Wang Yibo's POV:

"Weibo!" My scream is an echo and another soul within me breaks down visibly as he whispers in despair "Wei Ying!"
Watching him fall into the dark oblivion of sea, tears my soul apart. Why did this seem like a deja vu? Has this ever happened before too?

"Yes, once before, Wei Ying gave up his life" was Lan Zhan's answer.

"He can't die. I won't let him!" Remembering the words from before. Trust Xiao Zhan. Trust your bond. I raise my hand to see the divine glow of our Red String.  He's alive.

Running back to where Chief was shouting his instructions I call "Chief, I know he's alive. Belive me."

"I do" placing a hand on my shoulders he nods "belive you. Jun, call the divers ASAP and let them know that there are two missing men, both in their 30s. One is a hostage and the other is a perp."

"Yes sir!" Jun salutes and walks away.

"Sean, ask the ambulance to meet us down by the shore. Call for the backups. Wang and I would be there. Drew call Dr. Wang Huan and instruct him to meet us at St. Martins Memorial and admit Sharon Li there. Dre, join Wang and me to search for Zhan. Wang, ride there as quickly as possible and guide the divers."

"Yes sir" running back to where my bike is parked, I gear it up and throttle down the road. By the time I reach shore, the night is painted with colors of reds and blues.
Divers were ready and so were the doctors.
With a nod from me a group of divers take charge and enter a small boat. "Wait" I jump off from my bike "I'll join you guys too" and we set off.

Weibo, please be alright.

Except for their flashlights, the night was ink dark and nothing could be visible for a naked eye. On reaching the spot, three of them dive in as time was of essence. Each passing minute felt like thousands of fire ants crawling all over me. Just then one of them came up for air "Sorry sir, no body could be found. It's too dark for us to see." The second and third too come up for air and relayed the same problem.

No. I don't care. My Weibo is in there. The string glows and I knew if anyone could find him, it had to be me. Without much thought, I jump into the sea and take it upon my soul to find his mate.

"Lan Zhan. Guide me" I plead and soon the Red String of Fate glows even brighter. The thread that is tied around my finger starts to illuminate and I follow the light. It guides me deeper into the water and it seemed that oxygen was something I did not need. Maybe this is what one calls 'Power of Fated Bond'.

"Wei Ying" Lan Zhan whispers and a second later I find the other end of the knotted finger. Weibo!

Floating in the water, his body was pale blue as his blood was enveloping his body. No wonder the divers could not find him. Swimming towards his body I hold him in my arms. He was unresponsive. Not wasting too much time, I break for the surface. Upon seeing me with Weibo, they help him on board.

"We'll dive in again and find for the other person. Send us another boat. Take him back to the shore." One of them instructs and jumps back whilst we drive back to the shore.

The ambulance was waiting for us and the paramedics immediately start the necessary arrangements while Chief places a dry towel on me. "Wang, head with them back to the hospital while I stay here and wait for them to finish their search for Ruan Suk. Jun and Vice will follow you. Sean you and Drew go back to the stake house and prepare a bag of change over for all of us and get it to the hospital."

"Yes sir!" They salute and leave.

"Officers, we're ready" the paramedics intimates us and with a nod I join them. Witnessing a pale Weibo was never a part of my plan. Never a part of our plan. "How are his vitals?" One of the paramedic questions the other. "Not good sir. His wounds are severe. His Blood Pressure is dropping and in about 10 minutes he'll be going into a cardiac arrest if we don't reach the hospital soon."

Fuck.

"We are having a Code Blue situation. The patient is severely injured. He has been shot in his chest. There is no exit wound so the bullet is still inside of him. Severe case of blood loss and multiple injury. Inform Dr. Park to contact a cardiac surgeon as the moment we reach, he'll go into shock." The medic informs the ER and I reminisce our last encounter. Hearing all this, I became numb. All I wanted was to see Weibo's mischievous smirk and him teasing me. BoBo. Please just call me BoBo one more time.

Without another word they directly wheel him into the OR when we reach the hospital. Knowing that all I could do was wait, my back slumps down on the ground against the wall in the waiting room. Dammit. Here we are in this room once again.

A minute later Adrian and Jun join me in the room. Each of them taking a seat next to me. Time was just a concept again and I think back to all those moments where waiting for Zhan became my norm.

How long have I been waiting for you? Too long. Since the age of 5 I have been waiting for you. You were always the unattainable. A porcelain glass to be kept on a shelf and be admired. How did our lives get so entangled for me to have cried and every single tear has your name in it? Come back to me and I promise to be there for you, with you and by your side.

Just please come back.

Jun's head was resting on my shoulders and Dre's comforting hands were on mine. Both were giving me moral support that I needed the most. A while ago even brother had joined us in the waiting room. He has always been the silent one and somewhere his warning resonates within me. Be careful. Don't touch him.

The door opens and we quickly stand when doctor enters. How long has it been?

"Huan" Dr. Park greets and he turns to look at us "Officers. We were successful in removing the bullet but the case this time isn't as easy as before. It quite unfortunate for me to convey this but the situation does not look so good for Mr. Xiao. There are various complications that we need to fight out this time. One being that Mr. Xiao Zhan's body has been greviously injured. The bullet though has missed his heart but has hit one of the main arteries and we need to perform an emergency Angioplasty or else he'll end up getting a cardiac arrest. Secondly, his body does not have the immunity to fight and heal at the same time.

"There are chances that he would fall into coma and revival seems to be slim. To be honest he seems to be hanging on a thin precipice without any will to survive. If he does survive this time, it would be a sheer miracle. There are multiple wounds on his body that are infected because of salt water and let's not forget his old wound, the one he got just a week ago, those stitches have reopened again.

"Officers I need not remind you as to how poisonous bullet wounds are and there are multiple ones on his body. Seems my patient is a punching bag for bullet wounds. Anyways, these are some official papers which gives us permission to perform surgery on Mr. Xiao. We need signature of a family member."

"Dr. Park, Zhan does not have any living family members. Can I sign?" I enquire and his gaze meets mine. "What's your relation with Mr. Xiao?"

"His partner" I answer confidently but all he does his sigh "I am sorry Officer Wang. Unless you're officiated, you won't be considered as family."

"Park, let me sign. I have the authority to sign my patients papers." Brother reminds and Dr. Park smiles kindly. Handing over the papers back to Dr. Park he proceeds to prepare for another surgery.

In the meanwhile we are escorted to a private VIP room reserved for Zhan. There we meet Chief, Drew and Sean. "Boss, please take a shower and change your clothes" Jun looks over at me and that's when I realise that my shirt is soaked with Weibo's blood. Walking into the shower room, I relish the hot water sluicing through my body. What I don't realise are my tears mixing with the water and drowning forever in the drain.

Donning fresh tshirt and jeans, I walk out of the room for their discussion to come to a standstill.

"What's wrong?" I enquire and Chief was the one to answer "We found Ruan Suk's body. He's alive but critical. He's been admitted here. I have some of the officers guarding his room. Once stable, we'll be producing him in front of the magistrate. Dr. Xue Yang and Dr. XingChen are ready to testify against him."

My heart was too numb to even react to this piece of news. All I could do is nod and walk out of the room. Dre was quick enough to stop me "Where are you going?"

"Downstairs. To wait" I was about to walk away when he pulls me back into the private room "When the surgery is done, Dr. Park will inform us. Let's wait here. This was your brother's order."

Hm.

Walking back into the room, I find an empty corner and take a seat on the ground. Just like before.

Hours pass by and my stare was vacant. All I knew was that the ceiling is white and my heart's cold. The only thing to keep me sane is the Red String of Fate. Till this is glowing, my Weibo is alive.

Brother's phone rings and his eyes conveyed his emotions. "The surgery is complete. Dr. Park wants to see me and Yibo. Rest of you stay here." With that we walk downstairs and wait for some news. Gesturing us to his office we take a seat and he conveys every single details.

"Huan, Officer Wang, I'll just get to the point. We were able to save Mr. Xiao but he isn't out of danger yet. As expected he gone into coma as his body was unable to cope up with all the injuries. For now I think it's the best thing. His body and soul needs rest. When he would regain his conciousness none of us are aware.

"Now, I need to state that he had received some kind of trauma to his back which has caused his skin to peal off. Beyond that his flesh came in contact with sea water and the bacterias have entered his pores. I am sorry to say but those scars would be difficult to heal. I'll call Dr. Kim after few days to see if we can use skin grafting to repair his scars, but for now all we can do is wait patiently. Secondly, as mentioned earlier the stitches on his body came undone due to which his skin is torn and for now we have stapled them together. Once his skin heals a bit, well re-stich them.

"The water having entered his lungs has weakened his immunity to breath on his own. So for now we've kept him on ventilator. Gentlemen, Mr. Xiao is fighting an internal battle all alone and we need to keep him motivated. Please don't ask me this time to discharge him from the hospital. Last time I did and one can see under what condition he is back. Let him rest. We'll wait for him to wake up when he's ready."

Everyone were commanded to go back to Zhan's place and rest while I was the only one to stay back. How could I leave him here?

"Wang Yibo" I hear Lan Zhan's voice.

"Lan Zhan?"

"Can I have a minute with my Wei Ying?" He enquires softly and it breaks my heart.

"Ofcourse" I close my eyes for him to greet his love.

Walking over to where my Wei was sleeping peacefully, I caress his cheeks and whisper "Is this the reason you kept me away from you for all these years just to see your body covered in wounds? When will you stop being your self sacrificing self and be mine forever? How long must I shed tears for you to come back safely into my arms? Don't you know by now what you mean to me, my Wei Ying?"

Hearing no response from him, I kiss his forehead "I am used to your silence my Wei. As you wish my love, I will wait for eternity. The day you open your eyes, we will meet again."

Hearing his painful words could not mend my heart. How long have these two suffered?

Watching Weibo lie on the bed and unable to hold his hands for they were covered in tubes, pains my heart.

Please come back to me. Just this once.

Weibo.