Anxious messages

Huobai was slowly coming to himself. He was out of it most of the time, even hours after the operation. He had weird dreams about a house in a garden and a dragon that was guarding it. 

His mouth was dry and his hand hurt from the constant pressing of the blood pressure reader. He moved his head a bit and saw his mother sitting on the side in a chair and sleeping. 

Huobai didn't want to wake her up, so he quietly tried to reach for his phone. He couldn't feel his leg at all, so it was hard to use it to get himself closer to the table. 

He stopped reaching for the phone and, full of hatred, looked down on his knee. Now he had to wait to know whether he would have to fight for his life or he would be one of the luckier ones. 

His phone on the night table vibrated once more. Since he woke up, it was actually for the eighth time already. That's why he was trying to reach it. To know what was going on. 

He finally got hold of it and marveled at the huge number of notifications. Most of those were WeChat, but some of them were normal messages. 

'Where are you? We need to talk! Huobai… Are you okay? Answer! I'm worried...' he read the ones from Yixing first and then he looked at Yitian's. They were pretty similar to Yixing's messages, just looking calmer. 

And then there was one message from Chao. And when Huobai opened it. He immediately laughed out loud. The tone and the content were just hilarious. 

'If you don't answer Yitian, I will hire someone to hunt you down!' Followed by a meme. It made Huobai laugh because that's what he expected from Chao. 

'I'm awake now…' he wrote to Yitian. still smiling at his phone. A few seconds later, Yitian called him and Huobai took the call. 

"Huobai!" Yitian shouted so loud that Huobai jerked the phone away from his ear.

"I'm okay…" he said, but still sounded a bit hazy. Huobai took the remote controller and raised his bed a bit to talk better. 

"Where are you? We were worried!" Huobai winced. Of course, they would be upset when he disappeared for a week. Well, when he was still at home, he was playing remotely from his laptop. But he didn't bring it to the hospital. Or more like he wasn't allowed to take it. 

"Are you alone?" he asked, careful, who to tell his condition. He heard steps from Yitian's side of the phone and a click of the door.

"Yes, I'm alone now." Huobai was a bit surprised that Yitian walked away just when he asked for it. And even more surprised that Chao allowed him to do that. 

"I just had a knee operation. I'm okay now. I just woke up," he said truthfully, tired of holding it in. He heard Yitian gasp and then forcefully calm down.

"Are you really okay? Can I visit you? I will take a taxi right now. In which hospital you are. Should I tell Chao and Yixing?" he asked hurriedly, and Huobai chuckled once more. Amused by the behavior.

"Please don't tell them. I don't want them to know. You can just tell them I need to be alone for a while…" There was a moment of silence, but then Yitian agreed.

"I won't tell them. But that will be hard. I think you forgot the friendly sparring game we have with Lan da hai. Chao was getting anxious that you weren't around. Shanshan came in too. So Chao even scolded Yixing and forced him to tell us what happened." When Huobai heard that, a cold sweat ran down his spine, and it had nothing to do with his condition. 

"I'm really sorry he made you drunk. I should have told you that he is a strong drinker. I'm really sorry and I apologize for him." Yitian continued, and Huobai held back his breath. But when he heard him saying that, he slowly released it. 

That was it? That was the only thing Yixing told them? And he even said it was HIS fault?! 

Huobai was really confused by him. On one hand, he was touched that he didn't embarrass Huobai and took it upon himself. But on the other hand, none of it was his fault and he shouldn't be the one apologizing.

And he was even more confused when he thought about his feelings. As if what Yixing told him had opened his eyes, and he saw Yitian's and Chao's relationship in totally new colors. And he had to say he never had a chance to snatch Yitian away. 

"Thank you. I will talk to him." Huobai smiled while saying that. 

"Send me the address of your hospital. I will come alone. Or maybe I will tell a bit of it, don't worry, not much, to Chao. I need him to know the circumstances and the possibility that you won't show up." Huobai grimaced a bit, but he could see why Yitian wanted to tell Chao. And he wasn't surprised. He remembered that the game was in two days. No wonder they were getting anxious.

"It's okay. You can tell Chao, but don't tell Yixing. please." Yitian agreed, and they said bye to each other and Huobai hung up. He was tired from the thinking he went through.

"So you have some good friends…" his mother said into the silence and it scared him so much, he almost threw away his phone. 

"Oh my, don't ever scare me like this please," he said while holding his hand on his heart, breathing fast. He really hated jump-scares, and this was a hell of a scare. 

"Sorry." His mom giggled and then rose from the chair and stretched a bit.

"So.. those are the friends you play with?" she asked once again, and Huobai could only nod. He had no idea how much she heard, and he feared the worst. 

"I heard they were anxious. You didn't tell them anything. Honey. I think we need to have a talk." She sat back at the chair and moved with it closer to the bed. Still took Huobai's hand and looked into his eyes.

"I noticed you have tried to distance yourself from everyone. Don't even think I don't see it. I thought it would only be for some time. But you are still doing it. YOu can't live like this. Alone." She smiled at him sadly and Huobai's heart hurt from that one gaze.

"But what if something happens to me? What if the tests come with the worst result and I will die?" He tried to hold back his tears, and it was working.

"Honey. You know that we, your father and I, would move the skied just to keep you safe, right? I will tell you a story and then you can decide if you will keep your distance or not, okay?" Huobai only nodded and carefully listened to his mom's story...