When Bai Long strode into Jiang Lang's bedroom with the angelic-looking blonde Yan Lie was supposed to kill in tow, Jiang Lang almost wept with relief.
Xu Ling had vomited over and over again, until there was nothing left in her stomach. And then she had vomited some more.
Afterward she'd fallen back onto the mattress and stopped breathing.
Desperate, Jiang Lang had cried again to the courtiers again, but the powerful entities had done nothing whatsoever.
Once Jiang Lang had agreed to repay them for any aid rendered, the all-powerful entities had abandoned him.
The courtiers had raised his hopes and then dashed them completely.
Jiang Lang had wondered at their intentions, and now he knew: utter cruelty, sadistic amusement.
Bai Long stepped out of the way and the little blonde rushed forward.
"Help her," Jiang Lang commanded.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," she chanted.
She paled as she knelt at the side of the bed. She was trembling, but gave Jiang Lang an accusing glare.
She wanted to know what he had done to Xu Ling.
Guilt intensifying, Jiang Lang tightened his hold on the fragile, sick, dying Xu Ling.
He barely knew the woman, but he wanted her to live more than he wanted to avoid hell's hottest flames.
It was too sudden to feel this strongly, yes.
It was completely out of character, yes.
That, too. He could ponder his foolishness later.
"She's not breathing," he rasped. He told her to make Xu Ling breathe.
The blonde's attention returned to Xu Ling. She stated that Xu Ling needed a hospital and that someone should call 911 immediately.
She then paused, wondering if they even had emergency services or phones, and if so, they needed to call immediately.
"No time," Jiang Lang snapped. He insisted she do something.
The blonde urged him to just call, explaining Xu Ling's condition.
"Do something or die!" he roared.
"Oh God." Absolute panic filled her eyes. She needed to do CPR and believed she could do it.
She told herself she could.
She quickly stood up and leaned directly over Xu Ling's lifeless face.
She then instructed him to lay Xu Ling flat and get out of her way.
Jiang Lang didn't even think of protesting. He rolled Xu Ling to her back and hopped onto the floor, crouching beside the bed.
He refused to release her hand, however, retaining a tight clasp.
The girl stood there for a moment, unmoving, panic still lighting her eyes.
"Danika," Bai Long said, a warning.
The girl - Danika - swallowed and flicked Bai Long a nervous glance.
The warrior's dark eyebrows winged into his hair as he stared at her and asked if she was sure she knew what she was doing.
"Of - of course." Rosy color seeped into her cheeks as she once again returned her attention to Xu Ling.
Flattening her palms just below Xu Ling's breasts, she pushed once, twice, and said shakily that she had practiced and that a dummy was the same as a human.
Then she meshed her parted lips over Xu Ling's.
For the next several minutes, surely an eternity that was worse than the hours Jiang Lang spent burning each night, she alternated between pumping on Xu Ling's chest and blowing air into her mouth.
He'd never felt so helpless.
Time became an enemy more hated than ever.
Bai Long waited by the door, still and silent. His arms were crossed over his chest.
He wasn't watching Xu Ling, but Danika, his expression shuttered.
Jiang Lang rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, his own breathing so labored he could hear every exhalation echoing in his mind.
Finally, blessedly, Xu Ling coughed and sputtered.
Her entire body spasmed as she opened her mouth and struggled to suck life into her lungs.
She gasped, choked as she inhaled. She gagged as she exhaled.
Jiang Lang gathered her to his chest in the next instant. She struggled against him. "Hold still, beauty. Hold still."
Gradually her movements ceased. "Jiang Lang," she rasped, and it was the sweetest sound he'd ever heard.
"I'm here." Her skin was still cold, still clammy. "I've got you."
Danika remained at the side of the bed, wringing her hands.
White teeth bit down on her bottom lip, drawing a bead of blood.
She stated that Xu Ling needed a hospital, doctors, and medicine.
"The journey from fortress to city would be too much for her."
She asked what was wrong with Xu Ling, if it was a virus, and expressed concern about having put her mouth on Xu Ling's.
"Wine," Bai Long answered.
He stated that Xu Ling was sick from their wine.
Her green eyes widened and she flicked Xu Ling a glance.
She asked if all of this was from a hangover and said that he should have told her, as Xu Ling needed water and coffee to dilute the alcohol.
She paused.
She then said that for what it was worth, she hoped and thought Xu Ling would live, but that he really should take her to a hospital and get her on an IV as she was probably dehydrated.
Even as she spoke, shades of color trickled back into Xu Ling's cheeks.
"Hurt," Xu Ling whispered.
Her hands clutched at Jiang Lang's back, drawing him closer.
Perhaps she felt as he did, that they could not be close enough.
He would have burrowed under her skin if possible.
"What else can you do for her?" Jiang Lang demanded of Danika. "She is still in pain."
"I - I - " Danika pursed her mouth and glanced away from him, her gaze locking on Bai Long.
The warrior looked suspicious. Her eyes widened, and she snapped her fingers again.
She suggested Tylenol or Motrin, or something like that, stating it always helped her hangovers.
Jiang Lang glanced to Bai Long. "I've seen a commercial for such things, I think, but don't know where to obtain them. Do you?"
"No. There's never been a reason to pay attention to human medicines." Bai Long didn't remove his eyes from the blonde; his voice sounded scratchy for some reason.
Feng Yue would have known, but Feng Yue was not here. "Where can we get this Tylenol?" Jiang Lang asked the girl, urgency consuming him.
Danika's brows puckered in an imitation of Bai Long as she glanced between the two men.
There was an odd gleam in her lovely green eyes, as if he and Bai Long had been speaking a foreign language and she could not grasp the specifics.
She finally said that she had some in her purse.
When she failed to elaborate, he gritted out, "Go fetch your purse, then."
She stated that unless he freed her, she couldn't, as it was in her hotel room.
She then quickly asked what kind of wine Xu Ling had drunk.
"One you have never heard of, healer," Bai Long said softly.
He knew, Danika realized, suddenly petrified. What had given her away? Her panicked plea to call 911?
Her nervousness?
A shudder rocked her.
Cold infused her blood.
Then he stepped behind her, crowding her with his heat, his vibrant energy chasing away the chill.
Her shudder became a shiver. She hastily moved away from him, afraid of her reaction to him.
"You are a healer, aren't you?" he asked, his voice a mocking curse.
Oh, yes.
He knew.
She twisted the material of her pants and swallowed audibly.
At least he didn't rat her out - or slay her on the spot.
She gulped.
She pointed out that he couldn't deny Xu Ling was breathing now, that she had done her part, and he owed her.
Bai Long looked away from her, as if he couldn't stand the sight of her another moment.