(I'm no medical expert, so bear with me. lol I have no idea how to fix broken ribs (that doesn't mean send me a review/message telling me how! lol! It'd be nice to know, but...yeah. Watch me break my ribs now...eek..) :P)

(Still don't own a thing.)

Ermac felt something pushing against his rib cage but felt no pain. Whispers of warning told him something was wrong. He ignored them, tried to move and found he couldn't. The whispers grew louder. What was going on?

Whatever was pushing against his rib cage dug deeper into his middle and something moved accompanied by a small snapping noise. Ermac felt his eyes open before the pain slammed through his body. He shrunk away from the protruding...whatever it was, gasping for air. He barely registered the something pushing into his side had removed itself.

Doing his best to calm down, Ermac tried to take deeper breaths. After a few he realized it wasn't helping and began panting again. If only everything was as easy as meditation. He would clear his head, take deep breaths and fall in a state where he felt nothing...

Ermac felt the same push against his ribs but didn't have the energy to stop it. It was just above the spot it was before. The telekenetic warrior realized then that someone was must have been working on his ribs. There was no relief - he didn't feel in danger, just confused. Knowing it was someone helping didn't help the fact that everytime they set a rib Ermac felt like curling up and dying.

The hand - he didn't know whose it was - dug in deeper and the muffled snapping sounded off again. Ermac didn't flinch this time however. Now he was in more control of his body. One thing he practiced regularly was self control, bringing his thoughts back to meditation. He'd started the practice to further advance his skills, then found that he rather enjoyed it. Of course, that was only when he could find the time. So after finding liberation from Kahn, Ermac found the idea of meditating whenever he liked...nice.

That was, of course, after the horrible images - he refused to call them nightmares - stopped plaguing him. There had been a period of time, shortly after meeting Kenshi, that Ermac couldn't sleep, much less meditate. (He never told Kenshi about it, and never would.) Working for Shao Kahn meant killing - sometimes just tormenting - innocents.

The images wouldn't have been as bad if Ermac didn't have one hundred souls reacting one hundred different ways inside him. He never really had been the sympathetic type - or, not since he was created, whatever he was. Ermac pushed those thoughts aside for, well, never. What made the images so hard to take was that he had some of his own victims' souls in his body. The warrior had spent one full day trying to keep himself from crying, the next from laughing and the next few trying to stay alive from the murderous headaches. Self control was definately something Ermac had perfected. Kenshi didn't suspect a thing. Or he was really good at hiding that he did.

...Then he thought back to the last couple of days.

His self control had been...lacking. Ermac still thought the woman had something to do with it. He was fine - or, as fine as he could be - until he met up with her. The she-demon must have done something to him. Her presence caused Ermac, for lack of a better word, trouble.

Another snap. Ermac allowed his eyebrow to twitch on that one. How many ribs had he broken?

"That's the last one," Taro said, patting his hands against his thighs. Ashrah watched the old man carefully as he stood, which he barely managed to do with the help of Kenshi. How had such a fragile creature so masterfully set broken ribs? The old doctor didn't seem to have the strength to even stand.

And the method he had used...she had never seen it before. It looked as if he was just poking Ermac's side, then he pressed a little deeper and there would be a snap. Ashrah wanted to ask where he had learned such a technique, but decided against it. It was just curiousity; she'd never be able to use it on anyone. She was a demon, not a healer.

The procedure had seemed painful. Ashrah glanced down at Ermac's laying form, remembering how he had jerked away from the doctor's hand at first. She still wasn't used to seeing such a skilled warrior seem so weak...

Ashrah should have been proud of herself; she had injured the Ermac. The same being who served under Shao Kahn as one of his most feared warriors. There were no feelings of pride, however. She just wanted to leave and never see him again. The feeling was...strange. Being around Ermac had made her realize how weak she was, which made her rather depressed. So, Ashrah decided she would always associate Ermac with depression, therefore making her feel the need to never see him again.

Wow. She was losing it.

"He'll be alright then?" Kenshi's voice penetrated Ashrah's rather whacky thoughts. She looked expectantly at the doctor.

He sighed, but nodded. "Yes. Just have him stay down for the next few days - a week at least." Ashrah looked back at Kenshi, wondering what his reaction would be. Would he be annoyed that he had to care for Ermac? Even if they were friends, the man must have had something better to do.

Kenshi had really nice teeth, matching a just as nice smile. He was fairly attractive for a human Ashrah guessed. Why was she looking at a human that way? She really was losing it. "Ermac's not going to like that," he said as he headed for the door. Ashrah was only slightly surprised. She remembered the conversation she had with Ermac about Kenshi; apparently their friendly feelings were mutal. Of course, Ashrah figured that out by the way Kenshi ran off to retrieve the doctor.

The doctor looked slightly irratated. "It doesn't matter what he likes." Kenshi laughed, placing a hand on the older man's back as they both walked outside.

"I know. Don't worry, we'll handle it."

Ashrah felt her fingers dig into her palm. We?

"Watch him until I get back," Kenshi said just before he dissapeared from view.

She stood there, feeling her anger start to boil over. She had never been so out of it as she had the last couple of days. It was Ermac's fault. If he wouldn't have stolen her sword...Ashrah stopped, realizing he hadn't stole it.

Damn.

Ok, if he wouldn't have been the one holding her sword when she saw him none of what had happened would have happened. Ashrah felt her teeth grind into each other as she found herself staring at Ermac's form. She could kill him then...

But didn't that go against what she was working so hard to stop? She wanted to be good. Killing a defensless man went against that. She was not the demon she used to be.

She could run away. Kenshi couldn't catch her by the time he returned. That was what she was going to do; run. She looked around cautiously as she headed for the door. What made Kenshi so sure she wouldn't leave? It was odd, because he didn't seem foolish enough to be the trusting type.

Ashrah would leave then. She didn't care about Ermac - unless he was going to kill her, other than that though, she didn't care. Ashrah watched out for herself and herself alone. There wasn't anyone else to care about in her life. Another depressing thought...

Just as she took a step out of the door, a thought crossed Ashrah's mind. Ermac had seen her face. It wasn't that big of a problem, it just...bothered her. Ashrah slowly turned around, questioning her sanity once again.

Before she knew what she was doing, she found herself kneeling beside the unconscious figure. Or, she hoped he was unconscious. Ignoring that thought, she gently grabbed the end of his face wrapping. Ashrah gave it a small tug, realizing it was behind his head. The part he was laying on. She thought of a plan as she glared at the man. She wondered if he would wake up if she lifted his head...

It was weird, holding his head in her hand. He could wake up any minute...

He didn't, though. Ashrah found where the wrapping was tied and began undoing the knot with her free hand. A few moments later she was unwrapping. After a few moments she began to see the bridge of his nose and felt...strange. She stopped, realizing how bad she felt about what she was doing. Apparently the Kris had more of an affect on her than she first thought. That wasn't a bad thing, she just felt even worse for thinking it was! She really was going insane. She had to leave.

Ashrah, without putting the wrappings back in place, gently placed Ermac's head back on the floor, brushed off her pants and walked out the door.

Ermac lifted his arm to wrap his face back up, but found he hadn't the energy. Damn woman...

(That was a...strange chapter I admit. It's not the end though, oh no. :) They'll meet again. Soon, too. lol

I don't see Kenshi as being so trusting, either. He just wanted to see if she actually stayed. He'll walk in and see she hadn't. It's not a problem because he knew Ermac woud be fine. Wow...a little more on Kenshi's thought process...sorta. :) This chapter's written weird, too...I dunno. I need to stop babbling; no one reads this!)

Red