Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 166: Third Time’s A Charm

Chapter 166: Third Time’s A Charm

Li Dai Lu looked at me and smiled a bright smile. "Yeah, my whole idea when I was reborn this time around was to be alone somewhere and pig out on sweets. Now that you are safe and sound, I can go do just that. Plus, it saves a whole lot of random people dying just because they pissed me off."

Okay, so I don’t think that I was awake enough to be able to process that whole conversation.

"Reborn this time around?" I asked. Was that something we admitted to? Being reborn? From the book at that I had read as a kid, it seemed like the main characters did everything but admit to it. And now we are just throwing it out there?

"Yeah, it’s my third life, and I really think that this one is going to be the charm. Get it? Because third time’s a charm?"

I nodded my head like I knew what she was talking about, but I didn’t want to admit that it was like sinking into quicksand and having no way to get out. You knew you were dying in slow motion, but you were completely unable to stop it.

"I see," I replied, only because she was looking at me like I needed to say something. "And I agree, the third time is always the charm." I just really hope that I didn’t need to die again and come back for my life to start working out the way I wanted it to.

I felt Rip stirring under me, and I couldn’t help but smile... maybe a second life was like a second chance, and I just needed to embrace it with both hands. After all, I have a pretty amazing guy.

"So, what do you remember?" she pushed as she walked into the room and shut the door behind her. I was happy for the privacy. I didn’t know who was outside, but at the same time, I wished I was anywhere else but here.

This was a really awkward conversation, made worse because I knew it was awkward.

"Remember?" I blinked, trying to get a bit more information out of her.

"Yeah, about your first life," she smiled. Thankfully, she was able to find a random chair in the room to get comfortable on because if she thought I wanted her on the bed with me and Rip, she was delusional.

"I was a doctor in Toronto, Canada," I finally admitted. I had told Rip the same thing once, I think... so this shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to him. I do remember him telling me he was from England before transmigrating here.

"Nice," she nodded her head. "I was a social worker in Vancouver two lifetimes ago," she continued as if it was no big deal. However, I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that she was just so blasé about being reincarnated again and again.

Then again, I guess if it happened to you enough times, you eventually got over it, and it lost its appeal.

"But I meant way before that... what do you remember about you and me?"

I could hear such hope in her voice that I felt guilty for the words coming out of my mouth. "Nothing," I admitted. And it was true.

If I had lived for several lifetimes before I wound up in Toronto, I had no idea about it.

"Oh, okay," she answered, her shoulders dropping as she looked at the ground. It seriously broke my heart to see her like that. Since the first moment I had seen her, I knew she was supposed to be a badass bitch, sitting on her own throne. She shouldn’t look sad because of my words.

"It took me a while to remember everything too, so I guess that is fine. I’ll give you all the time you need." once again, she was looking at me happily, and I smiled in return.

"I would give you my number, but I am pretty sure that cell phones are no longer a thing," I smirked, pushing myself out of my comfort zone.

"That’s fine; I have my own way of tracking you down when I need to. I know that I am going to need my Healer time. You will be there for the birth of the babies, right?"

"Of course, I’ll be there! You’ll just have to tell me where there is!" I smiled back, even as I suppressed the shudder that went through me when she called me Healer.

Yeah, I might not know what the world holds for me, but I was pretty sure that healing would not be in the cards any time soon.

"Rip said that you saved everyone, that you got them out of their cages," I said, my cheek still resting on Rip’s chest. We all knew that he was awake; he was talking to me before Li Dai Lu came in, but I couldn’t help but be grateful that he was trying to give us as much privacy without him actually leaving the room.

"Yeah. I knew that you would want them all to be saved. You really are the last decent human left on Earth. I know you don’t remember me the same way I remember you, but you were always so bright and supportive, even when we were stuck side by side in the cages. You hated to see me suffering and you did everything in your power to help me..."

There was a catch to her voice as she thought about a shared past that I knew nothing about. It must be hard for her to have relived this lifetime before... to know what should and would happen... it was a burden I wouldn’t ever want.

"It’s okay," I murmured, wanting to reach out and touch her, to soothe her pain away, but I was much too weak for something like that. "Whatever happened, I hope that I gave you good memories."

Tears started to flow down her eyes as she looked at me, frantically nodding her head. "You were the best memory of my last life. You..." she paused, clearly trying to pull herself together. "You died to give me a chance to get away from the Camp."

I don’t think I had ever smiled so happily as I did at that moment. "Good. I’m glad my death gave you freedom. Were you able to get away from the hunt?"