Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 36: Home With Everyone

Chapter 36: Home With Everyone

My body knew what it was doing long before my mind managed to catch up.

Ducking under Mom’s arm, I ran toward the voice, not caring that my feet were slipping on the ground or the other voices around us. It had been much too long since I had heard from him, and all I could think of was that I needed to go.

I shot right into his arms, causing him to stagger back a few steps before he rightened himself.

"I am going to assume from that that you missed me?" he chuckled into my ear as he wrapped his arms around me and held me.

"Or you can assume that I am hugging you to figure out how big of a grave I need to dig you. Seriously, you go that long again without speaking to me, and I will kill you myself. You won’t need to worry about any baddie getting to you," I growled back, wrapping my arms even tighter around his neck until I was applying the perfect amount of pressure on his carotid arteries.

"Okay, okay," he laughed, tapping my arm. "You can let up now. I don’t need my friend to think that you are a bloodthirsty bandit or something. He might never come back here."

"He?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. At least that was a lot better than ’she’. ’She’ I might have had to kill.

Still, in his arms, he spun me around so I could see the real reason why he didn’t manage to fall down.

In the light of the doorway stood another man, no more than 18 years old, with the same posture and barring as Bai Long Qiang. It was easy to understand that they had gone through basic training together.

"This is Ye Yao Zu," he introduced. I took my time to really study him. He had the most amazing light blue eyes that I had ever seen before, and his hair was probably a bit longer than regulation length, but he was skirting the line so well that others might not have noticed it. They should, however, have noticed the fact that both of his ears were pierced.

He was almost the exact same height as Bai Long Qiang, standing around 6 feet tall, and he had the same build. That not too skinny, not too muscular build that came from working out more hours than they could count.

He intrigued me, but he wasn’t Bai Long Qiang.

I dropped my head to the crook of Bai Long Qiang’s neck and let out a long yawn. "Let’s get you inside. You can say ’hi’ to everyone, and then I will put you to bed," he said, tilting his head so that it rested on mine.

"So, this is the infamous little sister," said Ye You Zu, speaking for the first time. The timber of his voice sent a shiver down my spine.

Or maybe I just didn’t like his words.

The problem with telling everyone that I was his sister was, that was their first impression of me. From now on, he will only see me as Bai Long Qiang’s little sister. And, while that was not a bad thing, when I grew up, I was not going to be happy staying in that box.

"Something like that," smirked Bai Long Qiang as he carried me inside. "Do me a favor and grab her bags. Be careful; they are probably going to be heavier than any rucksack you have carried before. God only knows what she carries in there."

"Only the tools that I need to kill you and get away with it, I promise," I chuckled. But from over his shoulder, I watched as Ye Yao Zu picked up my stuff and flung it over his shoulder. I would fully admit to it being heavy. I had next semester’s books in there, along with a sleeping bag, food, the supplies to make a campfire, a small machete, and an even smaller axe.

We were going out into the woods, and I had no idea what the cabin was going to be like. I wanted to make sure that I had packed for every emergency that I could think of. I also had a bag that contained nothing but medical supplies in case something happened, and we couldn’t get to the hospital in time.

I probably could have dialed it back a bit, but if you fail to prepare, then you prepare to fail. And I refused to even contemplate failing.

"Ah! Welcome back! How was your first few months at medical school? Ah, you poor baby, you lost some weight. Here, put her down here so I can get her something to eat. She is much too small as she is. She needs to eat more. Aiya..."

As soon as we entered the cabin, Grandma rushed over to me and started fusing. I wanted to tell her that I was fine, that losing weight was better than gaining the freshman fifteen, but I only nodded my head. If she wanted to smother me with love and food for the next two weeks, I was completely good with that.

"Hi, Grandma! Hi Grandpa!" I called out as Bai Long Qiang sat me down in a chair. He stood behind me while Grandma raced around, filling up a plate for me.

"Welcome home, Princess," grunted Grandpa. He wasn’t nearly as bad as he was the first time I had met him. Apparently, he was one of those people that looked and sounded scary but was nothing more than a teddy bear once you got to know them.

"Thank you, Grandpa! I brought gifts," I announced, looking around for my bag that held all of the souvenirs that I had bought in City A while I was there.

"Don’t you worry about that," answered Grandma, shooing Grandpa aside so that she could put a plate of food down in front of me. There was rice, popcorn chicken... a lot of popcorn chicken, and vegetables. And not a single thing was touching.

It was perfect. I was so happy to be home with everyone. The location didn’t matter, but knowing everyone was here made it that much better.