“You’re awake?” I heard a man’s voice as I lazily woke up from my slumber. Where am I? When did I fall asleep?
The display of muscles close to my face when I opened my eyes brought me quickly back to reality. I am suddenly reminded that I am still lying on top of Ren. I bolted up into a sitting position, as I pushed against his firm chest with the palms of my hand.
“Ren! Are you feeling better?” I managed to ask in a panicked voice. That didn’t sound right at all.
“Is that the first thing you think of after waking up in this position?” Ren teased me as he laughed merrily. Well, at least someone is feeling much better.
Wait. My position? I looked down and realized that now I was straddling his hips. I felt blood rush to my face as it dawned on me how embarrassing this position is. I hurriedly got off him and off the bed. I was in such a rush that I lost my balance and ended up falling off the bed.
“Hahahahaaa…you’re so funny, Lin!” Ren laughed mercilessly as he witnessed my literal downfall.
“Stop teasing me! It’s your fault for not letting me go!” I yelled back at him as I struggled to my feet. I wanted to die from embarrassment.
Ren got out of bed in one smooth motion. His movements seemed normal now, his fever must have broken while he was resting. That’s one good thing at least.
“Give me you hand,” Ren said to me with a kind smile while offering me one of his large manly hands.
“Thanks…” I said in a small whisper as I placed my hand in his.
His hand was warm and much larger than mine making my hand seem so tiny. I hesitated a little before placing my hand in his. He held my hand firmly as he slowly pulled me up to my feet. Standing side-by-side while he was standing up straight for the first time made me fully aware of the difference in our size. Ren was so tall that I was slightly shorter than his shoulder, I thought as I looked up at his smiling face. I wouldn’t say that I’m the tallest of girls, but I guess my height was average, at least compared to the other girls in my town.
“What are you doing today? Are you going into town?” Ren asked enthusiastically.
“Umm…normally, I would collect some herbs in the forests nearby. Do you want to go to town?” I asked a little hesitantly. He just recovered so I was worried about his health. On top of that, I usually don’t go into town in broad daylight. However, that might be a little hard to explain to him.
“Yeah…if possible, it’ll be great if you can take me into town with you. No rush tough,” Ren replied casually.
“Why don’t you eat something first? You’re still recovering, and I can redress your wound,” I suggested with a small smile. For some reason, having Ren here added so much life to this lonely house.
“There’s no need to mind me…you should go and collect your herbs like you usually do,” Ren said quite seriously.
“I’ll go after I’ve tended to your wound. Umm…What will you do?” I asked hesitantly. For a moment, I felt a little scared that he would leave. I mean, he’s not completely recovered yet so…
“I’ll go with you. After you’re done, we can head into town together. I don’t mind if its later in the day or in the evening, I just want to drop by…” Ren replied casually.
I guess that works. I started to prepare some basic breakfast for us before tending to his wound.
…
I was frankly amazed at Ren’s fast recovery as he walked a little behind me on our way to the forest to collect herbs. With his clothes covering the bandages on his arm, he looked fit and in perfect health. No one would believe that he was very sick with a high fever just recently.
“There’s so many paths around here aren’t there?” Ren asked as we walked through one of the secret passages that is not well known even to the locals.
“Yes…these old paths have been abandoned for so long. Since people don’t usually come out here, some paths have already been forgotten as well,” I replied casually.
Soon we arrived at the forest where I usually collected herbs. I guess I should collect some fresh herbs to sell since I need to take Ren into town later today anyways.
“So…which herbs are you looking for?” Ren asked as he looked around.
“You don’t need to help me…you should just rest. Maybe you can sit under the tree over there?” I replied worriedly.
“I’m fine. Even with the current condition of my body, I can at least collect some herbs, trust me…” Ren said firmly as he smiled at me.
“Ok…then…” I said hesitantly as I gave in.
I explained to him about the herbs we were supposed to look for. I took out a small notebook from my bag and showed him some pictures for reference. Ren nodded as I explained to him with a look of genuine interest. Soon, we parted a little to look around the area for the herbs.
“You live alone, right? Why do you live so far from the city? It must be quite dangerous for a young lady like yourself to live out here all alone…” Ren asked suddenly out of the blue.
I usually didn’t like to tell people about myself, and it wasn’t often that anyone bothered to ask anyways. However, Ren seemed like he genuinely cared. Perhaps, it would be ok to tell him honestly. After all, I’m quite certain that we would never meet again after he recovers and leaves.
“Well…I used to live with my father, but he passed away. Let’s just say that I’m not well liked by the other villagers, so my father and I decide to move out and live far away from the main village…” I explained briefly.
“The villagers seemed unreasonable…how could they dislike a kind girl like you?” Ren asked curiously as he looked straight at me. I guess I don’t have any choice but to tell him, otherwise he probably won’t let this rest in peace.
--To be continued...
“Actually, on the same day that I was born my mother died giving birth to me and a mysterious disease infected many villagers. The Village Head and the villagers decided to place the blame on me for the cause of the epidemic that happened…” I told him in an emotionless voice.“That’s completely crazy! Blaming an epidemic on a newborn baby. I bet those people are really simple-minded, so they looked for whatever and whoever was the most convenient to blame,” Ren said in a dark tone.“I guess…” I replied vaguely with a sad smile. Perhaps they really were crazy but that is just how things are. Reality isn’t always so pretty after all. Ren’s reaction surely surprised me; usually people would take the side of the mass in order to avoid causing trouble for themselves. At least that was what I’ve experienced so it was a pleasa
Afterdinner, I tended to Ren’s wound. His fever was cured completely, and he seemed to be as fit as ever. The wound on his arm was healing faster than I expected thanks to the medicine and probably Ren’s natural speed of recovery. Ren seems to have a very healthy body.“Ren, I think you’ve pretty much recovered…so…” I started to say hesitantly. How do I say this, so it doesn’t seem like I’m chasing him away? All I wanted to do is tell him that his body is pretty much healed and there’s not much I can do for him as a doctor except helping to dress his wound. Dressing the wound wasn’t a hard thing and he could probably do it himself with ease soon as the bandages may not be required anymore because his wound had closed quite nicely.“Umm…what I’m saying is…if you want to continue on your travel t
“Wait, Lin!” Ren called after me as he got up from his seat.“Hmm?” I replied questioningly as I turned my head over my shoulder to look back at him.“Umm…try not to go out so much…if something happens in town, you should just stay here. Ok?” Ren said hesitantly without meeting my eyes. I didn’t quite understand what he meant but I won’t be going into town very often anymore after Ren leaves.“Ok…Goodnight,” I agreed despite my confusion. I offered him a small smile as I went to prepare for bed.…When Lin wakes up, I’ll be long gone. The night here is always so still and quiet, apart from the sound of the wind the night was dead silent. I won’t get to see Lin in the morning so the least I can do is to leave her a note. I wonder if she understood my warning properly. I wanted to warn here more clearly but that was not possible.I took out a pi
“War has started! We’ve been invaded. The soldiers are out fighting now. We need all the healers that we have to take care of the injured. Now follow me at once! Quickly!” the soldier yelled in as he rapidly gestured for us to follow him.We looked at each other before nodding in understanding. I couldn’t bring myself to believe it but if war was really here, then the soldier was right. We must follow him at once to set up the hospital and to tend to the injured.“Wait a moment while we grab our medical supplies!” Auntie cried out as the three of us grabbed all the necessary medicine and tools that we need.“We must hurry!” the soldier continued to bark at us.“Can you please help carry this?” I asked the soldier as I passed him a large backpack full of medical supplies.“Ok. Now, lets go!” the soldier ushered us firmly out the door.The cold wind blew harshly against my
After treating that patient, we had a short meeting with the other healers as the situation headed for the worst-case scenario. We all knew what that meant as he stared wordlessly into each other’s eyes and nodded sadly.“We can’t go on like this anymore…so from now on…it’s code Black…” Uncle Gobei stated what was already on everyone’s mind. It took courage and authority from a senior doctor to say those words because it meant that from now on, we would be forsaking the lives of some patients. That’s right, we’re going to leave some of them to die…Code Black. The situation that no medical practitioner wants to find him or herself in. Ever. In emergency situations where there are more patients than the medical staff could handle, patients will be categorized based on their probability of survival. Only those labelled as having high and medium probability of survival will be given treatment. Tho
“These are the demands from our Emperor. If the Town of Amber Leaves can agree to all of these conditions, we will accept your surrender and stop the battle,” Shin stated officially before reading out all the terms present in the scroll.The terms included very common terms such as taxes to be paid in money or as crops. Ability for the Empire to use and control the land and population as it sees fit. The condition for complete surrender and loyalty as part of the Flame Dragon Empire. All terms were common, and nothing stood out except for one in which Shin read with more emphasis than the rest. After all, this term was just recently added by the emperor himself less than a month prior to this.“As for the final condition, the Town of Amber Leaves agrees to send the most beautiful and talented virgin to represent the town as an ambassador. The ambassador will live in the Imperial palace for the rest of her life and serve the Empire in good faith. That
“Run now! The enemies are here!” a woman screamed wildly as she ran into the tent.What? The enemies are here?! What would they come here for? There’s no one here but the injured and a few medical staff, most of which were women or old. I couldn’t think of anything else as I saw soldiers cladded in unfamiliar red armor uniform entering the tent bearing swords. The enemy is here…The soldiers that came in were aggressive and overbearing. My body froze in fear as they started smashing the medical equipment. Medicine, potions, and glass bottles crashed to the floor making a loud shattering sound. No…we don’t have enough medicine as it is. Another soldier grabbed an old man while another one grabbed Uncle Gobei’s collar yanking him hard.“Stop…please. We’re just doctors and healers…please,” Uncle Gobei pleaded in a shaky voice. It was clear that he was scared as the enemy soldier stare
“Kamiya? She’s standing right there…” Uncle Gobei replied casually as he pointed in my direction. I froze. Why can’t they just leave me alone to tend to the injured and then I will just silently head home.“Kamiya! My dear girl…there you are. Please come with us, we have very good news to share with you!” the village head broke into a smile as he addressed me excitedly.I had to be a fool to not realize that something very suspicious was going on. No one in this village except for Uncle Gobei and Auntie would refer to me as ‘my dear girl’ and even if they did, they wouldn’t mean it. Under the same logic, the good news that they wanted to share with me must really be super bad news. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply in resignation while I braced myself for what was to come.“Where are you taking her?” Uncle Gobei interrupted as he shielded me behind him