Chapter Text
As a doctor, Jiang Xiao Shuai didn’t need to open his eyes to know where he was. The sharp tang of disinfectant, the steady beep of a heart monitor, and that heavy, sterile silence left him only one conclusion: a hospital.
But why was he in a hospital? He probably needed to open his eyes to answer that.
When he finally forced his heavy eyelids apart, a white ceiling swam into focus, along with a familiar voice.
“Welcome back to the land of the living.”
Chi Cheng. Huh. That was a surprise.
“What happened to me?” Jiang Xiao Shuai asked, his voice weak. He had some idea. His body was swimming in painkillers, and there was a strange pull low in his stomach that he didn’t like.
“You got stabbed,” Chi Cheng replied, the words sharp but not unkind. “Because you decided Cheng Yu needed saving. Fair warning, he’s pissed. So is Suo Wei.” He jerked his chin toward Jiang Xiao Shuai’s right.
With effort, Jiang Xiao Shuai turned his head. Wu Suo Wei was slumped in a chair beside his bed, fast asleep, his hand locked tightly around Jiang Xiao Shuai’s. Behind him, Guo Cheng Yu was passed out on a sofa, bundled beneath a blanket that definitely didn’t belong to the hospital.
Jiang Xiao Shuai let out a breathy laugh, which earned him a sharp look from Chi Cheng. But when he glanced at him again, Chi Cheng was smiling.
“What?” Chi Cheng asked, amused.
“Nothing. I just never thought you’d be the one keeping vigil by my sick bed while those two are out cold.”
Chi Cheng’s expression flickered, his eyes darting around the room. Jiang Xiao Shuai didn’t need to be fully sober to recognize that look.
Chi Cheng was hiding something.
“Chi Cheng,” he pressed, his voice low. “What did you do?”
Chi Cheng folded instantly. “They may have been… drugged.”
Jiang Xiao Shuai’s eyes flew open wider. “You drugged them? What the fuck?”
Chi Cheng lifted his hands in surrender. “Calm down! I didn’t exactly have a choice! Suo Wei had some very real homicidal intentions toward Cheng Yu, given, you know, you got stabbed under his watch.”
Despite his outrage, Jiang Xiao Shuai’s heart softened. He squeezed Wu Suo Wei’s hand as much as his weak body allowed. He wasn’t thrilled that Wu Suo Wei wanted to murder Guo Cheng Yu, but… well. He couldn’t exactly blame him. If anything happened to Wu Suo Wei, Jiang Xiao Shuai would have done the same.
“And Cheng Yu?” he asked quietly.
Chi Cheng’s gaze lingered on Guo Cheng Yu for several seconds before he answered. “He was too worked up. I was worried.”
A pang of worry shot through Jiang Xiao Shuai’s chest, but the protectiveness in Chi Cheng’s eyes eased some of the weight.
With Chi Cheng here, nothing bad would happen to Jiang Xiao Shuai’s most precious people.