Chapter 9

The car pulled out of the alley without slowing down. Jia Hao barely had time to see it coming at him. He flew off the motorbike, landing hard against the asphalt. Fortunately, his helmet protected his head from the impact.

He struggled to sit up. He felt pain all over. The car had left as if nothing had happened. He tried to remove his helmet but his left arm would not cooperate. It had come out of its socket in his shoulder and was throbbing with pain. He tried to assess what other damage he had sustained. A few cracked ribs and a cut on his leg that was bleeding badly. 

Jia Hao cursed as he got to his feet. He looked at his watch. He didn't want to be late for his appointment. And he didn't want to get there looking like that, he thought to himself. His black leather jacket had the left side cracked and pitted, and his trousers were torn and stained with blood. He picked up his mobile phone and stared at the screen. If she had called him to tell him she wasn't going, he would have thought it was because she didn't want to see him or that she had had second thoughts and backed out. Instead, it was quite the opposite. 

It was a couple of blocks to the agreed location. He returned to the bike and put it back on its feet. Unexpectedly, it started. He managed to get on the saddle and with his arm and leg still good, he drove to the appointment road. 

He slowed down. Mu Yang was standing still, leaning against his car and turned around when he heard the motorbike.

Jia Hao felt his heart skip a beat and realised he was holding his breath. He stopped the motorbike a couple of metres away from him and managed to take off his helmet. 'Sorry I'm late,' he said, although it was only a few minutes.

Mu Yang, however, had approached and was watching him with a wrinkled look. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing. An accident."

"Jia Hao, you're losing blood!" Mu Yang's voice was worried. The vampire tried to calm him down.

"It's nothing serious."

"Get in the car I'll take you to the hospital."

Jia Hao smiled. "Which one would you take me to? You know I can't come to yours."

"Don't you vampires have one?"

"Yes, but it is not necessary to go there."

Mu Yang huffed. "We'll discuss it in the car about where, now come with me."

Jia Hao however did not move. Mu Yang would not be able to enter the clinic reserved for vampires. He couldn't even tell him where he was. And he didn't want to spend their first date like that anyway.

''I'll take you to my house.''

Jia Hao looked at him and Mu Yang reciprocated "I trust you," he said without taking his eyes off hers. "Let's go."

The vampire nodded and began to limp towards the car. The werewolf put a hand under his shoulder and supported him. He opened the door and helped him in, then got into the driver's seat.

***

Mu Yang stopped the car in front of a small white cottage. He reached the passenger side and helped Jia Hao, who looked carefully at every detail: the well-kept lawn with flowering shrubs and bushes, the stone driveway, the forest green door. 

They entered a large living room with white walls. Mu Yang accompanied him to the glass and steel table and pushed aside one of the white chairs. "Sit here, I'll fetch the necessities to medicate you."

"I'll get it dirty," Jia Hao said, pointing at himself.

Mu Yang glanced at him and he sat down without further objection.

He returned a short while later and arranged gauze, instruments and other things on the table.

"First of all the leg. I have to cut the trousers. With scissors in hand, he waited for Jia Hao to give him the OK. 

The latter nodded. His heart began to beat faster as her fingers grazed his skin, and his breathing became short as Mu Yang took a gauze soaked in disinfectant and began to clean his thigh.

"Are you allergic to any medication?"

"No."

"The cut is deep and you've lost quite a bit of blood. I need to suture it, is that alright?"

Jia Hao nodded. She couldn't take her eyes off him.

Mu Yang took a syringe and injected him with a local anaesthetic, then began to stitch.

When he was done, he took off his gloves and put them in the small tray of things to throw away along with the bloodstained gauze. "Let me see your shoulder and arm now."

At his questioning look, Mu Yang lifted his shoulders, "I'm a doctor, remember?"

She helped him remove his jacket and shirt. "You have a dislocation. I have to put your arm back in place. Do you want me to give you a local anaesthetic? It will be painful."

Jia Hao shook his head.

Mu Yang took his arm and bent his elbow then began the rotation manoeuvres to put his humerus back in place.

The vampire gritted his teeth but said nothing.

"Don't move him. Now I will immobilise it for you. First tell me if anything else hurts."

"I'm fine, thank you."

Mu Yang looked at him, raising an eyebrow, then softly felt his side. Jia Hao jerked as he touched the ones that had received the impact with the road.

''They only look cracked. You would need an X-ray. Anything else hurting?"

"Nothing else, really."

The werewolf nodded, then went to another room and returned with clean clothes. After making him put on a white shirt, he bandaged his dislocated arm by tying it to his chest.

"I can't move like this!" exclaimed the vampire.

"You won't have to for a while," Mu Yang answered him. "I don't know the vampires' recovery time, but I'm afraid that, for a few days at least, your boss will have to do without you."

Jia Hao did not reply. The next day he would think about it, or, perhaps, he would simply take off the bandage and go back on patrol.

"I'll help you change your trousers."

The vampire lifted his head as Mu Yang was standing now and felt his own face blush up to his ears. "That is not necessary. I can do it myself," he exclaimed all too quickly.

The werewolf smiled. "Are you sure?"

"Of course!"

"Come, I'll show you the room where you can change" and, taking his trousers, led him to his bedroom. She turned on the light and left him alone, closing the door behind him.

Jia Hao looked at the large bed with its dark wooden base and no headboard and the few pieces of furniture, simple and of the same colour. On the chest of drawers was a photograph, which he moved closer to look at. There was Mu Yang with his family: mother, father and sister. They were all smiling. He put the photograph back in its place and placed the trousers on the dark grey duvet. Then he set about removing his own. With some difficulty, partly because of his cracked ribs, he managed to change and was able to return to the living room.

He smelt a sweet smell of food, which he followed until he found the werewolf at the cooker in the next room. The kitchen was modern and spacious, with a peninsula for eating. Mu Yang was preparing soy noodles with vegetables at the wok.

''A few minutes and it will be ready.''

Jia Hao felt his stomach growling. He hadn't realised he was hungry. "Can I help you?"

"Sit on a stool and rest."

He obeyed, and his eyes delighted in watching the young man with his back to him. Tall and slender, but with well-defined musculature. He moved at ease between the cookers.

The vampire was surprised at how comfortable he felt in the house he had never been in before. 

"Hello." Mu Yang interrupted his thoughts by placing two steaming plates of noodles on the counter. In a few moves he set the table with glasses, chopsticks, napkins and water.

"Sorry, I don't have any wine."

"That's OK," replied the vampire with a smile.

He waited until his guest had sat down, then tasted the noodles. He closed his eyes, savouring the taste. In their simplicity they were exquisite. "How come you didn't follow in your parents' footsteps?"

Mu Yang shrugged his shoulders. "I like cooking, but not by trade. My parents left me free to choose so I could undertake studies to become a doctor."

Mu Yang was saving lives... and he was taking them.

"You? How did you choose what you wanted to be?"

"When I was a child, there were hunters who killed some members of our community. I promised myself that when I grew up, I would make sure that this would never happen again."

"That was a noble and brave choice on your part."

Jia Hao looked at him questioningly. 

"Not everyone would endanger their own safety to save some stranger's life."

The vampire smiled. He liked that prospect: it made him look almost like a hero.

When they finished eating, Mu Yang stood up and began to clear the table. He took the plate he was carrying from Jia Hao's hands and ordered him to sit on the sofa.

The vampire was speechless. Never had anyone treated him like that and he did not understand how he must feel: flattered by the consideration he received or offended because he was considered weak. 

In Mu Yang's attitude, however, he did not perceive any intention to belittle him, but rather thoughtfulness towards him.

Still thoughtful, he went and sat down on the soft L-shaped sofa. Shortly afterwards, a steaming cup was placed in front of him. The scent of tea tickled his nostrils. He took the cup and followed the werewolf with his eyes as he sat down in turn.

Mu Yang leaned back against the backrest and took a sip of the drink with a satisfied smile. Then he turned to him. ''My shift starts in a couple of hours, do you want me to walk you home?

"That's not necessary, I'll call a taxi."

Mu Yang nodded.

Jia Hao regretted his answer. The werewolf had taken him to his own home and he still seemed to want to keep his own hidden. ''It's only so that you don't waste your time.''

Mu Yang smiled at him. "There's no problem."

There was. He didn't want her to think he didn't trust him. Because he didn't. "I would be grateful if you could drive me home."

"Jia Hao, that's not necessary."

"For me it is. I'm sorry, I really didn't want to inconvenience you further... I ruined the whole evening...."

"Is that what you think?"

Jia Hao looked at him as if he had said something obvious and blatant. "You had to take care of me and cooked for me instead of an evening at a comfortable venue."

Mu Yang placed the cup on the coffee table and looked at him. 'You allowed me to take care of you and you ate the food I prepared. You trusted me. It's much more than a night at a club."

Jia Hao was shaken by those words. The werewolf was younger than him, but already much more sag gio. He understood things about him that even he himself had not yet seen. 

Mu Yang picked up his own cup and continued drinking his tea.

Jia Hao shifted his gaze towards the window. He had never been good with feelings, especially his own, but he realised that he had to be more careful if he wanted Mu Yang to stay in his life.

***

Mu Yang pulled the car up in front of a newly built building.

'Take care of yourself,' he said.

Jia Hao nodded. "Thank you," he replied with a smile, then got out of the car and walked towards the entrance of the building.

He closed the door behind him and entered the silent flat. He hung up the jacket Mu Yang had lent him and headed for the bedroom. He took off his shoes and lay down. He felt too tired to change. He took the blanket and wrapped himself in it. He thought about the fact that he would have to feed on blood to heal, but the idea did not appeal to him at all. He had always done it out of necessity, tapping into the vein of some human, but, at that moment, the only blood he wanted to taste was that of Mu Yang. Though he had never heard of a vampire drinking werewolf blood.

Images of the evening, of his touch, accompanied him in his sleep and he finally fell asleep.