Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 65: My Sun, My Moon, My North Star

Chapter 65: My Sun, My Moon, My North Star

"Look at me," grumbled Bai Long Qiang, placing a knuckle under my chin and forcing my head up so that I was looking into his eyes.

We were still standing on the front porch of our house, and he was still leaving me.

"Nothing, not even death, is going to keep me from coming back to you. There is nowhere in in this world or the next that I won’t follow you to. I will be fine. It is just a quick training exercise out in the middle of nowhere. One week, maybe two, and I will be back. Remember, you can always find me."

His left hand went over to his right shoulder, and I knew he was talking about the tracking device that I had put in there. It wasn’t the same one since high school; technology has improved since then, and so have our tracking devices.

They were the cream of the crop, the same one that the military uses currently.

"I know," I replied, staring at his face, memorizing every feature of it like I hadn’t done it a million times before. "I just have a feeling that something is going to happen. Something bad."

As if my words called to them, my skin started to crawl and burn again and it took everything inside of me not to try and scratch it off.

Bai Long Qiang looked at me, his eyes narrowing. He was never one to dismiss my feelings; even if I couldn’t explain them, he always believed me. Unless the military was involved, then all bets were off.

"Any ideas?" he asked concerned. "Is the house fully stocked, just in case?"

I nodded my head. He knew I was a closet prepper and, more often than not, considered it cute. But I had an entire year’s worth of supplies on hand for both of us... and Cheng Bo Jing... and Fen Teng Fei... and Si Dong... and Ye Yao Zu.

He just didn’t know the full extent of my supplies.

And that was just in the house.

If he saw my cabin, he might just have me shipped off to a nuthouse. Sorry, mental hospital. That was more appropriate.

I had even dug an underground bunker with an access tunnel from the cabin.

And a second underground bunker with nothing but nonperishable food.

And a third one with just medical supplies.

I even dug down deep enough that it wouldn’t be impacted by a nuclear bomb or EMP, or anything else that could drop down from the sky.

Did I mention I seemed to have lost my mind?

Yeah. Two years of ants under your skin was enough to make anyone insane.

Then again, I had been hiding food away like a squirrel getting ready for winter for the past twelve years, and he thought it was cute. Maybe I should tell him about the cabin?

No. No point. I don’t want him to look at me weird for no reason.

"We have plenty of supplies," I assured him. "It is more of a feeling that if I let you go now, I will never see you again."

Bai Long Qiang pulled me into his arms again and wrapped me in his unique scent. "I wouldn’t go if I didn’t have to. More than half of my team are already at the location waiting for me."

He pulled back just enough to look into my eyes... into my blue eye.

Even with the contact over it, it made him happy that he was the only one to know my eyes weren’t naturally brown.

"I’ll be back as soon as I can. Remember, no matter what happens, hell or high water, I will come back to you."

I nodded my head, knowing that it was useless for me to keep insisting. One thing I knew about my man was that he was military through and through. Nothing would stop him from completing a mission. Not even me.

"I love you," I whispered. Going up on my toes, I kissed his lips, the sickening feeling inside of me only getting worse with every passing second.

"You are my sun, my moon, and my North star. I love you too." With those parting words, he let me go and climbed into his car. One last wave out the window, one last kiss blown my way, and he was gone.

I knew how much he loved me. I had never doubted it since the first time I saw him when I was six. But deep inside, I wished he loved me enough to stay.

I waited until I could no longer see his car before I turned back and walked into the house.

There were good things about him being gone. I wouldn’t have to bring myself to go into the basement while he was gone.

It was weird. I was fine and happy in my bunkers but put me in a basement, and I broke out in hives.

Maybe it was because I had all three bunkers reinforced with at least two feet of tantalum hafnium carbide and then another foot of continuous steel. The first metal was one that could withstand the highest temperatures. It wouldn’t melt at any temperature under 3990 degrees Celsius. The second one was one of two metals that could protect an EMP.

The two cost a fuck ton of money, especially when you took into account that I used them for three bunkers totaling more than 3,500 square feet. But between the Song family fortune and the money I made as a doctor, I managed to afford it all.

I shook my head at my own stupidity. I knew nothing was going to happen, and I just wasted a few billion dollars, and yet I was pretty content with my accomplishment. I even had enough to be able to keep the family mansion with a full staff.

Not like I was going back there. Too many memories.

Laying back down on the couch, I pulled up the blanket and watched the host putting a tray of cookies into the oven.

They didn’t have Halloween here, something that broke my 6-year-old heart, but at least that meant I didn’t need to hand out any candy tonight.

My shift started at 10 pm, and it was a double. I wouldn’t be home until late tomorrow night and didn’t want my house egged for not giving out any treats.