“Mister! Mister! Please wake up!” I started to shake his upper body as I called out to him in a loud voice.
No good. He’s completely unconscious. I can’t carry him alone; I need to wake him up somehow. The best I could do with my much smaller body was to support him as he walked.
Sorry about this, Mister! I shook his body with more force and slapped his face a little. Soon, to my relief, he started to stir and after blinking confusedly a couple of times, he seemed to have come to his senses.
“Thank god! You’re awake…I think you’re injured. Can you get up? I’ll help support you…” I said with clear relief in my voice.
“…I’ll try…” the man replied in a soft and slightly confused tone after a short while as he struggled a little to sit up.
“Here, I’ll help support you,” I said as I used my hands and arms to support his upper body by pushing it up so that he was finally in a sitting position.
“Where are we?” the man asked still clearly confused as he looked around.
Well, looking around isn’t going to help him much. There were no landmarks here. There was nothing around us except for the white snow and the thick tall trees of the forest.
“Put your arm around my shoulder, I’ll support you up,” I instructed as I knelt down next to him.
The man hesitated a little before draping his arm around my shoulder. Together we supported each other as we got up on our feet. I noticed our height difference immediately when he got to his feet. He was much taller than I was, and I barely reached his shoulders. Thank god, he could get up. I wouldn’t know how to support him to my place otherwise. Wait! Now that the thought had formed in my head, I was shocked. I guess, I have to take this stranger to my house…huh?
“Umm…can you walk? Please hang in there a little bit…my house…isn’t too far from here,” I told him reassuringly as I continued to support his body. From my observations earlier, his injuries aren’t that bad, but he must be tired from the cold. He leaned on my body as I struggled to support his larger frame.
I really have to take him home, I guess. I sighed to myself inwardly. People would have many things to say about a young and single woman taking a stranger man home with her. Thankfully, no one was around…plus he’s injured so that makes him a patient. My patient.
“Yes, I can…thank you,” the man replied after a while. Perhaps, he was too tired to speak.
“You don’t need to speak anymore. Save your energy. Let’s try to make it to my house. I’ll treat your wound for you…” I continued to reassure him in as calm a voice as I could muster. He’s a patient so I should make him feel as safe as possible.
We struggled along the narrow snow-covered path until we finally arrived at my house. This is the first time that I’ve had a guest over at my house. I’ve been living here alone ever since my father passed away. My house was more like a small cottage with nothing much to offer to a guest but at least it was clean. I hoped he didn’t mind.
I quickly unlocked the door as I continued to support some of his weight with my smaller body. The walk here was tiring for both of us, and we struggled most of the way. I was amazed that he didn’t fall over even once, he must be quite strong. After unlocking the door, I quickly led him inside the house.
The house was small and since I was living alone, I only had one small bed. Without hesitation, I led him to the bed and gestured for him to lay down. He sat down on the bed as he panted a little and tried to catch his breath. I was panting too from the exertion of our walk here.
“You should lie down…I’ll make some warm tea to warm you up. Then I’ll treat your wound. Please wait here,” I quickly explained before turning around to head to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, I rushed to set the water to boil adding some herbs that would help warm him up and counter exhaustion. After that, I quickly grabbed the first aid kit and returned swiftly back to the bed. To my surprise, the man was still sitting on the bed as I had left him. He had not lain down on the bed at all.
“Mister! Please lay down and rest. Your body must be very cold and tired. Let me wrap some blanket around you,” I said as I gently pushed him down onto the bed.
“Who are you?” the man asked curtly as he grabbed my hand.
I was slightly shocked at his fast reflex and his reaction. Well, perhaps he just wanted a proper introduction. I’m not used to giving my name to strangers though…
“My name is Lin. I live here in this small town and I specialize in herbs and medicine. So…if you’ll allow me, may I tend to your wounds? Your arm…is wounded,” I answered cautiously.
“I see…” the man replied flatly as he held out his arm for me to inspect.
“Sorry, I need you to remove the top part of your clothes so that I can see your arm,” I told him a little shyly.
“Sure…” The man answered without any emotions as he shrugged off his shirt to reveal his very muscular arms.
Let’s focus on the wound…and not how well built he is! The wound didn’t seem too deep which was a relief. However, the wound was long like his arm had been slashed by a sharp knife or sword of some sort.
--To be continued…
“What do you mean you can’t find the Crown Prince?” the Emperor scolded his advisor.“Your Majesty, despite looking all over the palace, no one is able to locate the Crown Prince,” the old advisor stated apologetically as he bowed low.“He went out again, didn’t he?” the Emperor said as he heaved a big sigh as rubbed his brows.“With the upcoming plan to attack the Town of Amber Leaves, the Crown Prince must have slipped out to scout out the town…” the old advisor replied in a weak voice full of dread and anxiety.“Why does he always do this?! Entering enemy’s land all alone. Always doing thin
Nowthat I was out of the bedroom, I headed for the bathroom to wash my face. My reflection in the mirror told me that I was quite dirty, and my face was a mess from the rough travelling. I must have looked quite unladylike in Ren’s eyes. Oh well, it’s not like we’ll ever meet again after he recovers and leaves this place. Then my life will return to how it was before.Since Ren was sleeping in my bed, I had to find someplace to sleep in the living room. My house was small so there was only one bedroom, a living room, a small kitchen, and a tiny bathroom. It was comfortably enough considering that I was living all alone. I wrapped a blanket around my body as I sat down on the chair. I’ll just sleep with my head resting on the dining table. I feel so exhausted from travelling to the village and from helping Ren on my way back.
By thetime 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 stand
“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