Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 143: Not Kind Enough

Chapter 143: Not Kind Enough

The second she touched him, it was like he finally found the peace he had always been looking for. Hu Wen Cheng bit his tongue, refusing to let out a moan of pure pleasure as the debilitating pain seemed to just vanish.

He knew he didn’t have much longer to live. Whether the cancer killed him first or one of his enemies managed to, he would be dead sooner rather than later.

It was a pure coincidence that he had overheard a VIP mention the fact that the fighters at Camp Hell were always healed by the next day that he realized that they must have their own healer.

He had tried to get in to see a couple of healers that he knew about, but even his deep pockets didn’t have enough money to manage it. It was almost $1,500.00 just to be in the same room as a healer to tell them what was wrong.

To be healed... the price was in the millions.

Not that the money really mattered to him. Hu Wen Cheng knew that health was the most important thing, but it still stuck like a bone in his throat to spend that much money without some sort of guarantee at the end.

One healer... a military one from City J, said that it would take at least six months for her to heal him. She said it like he should be grateful that she was even willing to consider it, but something told him that he would be long dead before she managed to even make a dent in the cancer.

So, when the Recruiter came for his fighters, he made sure that he tagged along.

What was the worst that could happen? The healer turns him down like all the other ones did?

As the pain lessened, he continued to feel lighter, happier, and healthier. It was like a warm glow was taking all of the darkness out of him, leaving him bathed in the light.

"Done," came a soft voice, bringing Hu Wen Cheng out of his thoughts and back into the present.

He took a deep breath in for the first time in over a year and slowly let it out.

Looking up at the ceiling of the small cabin he was currently in, he fought back the tears of joy threatening to spill.

"Stage 4 cancer," said the Healer, calling his attention to her. She looked ill; her face had a greyish tone that he recognized well every time he looked in the mirror. The monster holding her glared at him like her weakened state was all his fault, and Hu Wen Cheng couldn’t disagree.

Then her words hit him—stage 4 cancer. Not even the doctors in the hospital would have been able to save him. They would have just done everything in their power to make him comfortable in his last days, but that would have been it.

"Thank you," he grunted. He knew that those words couldn’t express what he was actually feeling, but they were the only ones he had. "Don’t worry about asking for a favor, whatever you need, whenever you need it, and it is yours."

She tiredly nodded her head; the small motion seemed to have sapped most of her remaining energy. "Just try to lay off the cigarettes," she joked with a small smile.

"Done," he laughed in return. Rising to his feet, he bowed low to the tiny woman.

"Thank you," he whispered again, his position hiding the tears flowing from his eyes. They dripped to the floor, but no one said anything. "Thank you."

Straightening up, he spun around and left the cabin. He had a lot of work to do.

She didn’t seem to believe that she would ever make it out of Camp Hell alive, but if she did, he wanted to make sure that he had the power to support her in any way.

Because he had been sick for so long, he had let his power slip a bit, not caring about something so mundane... but today was a new day.

And he needed to remind everyone why he was so feared.

----

"Are you okay, Little Bird?" murmured Rip as he nuzzled his woman’s neck.

Wang Tian Mu nodded her head, but he could hear her wheezing with every breath she took.

He wanted to call back Hu Wen Cheng and snap his neck for what he did to her, but that would mean her sacrifice was all for nothing. He would have to live for a while longer then.

"I need something to eat," she whispered, gasping for breath with each word as her lungs worked overtime. She looked up into his eyes, her multicolored ones nothing short of mesmerizing.

Rip blinked rapidly at her words. "You want something to eat?" he asked, his eyebrow raised. Something told him she wasn’t asking for bacon and eggs.

A slow nod of her head was all Rip needed.

He stood up and gently carried her over to the bed before tucking her under the blankets, making sure her arms were free.

"I’ll find something for you," he continued, kissing her forehead before checking one last time that she was okay. "Be right back." He strolled out of the cabin and locked the door behind him.

He would have to find her a big meal out in the woods. Alpha never seemed to notice when one of those guys went missing.

----

"Did you get your appointment with the woman?" asked the head of the Camp, Alpha, as Hu Wen Cheng strolled toward his car. Wu Ze Min was standing next to the passenger’s door, waiting for him.

It was an older model car, one of the collector’s editions that he had spent the GDP of a small country acquiring. But there was nothing electric in it, one of the reasons why it was so special when all of the cars for the past 100 years had been nothing but electric.

Oh sure, there were still gas stations, but that was because only the lower-income families could afford the hybrid vehicles that still needed gas.

Hu Wen Cheng scoffed at that. History had a way of going full circle if people weren’t careful, and after the EMP, 98% of the cars were dead in the water.

"Unfortunately, I couldn’t convince Rip," shrugged Hu Wen Cheng. The healer seemed to be concerned about what would happen if he knew exactly what she could do, so he would make sure that he would never find out from him.

"Really? Because I heard that you were in the cabin for half an hour or so," purred the Reaver blocking Hu Wen Cheng’s path.

He raised an eyebrow at that statement. No wonder the healer was so paranoid; Alpha wasn’t fucking around when it came to his camp. But he was still clueless about the treasure he had in his hands.

And Hu Wen Cheng wasn’t kind enough to tell him.