting on a lone raining day will change Yezun's life completely. Not only he meet with his long-lost brother, but also finds out a secret running through their family. There, in between white roses and blood, he finds answers to his lo...
Yezun was never feeling safe within the hospital walls. The white color, not his favorite one, claimed every surface and every corner. The nurses came in and out of doors, wearing tight uniforms, smiling to everyone nearby. It was hard to decipher what they truly thought. And he hated that. He hated the idea of people lying to him.
When he woke up, he was lying on one of those emergency beds. No one paid much attention to him. Only when he sat one of the nurses looked at him and then went away. His body was weak and he felt somehow used, but he was not injured. What happened back there in the coffin room was a clouded mixture of sounds and images. The last thing he remembered was his brother looking longingly to the dead body.
„How are you feeling?" a doctor appeared with a stack of papers on a clipboard in his hand. „I see you fainted on a family gathering. It happens often that people are overwhelmed by the emotions. Especially in case of a funeral... I see your results are all looking very good. Do you feel pain anywhere?" He finally looked at Yezun.
„I feel fine," Yezun lied. His chest burned as if someone ripped something from inside of him. „Can I go home?"
The doctor scanned the papers again and then nodded. „I see no reason why not. Your family already signed your leaving papers and paid the bills, so you are free to go. But only, of course, if you feel one hundred percent all right."
„My family paid?" Yezun thought it was strange. No one except Wei knew him there. And Wei was most likely not in the condition to go around, filling in forms for him. So who else would pay his medical bills?
He reassured the doctor he was feeling good enough to go. Occupying a bed for emergency cases was a waste on someone who only had more-than-a-minor chest pain. But that chest pain did not show on any medical tests, apparently it was a pain no doctor could explain. Only one person could help him now. Wei. If those people he saw this morning brought Yezun to the hospital, they most probably brought Wei as well. He must be in much worse state. They needed to make sure to take care of him first.
The doctor left after giving him instructions on how to leave thru the main reception where Yezun was supposed to get some prescriptions for pills to calm him down "after receiving the shock at the funeral" as the doctor described it. Yezun was sure the doctor does not know the real reason Yezun was there. Someone just said he fainted and that was it.
"Is there a patient named Shen Wei?" Yezun asked the receptionist after receiving his leaving papers.
„I am sorry, but I cannot give you our patients' information unless you are a family member," the receptionist smiled sweetly at him.
„Ah, I am... I am his brother. Wait. I have my ID somewhere..." But even with his card, the woman could not find anyone in the system. Yezun returned her apologetic bow and decided to walk around a bit. He put on his dark glasses to shield his sensitive eyes from the white around him and walked around the hallways, up some floors, deep in thoughts. His mind was whirling with questions and images. Repeating the events from the moment he met Wei until the very end still did not help him to make much sense of it. Was it really possible to bring someone back to life? Were the both of them that powerful to do so? He reached up to his burning chest. Wei did not even touch him, yet the pain he experienced was a piercing one. As if someone was pulling his heart out of his own body.
„Crap, this thing just won't work!" He got alerted when a familiar voice attacked his ears. It was Da Qing kicking a coffee machine. When it did not gave him the wanted beverage, the man sat down on a nearby bench a sighed.
Yezun slowly approached him. The young man underwent a huge change from the last time he saw him. Back in the dining room he was that polished youngster with good behavior. Now his tie was undone, shirt opened at the neck, jacket thrown behind him. Yezun could tell how tired Da Qing was by the shadowy features on his face.
Yezun's heart started racing, this time it was longing. He needed to know how his brother was doing. „May I?" he pointed at the available space next to Da Qing.
The other man looked up and his expression changed into a surprise. Obviously, he did not expect Yezun to be there. Da Qing thought for a few moments before answering. If the institute decided it is all right for this man to stay at the same hospital, then they must have a good reason for it. Reasoning the presence of Yezun by this, he let him sit next to him.
„How is Shen Wei?" Yezun went straight for the information he needed to know the most.
„He is... hanging on. I mean... Geez, who would have thought he will do something like that?! He scared the hell out of me!"
Yezun bit his lower lip. So Wei was somewhere there, behind the only door near them, fighting for life. „Will he make it?"
„I hope he will or else his effort would go to vain."
„H-He made it? He brought that man back to life?" Yezun shrieked.
Da Qing looked cautiously around and then, with a lowered voice, asked: „You two know each other for a long time, right?"
„Yes."
„But he never mention anything to you about Mr. Zhao?"
„Mr. Zhao?" Yezun frowned, he did not know that man under this name.
Da Qing sighed again, as if letting all the stress escape his body through the long exhale. „They used to work together. The best team in the whole institute, for sure. I was looking up to Shen Wei so much. Just as little boys admire heroes. I wanted to get this job, just as anyone else. And when Yunlan died they appointed me to this dream position. But it was different. Shen Wei changed. He closed himself off. And now, it is all over. I will lose my job for sure."
„I am sorry to hear that," Yezun said halfheartedly, trying to process the new information. That man and his brother worked together? That cannot be true.
„That is life," Da Qing waved his hands in the air in surrender.
„How is Mr. Zhao? Did he... did he truly...?"
„I am afraid we are not authorized to give you this or any other information," a tall man walked up to them. „Will you please lead this man out of the building? He is, for sure, expected somewhere else."
Da Qing jumped up from his seat and made a perfect ninety degree bow. „Yes, sir!" He swiftly took his jacket and while adjusting his tie he motioned Yezun to the elevator.
"Wait, what about Shen Wei?!" Yezun tried to go back and demand an entry to the hospital room, but Da Qing was dragging him to the elevator mercilessly. While Yezun was being pushed away he glanced back a few more times. The man was scary, with an ear-in he resembled a bodyguard, and maybe he truly was one. The elevator came and Da Qing softly pushed Yezun into it.
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