“Or what about all the times when they start making references to that dumb Disney movie? I’m so fucking sick of people telling me to ‘be a man.’”
“They’re in the wrong. Not you!”
Shang groans. “Would you just—”
It happens all at once.
The flash of oncoming lights. The screech of tires. Shattered glass, warped metal. The impact is so powerful, it forces their truck to roll, landing top-side-down in the ditch. He hits his head so hard, he blacks out.
When he opens his eyes again, he wakes up in the hospital. He’s never experienced pain like this before. An open gash across his cheek. Both his arms, broken. Ribs, cracked. He doesn’t understand how he’s alive.
His mother’s soft sobs bring him back to reality. She’s at his bedside, weeping into her palms. If she’s here, then where’s—
“Dad?” he rasps, panic rising in his chest. “Where’s Dad?”
Xu Hong shakes her head, body trembling too hard to even speak. Shang fears the worst, but the truth is so much crueler. There aren’t enough words to describe his guilt and shame.
* * *
“I’m sorry I didn’t come home sooner,” Alexander mutters pathetically. “I know you’re mad at me.”
Xu Hong shakes her head. “We were never mad at you,” she whispers.
“Disappointed, then.”
“Never,” Li says. “We just didn’t want to see you throw your life away.”
“We’ve always wanted you here,” Xu Hong adds. “But we knew you had to choose to come back. Nobody could force you.”
“I regret taking as long as I did.”
“Let the past stay in the past,” Xu Hong coos, brushing some of Alexander’s hair out of his eyes. “All that matters now is that you’re here.”
“Still. I’m so sorry.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for.”
“It was an accident,” Li reminds. “It wasn’t your fault.”
He smiles weakly, understandably drained. “I love you both.”
“We know,” Li says with a smirk.
Xu Hong curls into him and hugs him tight while Li squeezes his hand. Alexander’s still shaky, but he feels a million tons lighter. Bubbly, even. Like all of his troubles are starting to evaporate and rise into nothingness. He didn’t know how much he needed his family until this moment. It’s startling how much Sebastian has managed to rip away from him.
But not anymore.
“How about you wash up?” asks Xu Hong. “I’m steaming a marinated crab as we speak. We can have dinner and you can tell us all about your job.”
He grimaces. “Or lack thereof. We, uh... We have a lot to catch up on.”
“Forget the job,” Li mutters. “I want to hear more about this imaginary girlfriend of yours.”
“She’s not imaginary.”
“Uh-huh.”
“She’s real, Dad.”
