Billion to One

Two Umbrellas

It was late. The hospital was quiet.

Chéng Xīnyán is walking around her office with her hands in her back pockets. She pauses after a few paces to stare at her light board. The CAT scan of patient X did not match the EEG taken at the same time. She cannot figure out if it is an anomaly or an error that could affect the results of the entire study.

She takes two more laps around the office before checking the time. It is not too late; she just needs a second pair of eyes. She picks up her phone then puts it down in frustration. The one person she would call, she cannot.

Three days, a week at most, was their usual cooling-off period after a tiff. She never expected Shěn Wēi to stay angry this long. It had been almost two weeks and she was starting to worry.

"Nope. Not entertaining these thoughts. I'm just tired," she says aloud. Pulling down the scans, she stuffs them into a large portfolio and then tosses it into the bottom drawer of her desk.

And worried, she thinks wearily.

Chéng Xīnyán knew things between Shěn Wēi and herself would change the moment he told her about SID. It was clear that working alongside the team or rather working alongside a particular someone of the team would require more of his attention.

She accepted that there would be fewer impromptu get-together's, fewer late-night dinners, and fewer antique book shopping trips. It was all to be expected. Hell, it was even welcomed. What she had not expected, was this complete cut-off.

Shěn Wēi had changed in these last few months, taking on several different roles. She had watched how he played the aloof professor, the frightened professor, the coy and coquettish professor. He even played the defenseless 'damsel-in-distress' professor. It was all taking its toll on him.

When he lashed out, not as the Professor, but as the frightened husband, Chéng Xīnyán knew they were in for a bumpy ride. He had finally found the GUARDIAN of his heart and he had several lifetimes' worth of baggage to unpack.

Chéng Xīnyán closes her eyes as the tears finally spillover. The truth is, eventually he will call. She knows they love each other. She knows her friendship with Shěn Wēi isn't over because of a misunderstanding. But waiting is currently tearing her heart apart, cell by cell.

"Wēi gēge will you not allow me to be there for you?" asking aloud. And if by some grander plan, her phone rings. She snatches it up, knowing that it could only be one person at this time of night.

"A'Yán?" She Wēi's voice sounded raspy and distant over the phone. "I am sorry to call so late..."

"Wēi gē, what's wrong?" Chéng Xīnyán asked, cutting him off. She looks at her phone

"Never mind, I'm coming. Stay there until I arrive." She ordered before disconnecting the line.

Shěn Wēi was calling from a phone booth not far from the hospital. She grabs her coat, two umbrellas, and her keys. Lightning flashed across the evening sky just as she closed the door. The thunder that followed shook the panes of glass.

"I'm coming."

Shěn Wēi had sounded strange and every fiber in her being wanted to panic. He sounded hurt... empty. She cursed under her breath as she put her car into gear. She hadn't heard that voice in so long. She knew immediately that it had something to do with Zhào Yúnlán.

"As if it could be any other thing!" she spat.

Chéng Xīnyán was driving on autopilot, running through a list of scenarios that could explain the ball of ice forming in the pit of her stomach. Shěn Wēi had sounded... lost but resolute. It terrified her. She knew she had to get to him.