When Ivan woke he found himself in an unfamiliar, but familiar room. It didn't take him long to realize he was in a hospital, the medical supplies and white walls gave that away immediately. But it wasn't the fact that he didn't know exactly where he was that unsettled him, it was the fact that he alone in a room and he didn't know where Yue was that disturbed him.

'I have to get out of here and find Yue.' He thought to himself. 'I can't let a record of me being here be taken.'

No one else was around so the only noise that filled his ears was the monotonous beep of the heart monitor he was connected to. Ivan tried to pull himself off the bed, but was met with resistance in the form of restraints around his wrists, holding him down against the hospital bed. Ivan didn't like being bandaged to anything, he had enough experience of that to haunt him for several lifetimes. He used all his strength to pull at the restraints, but no, matter what he did they would not budge. He instead felt his strength incredibly weakened. Ivan guessed that he had been given either sedatives or painkillers, meaning he had been drugged and consequently had his strength zapped. His struggle only then became more intense, as his desire to leave increased since his defenses have been taken down. The sound of footsteps alerted him that someone was drawing nearer to the door. He saw a shadow through the cloudy glass and just as the door opened, he finally managed to slip one of his large hands out of its restraint. Without even look at who was opening the door, Ivan grabbed the closest thing to him, a scalpel, and hurled it with the precise precision of throwing a knife. Yet the drugs had caused his aim to be off by a mere centimeter, instead hitting the wall just beside the head, and thank God it did, because the person who walked in, was Yue, tupperware in her hands, and shock on her face.

"Yue!" Ivan said joyously and tried to immediately jump up from the bed and embrace her, but was of course stopped by the last restraint of his left wrist. Instead, Yue took the initiative.

"Ivan! You're awake, aru!" She cried out in what seemed to be sure relief and happiness as she ran over to him, quickly throwing the tupperware down on a nearby chair and almost literally jumped on top of him to pull Ivan into as big of a hug as she could give. The second she hugged him he wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her close to chest, as she began to cry on his shoulder. Ivan let himself finally relax his nerves, calming down somewhat from his previous panic, but still keeping his location in the back of his mind. He found himself puzzled.

"What happened?" He asked softly.

Yue opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a man who walked in as they were talking.

"You were found in your kitchen covered your own blood." A man dressed in a black slacks and a white button informed him. He wore a belt that held a walkie talkie, gun, and handcuffs; Ivan guessed that he was a police officer, which did not sit well with him, but he did his best to not appear on edge as to not raise the officer's suspicion of him.

"So Mr. Ivan Braginski-" Ivan's ears perked up at the officer's use of his last name as he never gave it to anyone, not even to Yue, and he didn't care any sort of identification. Somehow they knew who he was, which means there was nothing else he could do to prevent them from finding out he's here. "I came here to ask you you a few questions."

"Okay." Ivan responded.

"First: What were you doing prior to the incident?"

"Making a sandwich."

"What or who caused your injury?"

"I did."

"Why did you do that to yourself?"

Ivan did respond right away, he didn't want to give the reason why, especially when Yue was there. He never liked talking about his childhood, or anything that happened when he was young at the hands of his father to anyone. Yet he knew that if he didn't he would only lengthen the time he was in this cop's presence. A light squeeze from Yue's small hand made him turn towards her, where she gave him a light encouraging smile, to which he returned with gratitude. She deserved to know about his past, it was about time he told her, but not in the presence of a cop.

"Because I was having an attack… you see… I have... PTSD."

"May I ask what from?" The cop intruded. Ivan couldn't help but to give him a light glare.

"I fail to see how that is any of the law enforcement's business."

"It will help with the report sir."

"No comment." Ivan asserted, in no way willing to tell this officer something he doesn't deserve or need to know.

"Very well then. The last thing I need is an ID and proof of your legality." The officer changed the subject.

On the outside, Ivan didn't show an ounce of change in facial expression, mood, or tone; the only thing he could give thanks to his past was his ability to hide his emotions and intentions. But on the inside he was panicking due to my massive trepidation. Ivan was illegal and now he was being confronted by a cop asking for identification. There was little he could do, but it dawned on him that there was one person who could possibly help him. Yue's uncle. He knew Ivan was illegal, so there must be someway he could help him, right?

"Forgive me, but I don't have it on me. Could I possibly bring it to the station on a later date? I am not fit to go retrieve it at the moment." Ivan said in a calmly mannered voice. The officer eyed him hesitantly for a moment, then gave a look at Yue.

"Why don't you have your girlfriend bring it to the station tomorrow before four?" The man suggested to them. Yue blushed at the title but nodded anyway, while Ivan remained neutral.

"That should fine, but she is a student at the local University, so it would be cutting it close." Ivan noted to the man.

"As long as it's before four, then it should be fine." He confirmed, then the two of them alone with a quick "Good night", pointing out the fact to Ivan that it was now nighttime. When the police officer left it brought out an air of silence between them, neither know exactly what to say what needed to be said between them. Ivan leaned back on his bed, but struggled to get comfortable. At the sight of his discomfort, Yue got up from her seat to rearrange his pillows to accommodate him.

"Thank you." Ivan said. Yue smiled and nodded at him, then went over to the tupperware box she had thrown out of her hands when she came in.

"I made you some pirozhki, you said it was your favorite dish, aru." Yue hesitated as walked over and handed the plastic box of food over too him. "I had to look up the recipe online, aru. I hope I did it right."

Ivan took the tupperware from her hands, it was warm, took off the lid, and was met with the tasty aroma of warm bread and meat. The pirozhki looked sloppy, obviously made by unprofessional hands, but it made Ivan smile. Taking the meat bun in his hands, Ivan took a large bite, filled with delicious flavor. It almost brought tears to his eyes, it's been too long since he had his favorite food.

"It taste great Yue, you have my gratitude."

Yue smiled, so did he.

"Visiting time ends in about twenty minutes, aru. They won't let me stay because were not related or married." Yue told him in a slightly disappointed tone. Ivan frowned when he heard that she'd have to leave soon, but it was soon overcome by a face of seriousness, which seemed to confuse Yue. Giving a quick look around the room, Ivan noticed the security camera in the left corner, no doubt they could see and hear what was going on in this room. He'd have to be swift and crafty.

"Yue, lie down with me." Ivan told Yue in a slightly commanding tone.

"E-excuse me? Ivan, I don't think that's appro-"

"Just do it." He cut her off, not having much time. Gingerly, Yue got up from her seat once again and awkwardly crawled into the bed with him, lying down next to his left side. Ivan laid down flatter on the bed and wrapped his left arm around her shoulders. Yue rested her head on his chest and quickly became calm, almost as if their position was the most natural thing. The feeling of Yue lying down with him brought such an amazing feeling of serenity to him that he nearly forgot the purpose of their lying down together. Bringing his face close to her ear he closed his eyes, making it look like he was simply resting with his lover. This was his chance.

"Yue, don't reply, the security cameras are watching us, just listen. I need you to got to your uncle and ask for a fake green card and identification for me. I'll explain everything later, just remember this information: Name- Ivan Braginski; date of birth- December thirtieth, nineteenXX, Moscow, Russia. Take this information carefully and go."

Yue turned her head to look into his eyes, a twinge of fear in the depth of the golden brown. Ivan gave her pleading look through his amethyst eyes, begging for her to trust him. It took several moments of her search for any danger or deceit, but eventually she smiled, and got up from the bed, leaving him cold once more.

"Rest well and regain your strength, aru." She told him as she walk over to the coat rack and slid on her red jacket and hat. Turning back she gave him a soft smile and a warm gaze, to which Ivan returned in favor. "I'll see you tomorrow. I'll even bring you breakfast."

"I look forward to it." Ivan chuckled and waved goodbye as the little Chinese woman left his room. Once she was gone he continued to eat the rest of the pirozhki she had made for him, but not even it's sweet flavor could distract him from his uneasy feeling of foreboding. When they put his name and information into the hospital files, it won't take long for them to realize he's in Seattle. He had two weeks at the most, so the question now was, does he leave and abandon Yue, or does he stay and risk be found by them? Either way Yue was in danger, if he left they'd surely discover that he had connections to her, if he stayed it'd be all the more obvious how much he cares for her. His sadistic father would surely would enjoy destroying everything he hold dear, all the more worst that she was Chinese. Ivan doesn't know what happened in his past that has lead him to hate them so much, something about a powerful Chinese gang, the Tridads or something. Either way he wouldn't hesitate to torture her if they ever met. Ivan would have to be careful.

The bell of her uncle's shop rang frantically as Yue shoved the door open and bolted inside yelling, "Líng shū! Líng shū!". Her uncle quickly came rushing out from the basement to meet his panicking niece.

"Xiǎo yuè, wǒ yǐjīng gàojiè nǐ bùyào zài xiàbān hòu dào diàn lǐ lái." The older man warned her. (Little Yue, I've told you not to come to the shop after hours)

"Wǒ zhīdào, dàn zhè shì jǐnjí qíngkuàng!" (I know, but it's an emergency!)

"Tā shì shénme?" (What is it?)

"Yī fán xūyào nǐ de bāngzhù. Tā bù héfǎ, wǒ jīntiān dài tā qù yīyuàn, dànshì jǐngchá juàn rùle. Nǐ néng wéi tā zhìzuò yī zhāng jiǎ lǜkǎ hé shēnfèn zhèng ma?" (Ivan needs your help. He isn't legal and I took him to the hospital today, but the cops got involved. Can you create a fake green card and ID for him?)

"Dāngrán shì de, dàn zhè xūyào wǒ yīduàn shíjiān. Tā shénme shíhòu xūyào tā?" (Yes of course, but it will take me sometime. When does he need it?)

"Dào míngtiān sì diǎn." (By four O'clock tomorrow.)

"Hǎo de, dào nà shí wǒ jiù wánchéngle. Fàngxué hòu fàngxué ba" (Okay I'll have it done by then. Just pick it up after school.)

"Xièxiè shūshu." (Thank you uncle.)

"Qīn'ài de, bù kèqì." (You're welcome, my dear.)

With that done, Yue's uncle sent her on her way back home, never wanting her to stay in her shop after hours for too long. Always says he's too busy taking care of 'business'. Yue didn't complain and complied, leaving for home.

It had been a rough, long day and Yue was happy she could finally go home and relax. The police had left her apartment, done with documenting the kitchen scene and interview the neighbors, and herself.

The apartment was dark, even after she turned on the lights, the atmosphere just seemed dimmer and more lonely. Today was a day of firsts it seems, because this was the first night that Yue had to spend alone in her apartment since she knew Ivan, and in her entire life, Growing up with such a big family Yue was used to loud, obnoxious noise. This silence was off putting and unwelcoming to her. Deciding to just have a fast and ready meal of simple top ramen, Yue skipped her shower and retired early. Eager to wake up soon so she could visit Ivan in the hospital.

Finding out he wasn't legal had surprised her, learning he had PTSD even more so. It even scared her for a moment, reminding her that she didn't truly know this man. Yet, seeing the look in his eyes calmed her nerves and reassured her.

She had been denying it for a while now, but she now knew that she was beginning to fall for the Russian. Whoever he is or whatever he was, it didn't matter so long as he is the Ivan she knows now.

Still, there were questions and mysteries looming over that neither of them had been able to uncover the truth for. This connection and desperation they held for each other was uncanny and slightly unhealthy, but as long as they were together, Yue no longer cared for her sanity.

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Well that took longer than expected to write, just kept getting side tracked. No racism in this fic, it all has to do with the plot. Ivan's entire past will be revealed in the next chapter, so keep in tune and look forward to that. See ya.

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