Wild Creatures

Chapter 139

It's exactly the same, everything.

Wei Ying has to blink a couple of times, adjusting his mind to this reality. It's so much stronger than just a sense of deja vu, and he wonders how on earth his mother had learned how to cope with this gift?

It must have been so hard for her to deal with not only the dreams themselves, but having to explain to adults who might not have had the best attitude or response to her revelations? He has no doubts that Baoshan Sanren and his grandfather would have taken his mother seriously once they discovered the truth behind her words. But still, it was a lot to dump on a kid.

He, as an adult, felt completely overwhelmed, and it was only because of the strong man standing right next to him, that Wei Ying had the courage to step forward.

That first step was the hardest; after that, his own curiosity propelled them into the dirty alley, and his heart went out to the little kittens he knew they would find in the box.

The alley was just as dirty as in his dream, complete with the newspaper stating today's date flying across their path. Stale and rancid food was strewn along the ground, with ravaged black bin bags torn, their contents spilling out on the sides, and the smell of that trash, with whatever was cooking mingled in the air. Wei Ying tried breathing through his mouth, and he looked at Lan Zhan who refused to do either. He doesn't need to breathe, and Wei Ying lets himself be jealous of him, this one time.

They march quickly forwards to the box wedged near the air conditioning vents, and the kittens' mewling becomes louder and louder. But when they get close enough, Lan Zhan's protective instincts take over, and he gets in between Wei Ying and the brown box, lifting it up easily. He frowns because it weighs more than a couple of kittens would.

He holds the box carefully, securely, for Wei Ying to lift aside the flaps to look inside.

They both gasp.

There are two small babies inside, mostly covered by a dirty pink blanket, surrounding their bodies and heads, and they're so little!

"Lan Zhan! We have to take them to a hospital!" Wei Ying says urgently.

They spring into action, treating this as the emergency it is.

They run back to the mouth of the alley and all Wei Ying has to do is show the others what they've found.

"Hospital!" XiChen tells them. "We've got the kids, keep us updated!"

They toss each other their keys so XiChen can take the car with the booster seats, and then they separate. Wei Ying hopes both A-Yuan and JingYi will understand, because this is so unexpected that it doesn't even reach the charts of their wildest guesses.

He only realises he's shaking like the autumn leaves falling around them as they break all the speeding limits in their way, and Lan Zhan stops caring about road laws, not when there are two lives at stake.

He drops Wei Ying off in front of the ER, going to park the car so it doesn't obstruct any ambulances.

Meanwhile, Wei Ying rushes inside and he's greeted by doctors and nurses who take the babies away.

That's when he finally bursts into tears, when his arms are empty.

************

Lan Zhan can feel Wei Ying's distress from the moment he sets foot inside the hospital. He's just further in, talking to a nurse with a clipboard, writing down his answers. He goes to stand right next to where he's seated, trying not to glare at the stranger, who probably has no idea who they are to each other.