Chapter 352 - Fear of losing her.

Lei Zhao strode forward until he got to the chair she had vacated when he entered the room, he sat down and drew her into his l.a.p.s, unwilling to let go of her just yet. Before asking "tell me what happened, don't leave any details out."

After receiving instructions on how to handle shock, they were allowed to go home. Immediately he had come through the door, he had released Yue Yan into the care of her nurse. However, his hands remained tightly around his wife as he carried her up to the bedroom.

After a few minutes of telling him that she could take care of herself, Yan Mei subsided into silence and allowed him to do it. He was grateful for that, he didn't know how to explain the urgency of the emotions riding him. He knew that if he opened his mouth to say a word, he would cry.

He sealed his lips and took care of her, he left her only once, to run  the bath in the water before he carried her into the bath, delicately sponging every inch of her body. His hands traced the small cuts where flying glass had cut her skin, he traced them methodically, bathing her slowly, intent on investigating every  inch of her skin to make sure she was not hurt or bleeding. He needed her to be safe in his arms.

Even though he had not been there, his mind could not help supplying images of what had happened or what could have happened if Yue Yan had not gotten there fast enough. Every image was more gruesome than the last.

He took his time bathing her, then got out of the bath first to hold a towel for her. He carried her to the room after wiping the excess moisture away and dressed her in an oversized shirt of his before he tucked her into bed. He called for dinner, when he left her to get it outside the room and fed her every spoon until she shook her  head. Only then did he take some of it or himself, he left her one last time to drop the tray outside the door before getting into bed and tucking her under his arm, holding her tight and trying to keep the thoughts at bay.

He had almost lost her today, the possibilities flashed before his eyes and he couldn't help but shudder with every picture that assaulted his senses.  She was safe now, in his arms now but his mind refused to believe it. His arms tightened around her until she squirmed and he released it, just enough until she relaxed against him again.

They were both awake but she didn't say a word and he didn't trust himself to make coherent sounds if he tried, he was afraid that if he opened his mouth he would scream like a madman at the images sifting through his brain.

She was the best thing in his world, his everything and he had almost lost her today, the implications of those words made him shudder, driving her to hold on to him in a silent show of support.

They slept like that, and when he woke up in the morning he refused to let go, his empire could go burn for all he cared for, he knew there was no way he could leave his wife alone today.

He looked down at her, noting the purple bruises patching her skin, the fear and anger roared through him again. No, there was no way he was going to just leave her today, not when she curled around him like a lost waif, purple bags adorning the underside of her eyes.

He winced at the angry colour, it was fading but the implication was clear, she deserved to be taken care of.

It wasn't until later that he realized she had slept the night through, too tired for the nightmares, the thought should have comforted him but it spoke of a deeper exhaustion in her than he was aware of and he couldn't budge the sense of guilt that accompanied those thoughts.

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"Yan Mei is a better person than I am, I would never put up with my wife's ex in our personal space and I wouldn't even ask her to do it for me. In fact, I'll just pay the hospital bills and wish whoever it is well, but bring them to our house?" Jun Mo exclaimed and Lei Zhao winced,the disapproval hit home.

Lei Zhao looked at the righteous anger in the face of his childhood friend and felt stumped. Explanations were in order but he felt that it wouldn't make much of a difference yet.

The news had spread quickly on the heels of the events of a few days ago. As if someone had seen the three of them exiting the hospital or they had heard of it from Yan Mei's employees who had witnessed the near-fatal accident occur, them and half of the city.

The calls had started coming in, with most people worried about Yan Mei and asking after her health, a select few held censure in their voices when referring to Yue Yan, and some people, close friends had outrightly asked him what the hell he thought he was doing.

It was as if they had unanimously agreed that he was the bad guy and they needed to rescue his wife from him. On one hand, he was happy for the support that they showed her, such a unanimous show of love and concern was unprecedented, on the other hand, he was tired of being cast in the role of the oblivious or bad husband. If he felt the visit from his parents had made him feel stupid, this one with his peers was much worse.

Jun Mo was waiting for an answer that Lei Zhao didn't know if he had, in hindsight what had seemed to be a good move sounded almost unintelligible when spoken out loud.

"You want a drink?" he asked and walked to the mini-bar in his office without waiting for an answer. A moment later he returned with three snifters of cognac and handed one to Jun Mo, and Edward Wu who had been surprisingly quiet. Edward Wu held the liquid up to the light, swirled it around, took a sniff of the pungent bouquet, put the glass to his lips, and gave a satisfied smile at the first sip.

"Relax, Jun Mo. That woman isn't stupid. She knows exactly what she is doing."