Chapter 6
" Threw over a bottle of syringe, spoiled alcohol, totally ruined the container of
calcium chloride and exposed the arm."
" The actual arm?"
" Hai, the human arm we were supposed to study. The exact same one that Natashi
waved " Hi" with."
" Didn't he cring at that?"
" Kid's nuts, remember?"
Yukito gritted his teeth. He was tired of hearing that phrase. Li Syaoran was not an animal!
" You baka." Said another student. " It wasn't the kid who did it. It was another
one. Touya's patient."
" Touya's? Touya's patient was a good one, I thought. What was her name? Marka.
Iie, wait, it was-"
" I need to find Syaoran. There's something going on, where is he?" Yukito asked.
" Well," Said the first student, " If he didn't wreck those things he should be in that
private custody room."
" He's still in private custody?" Yukito asked unhappily. " He should have been
released by now."
" Well, after he ran after you that night, and it was quite an amusing and touching
thing to think of! They decided he is not ready."
" Bastards." Yukito muttered as he entered the room.
Syaoran was quiet.
Too quiet.
Yukito tried to speak again but found he lost his voice. The boy remained huddled in the corner, not speaking, not listening, not seeing.
Tears were rolling down his cheeks.
He was weeping.
Yukito sighed and gathered the depressed child into his arms.
" Tell me, Jinyu, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything."
But this time there was something seriously wrong. For no matter how much Yukito tried, Syaoran wouldn't talk to him, would not speak of why he was so quiet, so sad, and so silent.
And that scared him more than anything.
" Child wouldn't talk." Yue sat down gracefully. " He wouldn't speak. I don't know
what to do."
" What do you suppose happened?" Eriol asked. Touya, Sakura and her friend
Tomoyo sat down beside him.
" I, I don't know." Yue sounded almost scared. " I didn't do anything, just brought
him back to the hospital, and then he just-just-this never happened before."
" Tell me," Touya began. " Did he act any different when you were driving him to
the hospital?"
" He was unhappy." Yue answered. " But he didn't pull back or anything."
" Maybe he felt betrayed." Eriol answered. " After all, he thought of you as a friend.
And you brought him back to the place he hates."
Yue was silent.
" What if he's sick?" Sakura suddenly spoke.
" Temperature's way too high." Said Yoko. " Give me a towel and soak it in cold
water."
Syaoran continued crying. He writhed.
" Relax, little one." Yoko said kindly. " You have a high fever, We're trying to get it
down, so relax."
" Yue..." Syaoran moaned, twisting his body and trembling.
" Yue will be here." Yoko assured him, and quickly nodded at one of the nurses to
call.
" Interesting how he shows that he's in trouble." Said one of the interns. " He goes
all quiet so people would pay more attention to him. Of course, that didn't really
prevent the pneumonia."
" How long?" Yoko asked.
" Twenty minutes." The nurse answered. Yoko nodded.
" Give me some rhino horn powder and the fish smelling leaf..."
" Believe me." Yukito sighed. " The kid is not going to drink it unless you put a lot
of sugar. Get some chocolate flavoring or something-ah, remember that he's a kid,
and he doesn't really have a logical reasoning sense. Just put a lot of sugar! I don't
care if he gets diabetes! And besides, just once wouldn't do much. Put a lot of sugar,
or perhaps-iie, how about this, Less concentration. I know it will make him feel
bloated. He'll drink five a day. You want less sugar for him? Less concentration!"
And that was really how they managed to make poor Jinyu drink the bitter medicine. Yukito first tested it to make sure it's cool and sweet enough, and then he gave it to Syaoran.
" I don't get it. Why don't you just give him antibiotics?"
" He's allergic to them."
" ...?????????"
" How awful!" One of the interns muttered. " Allergic to antiobiotics! That means
he's going to have oriental treatment for the rest of his life! What about aspirin?"
" He never tried." Yoko sat down.
" Ugh!" Touya muttered. " For the kid I lost some of my homework. I have a test
tomorrow! Five tests, in fact!"
" Go on with your five tests." Yukito answered bitterly. " Li Syaoran counts for
fifty percent of my grade in psychology. I don't know why I bothered to take that
crap in the first place, but I don't think I regret it just yet. Go on with your five
tests! Your Mariko counts for fifty percent of your grade too, and if you fail, well,
you'll have to take it again next year."
Touya realized that he made Yukito angry and decided to stay quiet.
" Gomen." He whispered. " I didn't mean it that way."
" And plus, Jinyu has to go home." Yukito stood up. " We can't have Li Yelan see
him like this, all mad and nuts!"
Riiing!
" Moshi moshi?" Touya said into the phone. There was a long moment of silence.
Syaoran lay in delirium for what seemed like forever. The room was empty
and silent.
He didn't bother opening his eyes. Opening his eyes would mean he's awake. Opening his eyes would mean he would have to face some kind of harsh reality.
There was a swish, and a silence. Syaoran remained unmoving. But his little
heart skipped a beat in apprehension. Someone was here. But how did they get in
without opening the door?
" Xiaodi sheng bing le."
" Bu qi guai ya! Zher dier hao zang ah!"
Syaoran thought for a moment. Mandarin. That was Mandarin Chinese. And
plus, it was Beijing accent. Only Beijing speakers add that " er" at the end of words.
" Ei yo!" He stiffened when a warm hand felt his forehead, although the hand felt
cold.
" Hao gao ah!" He heard, although he had no idea what was being said.
Whimpering, he withdrew a little.
" Don't be scared." He heard the same voice say in Cantonese. " We won't hurt
you."
His mind registered the words slowly. Reluctantly he opened his eyes.
At first everything had a tint of green to them. The greenish white ceilings. The green walls. Even the skin had a tint of green. But he froze and nearly gaped in awe. For above him were the faces of two most beautiful maidens. He blinked curiously. Are they angels?
This time when the woman touched his forehead again he felt safer. He
wanted them to stay. They must be one of the angels that Father was always
cursing. They look so nice and gentle. They wouldn't hurt him. They said so.
" Mama bu hui gao xing da."
" Shei guan ne? Hai zi gen na ge wang ba dan zhu le shi duo nian la! Shei de nao zi
dou hui..."
He heard a sigh. Slowly he began to understand.
" Ke lian de hai zi." He heard. " Poor child."
" Nnnnnnnn." Syaoran uttered before he could stop himself. He always uttered that
when he didn't want someone to leave.
The two women seemed to pick up on that. " Aww, little brother doesn't want us to go. But the nurses are coming. Don't worry, we'll come back right after they leave."
Before Syaoran could protest, they disappeared, leaving a very bewildered boy.
The nurses were quick to get out of there. Syaoran mumbled incoherent
phrases and it scared them. Soon the two women came back again.
" See, we told you." Said one.
Syaoran opened his eyes to see the same angels again. One of them lifted his
head up.
" Here, drink this. This will help you heal."
Syaoran parted his lips obediently and drank the sweet tasting soup. He closed his eyes contentedly.
The two sisters stayed with him all night.
" They saw two women appear out of nowhere." Touya explained. " And then they
disappeared. They didn't watch after that."
Yukito was silent for a moment. " Must be the immortals." He answered, and deep down his heart sank. " They're coming to take him home."
