Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 227: Giving Him An Idea

Chapter 227: Giving Him An Idea

"I take it things didn’t get better?" I asked. I was now sitting beside Wu Ying Tai on the bed, my body no longer able to support my weight. But I couldn’t give up. This woman has had the shit end of the stick all of her life. She needed something to make her happy.

"No," she chuckled, still weak. However, now that I knew I was looking for poison and not a hole, I redirected my power into the walls and cells that made up her body instead of just trying to fix things one organ at a time. "I got incredibly sick. Dad blamed Huang Xiao Wen since he was the one looking after me at that time, but he and I knew what was really going on."

"You weren’t taking the suppressant anymore," I nodded, understanding. They were doing the right thing, but instead of it being a cure, it was a curse.

"Pretty much. I remember lying in the hospital bed with Wu Bai Hee looking down at me, a huge grin on her face. She told me that if I would just be a good little sister and fall in line, she would keep me healthy for the rest of my life. However long that was."

"And you agreed," I assumed. I mean, she was still alive, so I could only assume that she was given the suppressants.

"No, I didn’t. I wanted death," confessed Wu Ying Tai, closing her eyes for a moment as tears trickled down her cheeks, only to be absorbed into the pillow. "Xiao Wen begged her to let me live. Promised that he would do anything and everything she wanted if she just saved me."

"Ah," I nodded. There was nothing else that I could say. Huang Xiao Wen had been in love with her even back then.

"And so, here I am, dying because she hasn’t been around in almost three years to give me the suppressant," growled Wu Ying Tai, clearly not impressed. Then again, three years of having your body slowly eating itself from the inside out was a pain that I couldn’t even imagine.

I was about to open my mouth to assure her that I would be able to heal her now that I knew the issue when a knock sounded on the door.

In less than a second, Huang Xiao Wen came into the room and sat down in his original spot beside Wu Ying Tai. He took her hand in his and just sat there silently.

"You need to stop," grunted Rip, coming to stand behind me. He put his hand on the back of my neck, and I could feel my power try to take some of his strength, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.

"There are a few Reavers about 40 minutes northwest of here," I said, the words being pulled out of me. "There are five of them. Bring them to me."

I understood that this was another aspect of my power that I had to get used to, but the sound of another voice coming out of my mouth pissed me off every time.

"Can you hold on that long?" asked Rip, looking down at me. I could feel his presence behind me like he was a Sun just for me.

"I don’t think I have a choice. I won’t let her die," I replied with a shrug of my shoulders. "But the longer I have to convince you, the less time I’ll have."

"Understood, Little Bird. I’ll be back as fast as possible," he assured me, kissing me on my forehead. "Do you have any people you don’t mind dying?"

Rip turned his attention to Huang Xiao Wen, causing the other man to raise his eyebrow. "We are currently a group of bandits that came together under the name of something that no longer exists. There are always people here that I don’t mind dying."

"Good, bring them in," grunted Rip before he thought of something else. "And bring in Bin An Sha. He might not be useful as a healer, but he will have his uses."

"I think you are forgetting who the leader is," replied Huang Xiao Wen, coming to his feet, but Wu Ying Tai squeezed his hand.

"Let’s do what they say. She is making me feel better," she said softly, and Huang Xiao Wen nodded.

"Of course, Ying Tai," he murmured before finding his seat again. "Whatever you want."

----

I was a terrible judge of time, but it only felt like a matter of seconds had passed before Bin An Sha strolled into the room under heavy guards.

"You okay?" I asked, my voice weak.

As if shocked, Bin An Sha’s head rose, and his eyes trained on me. "I’m fine, Firefly; it’s you I am worried about," he admitted, pulling his arms out of the other men’s hand. Straightening his shirt, he walked over to me and placed a hand on my forehead.

"You need to stop. No one is worth your life," he grunted, reaching down to take my pulse.

Huang Xiao Wen rose to his feet, a low growl coming out of him. He seemed to be more of an animal right now than a man.

Clearly, Bin An Sha felt the same way because before anyone could move, he had a knife in his hand, ready to launch it at the other man.

"Head!" cried the guards as they tried to intervene, but there wasn’t enough room to even move. Not with everyone inside.

"Men, they know how to create more drama than necessary. And they say we are the problem," I said, rolling my eyes as best I could toward Wu Ying Tai. "You and I both know that if the situation were reversed, it would be Huang Xiao Wen saying the same thing."

Wu Ying Tai nodded her head, a small smile on her face. "Very true. But Xiao Wen wouldn’t have been so vocal. He would have just picked me up over his shoulders and carried me away."

Bin An Sha looked down at the bed and the woman on it.

"Great," I grunted. "Now you’ve given him an idea. I am already vastly outnumbered; I don’t need them pulling any cavemen-type behavior."