By the time Wen Rui piled into the backseat of an honest-to-goodness Mulsanne Grand Limousine, he was so dizzy he regretted not asking for a plastic bag. It would be an actual crime to throw up in a car that was built like a luxury hotel with wheels. A wave of nausea made him go pale and cover his mouth.
The smart glass panel between the driver's front seat and the rear was tinted opaque, which meant they had complete privacy. Zhou Ye pushed a button to communicate with the driver.
"Drive smoothly," he commanded.
"Yes sir."
Wen Rui glanced at him in surprise. Was Zhou Ye showing concern for him? But he quickly dismissed the idea. No way. Zhou Ye had a reputation for not giving a shit about anyone besides himself. Wen Rui bet he was just worried that Wen Rui would help him redecorate the gorgeous cream leather upholstery of his precious car with vomit.
He sighed and pressed his forehead against the cool windowpane. How did he end up in this mess?
"Feeling sick?"
Wen Rui grunted in response. [What, it's not obvious enough for you? Are you trying to rub it in?]
Zhou Ye probably was, because he added unsympathetically, "Serves you right for not noticing you had a head injury."
How was Wen Rui supposed to notice that? He still didn't even know how he managed to get drunk at age 18 and wake up with a hangover and possible brain trauma at age 21. A head injury was the least of his worries at this point.
Still, it had been mortifying to nearly faint in the bathroom this morning when he had gone to brush his teeth. Zhou Ye had seen him swooning and caught him before he could hit the floor. This wasn't actually because of the head injury, but because Wen Rui had seen an older, even prettier version of himself in the mirror and freaked out. But Zhou Ye had run his fingers all over Wen Rui's scalp despite Wen Rui's weak attempts to stop him and had discovered a big bump on the back that Wen Rui hadn't paid any attention to.
"Tch, you're such an idiot." Despite insulting him, Zhou Ye had single-handedly carted him out of the bathroom and back onto the bed, before leaving the room and returning a minute later with the ugliest neon coloured hoodie and ripped jeans Wen Rui had ever seen. If they hadn't fit him perfectly, Wen Rui would have believed that Zhou Ye was trying to trick him into making a fool of himself in public.
Wen Rui was wearing them right now but every inch of his skin protested coming into contact with such a hideous travesty.
What the hell happened to him in these four years? Even his taste in fashion changed?
"If you're not feeling well, take a nap."
Fine. There was no point trying to guess what had happened. And Wen Rui was exhausted. He shut his eyes and when he realised that helped him feel less ill, he decided to listen to Zhou Ye's advice for once.
Slowly, Wen Rui drifted off without realising. He was soon fast asleep, so he didn't see the way the tension seeped out of Zhou Ye's shoulders once his breathing evened out, replaced by helplessness.
The private hospital that Zhou Ye booked them an appointment at was situated in the city centre. It wasn't far from their apartment but the morning rush hour meant that the Bentley crawled there at a snail's pace. Wen Rui woke up when he felt someone tapping his shoulder insistently. He wasn't a deep sleeper, so he was soon sitting upright and rubbing his bleary eyes. It took a while to clear the fog from his brain but when he finally did, he noticed that he had been lying down on the seats with a fleece blanket draped over him. Zhou Ye had moved from sitting next to him to sitting across from him.
[Wah, not bad, not bad. He can even play the part of the virtuous husband for little old me, no wonder everyone in school found him perfect.]
Wen Rui had never been to Anyi Hospital before, but he knew that it was appointment only, so there weren't many people in Dr Li's consultation when they reached. He did realise that they were drawing some curious stares from a young lady waiting on a couch in the corner, but he assumed it was because she was either checking Zhou Ye or him out. This used to happen often in high school anyway and it seemed like their face points had only increased since then, so Wen Rui didn't think anything of it and just sat down to wait for his turn.
He put his hand in his pocket by habit and then realised he hadn't remembered to ask Zhou Ye about his phone. He definitely had one somewhere, Wen Rui couldn't imagine living without it.
"It's charging in the car," was Zhou Ye's reply. "The battery was flat so I left it."
Fine. There was nothing wrong with that, Wen Rui couldn't do anything with a dead phone either and his head still hurt too much to play mobile games anyway. He swung his legs restlessly and stared at the clock on the wall, while Zhou Ye sat next to him, typing on his phone. Wen Rui was curious but it didn't seem like they were on close enough terms to be nosy. Was Zhou Ye texting? He didn't seem like the sort to reply a lot in chat, maybe he was organising work? Or taking leave from university classes just to accompany Wen Rui? But that sounded ridiculous too, why would he?
[Then again, he did cancel some meeting for me this morning…he's really the pinnacle of male virtue…] he thought wryly.
Luckily, Dr Li didn't make them wait long enough for Wen Rui to get bored. Zhou Ye's name was called soon—it surprised Wen Rui again that it was Zhou Ye's name that the receptionist used—and they both stood up and walked into the room at the end of a sterile white corridor.
Dr Li was an elderly gentleman with a friendly smile on his face. He met them at the door and clapped Zhou Ye on the shoulder in a familiar gesture, before reaching out to shake Wen Rui's hand.
"Good morning," he said. "You must be Mr Wen. I'm Dr Li, Ah Ye's personal physician, but you can call me Uncle Li too if you want, just like he does."
Ah Ye? Uncle Li? Wen Rui found it strange that a doctor would be on such close terms with his patient but maybe he had taken care of Zhou Ye since young and had watched him grow up?
"Uncle Li," Zhou Ye greeted. "Wen Rui went out for drinks yesterday night but woke up this morning with amnesia. I also noticed a tender swelling on the back of his head this morning."
Dr Li waved them into some chairs before taking a seat behind his computer monitor. He dived in quickly with a series of questions about Wen Rui's night out, how much he had drunk, and what kind of memories he had lost. He also followed up by examining Wen Rui's head and pupils, before asking him to perform some actions, like standing up with his eyes closed. Wen Rui tried and swayed on the spot, but firm arms supported him from behind before he could fall. He thought they belonged to Dr Li but when he opened his eyes, he came face to face with a dark, intense gaze. He hurriedly looked away but didn't miss the fond knowing look Dr Li gave them both.
"…" This was the most excruciating medical checkup Wen Rui had ever undergone.
Zhou Ye seemed unaffected. "How is he?" he asked. "Is it serious?"
"Well, it's hard to say." Dr Li's reply was hesitant. "He appears to have a mild concussion at the moment. Normally we wouldn't do imaging, but because the amnesia has lasted longer than 30 minutes, I would recommend it to see if there's anything more worrying going on."
"Will I get my memories back?" Wen Rui's fingers twisted in his lap. He wasn't sure whether he wanted a 'yes' or 'no'.
"Maybe, maybe not, we can't tell at this point. Regardless, until we have a clearer picture, the best thing to do would be lots of bed rest and no physical or mental exertion."
Zhou Ye nodded like this was what he expected too. "I've already booked appointments for a CT and MRI, which one would you recommend?"
"CT is first-line." Dr Li lets out a jovial laugh. "But Ah Ye ah, it's so refreshing to see you care for someone else like this, you've really grown up!"
"…" Zhou Ye didn't dignify that with a response and Wen Rui was already a frozen statue from all the previous awkwardness so Dr Li was the only one enjoying his little teasing.
"If there's nothing else, I'll take Wen Rui over to the radiology department."
"Go, go." Dr Li waved them off. "I'll let you know the results of the scan as soon as I get them—oh, I nearly forgot. Ah Ye, I know what young love can be like, but remember, Mr Wen needs proper rest, so try and, heh heh, control yourself."
"…"
Wen Rui felt like if he remained in the clinic a second longer, he would spontaneously combust from the sheer embarrassment.