Aftermath

Leo Roberts

On the other side of the world, in Canada, Mike and Leo were going home after their night shift. Both of them were dead tired, Leo was driving the car while Mike rested on the passenger's seat. They were happily talking about the surprise trip they had planned to China. They were planning on surprising Kris, Lan, Tyler, Wei, and Ming. Everything was ready and they had their flight to China this evening. Mike and Leo had worked at the hospital for one week straight without any breaks to get their holiday approved. As they were talking Mike suddenly felt his chest tightening and he turned a tone paler. He grabbed his shirt above the heart and tried to soothe the pain, but it started to grow gradually to a point that Mike found it hard to breathe. Leo panicked not knowing what to do, as he was not in any pain, it must be Kris who was in pain. Mike suddenly grabbed Leo's hand and whispered,

"Kris"

Then Mike passed out. Leo did not know what to do, so he dialled to his brother to ask whether Kris was fine. Leo knew that if Mike was in this much pain, Kris must be in pain of tenfold.

"Leo, what's wrong? Why are you calling at this late hour?"

Tyler asked Leo as he answered his twin's call late at night.

"Mike....."

This was all Leo could speak before he broke into a sobbing mess. Mike was now withering in pain, with his head on Leo's lap. Leo could not bear to watch this scene. The one word that left his twin's mouth was enough to make Tyler understand that something had gone wrong.

"Leo, what is it? What happened? Are you hurt? Is Mike hurt? Say something!"

Tyler bombarded Leo with questions. Tyler was starting to feel uneasy. Ming had decided to spend the night with Theo, so he and Wei had come home early. Kris had told him that he will come to their house after his date with Lan, as he had an announcement to make. Tyler and Wei waited for their arrival, but as they did not come they had gone to sleep and Leo had called after Tyler fell asleep. Tyler simply thought that after their lovemaking session, Kris and Lan had forgotten about their meeting.

"Ty, it's Mike, he is in so much pain. I think Kris must be in trouble."

As Tyler heard Leo's words, his mind became chaotic. Before waking up and answering Leo's call, Tyler had seen a dream. He saw Kris and Lan helplessly lying on the ground of the parking lot of Lan's favourite restaurant, where they were actually supposed to have their dinner date today. Tyler was the one that helped Kris to pick the most romantic table in the restaurant. Tyler saw Kris shaking in pain while Lan stared at him blankly, suddenly a white light shot out from Lan's body and Tyler's dream ended as he heard his mobile phone ringing.

"What do you mean, Leo?"

Tyler asked, unable to grasp the situation. Leo understood that his twin couldn't understand what he said and explained,

"We were going home after our morning shift, Mike suddenly clenched his heart as he was in pain. I am not hurt, so it must be Kris. Mike is unconscious now, I think Kris must be in great trouble, Ty."

Tyler hung up without asking Leo any further questions. Leo sighed and kept away his mobile phone. He understood that he had got his brother to worry about his mate's twin. He wondered what Lan was doing until Kris was that much hurt, but as he thought of any other possibilities, the only possibility left made his blood turn cold. If Lan did not save Kris, that could only mean one thing, it was that both of them were in trouble. Leo unbuckled both of their seat belts and teleported them to their house. He lied down Mike on the couch and went to their room to get their bags ready. Looked like their surprise trip was going to be a rescue mission.

Tyler Roberts

Tyler hung up with Leo without another word and dialled Kris. The call straightly went into the voicemail indicating that the receiver was unavailable. Tyler silently grabbed his jacket and made his way to the front door, without waking Wei up, who was peacefully sleeping on the bed, under the duets. He got on to his car and drove to Kris's house because his instincts strongly told him that Kris was at home. When he got to Kris's place, the house was still in the dark, all the lights turned off. Tyler turned off the engine of his car and got down. He went to Kris's front door and took out the spare key which was hidden behind the nameplate for emergencies, and opened the door. The whole house was in darkness, but even in the dark Tyler could see the thick blood trail which led to Kris's and Lan's bedroom.

"Kris"

Tyler called Kris, but there was no reply to his call. Without wasting another second, Tyler dashed into Kris's room. As he saw the scene in front of his eyes, Tyler froze on his tracks. Kris was lying on the floor near the bed, in the middle of a pool of his own blood. Kris was pale, he looked skinny compared to last time Tyler saw him, which was the morning of the same day. Kris's lips looked dry and pale, but it was red with the blood that came from his mouth. Blood was oozing from his nose and ears.

"Kris!!!"

A heart-wrenching scream left Tyler's lips before he could stop it. Tyler ran to Kris and kneeled near him and picked him up and laid him on the bed gently. Tyler turned the lights on and the scene he saw made his heart to clench in pain. The beautiful suit that Kris was wearing was ripped into pieces, Tyler slowly took off Kris's jacket and the shirt underneath, leaving a shirtless Kris on the bed. Kris's upper body was covered with black bruises and bleeding cuts. Tyler could not possibly understand why Kris was not healing, but as Tyler turned Kris around, Tyler was wordless seeing Kris's mate symbol turned to golden. Normally when two mates make a blood pact, both of them would get a black mate symbol like a tattoo in the same place in their bodies, when one mate is dead or if the bond is broken it normally faded away, but Kris's mark had turned gold, and Tyler had no idea what it meant.

Tyler broke out of his trance and went to the bathroom to get a bowl of warm water and a clean towel. After he returned back to Kris's room, Tyler cleaned Kris's cuts and put medicine to them before bandaging them. He had put the medicine to stop the bleeding, he had no idea why Kris's wounds weren't self-healing. It only meant one thing and Tyler did not want to think about it. As Tyler thought about Kris, something clicked in his mind, he had not seen Lan all the time. Tyler started to panic, Kris being this much wounded only meant that Lan was unable to save him. Tyler knew Lan well and he knew that Lan would save Kris unless he was dead. 'Is Lan dead? Is it why Kris is not self-healing?', Tyler thought. He simply did not understand what to do, so he called back to his twin.

"Leo, is Mike fine now?"

Tyler asked in a worried voice as he knew that Kris's situation must have had quite an effect on Mike.

"He is fine now, Ty. What happened? Is Kris ok?"

Leo asked back from Tyler. Tyler turned silent for a moment, he did not know how to answer. He knew that if he told Leo and Mike about Kris's condition, they will run back to China, but Tyler also needed their help at the moment. Tyler was still thinking of an answer when he heard Mike's voice from the other side.

"Tyler, is it that bad?"

Mike sounded desperate, and he also sounded like he was holding back his tears. Even though Tyler knew that Leo and Mike could not see him, he slowly nodded.

"He is in pretty bad shape. He has wounds all over his body, and he is not healing either. And I don't know what happened to Lan."

Tyler answered, holding back his own tears. Tyler felt desperate, he had never felt this helpless. He could hear Mike crying from the other side. Then Leo spoke,

"We were originally planning to come there tomorrow, Ty. Hang in there till we get there soon."

Tyler felt hopeful as he heard his brother's words.

"Ok, come quickly, I don't know what to do."

Tyler said before he hung up. He sent a quick text asking Wei to come to Kris's house, he also sent a text to Ming asking about Lan. Tyler kept away his mobile phone and glanced back at Kris. Kris was sweating and he looked paler than before. Then Tyler checked Kris's temperature and understood that he had a fever. Tyler put a wet towel on Kris's forehead and looked at the dressings on the wounds, they were already soaked in blood, so Tyler took new bandages and dressed them again. Tyler left out a long sigh and said,

"Wake up Krissy, we need you."

As these words left Tyler's lips, unnoticed to Tyler, two tear trails made their way down Kris's cheeks, toward the pillow beneath his head.