Title: Something's Happened in my Heart
Author: codegal
Author's Notes: OK, first and foremost, really sorry for not posting in like, for ages... Heheheh, I've had quite a hectic life lately... found some time in my busy schedule to write this up... I blame everything on my YueMuse, cause if he was doing his job, I'd have a chapter posted regularly... since my YueMuse is such a slacker, you're gonna have to put up with postings whenever I can manage it... Anyways, enough gabbering... on with the story...
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Chapter three
"Honey! I was so worried about you! Why didn't you tell me you were at the hospital? I could of come and gotten you earlier."
Sakura stared up helplessly at her stepfather's smiling face. Although it was smiling, she could see that his eyes were promising her retribution for running away. She moaned aloud at the thought of him taking the belt to her back again, and the crazed look that would always overcome his features when he was in the midst of his frenzy.
Noticing Sakura's sudden discomfort, the steward bent down and asked her what was the matter. Opening her mouth to answer him, Sakura was about to blurt out the truth when she saw her stepfather take a menacing step towards her, an evil glint filling his eyes, the signal which Sakura recognised as him losing his temper.
"N-nothing," Sakura whispered. The steward paused to study her face before shrugging and leaving her within the care of her stepfather. She watched him walk away, watched her only chance of escape disappear down the corridor. An overwhelming wave of fear filled her, despite their being amidst a throng of people in the very public front entrance of the hospital.
"You stupid bitch! Did you really think you could get away? I'll teach you never to run away again!" Her stepfather hissed.
"Please... Ron..." Sakura stuttered.
"Shut the fuck up!" Ron muttered, grabbing her hand and squeezing it, crushing her fragile bones. To others, it looked as if he were holding her hand, like a concerned parent would do, but Sakura knew otherwise as the pain shot up her arm. She couldn't quite keep in a low groan of anguish.
Ron gave her an evil grin. "Just wait til I get you home, then you'll really have something to moan about. Oh, yeah, and my buddies will be coming over. You know how much Lou likes to see you."
Tears filled Sakura's eyes as the nightmare that was her life began to reform. After the week of bliss that she had had away from Ron and with her tall, dark haired saviour, she was quite sure that she wouldn't likely survive this time around. She felt her chair being wheeled towards the exit door and knew that she was near the end.
--
"Where is she?"
The nurse behind the counter looked up in surprise at the tall man before her. "Where's who?"
Determined to stay calm, Li answered her question. "Sakura, the girl that was recently signed out by her doctor Ang Lee? She has emerald eyes and honey brown hair."
"Oh!" the nurse exclaimed and smiled at a now very impatient Li. "The last time I saw her, she was having a touching reunion with her stepfather. He signed her out and just wheeled her outside a few minutes ago."
Li stared in shock at the nurse before a cleansing anger filled him. "Son of a bitch!"
And with that, Li went sprinting out of the entrance hall, knocking a few out patients on the way. The nurse stared at the departed figure awhile before muttering, "well, I never."
--
Ron stopped the wheelchair next to his beat-up yellow datson. He opened the passenger door to the car and in a soft hiss, ordered her to get in. Sakura stared dumbly up at him, knowing for sure that if she got in, she'd likely die. And she didn't want that to happen without seeing Li at least one last time.
She looked around her with desperation, noting the handful of people waiting around outside in the pickup bay, either having a cigarette break or picking someone up. With her heart beating frantically at a mile per hour, she opened her mouth to scream for help when a sudden pain shot through her shoulder.
Sakura looked up at her stepfather's angry face as he applied even more pressure to her shoulder. "I don't want to have to tell you again, bitch. Get into the fucking car or I'll beat you so hard that you'll be praying for death."
Sakura promptly let out a scream.
Infuriated, Ron lifted his fist and slammed it against the side of her face. Blackness filled Sakura's line of vision. Knowing she was moments away from falling unconscious, Sakura whimpered in defeat. It was too late for her, and now, she was going to get it.
--
Li came to an abrupt stop as he watched the tall, slightly graying man casually slam his fist against Sakura's head, knocking he out. He watched as she slumped lifelessly in her chair, her face pale, her form looking so small and pitiful that it hurt his heart just to look at her.
It wasn't until that same man turned his attention on Li that he realised he had let out a loud roar of fury. Looking again at Sakura's limp form sprawled in the wheelchair, Li let the anger consume him, let it rise to an unbearable peak, until finally, he felt his control snap and all rational thought flee his intellectual mind.
With his sights locked on Sakura's stepfather, he strode towards him purposefully, his movements much like a predator closing in for the kill. He grabbed the man's neck in a choke hold and squeezed the air out of him before slamming him against the side of his car.
Yelling loudly, the man grabbed onto Li's own hands, trying desperately to loosen the deathly grip on his neck. His legs kicked the air in a futile effort to break free before his body shuddered and went limp, its lack of oxygen causing the man's body to shut down.
It wasn't until the man's face had turned a deathly blue did Li finally regain any semblance of control. Shaking his head, he let go of the man he had been holding and blinked in surprise at the crowd that had gathered around him. Pushing through the crowd, he made his way over to where Sakura still lay unconscious.
Dropping down onto his haunches, he haze tenderly at Sakura's upturn face and gently brush the bangs that covered her face. He was both overjoyed and relieved to feel her steady breathing against the back of his hand. Li was about to lift her into his arms and go home when a tap on his shoulder begged his attention.
Turning around, he found a uniformed police man standing over him. "Excuse me sir, but I'm afraid you're going to have to come down with me to the precinct to answer some questions."
Sighing, Li ran a hand through his hair before muttering an oath. Nodding a few moments afterwards at the police officer, he reached inside his suit pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He rang the office. After a few rings, Eriol's cheery voice rang a greeting through the phone.
"I need to ask a favor from you."
--
After a gruelling hour of questioning at the police station, Li was finally permitted to go home after a stern warning from the commander in chief who threatened to lock him up if he were to cause any trouble again. Shrugging off the threat, Li exited the building and hopped into the waiting limo, leaving Eriol to close off any other business concerning the earlier incident.
Inside the limo, he sat next to Sakura's sleeping form, curled up on the back seat. Eriol had bought her from the hospital after checking that she was ok. He watched her quietly, watched the way her bangs would flutter around her face when she exhaled a breath, watched the way her mouth would slightly part open during sleep.
Reaching over, he gently brushed his hand through her hair and was both surprised and delighted when she moved instinctively closer to his hand, sighing in what he guessed was pleasure. Feeling the urge to smile, he bent closer to the sleeping Sakura, wanting to peer at her face closer.
"Ah, I see what's going on, now."
Quick as a bolt, Li jerked back from his bent position and feigned and air of casualty while brushing off some imaginary flint from his suit. "What's going on?"
Eriol gave a knowing smile before sliding into the limo and tapping on the glass window. Immediately, the car went into the motion, and the quiet hum of the engine filled the enclosed space. "Now I know why I was dragged from work to bail you out of the police station. Its this woman, isn't it? The one you were talking about earlier."
Li clenched his jaw and stared out the window. "I don't know what you're talking about. And, she's more a girl then woman."
Eriol stared at his business partner then looked down at the sleeping woman in front of him. He noticed the way Li's hand continually crept forward to brush against her hair, a gesture that surprised him, seeing as his long time friend rarely showed any gesture of affection or tenderness, let alone the emotion.
Thinking back over the years together, Eriol couldn't remember a single instance in where Li would go to great lengths such as visiting a female who he barely knew at a hospital and paying for her treatment. With exclusion, of course, to his cousin Mei Lin. A smile crept onto Eriol's face as he turned his attention back to Li.
"Sure, Li. Keep telling yourself that, maybe in time you'll actually believe it."