Chapter 290: The Breaking Point
The big white curtain covering the window of Li Mei’s room waved upward and wobbled in the air when the door hissed open.
Chilled air swept through the slightly open door as the hallway light blasted on Leon and made his shadow stretch on the floor.
The bones in his legs buckled when he first saw the ventilator at the left side of the bed. ’Mom?’
His eyes moved frantically in their sockets as he took soft steps forward.
The beeping sound from the ICP monitor flashed into Leon’s ears like Li Mei’s hum and pulled his attention toward it in an instant.
Leon’s hands trembled as he placed them on the bed’s bars. All the hair on his skin rose on end when he saw how pale and thin his mother had become.
Tiny particles danced in the IV fluid when the rays of the sun fell on it.
The moment Leon walked to Li Mei’s right side, his entire energy vanished from his body. He collapsed on his knees and screamed heavily. "WHY!"
The ticks of medical machinery replied back with a mocking tone as the scream escaped from the room. Leon remained glued to the floor and began clawing the cold sheet of the mattress as if wanting to rip it open to give Li Mei back her warmth.
Every nurse, patient, or visitor in the entire Bastion hospital froze when they heard the scream.
Cracks and puffs of dust lingered at every section of the hospital when loud banging sounds began to blast from the third floor, where the VIP rooms were.
Zoe stood at the front of the large wall mirror inside the ground floor’s washroom with her head bowed and eyes closed.
"Zoe."
A voice that sounded too real to be Li Mei’s and too thin to be Lily’s flew by her left ear.
Her palms glowed with her pink Soul-bloom when she cracked her eyes open. Beside her reflection, a pale version of Li Mei stood at her left, while a slightly glowing ghostly form of Lily stood at her right.
Zoe slowly raised her head when a cold palm touched her shoulder. But when she turned, no one was there. "Who is there?"
The lights of the washroom flickered once and calmed while faint pale smoke seeped under the washroom’s door.
"Aunty Zoe."
The glowing Soul-bloom vanished when Zoe saw Lily’s ghostly figure beside her reflection. "Lily."
She moved a step forward and pressed her palms on the glass sill.
Li Mei’s pale ghostly form materialized beside her when Zoe tilted her gaze slightly to the left. "Aunty Li Mei."
The two glowing and pale ghostly figures wrapped their hands around Zoe and turned toward her.
"Leon needs you right now, Zoe."
Zoe cupped her face in her palms, then shook her head. "No, no. He won’t be pleased to see me. I failed to protect both of you."
Lily’s ghostly figure’s eyes glowed when she lifted her gaze upward and watched the tears fall from Zoe’s cupped face.
"Aunty, brother won’t be mad at you." She leaped in the air and placed her small hands on Zoe’s shoulder.
When Zoe lowered her palms and cracked her eyes open, only Li Mei’s ghostly figure stood at her side. Lily’s own had dissipated and vanished into tiny sparks into Zoe’s silver-grey hair.
"It wasn’t your fault this happened to us, Zoe. It was never your fault."
Li Mei’s ghostly figure turned toward the washroom’s exit and vanished in seconds.
Zoe’s eyes remained locked on her own reflection when she shifted her gaze from the exit and back to the glass sill.
...
Outside the hospital, the rays of the mid-afternoon sun splashed on a black BMW parked beside the hospital’s wall.
A black hoodie remained clung to the back seat with one of its pockets torn.
Wet sounds echoed at the front seat as Darian and Min-ji clung to themselves, kissing.
Darian’s left fingers remained in between Min-ji’s opened legs and paddling through her sweet pinky cameltoe.
After two minutes, Darian pulled his head back, then smiled at Min-ji’s trembling body. He drew the fingers of his left hand from between Min-ji’s legs and licked them clean.
He hissed when he saw Feng walking toward the hospital’s iron gate. ’The loser who pretends to be a guardian.’
Darian blinked once when he saw Feng shift a smiley gaze to the black BMW.
Feng’s gaze lingered on the front view of the vehicle for a long moment before shifting his gaze forward. ’That vehicle looks familiar.’
Inside the BMW, Min-ji’s eyes blinked countless times as she pushed her own fingers in between her legs and began massaging her cameltoe, while fumbling with her breast.
"Stop what you’re doing and tell me if you managed to wipe the Qing’s name tag from the Bio-inhibitor box?"
Min-ji froze for a second and began sinking her mind back. A faint smile tore on her lips when the BMW’s engine started.
Leaves bounced in the air as the heat bloated out of the exhaust pipe. Dust followed the vehicle as its tires rolled at an untraceable speed.
...
Doctor Mike stood up and blinked once when Zoe walked past him. "Zoe Qing."
Zoe stopped but didn’t turn her gaze toward the doctor; she waited for the doctor to come to her.
Doctor Mike placed a heavy hand on Zoe’s left shoulder, then sighed once. "Don’t tell Leon everything at once, otherwise it will end poorly."
He paused when Zoe tilted pale and sunken eyes toward him.
"I will try." Zoe pushed herself out of Doctor Mike’s grip then turned.
Every step she took toward Room 515 felt as if walking to an execution with no escape route. Her heart hammered hard against her ribs and muffed all the hums of the hospital. Zoe wanted to turn back, run, or even vanish, but Lily’s ghostly voice rose deep in her head like an uncurable curse.
"Aunty, trust me. He will not be angry with you."
Zoe exhaled sharply when she stopped and saw the door already ajar.
A cozy air and faint beeping welcomed her as she pushed the door with slick, sweaty hands.
Leon remained tugged at the side of the bed in a kneeling posture with his head lowered. His jet-black hair wobbled as the white curtains at the window frayed upward.
A long shadow stretched from the door’s angle and rested at Leon’s side.
Leon’s dual heart thrummed hard against his chest the moment he cracked his eyes open and saw the shadow.
Black glow flashed out of his eyes while his jaw tightened. A bone-crackling sound echoed around him when he shifted his gaze slowly and followed the shadow to the shimmering legs standing at his side.
Min-ji’s face flashed into Leon’s eyes and caused the black glow to intensify when he followed the legs to the curvy waist of the person standing beside him.
