Yearning Hearts

His room was only a few steps away from Chuan Nayi's room. In fact, during the transfer, he even smiled at his bros who were supposed to go and see him again before they go to school. After the doctor gave his parents the assurance that he would be fine, the staff left the parents to tend to their child.

Wu Qianqian then sat on the edge of Liu Xiaodan's bed. "Xiaodan, back at the elevator... did you see something?"

At this point, his friends hid behind the door, keeping it ajar. They originally wanted to meet their friend's parents, especially when they saw how much of a looker Mrs. Liu was. Then again, she began asking serious questions, and they felt bad for crashing at this moment. She looked like she would be broken if she couldn't make sure her honey was disturbed in any way.

"Xiao Qian, what is this?" Liu Li, who had been in denial of his son's strange truth-lies, frowned at the woman sitting at the edge. Instead of fighting and taking her away, he took the stool and sat down next to them. "Xiao Qian, don't bother him with those questions anymore. Don't you see how he never said anything about those things again?"

"Xiao Li, those nurses were so detailed in their story. What if something bothered them when we were away?" Wu Qianqian then patted Liu Xiaodan's arm. "Xiaodan, tell Mama. Come on, like always."

From their point of view, his parents couldn't see his friends... but Liu Xiaodan sure could. He blushed a little as he suddenly got treated like a little child. Then again, he had always known his mother as a sweet, kind, and cute soul. She would treat him like this even if he grew up to be a brusque forty-year-old or a senile seventy.

He only chuckled as he scratched his cheek. "Mom, please, you're embarrassing me in front of my friends." He then hollered at the doorway, "Hey, guys, what's the use of hiding? Come inside!"

The mother turned behind her to see that no one had come near. The father got up and checked the door, and they didn't think his father would really check if there was someone there. They continued hiding until they were faced with a glaring Liu Li.

He might be already fifty, but Liu Li's stature reflected his overflowing aura of superiority when he wanted to. His friends didn't know, but Liu Xiaodan's family was more well-off than he let on. They had their own company even though it wasn't big.

Liu Xiaodan was asked to have a degree and find wealth with his own skill; his father was only tasked to help him out with expenses before then. When Liu Li would be off to retirement, he would just sell most of his company so they still had a portion for their late-life luxuries. The company wasn't open to much growth, and so Liu Li didn't want to expand it any further.

At least he had given Wu Qianqian, his childhood sweetheart, the life he promised to her when they were kids. No hunger, no thirst; no sickness, no separation.

The son didn't feel bad about his father's decision either. His childhood was enough for him to shy away from the limelight and from people, only wanting to work behind the camera. Though being a successful director would make him famous, he thought differently.

If he was only successful and not phenomenal, he didn't have to be recognized by anyone at all.

Being faced with such a stalwart man, his brothers cowered while Ye Ling pushed Ruan Jin to start apologizing. They then flashed mischievous grins towards Liu Xiaodan.

Ruan Jin ran to the side and bowed towards the mother, soon followed by the other three. "Hi, Auntie, I'm Ruan Jin, these are Xu Disung and Wen Taio! We're Xiaodan's brothers from school! He's our master!"

"What Master are you guys talking about?!" Liu Xiaodan roared, throwing a pillow at them.

"Whoa, Xiaodan! Why are you throwing pillows already?! Weren't your arms torn?!" Xu Disung was the only one who forgot to evade since he was shocked by his action. Reflex or not, it should still hurt.

"T-Torn?" Wu Qianqian gasped before Liu Li patted her shoulder.

"Can't you guys be decent in front of my parents?!" Liu Xiaodan roared again, finally feeling a pang from his abdomen. Ah, that was a first. He only consoled the wound. "Gosh, you're ripping my stitches open."

"It's your fault for reacting too much, geez." Ruan Jin pouted before grinning at his mother again. "Erm, Auntie, Uncle, it's our first time to see you here. Xiaodan doesn't even go home during the weekends."

"Oh, we lived too far. We just heard that Ting University was the best for my son's dream course so we sent him here. He'd only grow tired if he had to go home every weekend." Wu Qianqian only nodded, having the feeling that something was weird with this boy.

She kept on being gravitated to look a bit to his left as if there was something there.

Liu Li took a seat next to Wu Qianqian, not happy with the gazes his wife was getting from those boys. What? They were awfully younger and more well-built than he was now. Their faces didn't have any wrinkles at all... even though he was a lot more good-looking than them when he was at their age. "Enough questions about us. Weren't you here for Xiaodan?"

Liu Xiaodan stifled his giggling as he noticed that his father was getting jealous. His mates weren't that ugly to the point that girls wouldn't even dare to date them. The only problem was that they were geeks that had bad grades, and most women in Ting didn't like dogs like that.

He then waved his hand. "Heheh, guys, I heard Nayi is here, too. Have you seen her?"

"Huh? Where would you hear that from?" Xu Disung twitched before covering his mouth like he discovered Liu Xiaodan doing something disgusting. "Man, were you flirting with the nurses in this place? How bold of you."

"What? You're dumping Nayi over the nurses?" Ruan Jin hopped on. Wen Taio only shook his head.

Liu Xiaodan only covered his face and shook his head. How shameless could his friends be in front of his parents? Then again, at least they weren't crying too hard right now. They had seemed to forget that Liu Xiaodan almost died at his arrival in the hospital... and that murders were yet to be solved.

"Xiaodan?"

A heavenly voice chirped from the door, and everyone turned to take a look. The boys' eyes widened as they saw Chuan Nayi in her crutches. A nurse was close behind her, in case she strained herself.

"Xiaodan..." Chuan Nayi bit down to keep herself from screaming, but her eyes managed to water again after passing out last night. She heard that Liu Xiaodan was still alive from Ruan Jin when they visited her after Li Yunru excused herself in great spirits.

"Nayi!" Liu Xiaodan cared too little about being seen as an alien. He grabbed the blanket covering half of him and tossed it away before he recklessly rolled off of the bed. He tried to get up, but the grave pain made him flinch. Damn, it seemed that his abdomen was in a worse state than his arms.

He only managed to kneel on the ground before realizing that Chuan Nayi ran towards him. However, her legs were still numb, and she crashed at him.

The nurse gasped as she was hoping this wouldn't happen. She called for other nurses before going inside the room. Wu Qianqian and Liu Li stretched their necks to see what happened since Liu Xiaodan dropped on the other side. Even his friends ran to the bed to see what happened to them.

"Xiaodan! Xiaodan!" Chuan Nayi continued crying as she felt so cursed since she entered that bathroom in their dorm room. That was the last time she saw Liu Xiaodan, and she thought it would have been the very last. Her cuts had healed, but her legs were still numb waist down.

Liu Xiaodan was doing a bit better than her, but his abdomen had bled from the exertion. Then again, the pain in his body was incomparable to the pain in his heart.

Both Guangru and Chuan Nayi's cries could create a vacuum in his heart, the pain making it hard for him to breathe.

He held Chuan Nayi in his arms as she wrapped hers around his back as she cried into his neck. Liu Xiaodan then tried his best to sit down and pull Chuan Nayi's legs so she could sit in a more comfortable position. He then took a deep breath and rose from the floor, carrying the girl before sitting on the bed.

Red painted his patient gown, but he cared too little as he shoved his face at Chuan Nayi's neck as well. Even his arms let go of her legs and had circled around her body for a tight embrace.

It was all too easy to forget pain, but composure was all too fragile for yearning hearts. They both knew that each other had survived death, and it was miraculous that they could still see each other again. Liu Xiaodan was doing a lot better since Guangru gave him the assurance he needed last night.

Chuan Nayi, however, only knew that he was struggling at death's door in the ER. Taking a walk was only a whim she had. Hearing Ruan Jin and the other's voices attracted her attention.

"Xiaodan, you're okay! Oh, my God!" She pulled back a little and wiped his fringe off of his face. Then, she felt that he was growing a bit too warm. His eyes then dimmed a little as he struggled to keep a smile. "Xiaodan?"

"Ah, Nayi. You might have to... stop looking." He chuckled as one of his hands grasped his own belly. Crap, his abdomen was generally too weak compared to his arms. He felt like the skin was torn again, and his organs would slip out if he moved.

Liu Li saw that blood had dyed his patient gown and the bed already. He was rapidly losing blood; he shouldn't have carried her. He roared at the nurses, "Call the doctors, quick!"

Only one ran off to find the doctor while the rest assisted Chuan Nayi to get off and for Liu Xiaodan to lie down. Blood flowed like a leaking drum from his abdomen, horrifying everyone else. The wounded man would cover up, but he instantly lost consciousness.

"Xiaodan!"