Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 349: A Normal Person

Chapter 349: A Normal Person

I could easily see the small bones that made up the nasal cavity. The vomer, the bone separating the two nostrils was a bright white against the red blood of the Alpha, and even in inferior nasal concha was visible toward the bottom of each side.

Of course, I could only see them for a second before the blood began pouring out, but it was strangely satisfying.

Alpha started to gurgle something as pure rage engulfed his face. However, without his tongue, I had no idea what he was trying to say, nor did I care. He kept me silent for however long I was under his power, and this was no different.

"It seems to me that there is something you are missing," mused Bin An Sha as he stared at Alpha, his head cocked to the side.

"I know," I admitted, "His limbs are still attached."

"That’s it," smiled the other doctor. It was nice that he wasn’t staring at me in horror as I inflicted all of this pain on someone else. In fact, not a single one of the men here was looking at me with anything other than love and devotion. It was kind of nice.

"Honestly, though, I was thinking about ending it here," I shrugged. "I want to see if what I have previously taken from him can be regrown."

"This is an interesting experiment," smiled Bin An Sha. I kind of want to see how quickly he could recover from broken bones."

Without any further explanation, he pushed his hand through the bar and stabbed a knife into each one of Alpha’s kneecaps. Then, slightly withdrawing, he formed a fist and punched the spot he had just punctured with his knife.

To me, it didn’t look like much force was used, but Alpha tipped back his head as far as the vines would let it go and let out a muffled cry of pain.

"Did you know that in ancient times, breaking the kneecaps was considered to be the worst thing you could do? A human was never able to heal properly afterward since the muscles from the thigh pulled the patella in either direction."

"Right," I agreed with a nod, trying to think back to my anatomy days. "The Quadriceps tendon and the patellar tendon."

"Good job, Firefly, you got them right."

I beamed under his praise as I tapped Bai Long Qiang’s hand. I was ready to get out of the pit now and make our way back to the hotel with maybe a quick stop in at a few of the antique stores I had found along the way.

"Alright," I said, holding up my arms. "Time to go home."

"What are you going to do about him?" asked Ye Yao Zu, staring at the Alpha.

"I am just going to let him hang around for a while," I shrugged. Was it the best idea? If I was a normal person, probably not. Never leave your enemy alive if you can help it. It is giving them permission to stab you in the back.

But I was not a normal person, and his cage was directly connected to me. If I didn’t want him freed, there was nothing he could do to get out.

Besides, I wanted to come back in a couple of days to see if he managed to heal himself at all.

Like Bin An Sha said, it was an interesting experiment.

One that might help Rip in the future.

"He’s not going anywhere," I replied to Ye Yao Zu. "And if he manages to escape, then all that much better. It might be fun to lead a hunt of my own. After all, I already know that he wants to go to City A and build himself another army of Reavers. He won’t be that hard to find."

Rip reached through one of the bars and tugged on the Alpha’s calf, dislocating his hip. "And I might want to come back and rip him apart a few times a day. I haven’t been able to do it lately, and it has made me a bit cranky."

Once again, Alpha let out a scream of pain, but just as before, it was muted by his lack of tongue.

But it was interesting to note that blood was still coming from his eyes, nose, and ears. Maybe he wasn’t able to heal nearly as fast as we all assumed he did.

----

After a much more enjoyable walk home and the acquisition of more than a few things to make me happy, we finally made it back to the hotel.

"I take it you managed to handle things?" asked Hu Wen Cheng as he waited for us in one of the lobby seats. Zhao Jun Jie was sitting in one of the other chairs, feeding Xie Feng from a bottle.

"We did," grunted Cheng Bo Jing as he looked around. "Where is Wang Chang Ming?"

"He wanted to go to bed, so he is currently up in your room, sleeping," Zhao Jun Jie replied quietly. It is important that children get proper sleep. I at least remember my mother saying that. But I cannot for the life of me remember how many hours a day they should sleep."

"It’s going to depend on the child, but you will be able to tell after a while," shrugged Cheng Bo Jing as the eight of us collapsed onto the white couches.

"Are you sure that Wang Chang Ming is only three? I’ve heard about one con man who appeared to be a child, was adopted, and managed to take everything his ’parents’ were worth before escaping. They never caught him," sighed Hu Wen Cheng as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

I looked at him blankly, not sure what brought this on.

"That kid is too smart for his own good," grumbled the man as he looked at me.

"He’s just mad because the kid managed to outsmart him a could of times. Just ignore him," replied Zhao Jun Jie with a dismissive shake of his head. Seeing that Xie Feng was done with her bottle, he put a cloth over his shoulder and raised her up, gently rubbing her back until a burp came out.

It was really hard to equate this man to the same one that was with Wu Bai Hee. But now I was happy I decided to send him to the guild to be saved. He was worthy of this second chance, and Xie Fang deserved such a loving father.