Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 272: Wang Chang Ming

Chapter 272: Wang Chang Ming

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "I don’t want to die. But there is a part of me that thinks that even if I did, I would just be spat back out here again."

The two men simply stared at me but didn’t offer any words of wisdom or tell me that I was wrong for thinking the way I did.

"If you want to test your powers, let us know. We can give you a lineup of patients that are close to death for you to work on," interjected Bin An Sha, coming to his feet and dusting off his pants. "No professional doctor experiments on themselves. Yourself included. Understood?"

"Yes, Doctor," I smiled, reaching out both hands for the two of them to help me up.

The energy from the earth had worked miracles once again, and I was back to full strength, none the worse for wear.

"Should we go meet the newest member of our team?" I smiled, looking up at them. The solemn atmosphere from before vanishing until there was no hint of the uncomfortable conversation.

"You mean the kid?" grunted Rip, looking somewhat uneasy. In fact, it was the first time I had ever seen that particular look on his face. "I’m not good with kids."

"It will be fine," I assured him. I had no doubt about what he said. Most people weren’t good with kids right off the bat... in fact, I would be willing to guess that the majority of adults hated kids on sight.

I was willing to bet that 97% of the kids I had met in my two lives... including those I met when I was a kid myself... I hated. I had no patience for them, and I didn’t see that changing any time soon.

I had a theory that it was an evolutionary trait that made parents like their own children. Otherwise, there was no way the human race could survive as long as it had.

But both Cheng Bo Jing and Ye Yao Zu seemed attached to the little rug rat. And if he was important to them, he would become important to me, too. I had no doubt about that.

However, I was expecting more than a few growing pains as we worked everything out. Hopefully the kid would be willing to work with us until everything got ironed out.

The three of us walked back toward the store as gunfire echoed around us.

"Waste of bullets," muttered Bin An Sha, giving the front doors the side eye.

"They’re military... we need to make some concessions for their level of intelligence," smirked Rip, raising an eyebrow as he and the other man exchanged a look.

"Play nice," I groaned. I had noticed that the two men enjoyed needling my other men about their time in the military, but since no one had yet to take offense to it, I was just going to let it be.

"We are," assured Bin An Sha. "They are still alive because you like them. That means that we are playing very nice."

Rolling my eyes, I was surprised when the door in front of us opened, and Si Dong stood there, waiting for us.

"Hey, Cuddles!" he said, opening his arms and pulling me in for a great big hug. The guy was seriously like a golden retriever or something. He was always so happy and perky every time I saw him.

"Hi," I smiled back, wrapping my arms around him and breathing in his scent. "Are you all done in there?"

"Almost," nodded the man. "ATM is just grabbing everything he can, and then we are lighting this baby up."

"ATM?" I replied, confused. Which guy was named after a machine that hands out money?

"Fan Teng Fei," laughed Si Dong as he rubbed my head. "He got the name because no matter how much money something cost, he was always able to get it for the team. I swear, we were the best-outfitted team in the entire country at one point in time, thanks to that man. He also goes by Monk if you like that one better."

"Huh," I nodded. It had to be a guy thing, coming up with random nicknames for people. But I would be sticking to his actual name.

"Are you ready to get back to Liu Hao Yu’s?" asked the man, peeking over Si Dong’s shoulder. I nodded at Ye Yao Zu.

"Yeah, but first, I wanted to meet the newest member of our team."

-----

We were standing in the middle of the massive parking lot, the building behind us burning brightly in the darkening sky. Liu Hao Yu had already taken his men home, and it was just the eight of us standing around the little boy still in Cheng Bo Jing’s arms.

"Hello," I said softly, trying not to scare him. "What’s your name?"

The boy looked at Cheng Bo Jing for reassurance, and when the man nodded his head, the child turned his attention back to me.

"Food," was his reply.

And I saw red.

One of my biggest concerns in bringing the child into our team was an inability to look after him. I had no idea what it took to raise a child, and I was scared that I would end up screwing up and scarring him for life.

However, because he thought his name was Food, I realized that nothing I could do would be worse than what had already been done to him.

"Well, that’s a shitty name," I said, a weary smile on my face.

The men around me stiffened, but the kid was just nodding his head. "I don’t like it when people call me that. It makes me scared."

"I bet," I nodded in return. "Should we come up with a brand-new name? Just for you?"

This time, the boy was nodding his head so much that I was worried he was going to give himself shaken baby syndrome.

"How about.... Cheng Chang Ming? Cheng for his last name and Chang Ming meaning flourishing bright?" I suggested, looking up at Cheng Bo Jing to see his reaction. He didn’t seem to be too upset over having the child take his last name.

But the kid shook his head. "Could I have your last name instead? I always wanted a mom."