Songbird's POV

Running over to me, Doctor Sēnlín holds my hand still before the needle makes contact with my vein. Looking up at him in surprise I notice that unlike his steel like grasp on my arm his eyes were soft?

Surprised, I studied his face. Is it pity?

Even though he was giving me a serious look, his whole body gave off a feeling of kindness. "May I have the needle?"

I shot him a questioning look at him. Why didn't he pull the needle from out of my hand? He definitly has more strength than I do.... Why would he waste his time on me? Doctors are the bad guys... They are the ones that did this to me. To us.

"Why can't you just let me die? My purpose in life was to just die....."

Carefully reading my eyes, Doctor Sēnlín releases my wrist but instead holds my hand that clenched the needle with his warm one.

"I don't know what those doctors at your village did to you, but my mission is to save lives, not end them. Life is a precious thing that should never be taken for granted. I usually work in the Children's Wing of the hospital and there are many parents who have wished their child had lived longer. So please do not disrepect those childrens' one dying wish to live. Instead, you should live fully for them. I understand that life gets hard and I'm pretty sure many people have considered death as the easy way out at one time; but in the end, commiting suicide is selfish. Believe me....I've experienced it."

I relinquished my grip on the needle and it fell on the palm of his hand. I don't have enough energy to resist anyway...

Placing the needle in his coat pocket Sēnlín stood up and walked out of the room. Probably to transfer me to the mental ward after my mental breakdown......even little children are more noble than I am.

I'm surprised when he returns with a warm damp cloth and medical tape. Quietly closing the door behind him so we can talk in privacy, he hands me the wet cloth to wipe off with.

"I'm sorry for grabbing your hand so roughly earlier. I usually don't force my strength on a woman unless they are trying to harm themselves." He said when he noticed me rubbing my wrist.

As I cleaned myself off from the dried blood, I muttered that he acted a lot like Tàiyáng .

Instead of getting offended, he lifts his head up and laughs. "I'm the one that taught Tàiyáng all that he knows." He winked at me. "So if Tàiyáng ever gets too obnoxious, just blame it on me."

After I cleaned my leg, I could see the many punctures I had made in my skin. Applying an unknown substance on my leg that stung, he wrapped medical tape skillfully around my wounds and checked my pulse with his stethascope.

"Do you by chance go by the name of Songbird?" He asked as he listened to the steady sound of my heartbeat. I nodded my head as I watched him rest the stethascope across his neck and look at me with soft eyes.

Picking up his clipboard that he had thrown across the floor when he tried to stop me, he scribbled some more notes upon it. Laying the clipboard on the end of the hospital bed, he crouched down again and rested his head on one of his hands so he could make eye contact with me.

"Sweet, so you are the Songbird. The girl Tàiyáng always talks about. I wish we could have met in a better situation, but it is still a pleasure to meet the girl that has made my brother smile again."

I look at him in shock. "How am I the one who makes Tàiyáng smile? Isn't it the other way around?"

Sēnlín snorts in derision.  "If only you knew....." He eyes held a distant look as if delving into an unknown memory that was not visible to anyone else but him.

"I know Tàiyáng will probably kill me if he ever hears about this, but can I help you get back in bed? You'll catch a cold if you stay like this." He motioned towards me after he woke up from his daze.

Giving him permission, he gently picks me up in his arms and carefully lays me onto the bed. "If you give up your life, Tàiyáng would be really sad......"

My smile slowly faded as I realized that since I was meant to die, it wasn't Tàiyáng's fault. But why was he in Lacerta?

"We had an argument and I pushed him away.......I think that is why he left for America."

"What was the argument about if I may ask?"

".......I was upset that Tàiyáng lied to me about something. So then I blew it out of proportion "

"Ohhhh.....I told him that his bad habit of keeping secrets would bite him in the butt one day."

"Habit?"

"Yeah.... Tàiyáng lies when he is scared or if he is hurting. For some reason, since he was young, he would not tell us if he was in pain. Eventually we would find out because we would have to take him to the emergency room for passing out or something."

I hung my head in shame.

"What is the real reason you got upset at him for lying?"

"I....I.....thought he was part of Lacerta. And...I have always believed that Lacerta was the reason for the corpses in my village." I said in a barely audible whisper. Grasping the sheets in my hands tightly, I could see little wet spot where my tears fell on the clean linens.

"But now I know that it was because we were dying already. I must have imagined that part of Lacerta....."

"Would you like to know the real reason he left?" Sēnlín calmly asked me after I confessed that I was in the wrong.

I gave him a curious look. "Yes please." I said softly

"He has to take care of our ailing grandmother who lives in the States. Coincidently, it happened to be the same night you collapsed. But before he left, he wanted me to give you your birthday present since he would not be present that night. But like the amazing older brother that I am, I told him to keep it so he could give it to you when he returns."

"Does that relieve your fears?"

"What fears?"

Sēnlín titled his head in confusion. "Your fear that Tàiyáng might choose to stay in the States and not come back. But since Tàiyáng has to give you your present, he has a reason for coming back."

"Oh." I blushed when he was able to see right through me.

"Are you okay?" He asked when he saw my cheeks color.

"Yeah....it's nothing." 

"Aish, girls are so hard to understand. Why do girls say they are fine, but in actuality they are not? Or why do girls refuse to say what they want, but expect us guys to immediantly know. We aren't telephathic, shoot, we can barely understand what's going on in our own heads!"

I burst into laughter as Sēnlín continued to rant. Suddenly, a simple gold ring catches my eyes as it dangled from a thin chain around his neck that must have sliped from underneath his shirt sometime today.  I wonder who the lucky girl is who was able to capture this sweet guy's heart.

"--- Withholding the truth is the same as lying and causes pain for everyone. On top of that, guys are clueless when it comes to hints. So it would save both you and Tàiyáng a lot of trouble if you just say what it is you want or else Tàiyáng will never know. He's pretty dumb when it comes to reading emotions let alone the emotions of a girl."

"I guess that would make me a lier as well." I confessed with shame. I accused Tàiyáng of something even I do.....

"People lie when they are scared or want to hide something. I'm not saying it is right, but few people are able to be exempt from telling lies." He shrugged off my confession even though I had just accused his little brother of doing the same thing I just did.

"I need to apologize...."

"Yes, but don't take all of the blame. For all the trouble that boy gave me when he went through puberty, he deserves some of the blame even if he didn't do anything wrong. Besides, he needs to start taking into account other people's feelings instead of his own. So don't feel too bad." Sēnlín reassured me. "I also would advise you to ask Tàiyáng more about Lacerta. Your conclusion is correct but you are missing some facts."

"Thank you for the tips. Your wife must have taught you a lot about girls when you dated." I said humbly.

At the sound of my words, Sēnlín's smile falters as he breaks eye contact with me to look down at his shoes. "Actually, I'm not married. This ring signifies a promise I made with someone." He gave me a bittersweet smile.

"Oh....I'm so sorry!" Way to go, Míngqín!

"Its okay, I'm not afraid of talking about her. She was the reason I wanted to take my life as well as keep it. I've never felt the same when we had to separate ways...........that's why I really want you and Tàiyáng to make up and enjoy the time you have together while it lasts."

"I promise I will. I already regret all the things I've said. I need to apologize to him for making it into a bigger deal than it was......" I admitted as I saw his hands begin to shake. Reaching to grasp his trembling hand, I cover his hand with mine and looked up at him.

"And I'm sorry about your lost love, she was probably the happiest woman in the world when she was with you."

He nods his head as he tries to hold back his tears. Squeezing my hand he let's go. "Thanks" he smiled down at me.

"Forcing on a smile must run in the family...." I sadly thought as Sēnlín's smile didn't reach his eyes this time.

"How about this, Songbird. If you promise me that you will not harm yourself and will try your hardest to heal, than I will not hide any medical information from you like we doctors sometimes do." He joked to cover up his sadness.

Holding out his pinky to me, I smiled. I haven't done this since I was little. Clasping his pinky with mine, we shook on it. "Deal."

Realising that our pinkes were intwined, he quickly dropped his hand.

"Sorry about that, my patients usually consist of little children so I have the habit of acting like this." He blushed when he realised that we were doing pinky-promises.

"No worries. Being treated like a child can be nice sometimes." I smiled up at him.

********

Writing about Sēnlín is fun. I need to work more on Tàiyáng's development though... >.<
What do you guys think? Boring? I'm trying to make this story more interesting....I don't have trouble writing emotional chapters, It's the filler chapters I have such a hard time with... :( feel free to comment your thoughts and don't forget to vote! %>_<%