Chapter Forty Six: Sick
I hit the ground with a thud, and I can't find the strength to stand, to even move. Mushu is at my side in an instant, and the others follow. A bit of panicked chatter arises from them, but I don't have the energy to keep up with what they are saying. Chien-Po comes forward and gently picks me up like a baby, and I try my best to keep a groan of pain from escaping my lips. We rush down a hallway, and the movement makes me nauseous. After a few moments, we enter a small, plain room. Chien-Po lays me down on the bed, and in that instant, Shang vanishes and Captain Li returns as he begins to dish out tasks. He sends Qing to find a doctor while he opens up one of the cabinets, looking for something. I see that the cabinet has basic medical supplies in it, so we must be in some sort of sickroom. Mushu pulls up a stool and sits beside the bed, grabbing one of my hands in both of his.
"Don't worry," he tells me. "You'll be fine."
Shang comes over to the bed and has the others help him take off my armor. As he pulls the chest plate off, he gasps. I look and see that a large crimson bloodstain now covers a large portion of my tunic. The wound must have opened up all the way. Shang looks to me apologetically.
"I'm sorry, we have to remove your tunic," he states.
I nod once, and he and Mushu work together to get it off. After that, Shang unwraps the bloody bandages that cover the wound, careful to leave the ones around my chest in place. Once the bandages are removed, he takes a cloth he must have found in the cabinet and presses it firmly to the wound, trying to stem the steady flow of blood escaping it. I wince as the contact seems to burn my side and squeeze Mushu's hand.
Just then, Qing walks into the room, a doctor in tow. The doctor takes charge immediately, waving my friends to the side as he examines me. He looks at the wound at my side first before placing a hand against my forehead.
"The wound is open and infected, and she has a fever," he states after a minute. "I need to operate immediately to close it and clear the infection." He gives Mushu a bowl of water and a cloth, and Mushu presses the damp cloth to my forehead. It feels good.
"You four," the doctor states, pointing at Ling, Yao, Chien-Po, and Qing, "out. You," he looks to Shang, "prep her for surgery. I need to get some supplies."
The four guys try to argue, but the doctor ushers them out of the room as he leaves, closing it behind him. My heart thumps nervously in my chest, and I turn my head to look at Mushu.
"Don't leave," I whisper.
He smiles gently. "I won't. Trust me, the only way anyone is going to get me out of this room is if Pretty Boy over here tries to drag me out." Even Shang smiles a tiny bit at that. He is looking through a cabinet again, and when he finds what he was looking for, he returns to the bedside. I watch as he untwists the lid from the top of a silver flask and uses one of his arms to help elevate my head a little. I realize I am too weak to hold it up myself.
"This will help," is all he says before he puts the flask to my lips. I obediently take a sip, and the liquid burns my throat. He lays me back down just as the doctor re-enters the room. Shang then picks up a cloth and twists it around itself until it grows taut like a rope. Carefully, he places it in my mouth.
"Bite down, alright?" he tells me. I do so, holding the cloth between my back teeth.
By now, the doctor has finished laying his tools out on a small table beside him.
"Captain, hold her shoulders down," he instructs Shang.
I give Mushu's hand a nervous squeeze as Shang walks to stand behind the head of the bed. His large hands move to rest on my shoulders, applying gentle pressure.
"Let's begin," the doctor states. And almost immediately after the words have left his mouth, the fire at my side seems to burst into an inferno.
A strangled cry leaves my throat as the pain at my side increases. After only a few moments, nearly all of my muscles are tense in pain, and Shang presses hard on my shoulders to keep me in place. Mushu tries to help, wiping the cool rag across my face and whispering kindnesses. I am grateful for the cloth Shang placed in my mouth, for I am sure I would have bitten my lip bloody at this point. The pain assaults me, and my own choked cries fill my ears. I close my eyes, and in the blackness of my eyelids, the dark and pain are all that exist. Finally, I stop straining against the pain and allow it to wash over me. All other senses are lost to me as I lay here, focusing only on riding the waves of pain until I can once again resurface.
After what feels like an eternity later, I feel the pain growing less intense and sharp, and it instead fades into a barely bearable throb. I open my eyes weakly and see that the doctor is wrapping my torso in bandages once more. When he is finished, Shang releases my shoulders, and the gag is removed from my mouth. We look to him expectantly. Instead of talking, the doctor comes over to me once more, placing a hand against my forehead. He shakes his head.
"I closed the wound, but the infection has already set in. She has lost a lot of blood and has a high fever," the doctor states.
"Can't you do anything?" Mushu asks.
"I can do my best, but she needs to rest above all else." He looks at me again. "Let me clean my tools, and I will close the injury on her face.
The doctor turns to do so, and Mushu is at my side once more.
"Go ahead," he states gently. "Get some sleep."
I feel a slight panic clutching my chest.
"Don't leave me alone," I whisper. No, I don't want to be alone again, not like I was on the mountain.
"I won't," he promises. And I know he is telling the truth, so I let the exhaustion wash over me like a blanket, and after only a few seconds, I feel myself fade into the darkness of unconsciousness.
I feel the darkness around me getting thinner and thinner as I begin to wake. I open my eyes tiredly, and my senses come back to me slowly. There is a steady throb of pain at my side, my head hurts, and something is touching my right hand. I turn my head slightly and see my hand intertwined with another.
"Hey there," Mushu whispers, giving me a gentle smile.
"Hey." I barely manage to get the word out; my throat feels like I haven't spoken for a while. Mushu notices and grabs a glass of water from a small table nearby. I try to sit myself up using my elbows, but it's hard, and Mushu has to help me. The change gives me a head rush, and when I reach a hand up to touch my forehead, I make contact not with skin, but with some kind of cloth.
"The doctor wrapped your head in bandages because of that thing on your face, you know," Mushu states, answering my unspoken question.
I nod and reach to take the glass, but when I hold it, my hand shakes with its weight, so Mushu helps me with that too, holding it to my lips so I can take small sips. He then lowers me back onto the bed, pulling the light blanket back over me. I notice that I wear no shirt, just pants and bandages over my entire chest and torso.
"I'm a mess," I whisper to Mushu jokingly.
He smiles. "That you are." His face goes serious then. "Though I think that's to be expected. You ripped your side back open, and the infection is pretty bad."
"How long have I been out?"
"It's been three days since the Huns attacked the city." Mushu picks up a damp cloth out of a bowl of water and wipes my face. Strange, I'm sweating, yet I'm cold.
"High fever?" I ask.
He nods. "The doctor says that the infection at your side is starting to clear, but what he's really worried about is breaking the fever."
"Great, I save China, survive a war, and cheat death about five times just to die of a fever," I say sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood. Huh, maybe I should think before I speak because that plan backfires.
"You're not going to die," Mushu snaps at me, his face contracted in frustration. "That's not funny."
For one of the most lighthearted people I know, Mushu sure does take my safety seriously.
"Fine," I say, rolling my eyes, "I'll cheat again."
"That's the spirit," he says, smiling a little now. Unfortunately, it doesn't last, and he turns serious again. "You know, you really scared me there. I was worried you weren't going to wake up." His face clouds over. "The fever was so bad…you were hallucinating and stuff. When you did wake up, you were completely delirious. Kept telling me not to leave…" He sort of trails off at the end.
"Have you slept at all?"
"I switched off with the guys a few times," he states, shrugging.
"The one time we don't need to stay up half the night on night guard, so Mulan guard starts instead," I joke, rolling my eyes.
Mushu laughs with me and promises to tell that one to the guys later.
"Go 'head and get some sleep now, alright?" he tells me after a few moments.
I nod, feeling so tired that it feels like I haven't slept in days, even though it is quite the opposite. The last thing I am aware of before fading once more into the darkness is Mushu's hand holding mine, and I truly feel like a little kid, relying on her brother to protect her from the monsters under the bed. Unfortunately, that's not where my monsters hide.
Author's Note: I hope you liked the chapter! I must say, I feel like this story is moving along pretty quickly. Please leave a review to let me know what you think, they make my day!
