Author's Note: As the title suggest, this (last) story is about Luo Tian.  Written for my friends who wanted to know who Luo Tian might one day end up with, I had to create a few new characters for the purposes of this tale.  I hope you all enjoy!  It's been a joy sharing "Gank Your Heart" with you all!  

Story #12 – Luo Tian’s Story

“Thank you, everyone, for joining us for today’s Insider’s Competition games.  Remember, I’m your old friend, Luo Tian.”

“And I’m your new friend, Qiu Ying.”

“And we’ll see you next week for the iConquer 2020 Insider’s Competition semi-finals.”

As soon as they finished their closing speech and the little red light on the recorder finally clicked off, Qiu Ying ripped off her headphones and reached for her partner.  Holding him up by his left shoulder, she asked, “Luo Laoshi, are you okay?”

“I’m okay.”  Luo Tian couldn’t avoid folding himself in half, but he still pushed her hands and concern aside.

“You’re not okay.  You’re stomach’s hurting again, isn’t it?” 

She’d noticed towards the end of the last game how his words had become more forced and how beads of sweat had begun to form along his forehead.  She couldn’t miss, either, how his body was now bent and his right hand was pressed against his stomach.

“It’s nothing,” he insisted.  “I just got caught up in going over my notes this morning and accidentally skipped breakfast.  I’m sure everything will be fine once I have food in me.”

“Have some hot water first, at least.” 

Moving aside his cup of coffee, Qiu Ying set her thermos in front of him. 

When she noticed how his hands shook just trying to pour the water, she stepped in to do it herself and passed him the thermos cap.

“Thank you.”

“I really think you should see a doctor,” Qiu Ying urged.

“I already told you I’ll be okay.  I just need to eat something and take my medicine.  You know, you’re really quite nagging.  How does Ji Xiang Kong put up with you?”

Qiu Ying crossed her arms at a loss for what to say.  Her relationship with Luo Tian was a multifaceted one.  On the one hand, they were coworkers.  But he was also her mentor and teacher.  Luo Tian insisted they were now partners and equals, but at other times, like right now, he was like her older brother. 

“I’m not nagging.  I’m just trying to get you to take care of yourself.”

Since the pain in his stomach had finally eased, Luo Tian quickly unfolded himself to stand and gathered up his things.  Holding out his hand to put her off, he told her, “Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine.  I’ll see you back at the office.  But don’t forget you have that report to finish for tomorrow morning’s meeting.”

After he exited, Qiu Ying sighed and turned to collect her own things.  She then went to find her boyfriend, Xiang Kong.

=//=

Qiu Ying waited for Xiang Kong by the exit area of the sports arena with all the waiting rooms.  “Are you finished?” she asked.

“Mm.  I sent the others on ahead back to the training base.  I’ll walk you back to GDV.”

Slipping her arm through his, they turned towards the door.  “You played a really good game today,” Qiu Ying started.

“It was alright.  There was that moment at the 7 minute and 32 seconds mark.”

Qiu Ying knew what he was talking about.  Luo Tian had picked up on it as well.  “It’s okay.  You guys were able to recover from the misstep.” 

“But if we hadn’t made that mistake in the first place, we would have finished the game earlier.”

“Knowing you, you’ll go back and start practicing that same play immediately and next time, the team won’t miss it again, and that’s what’s most important,” she reassured.

Xiang Kong sighed, still dissatisfied over his team’s error, but asked, “Will you be working late again tonight?”

Qiu Ying wrinkled her nose and, sighing, remembered Luo Tian’s parting words.  “I’m afraid so.  I have a report that I haven’t yet finished.  I don’t know why I’m so stupid that it’s taking me so long to complete.”

“It’s not that you’re stupid.”  Xiang Kong flicked her head affectionately for talking about herself like that.  “It’s that you’re a perfectionist.”

Tugging playfully on his arm, she answered simply.  “It takes one to know one.”

After a while, Xiang Kong asked again, “You’re awfully quiet today.  Is everything okay?”

“I’m worried about Luo Tian Laoshi,” Qiu Ying confessed.

Xiang Kong was a little taken aback, as he hadn’t expected that answer.  “Is everything okay?  What’s the matter with him?”

“He says everything’s okay, but I don’t think so.”  Qiu Ying then explained how ever since she had started working at Dream Journey, she’d known about Luo Tian’s occasional stomach pains, but now, she told Xiang Kong, they seemed to be growing both in frequency and severity.  “The only problem is no matter how often I tell him he should go see a doctor, he just brushes aside my concern and tells me it’s nothing.”

Xiang Kong frowned.  “Do you think I should mention something to Wen Jie?  If there’s anyone who’s capable of getting him to do something, it would be Wen Jie.”

“That might be a good idea, actually.”

Before Shu Wen even had an opportunity to check in on Luo Tian, however, things came to a head and Qiu Ying didn’t have any other choice but to put her foot down.  

It was just a few days later when she exited a conference room behind Luo Tian and noticed the way he stumbled ever so slightly in his step before pausing to lean against the doorway.  The meeting they’d just been in had lasted several hours and she imagined it had likely taken its toll on him.  Following Luo Tian back to his office, Qiu Ying entered without knocking and found him leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. 

She stood with her arms crossed.  “So what’s the excuse going to be this time?  Did you skip lunch?  Snack time?  Have too much coffee earlier?”

“What are you talking about?” Luo Tian asked wearily.  Removing the arm covering his eyes, he sat up to dig around his side desk drawer until he pulled out the bottle he’d been looking for.

Qiu Ying grabbed it out of his hand and read the label.  “Antacid medication?” 

When Luo Tian tried to take it back, she held it out of his reach.  “You’re obviously not well and you can’t just keep relying on these pills.  That’s not a solution.  You need to go see a doctor, find out what’s really wrong, and get some proper treatment.”

“Stop making a fuss.  You’re making a big deal out of nothing.  Come on, give me back my medicine.”

“Nope.”  She tucked it into her pocket and out of his reach.  “Come on, let’s go.  I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“How?  You don’t even know how to drive.”

Qiu Ying rolled her eyes.  “That’s what cabs are for.”

Luo Tian still persisted stubbornly.  “I don’t need to go to the hospital.  And I don’t have time for the hospital.” He pointed to the piles of paper strewn across his desk.  “I have to finish arranging the schedule for the upcoming Insider’s Competition semi-finals followed by the finals.”

“You can finish that after you pay a visit to the doctor.  I’ll even help you.  Come on.”  She then grabbed his coat so he wouldn’t have a choice.  

After Luo Tian spent the entirety of their cab ride waging a protest against the need for a visit with the doctor, Qiu Ying finally stopped just outside the sliding doors of the hospital entrance and asked, “Do you have a fear of doctors or hospitals, or something?”  When he answered in the negative, she then appealed to his sense of professional responsibility. 

“If you’re really fine, then it won’t be any big deal for you to have a check-up.  But if there is something wrong, do you really want to let things go until you pass out at the table next to me, or something?  Imagine the disturbance that would cause if that happened to us in the middle of a competition.”

Since Luo Tian didn’t have anything to say to that, he finally stopped complaining and followed her obediently to the hospital’s outpatient waiting area where he sat with his arms crossed.

After what seemed like several hours, but really was just the one, his number was finally called.  He naturally stood to follow the nurse, but was surprised when Qiu Ying did the same.

“What?” she asked, when he continued to look at her.  “I have to go with you or else you might try and run away.” 

“I’m not going to run away,” he rolled his eyes.  “I’ve already let you drag me here.”

“But I don’t trust you to share all your symptoms either.”  Having made her position firmly known, Qiu Ying shooed him with her hands to hurry up and follow the nurse. 

“But don’t worry,” she added from behind.  “I won’t stay for the physical portion of the examination.”

=//=

Thanks to Qiu Ying’s comment, it was with flaming cheeks that Luo Tian reached the door to the doctor’s office.  An impressive feat considering Luo Tian wasn’t normally the type to react let alone let his expressions show on his face.  Their friend Summer, in fact, liked to joke that Luo Tian was like a giant iceberg.  Immovable and glacial, and nothing anybody would ever want to be trapped in.

“Do you really have to come in with me?” he gritted out between clenched teeth.

“I already told you,” Qiu Ying replied with blithe unconcern.  She then swept past him and waved for him to join her inside.

The doctor, who waited for them inside her consultation room, was unfazed by their interaction.  She was used to bickering couples.  Patients who’d been married to each other for years were, typically, the worst.  But as Ren Zi Lan sneaked a peek at her soon-to-be patient, she couldn’t help but think how it was a shame that someone so handsome was already taken.  Not that she would date a patient, she sternly reminded herself.  It was just that since she was cooped up in the hospital day in and day out, meeting patients was the extent of her social activity these days. 

Her mother despaired of seeing her married off.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Ren.”  She held out her hand and introduced herself.

Luo Tian took her hand and instantly found it warm and comforting.  It took him a second before he recovered and said, “I’m Luo Tian.  This is . . .”

As he waved in the general direction of somewhere next to him, Qiu Ying immediately piped up.  “Qiu Ying.  And I’m not leaving.”

Zi Lan raised an eyebrow, but invited them both to take a seat in front of her.  “Nobody has to leave who doesn’t want to leave, but only if the patient agrees.”

“It’s fine,” Luo Tian said resignedly.  He knew how persistent Qiu Ying could be.

“So what’s the problem, then?”

Luo Tian started to describe the pain in his stomach and abdomen area, but when he characterized it as occasional, Qiu Ying jumped in to clarify that it had been happening more often of late.  She then explained how sometimes the pain was so bad Luo Tian would have to bend over to try and ease the symptoms and how he chugged antacid pills by the bottle.  Zi Lan diligently recorded everything Qiu Ying shared with her and then when she was done with her notes, indicated she’d do a physical examination next. 

Qiu Ying quickly gathered up her purse and jacket at that point and announced that she’d head outside to wait for them. 

As Zi Lan began her physical examination, she started to comment that Luo Tian was fortunate to have such a caring and concerned girlfriend like Qiu Ying, but when she pressed down on an area of his abdomen and he yelped out in pain, she quickly set aside the thought and focused on him.  After feeling around and asking a few more questions, she had Luo Tian sit up and put his shirt back on.  She then brought Qiu Ying back into the room and started to scribble on a note pad. 

Ripping off several sheets, she handed them to Qiu Ying and instructed, “These are various orders for the different tests he’ll need to have done.”

“So many?”

“Is that really necessary?” Luo Tian asked.

“All signs point to you having a stomach ulcer and I’ve given you a prescription for that, but we should still do a few tests to make sure that’s all it is and not something else.  Some of the tests you can complete today, like the blood work, but the CT scan and other tests are something you’ll have to prep for and come back another day to complete.  But you should still schedule them before you leave the hospital today.  Given your current condition, I wouldn’t delay treatment any further.”

“I understand.”  Qiu Yin gripped the pieces of paper in her hand tightly.  “Thank you, doctor.  I’ll make sure he completes everything as you say.”

“See that you do.”

As Luo Tian exited the consultation room, he couldn’t help but mutter that now, instead of one female nagging at him, he had two.

=//=

After Luo Tian and Qiu Ying left, Zi Lan found herself without any waiting patients and with a rare break, so she wandered over to the nurses’ station for a chat.  When her friends heard her sighing over and over again, they asked her what was up.

“It’s not fair,” she complained.  Picking up a nut, she popped it into and chewed before saying, “The best ones are always taken.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“The patient who just left.  You all should’ve seen him.  He was so attractive!  And totally my style.  Such piercing eyes and with the cutest quirk of a smile, too.  But,” she shrugged.  “Of course, he already has a girlfriend.  And you should’ve heard the way she was so concerned for her boyfriend’s health.  I think she knew his symptoms and problems better than him.  But with a face like that, it’s no wonder he would have a girlfriend so devoted.” 

Zi Lan sighed again.

“Are you checking out patients again?”  Her best friend, Li Yan, another internist at the hospital, walked up to the counter right at that moment to hear the tail end of her comment.

“Yah, don’t try and act all high and mighty just because you have a boyfriend.  Us single dogs have to get our peeks in when we can.”  She then leaned against the counter again to prop up her chin with a fist and sighed dreamily.  “And this one was definitely worth a second peek.”

The nurse who’d called for Luo Tian in the waiting room and shown him to Zi Lan’s office readily agreed.  “He really was handsome,” she told the others.  “And he wore a sharp-looking suit, which must mean he has a good job too.”

“I think he was some sort of an announcer?”  Zi Lan hadn’t paid close attention to those details in his file. 

“I’m surprised you don’t already know his zodiac sign and blood type,” Li Yan commented dryly. 

Zi Lan stuck her tongue out at her friend.  “I do have some ethics, you know, I was focused on his medical concerns.  But you give me some ideas for his follow-up visit,” she joked.

As Li Yan shook her head, Zi Lan figured she should probably return to her office and work on the rest of her patient charts while she had the time.  She turned to leave and right at that moment, out of the corner of her eye, she saw two people walk past in the distance.  One of the persons looked a lot like the Qiu Ying who’d just been in her office not even an hour ago, but curiously the person next to her didn’t look the least bit like her patient, Luo Tian.  In fact, as far as she could tell from this distance, they weren’t even dressed alike. 

Zi Lan wondered if her eyes were seeing things incorrectly and shook her head.

“Is something wrong?” one of the nurses asked.

“No, it’s just, I thought I saw that girlfriend I was just telling you guys about, but there was a guy next to her and it wasn’t my patient.  It was some other guy.”

Li Yan leaned back to look down the hallway, but the doorframe at the opposite end of where they were standing was completely empty.

“They were walking past so they’re already gone,” Zi Lan explained.  “It was probably someone who just looked a lot like her.  I mean, if she’s here with her boyfriend, she wouldn’t have another guy come to the hospital too, right?”

=//=

What Zi Lan couldn’t have known was that after Qiu Ying escorted Luo Tian to the hospital’s lab so that he could have his blood work completed, she’d received a phone call from Xiang Kong.  Her boyfriend had been so alarmed to learn she was at the hospital that he’d hung up on her before she even had the chance to explain that it was Luo Tian who was sick, and not her.  Qiu Ying ended up having to text him an explanation, but Xiang Kong didn’t get the message until after he arrived to the hospital because he’d already hopped onto his motorcycle by then and was too preoccupied to read it or answer any of her return calls.

“I can’t believe you just dropped everything and raced over here.”

“What else was I supposed to do when my girlfriend said she was at the hospital?”

“You were supposed to ask, ‘Why are you at the hospital?’ ‘What’s going on?’ or ‘Is everything okay?’ Any one of those questions would have given you the reassurance you needed.  Instead you panicked.”

“Blame me for being an overly concerned boyfriend, then,” Xiang Kong pouted.

Qiu Ying laughed and looping her arms through his, rewarded his concern with a kiss on the cheek.  “I’m grateful.  I just feel bad that you worried for nothing and took time off from your training.  You didn’t say anything to my little brother, too, did you?”

“Xia Ling had classes this afternoon, so he wasn’t at the training base when I called.  How is Luo Laoshi doing?”

“He’s waiting to get his blood drawn right now.  Walk with me to get his prescription filled?” 

As they walked to the hospital’s pharmacy, Qiu Ying filled Xiang Kong in on the rest.  “The doctor is pretty certain he has a stomach ulcer, which can be treated with medicine, but she still wants to him to undergo some tests to make sure it’s not something else or that his condition isn’t worse than it seems.”

“I’m glad it’s something easily treatable and he’ll be okay.”

Qiu Ying grumbled.  “It’d have been even easier if he’d made time for the doctor earlier.  He needs to take better care of himself.  He works too much.”

“Now you sound like Summer Ge.”

“It’s the truth!” she huffed.

Which was why after they returned to Luo Tian with his medicine in hand and saw him off in a cab, Qiu Ying turned to Xiang Kong and asked if they could visit a grocery store before heading home. 

Xiang Kong readily agreed and didn’t question why she wanted to visit a grocery store until he followed her around the store and watched her fill their shopping cart with things like chicke