He tried his best to help Yelena recover. Even though he was successful, it was no easy feat.

He worked his ass off, just so you know!

With the ups and downs he had to experience throughout all of that, he felt like he aged about a couple of decades by the end of it all. The same must be for Yelena also. With how tired out she looked now, Lin Ye had a hunch he was right on this.

However, if it meant she could hug him like this alive, he would gladly go through all of that all over again.

However, he did not like the things that happened after their hug though.

With how desperate he was at the time, he had to act quickly and needed to undress Yelena. At the time, he did not care about such things. In the eyes of a doctor who was trying to save a life, every patient them were genderless.

So now, she was only wearing a bra while she was hugging him.

It's not like he minded it. With what she had to experience, he would gladly hug her as long as she liked.

What was bothering him was, that there was a group of people staring at him while he was hugging Yelena. With her being almost naked, it was quite an awkward situation that he was in at the moment.

Lin Ye didn't know why this was happening to him.

Maybe Terra just despised him for some reason?

So now, with Yelena in his arms, Lin Ye was staring at the person in front of the group and vice versa.

In Flake's case, he did not know what to do.

After they got through that damn Sankta sniper, they were about to get back to their sister's side.

However, when he and the group got back inside the bar, what greeted them was a woman that had the same hair as his sister.

"... I'll stall you all."

That was all they got from the mystery person.

And stall they were.

No matter how hard they tried, the group was held back by said the lady.

The weirdest this was, she looked like she was holding back on them.

However, after a while of them struggling, they got through with her.

They searched all over the backside of the bar. Every nook and cranny.

Seeing no sign of their sister on the ground, they went up.

And what they first saw on top of a roof was their sister, almost naked, being hugged by the man that beat them down.

As the shock of seeing his sister with his attacker settle down, he realized something.

Something important.

This man was touching his sister.

And there was no sign of frost on his body.

Only one person could do this, based on his sister's reaction to him.

The man that saved her.…

An awkward silence surrounded the group.

The Yetis looked at each other and nodded.

Flake then slowly broke the silence.

"Errr… Umm," He tried to pick the best thing that he should say in this situation, "... I leave you two some privacy… We'll go down for now…"

As the group slowly excused themself, walking down the stairs, the man stopped and stared at Lin Ye.

"... Take your time." He walked away from the scene after that.

With that, Lin Ye and Yelena were left alone with each other on top of the roof.

Just when Lin Ye was about to say something, he heard shouting beside him.

He turned his head…

"Lin Ye! Where are you?! What is going on there! Don't go quiet on me! If you don't tell me what's going on there-so help me!-I will kill you!"

… And saw the screams were coming from his phone.

While Yelena was still in one of his hands, he picked up the phone and brought it near his ear.

"Call you later."

He then immediately ended the call, not giving Warfarin a chance to respond.

He was too tired to deal with her now. At least Skadi and Exusiai were not here.

After signing at his misfortune, he glanced back at Yelena that was still in his arm.

Her silver eyes pierce into his blacks.

Yelena then checked her body and saw that the crystals that she was used to seeing on her were now gone.

She did not feel cold.

While she was doing her own thing, Lin Ye glanced at her body. She did not look embarrassed at all in their situation. However, that did not mean it did not affect him.

The sight of her… parts… being so exposed… made his cheeks a bit hot.

"How…" She then glanced back at him, "How did you save me?"

He did not answer her. He slowly pushed Yelena so that she was able to sit upright.

When he was sure she was able to gain a bit more strength he let go of her shoulder and stood up.

Yelena looked at him confusingly.

He took her clothes that were near him and handed them to her.

"Here… Wear them… You must be cold…" He turned his face away from her, "... I did not see much… So you don't need to worry… But if it means anything to you… Sorry for looking."

Yelena glazed at her clothes and then back to his back.

She then noticed that his ears were a bit red.

A smile slowly made it to her face and a giggle came out of her.

She stood up and slowly put her clothes back.

"Do you still care about that?" She asked while she was changing.

"... Should I not?" Lin Ye fired a question back at her. He opened his phone again, "...I need to do something first, so take your time."

He then messaged Warfarin, Skadi and Exusiai about his situation. He did not need to make them worry about him more.

However, if he had to guess, Warfarin was more worried about Yelena's state while Euxisiai was only worried about him because it will affect her salary.

For Skadi… He liked to think she was really worried about him.

When he finally was done messaging all of them, he noticed the sound of Yelena changing was now gone.

He turned around and saw Yelena, now fully dressed, standing and staring at him at arm's length.

"... Am I seeing things?" Smiling at her, Lin Ye raised his eyebrows, "Or did you become smaller? Maybe it's just that you're wearing baggy clothing. Are you eating well?"

True to what he was telling her, from what he remembered what she looked like before, she was much skinnier now. While he was still smiling at her, he was still a bit worried about her state.

Hearing his question, Yelena's eyes widened. Then her expression slowly softened into a small smile.

"I... Could say that I am eating fine…But that would be lying…" She told him, "I… been through a lot but I can deal with it… But… Thanks for worrying about me…"

"Is… that so?" He smiled back at her. Then he adopted a more stern look, "But promise me that you'll take care of yourself more."

She was about to say that she was fine but she was stopped when Lin Ye placed his hand on her cheek.

"I am going to stop you there," He stared at her firmly, "I know when you are about to lie."

Yelena stared into his eyes, shocked at how easily he saw through her.

She lowered her gaze and leaned into his hand.

...Warm.

"How did you know?" Muttering, she asked while he stared at him, "Was I that easy to read?"

Lin Ye's expression softened.

"In a way, yes," He chuckled, "Your ears always flop a bit when you are about to lie."

She didn't even notice that about herself.

Ah… He's the same as always…He's really here.

As the both of them were enjoying their moment, Yelena noticed an empty container beside them.

Lin Ye followed her eyes and saw it too. The smile on his face slowly disappeared as he stared at it.

He let go of Yelena and bent to it. He picked it up and showed it in front of her. There was still some red liquid in it.

"Is that…" As he guessed, Yelena asked him about it, "That thing that saved me?"

Yelena stared at him hopefully, "That cured me?"

He sighed at her question.

Obviously, she wanted to know about this.

The only thing was that he did not know how he was going to answer this question of her.

The L-Cell drug.

The hope of Terra.

This new drug could save the world from the disease that destroys so many lives.

Oripathy.

This drug was still in its research phase. It was nowhere near ready for it to be sold to the world.

Only a few people knew of its existence.

Those people were him, Kal'tsit and Warfarin.

If more people knew about this drug, it was like he was painting a target on Rhodes Islands' back. His life will always be in danger.

We wanted to tell Yelena about the drug but. He can't…

… Guess, I just have to wing it then.

He swayed the empty test tube in front of both of them, "Yeah… This was the reason why you are still here with me."

Yelena's eyes changed immediately. Those orbs of her changed from hopeful to excited in seconds.

"You mean." She frantically stared at the test tube then to him, "This drug that can cure Oripathy, even if it is at the worst phase like mine was?"

"I… I want to say yes, I really do, but it's complicated," Seeing how she was acting, Lin Ye hated to say this to her, "So far, from the testing that we did, only you have survived."

"...What do you mean?" The light in her eyes slowly dies.

"It was like I said,'' Pocketing the test tube into his pocket, Lin Ye sighed, "From what we gathered from our testing, this drug has the ability to cure Oripathy. However, the side effects of this drug are even more dangerous than Oripthay. The drug will actively kill the host. The chance of a patient surviving the aftereffect of the drug, before you, was non-existent."

Lin Ye could see how disappointed Yelena was when she heard this. It troubled him seeing her in this state.

"Then…" Placing her hand on her chest, she asked him, "Why am I still alive?"

She looked at him desperately, hoping that there was a chance to cure the root of almost all of this world's problems.

The image of a hooded entity played in his mind.

"I… do not have an answer for you," Lin Ye sighed, "Maybe a god finally gave me a chance to save someone dear to me?"

Even though she was touched hearing this from him, that was not the answer that she was looking for.

This was a serious matter for her and every Infected in the world.

There was a cure for Oripathy.

Her condition when she was an Infected, the idea that she was used to being one was something that she still had a hard time wrapping her head around, she was in the worst state that an Infected could be.

It did not delay it, the drug cured her.

She repeated, cured her.

She knew, more than anyone, how valuable this drug was.

This drug could possibly save every Infected in this world!

Lin Ye noticed how quiet Yelena was now. He was sure she was thinking about how important this new drug was to the world. She was a clever woman, so it came as no surprise to him that she already figured it out.

Having said that, most of the women that he meant were all geniuses in a sense.

Then the image of Lappland came into his mind.

… She's… a genius in her own special way…

"Although I know you want to ask more," Lin Ye started to talk again, snapping Yelena from her thoughts, "But I think you already know most of the answers that you want. The drug is nowhere near done and only a few people knew of its existence. You are one of them. Before we can finally be sure this drug is safe to use, we can't let the public know of it yet."

She thought about what he told her and asked, "This drug… Is it being made by a big company?"

"No…" He hesitated, "Compared to them, we are just a small workshop."

"Small workshop?" Yelena frowned slightly. Then she asked, "Are you working with them?"

Lin Ye originally wanted to say no but stopped himself.

He felt like he did not need to lie to her more than he already did by now. Even though Yelena would not know if he was lying or not. It just felt wrong for him to lie to her.

"... You can say that," After much hesitation, he finally gave her an answer, somewhat vague but an answer nonetheless.

Seeing how troubled he looked she understood that this must be a touchy subject for him. She nodded at him to continue.

"And about the subtense that I used on you," He looked at the empathy tube in his hand, "It was far from the safest thing I used on you."

"In other words, you use a drug that is still in development to save my life?" Yelena guessed.

He flinched at what she said.

"If you word it like that, I did do something dangerous," He sighed at this, "Sorry."

"I am not ungrateful for what you did for me," Hearing this from him, Yelena shook her head. "You saved my life, there is no debate on that. Though, I still have some questions to ask you."

"Fired away," He showed her a small smile, bracing himself, "I answer the best that I can."

"... The drug that you use," After hesitation, Yelena started, "Do you still have more? Can I have more of it? I am willing to pay."

He knew this was coming. With Yelena being her, this came as no surprise hearing this from her. With how hopeful she was right now, he really hate to give his answer to her.

"Sorry but I don't," Lin Ye shook his head at her. Yelena's face slowly dropped and was about to say something to him but he cut her off, "It's not that I do not want to give you them, not entirely though, it's still in development so it's still not safe to use."

After hearing this, Yelena stared at him for a while.

"... You said not entirely that," She closed the distance between the two, "What do you mean?"

"Caught that, huh," He showed her a troubled smile, "I hope you don't tell anyone else about the existence of this medicine, even the closest people that you know. Because once this drug is known, the consequences will be very serious. I believe that you understand what I am trying to say."

Although Yelena had long guessed Lin Ye's answer, however when he said it, she still felt indescribable disappointment. So she did not directly agree to Lin Ye's request but asked him some more.

"Since you knew the importance of this drug, then why did you risk using it on me? Aren't you afraid that after I save my life, I will betray you someday?"

"If it was someone else, I would agree with what you said without much hesitation," Lin Ye smiled at her, "However, the one that I help is you, not someone else. If that was not the case, I would not have tried my hardest to help you to begin with, Yelena."

Hearing this, Yelena's eyes widened. She was about to say how naive he was, how he should trust her so easily.

However, something stopped her from doing so.

When she looked at Lin Ye, the small smile that he had on his face never left, she saw that he truly believed what he just said. He truly trusted her.

Seeing that, her words died in her mouth.

Thump.

Her heart quickened a bit.

She however quickly focused back on their conversation. For what she felt just now…

She would be bothered with it later.

"... I understand," As the wind picked up around them, blowing her hair behind her, Yelena quickly hid her surprise from him. However, a light dust of red was still visible on her cheek for Lin Ye to see, making him smile, "Don't worry, you saved my life twice now. I owe you two lives. I will never do anything against you-."

"I know." He chuckled at her.

... Her cheeks did not feel warm when hearing this from him.

"... It may be so. However, I still want to tell you something."

Seeing how serious she was now, he focused his attention solely on her, "I am all ears."

Yelena then slowly grabbed one of his hands with hers.

He still feels so warm.

"... If you really have a way to change the fate of Infected, please go all out." She lowered her gaze and muttered to him, "My men and I will also be on your side."

Silence enveloped both of them

If Yelena was to be honest with herself, she was scared.

She was scared that he would refuse her offer.

However, this thought disappeared as fast as it appeared in her when she felt something.

She gazed down at her hand and saw that he was holding it firmly in his.

She lifted her head and saw him smiling at her.

Thump...

There it was again. Her heart quickened.

"Duly noted," He chuckled, "You will be the first to know if we get any breakthrough."

Her eyes widened.

Why was he like this?

And, what matters more, why was she like this now?

Why did her body act like this when she was near him?

Like how warm her body felt.

Like how she was not scared of him.

Like how her heart would often quicken with everything he said about her.

Like how her body slowly inched closer to him.

Her body was moving on its own.

What's worse, she did not mind it.

However, this was all short-lived.

The pleasant silence was broken when a noise came from his pocket.

He let go of her hand, his warmth still lingering on it, and pulled out his phone.

He read something on it and sighed.

His gaze then went back to her.

"I would love to talk with you some more to talk to you more but I need to get to my group. It looks like they are worried," He told her, then he lent his phone to her, "Can you save your phone number on mine? It would be much easier to talk to you later."

"I understand," She smiled at him. Then she went and saved her phone. She gave his phone back to him. He gladly took it and put it back into his coat pocket.

Both of them stared at each other now.

"It looks like this is goodbye."

"To me, this is more of a see you later kind of situation," He chuckled, making her smile, "However, there is still something you want to ask."

"I do?" This caught her off guard, "What's it?"

"Like my name?" He chuckled, "You only told me yours and back then you were never interested in knowing mine."

"Ah." This was true. At the time they first met, she was still wary of him and she did not bother to ask about his name.

"So an introduction is needed from me." He chucked.

"Hello Yelena, my name is Lin Ye," He smiled at her, "Next time just call me Ye."

He then noticed something was off when he told this to her. Her expression seemed troubled.

"... Lin Ye."

{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}

Draft: Jaq

Proofread: Jaq

Edit: jaq