Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 120: Do You Mind?

Chapter 120: Do You Mind?

I knew that if I weren’t so detached from the whole situation, I would have been impressed with how long he managed to hold that weight up. It had to kill the shoulders, but he didn’t seem to feel the pain.

"I can still fight; it’s just a twisted ankle from getting around this fucking cage this morning," grunted Yin Jie as he looked between me and Alpha.

I wanted to tell him that he really shouldn’t complain about his accommodations, but that would involve putting in more effort than I wanted to.

"What are you waiting for? Heal him!" yelled Alpha from his comfy spot on the other side of the bars... safe and sound away from the idiot with a 40 lb weight as a weapon.

I stepped forward, only to have Yin Jie raise the dumbbell over his head.

I was sure that if I really tried to analyze the situation, I would have been able to see what was coming next, but...

Before I could open my mouth to say anything or even scream, he brought the weight down with all his strength... onto his own head.

Huh, I have to admit, I didn’t expect him to do that. If anything, I thought he would bludgeon me to death, not himself.

Nice to see he actually had it in him... to end his own life instead of blaming me for the fact he still lived.

I could feel the blood dripping down my face from where it splashed on me as Yin Jie continued to hit himself in the head with the dumbbell.

I was sure that I should have been screaming or having some type of reaction to the man missing half of his face and still beating himself with his makeshift weapon, but all I could do was categorize his injuries while he was inflicting them.

It was really impressive, his new determination to kill himself, but I also wondered just how long it would take his body to realize that he was already dead.

Maybe not dead dead... But he wasn’t long for this world. I could see his grey brain matter flying along with the blood, which meant that he had splintered his skull with the force of his blows.

Like I said... impressive.

Oh, look, he just fell to the ground.

"Well," snapped Alpha as he violently threw open the door to the cage and stormed in. Rip was right behind him. "Go heal him!"

Rip let out a low growl as he came to stand behind me, but I ignored it.

I looked over my shoulder and smiled at him. I mouthed the words ’it’s okay’ before giving Yin Jie my attention again.

At least I wouldn’t have to worry about him hitting me right now.

Walking over to the body laid out on the ground in the weight area of his cage, I crouched down and wrapped two fingers around his wrist.

Huh.

Still alive.

Well, I guess alive was a bit of a stretch. His pulse was slowly beating but with that much damage to his brain... It wouldn’t be long anyway.

I had to admit, I didn’t see that coming.

But now I had a decision to make. Did I heal him and bring him back from the brink of death, or did I pretend like I tried and let him die?

My power told me that I could fix him; it showed me everywhere he was injured and what needed to be done to fix him. But I didn’t want to put myself through that much pain for someone that hated me that much.

"He’s dead," I said softly, rising to my feet. My voice was detached, not really caring about the consequences of my words. The only time I felt anything anymore was when it was just Rip and me. Otherwise, I was nothing but a shell.

But this was also the first decision I had made since I decided to leave my bunker looking for dead men. It felt good, taking back a bit of power, even if it wasn’t much.

A decision was still a decision, and that meant a lot.

"Then you will pay," shrugged Alpha as if it didn’t matter to him one way or another. "I’ll add your name to the list for tonight."

Ah, yes, the list. The one threat always dangled over my head to make sure I complied. At this point in time, I didn’t think that being on the list was that horrible of a thing. What more could they really do to me?

I didn’t say anything, only quietly walked back to my place in front of Rip.

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" asked Rip, looking at the Alpha with one eyebrow raised. I could feel his chest vibrating with the need to roar out a challenge to the other man. To the Reaver.

But we both knew that was a bad idea.

Alpha raised an eyebrow of his own but didn’t respond to Rip’s words.

I was too tired to want to stick around for this pissing contest, but whatever. It beat going back to my cage.

"I mean, if you are willing to take the chance...." Rip let his statement trail off, setting out the bait for the other male.

"They could try," sneered Alpha before he turned around and stormed off. "She needs to be punished for failing!"

"I’ll make sure it is done," responded Rip, his face devoid of any emotion. He gently placed a hand on the small of my back and guided me through the door, leaving the broken body behind.

----

"So," I asked, getting down on my hands and knees to crawl into my cage. "What’s my punishment?"

Rip waited until I was settled before he closed the door and turned the key, locking me inside.

"This," he grunted. He dug into his other pocket, the one not holding my box of contacts, and pulled out a...

"You think a chocolate bar is a form of punishment?" I asked incredulously as he pushed the offering through the bars.

"It’s melted," he shrugged before turning around and sitting down beside my prison. "That seemed like enough of a punishment to me."

"You and I have vastly different ideas of what constitutes a punishment," I chuckled, handing the bar back to him. "Do you mind feeding me? I’m still covered in blood."