Imperial Multi-Speciality Hospital, 06:30;

"What were you even doing with his phone?!", Xi Fang questioned his mother as he passed the device to Xi Yuan.

"In a hu...hurry, he forgot to bring it along with him.", the woman explained, "So I picked it up before coming with your father."

Xi Yuan, though discontented by the privacy intrusion, unlocked his phone, and as soon as he did, a series of notifications popped up on the screen. Among them were 43 messages, and 29 calls, from just one person. From her. His Xinghe. And exactly twelve minutes ago, was the last one. An audio message, it was, just as her brother had informed him.

The man then directly opened the call logs and dialed her number, hoping that she'd pick it up. It was switched off, of course. She must've removed the sim card before leaving. She always did. She'd left. For a who-knew-how-dangerous Military mission. And that too, without a goodbye.

As a few seconds passed by, the man opened his messaging app, the recent ones from her. Silently, he read what they said.

"Is everything alright, Brother?", Xi Wei walked over to the man, worried.

"It says she had to leave due to some sudden developments over there. That millions of lives are on the line, and that the Hybrids need to have her by their side right now. It couldn't wait.", the man said, his voice weakening, "And that she wanted to meet me before leaving, but she wasn't sure if I would want to even look at her right now."

"Such a pretentious woman!", Xi Chonglin said through gritted teeth, striding toward his elder brother, "We should not have allowed her inside this family from the very beginning! Look at what she has done now."

"Brother... I--", Xi Fang looked at the man, uncertain of how he would react. No one had ever spoken so ill of his Sister-in-law in front of this man ever since he'd laid his eyes on her. No one ever had the guts to, for his protectiveness for her had never really been a matter of secrecy. But tonight, Xi Chonglin and Luo Youyou had crossed quite some boundaries, and yet, he hadn't said anything.

There could only be two possibilities to that. Either he was holding back, and that like ruinous volcanic lava, his rage was waiting to be unleashed onto them; or he was actually doubting Rong Xinghe. The sheer possibility of the latter happening terrified Xi Fang. Xi Yuan had never, for once, held suspicions against the woman, no matter how worse the situation seemed to be. But this time, it was different.

"I can't listen to her voice. I won't be able to.", Xi Yuan shook his head, tucking the phone back in his pocket, "At least not until I know Mom is out of danger."

"We understand.", Xi Wei nodded, no one bringing up the topic anymore. It was immensely grave, the position Xi Yuan was in now. And as much as it hurt them to watch him like this, they knew they couldn't do anything else but stay by his side. Everything else; was up to him.

____________________

Boeing CH-89, 06:35;

"I hate this.", the girl pinched the space between her brows as the finely engineered copter hovered over the nation's final border, lights from the towns afar blinking back at them, "I shouldn't have come like this.", she said, "Without facing him, without making things right."

Shawn Florence sat next to her, Elijah Williams and Huang Ling opposite to them, each one of the Hybrids, including the woman, garbed into their standard camouflage uniforms. "I know it looks bad.", Williams sighed, "But what else could you have done? You certainly couldn't abandon your country when it needed you the most, could you?"

"I agree with him.", Shawn shrugged, "Xinghe, you called him. Several times, might I remind you. You left him messages. Text, and audio, both. You called his family. And yet, none of them responded. You tried, Xinghe, more than your dignity would've ever allowed.

"You should not be explaining yourself to anyone, to begin with.", the man said, his tone assertive, "You are the Military Chief to Country X, for hell's sake. And it doesn't matter if they are your mighty in-laws or a group of roadside druggies, you deserve to be treated with respect by everyone. Stop being so hard on yourself, alright? You did everything you could."

Rong Xinghe smiled tiredly, a hint of sadness in her eyes. The Hybrids were simply looking out for her, the way they always did. Besides, they had a point. Her position did not give her the liberty to prioritize her private life. Much more than the Superfamily, or the Xis, she was accountable to the millions of those who slept under the impression that they were safe. Country X was her first love. It had always been.

But this was probably the first time that choosing her throne over her family had troubled her to this extent. He'd be so alone, she thought. And helpless, to not be able to talk to her for the next few weeks. Months, probably.

Then, another thought entered her mind. Was he really mistrusting her, she pondered. Did he really think she would do something so inhumane to his mother? To the woman who'd birthed him? And a day after their wedding, that too? He surely wouldn't. But then why did he ask her about the gun so... plainly? He even told her to not accompany him to the Hospital. It was unsettling, the way he said it. Emotionlessly. Sternly.

_________________

Imperial Multi-Speciality Hospital, 07:00;

"The surgery went well.", Rong Xiao said minutes after stepping out of the O.T., the Xis surrounding her with anticipation, "But her condition is still quite delicate. She underwent intense Dyspnea, as a result of anxiety and pain shock. The bullet was lodged into the left shoulder at the proximal humerus. I've extracted it, of course.

"And even though her condition seems stable now, we'll have to keep her under observation for a few days. As to when she'll get her consciousness back, I cannot say. Shocks affect the brain more than the heart, you see. So it might take some time. But she will survive. I can promise that."

Relieved by the girl's words, Xi Yuan closed his eyes, his hand clenching onto the phone he'd been holding. And as the Xi family lot questioned the two surgeons in from of them, drowning in the joy of it all, the man quietly walked out of there, into a dimly lit hallway, his two brothers following behind him shortly after.

Only when he'd calmed down enough did he place his thumb over the play button to the voice message she'd sent him minutes ago, the heart in his chest pounding rapidly, a feeling of uneasiness making its way to his mind and to every remaining atom in his body.