Chapter 8
"Here, have some soup... it'll help." Megumi urged soothingly, as she gently poured the sweet soup into the patient's mouth. The patient swallowed it gratefully, and drank from the bowl till it was empty. Smiling, Megumi deposited the patient's head gently against the wall and went to refill her bowl.
Around her, people in similar states lay. There were at least a hundred of them in the room. Sano and his gang just hours ago had brought them in. The majority was weak from hunger and a good number of them were badly beaten up too. From Sano, she had heard that they had come from the village just one hundred miles away from Xinjiang. The government soldiers had raided the village of all its food supplies and had beaten up those who had tried to resist. After which, three-quarters of the village population had been forced into `voluntary government service' It was only when they were transporting the villagers across this region that Sano had seen them, and they had organized a `mass kidnap'.
As Megumi made her way to the kitchen, she met Chung ling, the daughter of one of the rebels, whom she become good friends since her stay here, carrying a bucket of drinking water with a ladle in it.
" Dr Megumi!" Chung Ling called out as they passed one another, " Sano told me to tell you to go to his room. I think that it's serious..."
" Thank you Chung Ling... here, could you help me take this to the kitchen please?"
" Sure." Chung Ling replied and took the bowl away from Megumi as she broke into quick steps and made her way to Sano's room, which was at the back of the house. When she pushed open the door, she saw a group of men and women hurdled around the bed. The table was littered with strips of stained white cloth, and there was a bit more of it on the floor. A path was made for Megumi as she made her way to the bed. Sano was there, apparently trying to stop the flow of blood, which was coming from the victim's legs. He looked up when he heard Megumi approach and silently handed the job over to her. Megumi accessed the situation correctly and took immediate charge.
" Sano, can you please clear the room please. I only want one person, a woman to stay with me. I will also need a thread and needle."
Without hesitation, Sano began to do as she ordered and soon there was no one left in the room but a young woman who called herself Mie.
Mie crouched down nervously beside Megumi who was examining the extent of the victim's injury.
" She was unconscious when they brought her it, but she bleeding heavily, do you think?" She left the rest unsaid, as she could not bring herself to say them aloud. It was much too painful to even think about it.
" Without a doubt Mie. Thank god she's asleep, but she's going to get hell when she gets up. It's looks really serious." Megumi answered as she pulled the sheet up the victim's legs and turned around to get some more fresh strips of cloth. " I trust that you can keep this to yourself, the last thing I need here is this poor girl being ostracized."
" Oh yes, of course Dr. Megumi, I won't breathe a word to anyone, but I fear that all of them might know about it already..."
" Yes, I know, but I don't need fuel to be added to fire. Do you understand me?"
Mie nodded, and Megumi turned her attention back to the victim.
` This should be good for tonight's dinner' Sano thought to himself as he hurdled over a patch of wild mushrooms. As quickly as he could, he began piling his basket with them. At this rate, everyone would be able to have a good mushroom dinner tonight. Sano chuckled silently to himself at the thought of that.
The trail of the mushrooms led to other plants and roots that were edible and Sano ventured further uphill as he sought to gathered all these ingredients... It was then, that he first picked up the sound.
He had been collecting some roots, but he had heard something, which sounded like a sniff, and he paused, thinking that it was an enemy of some sorts. He listened for a while more, crouched halfway hidden behind the trunk of some tree. The sounds became louder and louder, and they sounded suspiciously like sniffs, like someone was crying.
Pretty sure now that it wasn't the enemy, Sano crept quietly towards the sounds. When he was sure that he was very near the origin of the sounds, he parted a bit of the bush, which blocked his view.
It was Megumi. She was crouched against a tree trunk. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably from every sniff, which erupted from her. Her head rested on her arms, as she sank to the ground and she shook even more from each sob. In that position, she looked extremely vulnerable, and Sano was suddenly seized with an uncontrollable urge to go and just put his arms around her.
Megumi looked up as she saw a shadow directly in front her. She made little attempt to hide her tear stained face. Even as she looked up at Sano, tears were still silently streaming down her face. Sano crouched down in front of her and wiped the tears away from her eyes gently with his thumb. He said nothing, she said nothing. They remained in this position for the next seconds, until Megumi could hold it no longer and she threw her hands around Sano, clutching him tightly, as a new wave of tears threatened to fall out.
" Oh Sano, how could they... how could they!" she asked over and over again, tears spilling out of her eyes. " How... could they do this... how could they!"
Sano put his arms around her, murmuring, " The world is full of these kind of men. It's all right now..." He rubbed her back in an effort to comfort her.
" No... it's not all right..." Megumi wailed " They will do it again and again to other girls...it was so painful... it was so painful Sano..." Megumi felt her throat choke up and she could speak no more. Finally she gave up and buried her head in the crook of Sano's neck, unable to stop herself from sobbing.
It was a while before Megumi stirred again. She had fallen asleep in Sano's shoulder, and when she came to, the sky was almost dark, and she was seated in Sano's lap, her head rested on his shoulder. She tilted her head up to look at Sano, and she saw that he too had dozed off, his head against the tree trunk. She turned around to get a better look at him. Asleep, Sano looked like a child. His face was a bit darker than before, but his features were still unchanged. The pointed jaw, the shape of his eyes, it seemed that despite his many fights and injuries, he still managed to keep his unflawed. She lifted a finger to trace his face and it was then that he stirred. Quickly, she moved her hand away. Sano opened his eyes and he smiled as he saw Megumi
" Hello... feeling better?"
" Yes... thank you." Megumi rose to get up, but Sano pulled her back down on to his lap. " What now!" she looked at him, as though he was planning some kind of trick, " We have to get back... it's getting dark."
" It's all right, we won't be missed much. Let's sit here for a while." Sano replied with a smile that Megumi didn't quite trust. But she complied nevertheless, and leaned back against him. They stayed in that position all throughout, Megumi sitting on Sano's lap, with Sano's arms around her waist.
The glimmers of sunset stared back at them. Except for the occasional chippers of crickets, all else was silent. A sweet smell emitted from the forest nature reached Megumi's nostrils, and she inhaled deeply, allowing herself to partake in the aromatherapy of nature.
" I've been thinking about it..." Sano said suddenly
"Thinking about what?" Megumi asked, not really listening to him.
" This place is not for you. You should go back to the city and forget about this place."
" Come again?" Megumi turned around to face him. " You want me to leave?"
" No it's not that. A rebel camp is a Robin Hood fantasy story or anything like that. The horror that you just experienced today, we see it everyday. We see blood and dead bodies' everyday, so much so we are so used to it. But you are different. You have not seen any of these before. This is not the place for you. You would have a much more peaceful and happier life practicing medicine in the city."
" What if I don't want to go back?" Megumi asked
" What... but I thought that you always wanted to go back. You said so yourself the day you came here."
" Well I changed my mind." Megumi argued
" What...What's the matter with you Megumi... first you say that you want to leave and now you say you don't!" Sano was shouting now.
" Well, I just said that I changed my mind... can't you understand Japanese!" Megumi shouted back.
" Why do you want to stay here anyway! There's too much blood for a doctor like to handle. You don't care for anyone here anyway, they're all stranger to you and that's it!"
" I care for you dammit!" Megumi screamed, and then she froze with realization of what she had just said and turned with her to Sano.
Sano too was shocked at the words that Megumi had just blurted out. It took a while for the words to sink in and when it did, he turned Megumi back to face him. And when he did, he saw that she was crying
" Why are you crying?" he asked gently.
Megumi shook her head and tried to turn back around, but Sano wouldn't let her.
" Am I really that important to you?" He asked, and this time Megumi nodded in reply. Using her sleeve, she wiped her tears away
" I don't want to see you get hurt. You are that important to me..."
She looked up at his face, expecting to see rejection and disgust. But instead, she saw love and tenderness.
" You are very important to me too, Megumi, which is why I don't want to see you get hurt."
" But I want to be by your side, I can handle the blood and everything, but I can't handle not seeing you. I missed you for three years already, I don't know if I can miss you again."
" Megumi..." Sano sighed, " What am I going to do with you?"
" Let me continue as a doctor."
" But..."
" No buts," Megumi laid a finger on his mouth, " Please Sano, I know we always bicker about everything, but please agree with me for this time. Please..."
Sano looked at Megumi and he knew that he would give in. Part of him wanted Megumi to stay too, and she too wanted to stay, but his inner instinct was giving warning signals...and he was choosing to ignore it.
Megumi leaned closer towards him, and Sano leaned back till his back touched the tree trunk and he could lean no more. His lips parted, and they kissed for the first time. His arms went around her back and held her tightly, as if he never wanted to let her go.
Time stood still as they kissed. They were oblivious to all the other sounds of the forest and were only aware of each other.
Both knew that dangerous times lay ahead of them, but as Sano had thought earlier, he wanted Megumi to stay and that was it.
"Here, have some soup... it'll help." Megumi urged soothingly, as she gently poured the sweet soup into the patient's mouth. The patient swallowed it gratefully, and drank from the bowl till it was empty. Smiling, Megumi deposited the patient's head gently against the wall and went to refill her bowl.
Around her, people in similar states lay. There were at least a hundred of them in the room. Sano and his gang just hours ago had brought them in. The majority was weak from hunger and a good number of them were badly beaten up too. From Sano, she had heard that they had come from the village just one hundred miles away from Xinjiang. The government soldiers had raided the village of all its food supplies and had beaten up those who had tried to resist. After which, three-quarters of the village population had been forced into `voluntary government service' It was only when they were transporting the villagers across this region that Sano had seen them, and they had organized a `mass kidnap'.
As Megumi made her way to the kitchen, she met Chung ling, the daughter of one of the rebels, whom she become good friends since her stay here, carrying a bucket of drinking water with a ladle in it.
" Dr Megumi!" Chung Ling called out as they passed one another, " Sano told me to tell you to go to his room. I think that it's serious..."
" Thank you Chung Ling... here, could you help me take this to the kitchen please?"
" Sure." Chung Ling replied and took the bowl away from Megumi as she broke into quick steps and made her way to Sano's room, which was at the back of the house. When she pushed open the door, she saw a group of men and women hurdled around the bed. The table was littered with strips of stained white cloth, and there was a bit more of it on the floor. A path was made for Megumi as she made her way to the bed. Sano was there, apparently trying to stop the flow of blood, which was coming from the victim's legs. He looked up when he heard Megumi approach and silently handed the job over to her. Megumi accessed the situation correctly and took immediate charge.
" Sano, can you please clear the room please. I only want one person, a woman to stay with me. I will also need a thread and needle."
Without hesitation, Sano began to do as she ordered and soon there was no one left in the room but a young woman who called herself Mie.
Mie crouched down nervously beside Megumi who was examining the extent of the victim's injury.
" She was unconscious when they brought her it, but she bleeding heavily, do you think?" She left the rest unsaid, as she could not bring herself to say them aloud. It was much too painful to even think about it.
" Without a doubt Mie. Thank god she's asleep, but she's going to get hell when she gets up. It's looks really serious." Megumi answered as she pulled the sheet up the victim's legs and turned around to get some more fresh strips of cloth. " I trust that you can keep this to yourself, the last thing I need here is this poor girl being ostracized."
" Oh yes, of course Dr. Megumi, I won't breathe a word to anyone, but I fear that all of them might know about it already..."
" Yes, I know, but I don't need fuel to be added to fire. Do you understand me?"
Mie nodded, and Megumi turned her attention back to the victim.
` This should be good for tonight's dinner' Sano thought to himself as he hurdled over a patch of wild mushrooms. As quickly as he could, he began piling his basket with them. At this rate, everyone would be able to have a good mushroom dinner tonight. Sano chuckled silently to himself at the thought of that.
The trail of the mushrooms led to other plants and roots that were edible and Sano ventured further uphill as he sought to gathered all these ingredients... It was then, that he first picked up the sound.
He had been collecting some roots, but he had heard something, which sounded like a sniff, and he paused, thinking that it was an enemy of some sorts. He listened for a while more, crouched halfway hidden behind the trunk of some tree. The sounds became louder and louder, and they sounded suspiciously like sniffs, like someone was crying.
Pretty sure now that it wasn't the enemy, Sano crept quietly towards the sounds. When he was sure that he was very near the origin of the sounds, he parted a bit of the bush, which blocked his view.
It was Megumi. She was crouched against a tree trunk. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably from every sniff, which erupted from her. Her head rested on her arms, as she sank to the ground and she shook even more from each sob. In that position, she looked extremely vulnerable, and Sano was suddenly seized with an uncontrollable urge to go and just put his arms around her.
Megumi looked up as she saw a shadow directly in front her. She made little attempt to hide her tear stained face. Even as she looked up at Sano, tears were still silently streaming down her face. Sano crouched down in front of her and wiped the tears away from her eyes gently with his thumb. He said nothing, she said nothing. They remained in this position for the next seconds, until Megumi could hold it no longer and she threw her hands around Sano, clutching him tightly, as a new wave of tears threatened to fall out.
" Oh Sano, how could they... how could they!" she asked over and over again, tears spilling out of her eyes. " How... could they do this... how could they!"
Sano put his arms around her, murmuring, " The world is full of these kind of men. It's all right now..." He rubbed her back in an effort to comfort her.
" No... it's not all right..." Megumi wailed " They will do it again and again to other girls...it was so painful... it was so painful Sano..." Megumi felt her throat choke up and she could speak no more. Finally she gave up and buried her head in the crook of Sano's neck, unable to stop herself from sobbing.
It was a while before Megumi stirred again. She had fallen asleep in Sano's shoulder, and when she came to, the sky was almost dark, and she was seated in Sano's lap, her head rested on his shoulder. She tilted her head up to look at Sano, and she saw that he too had dozed off, his head against the tree trunk. She turned around to get a better look at him. Asleep, Sano looked like a child. His face was a bit darker than before, but his features were still unchanged. The pointed jaw, the shape of his eyes, it seemed that despite his many fights and injuries, he still managed to keep his unflawed. She lifted a finger to trace his face and it was then that he stirred. Quickly, she moved her hand away. Sano opened his eyes and he smiled as he saw Megumi
" Hello... feeling better?"
" Yes... thank you." Megumi rose to get up, but Sano pulled her back down on to his lap. " What now!" she looked at him, as though he was planning some kind of trick, " We have to get back... it's getting dark."
" It's all right, we won't be missed much. Let's sit here for a while." Sano replied with a smile that Megumi didn't quite trust. But she complied nevertheless, and leaned back against him. They stayed in that position all throughout, Megumi sitting on Sano's lap, with Sano's arms around her waist.
The glimmers of sunset stared back at them. Except for the occasional chippers of crickets, all else was silent. A sweet smell emitted from the forest nature reached Megumi's nostrils, and she inhaled deeply, allowing herself to partake in the aromatherapy of nature.
" I've been thinking about it..." Sano said suddenly
"Thinking about what?" Megumi asked, not really listening to him.
" This place is not for you. You should go back to the city and forget about this place."
" Come again?" Megumi turned around to face him. " You want me to leave?"
" No it's not that. A rebel camp is a Robin Hood fantasy story or anything like that. The horror that you just experienced today, we see it everyday. We see blood and dead bodies' everyday, so much so we are so used to it. But you are different. You have not seen any of these before. This is not the place for you. You would have a much more peaceful and happier life practicing medicine in the city."
" What if I don't want to go back?" Megumi asked
" What... but I thought that you always wanted to go back. You said so yourself the day you came here."
" Well I changed my mind." Megumi argued
" What...What's the matter with you Megumi... first you say that you want to leave and now you say you don't!" Sano was shouting now.
" Well, I just said that I changed my mind... can't you understand Japanese!" Megumi shouted back.
" Why do you want to stay here anyway! There's too much blood for a doctor like to handle. You don't care for anyone here anyway, they're all stranger to you and that's it!"
" I care for you dammit!" Megumi screamed, and then she froze with realization of what she had just said and turned with her to Sano.
Sano too was shocked at the words that Megumi had just blurted out. It took a while for the words to sink in and when it did, he turned Megumi back to face him. And when he did, he saw that she was crying
" Why are you crying?" he asked gently.
Megumi shook her head and tried to turn back around, but Sano wouldn't let her.
" Am I really that important to you?" He asked, and this time Megumi nodded in reply. Using her sleeve, she wiped her tears away
" I don't want to see you get hurt. You are that important to me..."
She looked up at his face, expecting to see rejection and disgust. But instead, she saw love and tenderness.
" You are very important to me too, Megumi, which is why I don't want to see you get hurt."
" But I want to be by your side, I can handle the blood and everything, but I can't handle not seeing you. I missed you for three years already, I don't know if I can miss you again."
" Megumi..." Sano sighed, " What am I going to do with you?"
" Let me continue as a doctor."
" But..."
" No buts," Megumi laid a finger on his mouth, " Please Sano, I know we always bicker about everything, but please agree with me for this time. Please..."
Sano looked at Megumi and he knew that he would give in. Part of him wanted Megumi to stay too, and she too wanted to stay, but his inner instinct was giving warning signals...and he was choosing to ignore it.
Megumi leaned closer towards him, and Sano leaned back till his back touched the tree trunk and he could lean no more. His lips parted, and they kissed for the first time. His arms went around her back and held her tightly, as if he never wanted to let her go.
Time stood still as they kissed. They were oblivious to all the other sounds of the forest and were only aware of each other.
Both knew that dangerous times lay ahead of them, but as Sano had thought earlier, he wanted Megumi to stay and that was it.