By the time I was back, Ren’s eyes were closed as he continued to battle his fever. Sorry Ren but I need to remove some of your clothes to wipe you with cool water, I apologized silently to Ren inside my head. I slowly reached out my hand and began disrobing him. This is for medical purposes, but this is my first time undressing a man, I couldn’t stop my hands from trembling slightly as I tugged and pulled at his top. Finally, I managed to completely remove his clothes from his upper body.
I sucked in a breath as my eyes took in the sight before me. Thankfully, Ren still had his eyes closed otherwise he would have seen my shocked reaction. I knew that Ren was tall and much bigger than me, but I didn’t expect that beneath his clothing hid such a well sculptured and muscular body. I’ve never seen a man without a shirt on before, but I knew enough that a standard man did not look as beautiful as this. He must be a very fit and active trader to have such a well-toned body. His muscles were beautiful, taunt and firm.
Unconsciously, I slowly reached out my hand towards the muscle of his chest. His skin felt hot against my fingertips as I ran my fingertips down from his chest, tracing gently downwards towards his magnificently formed abdominal muscles. Ren’s soft moan brought me back to my sense. What did I just do? I need to focus on healing him.
Back to my senses, I quickly grabbed the wet towel. After squeezing it until it was damp and ready, I gently used it to wipe along Ren’s arm, one after the other. Then I wiped his neck, chest and the plain of his stomach. Ren made soft moaning sounds as his body slowly began to relax.
I need to flip him onto his stomach to wipe his back. Ren’s body was still very hot to the touch, his fever has not yet broken. Using all the force that I could muster, I managed to flip Ren onto his stomach. If I thought that the sight of his naked back would be any less amazing than the front of his torso, I was so wrong. Even his back was amazingly sculpted with ripped muscles. Being a trade and a traveler must be harder than I ever imagined if it made them have a body as fit as this.
I placed my palm against the muscle of his broad back before starting to wipe him with the damp towel. Over and over, I wiped him, changing the cool water so that the water could absorb and remove the heat from his feverish body. I wasn’t sure how long I was at it, but it must have been a good long while.
“There…all done finally…” I said as I silently complimented myself for my efforts. I heaved a sigh of relief as I wiped the sweat from my brow.
Ren must be asleep by now. Hopefully his fever would get better by the time that he wakes up. I guess, I should prepare some food for when he wakes up. I’m feeling a little hungry myself.
“Ah!...” I let out a small yelp in shock.
Ren suddenly grabbed my wrist as I was pulling away. His eyes were still closed though…is he still sleeping? His grip on my wrist was quite tight, although it didn’t hurt. I attempted to pull my wrist away, but his grip didn’t budge. I can’t get up from the bed this way…what should I do?
“Don’t…leave…me…” Ren spoke softly and very weakly. Was he sleep talking?
“Ren…” I called his name softly, but he didn’t respond.
Instead of relaxing his grip on my wrist, his powerful arm yanked and pulled me down on top of him.
“Ren!” I cried out in full panic as I felt his hot body against mine. The heat from his body seeping in through my clothes and I could feel the hardness of his body on mine. My heart was beating wildly, and my body felt hot as his scent enveloped me.
Ren still had his eyes closed; however, his arms were very active in capturing me and binding me to him in a very tight embrace. His strong arms encircled my body and hugged me close against his muscular chest. No matter how much I struggled, I couldn’t move or remove his arm from around my body. Ren snuggled closer to me as he breathed deeply as if in a very comfortable sleep.
Do I have to sleep on top of him like this until he lets go or until he wakes up?
What should I do? I can’t move at all like this. I’ve never been this close to a man except for my father before and back then I was still a child. I couldn’t control my fast-beating heart and my fast breathing. My heart was beating so fast it felt like it’s going to burst from my chest. Can Ren feel my heartbeat? I could feel his strong heartbeat underneath my palm as it rested against his naked chest. I could hear his steady heartbeat with the side of my head lying on his muscular chest.
We’re too close. This is not…good. The sensation of his hard and naked body against mine felt so foreign yet not unpleasant. I felt my face blush even hotter and hotter at the thought. I need to calm down, I thought as I looked up at Ren’s sleeping face. He’s…actually…very handsome, isn’t he?
Lin! What are you thinking at a time like this? He’s your patient and nothing more. You need to focus on healing him so that he can return to his journey. That’s right…soon Ren will leave this place and I probably won’t get to see him ever again. I should never forget that fact. My exhaustion suddenly hit me, and my eyelids suddenly felt very heavy…
--To be continued...
“You’reawake?” 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 po
“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