Chapter 51 – Left Behind (2)
Zhao Xi heaved a sigh of relief. The white steamy fog was rising from the ground where the spring was supposed to be. She hadn’t been sure if it was that time of the season where the hot spring appeared. She had hoped it did and was thankful to find it there. She checked the depth of the water with a stick. It could only reach up to the waist, but that was enough. She found some flat stones and laid them at the bottom of the pooled water, for Shen Fei to sit on.
Zhao Xi undressed him and helped him into the hot water. After he was seated, she went and lit a fire to warm the food and the medicine that she had brought with her. She knew Ping An was hungry, so she left Shen Fei in the water and went with Ping An to hunt. They didn’t venture far. Ping An was omnivorous. Anything that Zhao Xi provided, it ate. In fact, the bear found soft bamboo shoots that they could eat. Zhao Xi cut some of them and fed Ping An.
They were heading back when they came across a rat’s nest. Zhao Xi lit a poultice and threw it inside the nest. The smell drove out the rats, and they found themselves attacked by Ping An’s paw or Zhao Xi’s knife. They caught at least five rats, which would be enough meal for Ping An for a while.
Zhao Xi returned to see that Shen Fei was pleasantly bathing in the water, with his eyes closed and resting, his back against the side of the pool. She wanted to bathe in the hot spring as well, but she was hesitant to share the same pool with Shen Fei. She didn’t really mind but felt that Shen Fei might object to it, or he might be uncomfortable.
So, she went to find other hot springs nearby to see if the pools were big enough to hold her. They were smaller than the one Shen Fei was bathing in, they could hardly submerge her body. She found one that was big enough to hold her if she crouched down.
So, she took off her clothes and entered the pool.
It was definitely relaxing. She began washing herself, but she heard the bamboo tubes exploding. She had left it to heat in the fire; it was a pity that they would have to miss a meal. She sighed. She didn’t mind starving if she could have a moment more in this hot water, but Shen Fei was sick, and he needed his energy. She hurriedly put on the outer garment and went to check the food and medicine.
One of the bamboo tubes had exploded. It was Shen Fei’s medicine. She almost burnt her hands fishing the tubes out of the fire. She wrapped them in one of the garments nearby and took them out. Shen Fei had also heard the explosion and was looking at the fire when he saw Zhao Xi crouching down to save the other tubes, only in a light outer garment which almost exposed her chest, and her long legs.
Zhao Xi didn’t have time to worry about her exposed skin. She checked the tube that had exploded to see if she could salvage some remaining medicine. The lid has exploded, and the sides were broken. Fortunately, half of the medicine was still left. When she had successfully saved all three tubes, she realized that she was scantily dressed. She was thankful that it was just her and Shen Fei though, nobody else was in the area. She trusted Shen Fei, he wasn’t the type of person to take advantage of other people’s uncomfortable situations. She did wish he would feel something for her or like her.
She went back to her pool, washed herself and scrubbed her hair. She dressed and came back to the fire. She then helped Shen Fei out of the pool and dried him. She helped him dress and tucked him back in the blankets. She tied the extra blanket around him. Since his hands were tucked inside the blankets, she fed him spoonful from the bamboo tubes.
She had made bacon and rice which steamed fragrantly in the tube; she hoped he liked it. He never suggested his likes and dislikes, so Zhao Xi was still uncertain on what his favorites were. Shen Fei ate little. He would open his mouth to say he was full, and Zhao Xi would just stuff another spoonful in his mouth. In the end, she made him finish everything.
Shen Fei was in a rare mood. He didn’t want to go back. Instead, he wanted to look around. Perhaps he thought the acupuncture had gone wrong, and he was going to die, so he wanted to see as much as he can of the world around him. Zhao Xi considered whether she should tell him that she thought his body was trying to detoxify itself, so he was having these symptoms. But she wasn’t sure of it either. So, she left him be. She didn’t want to give him some false hope. Zhao Xi had her back turned to him, and she was packing their things when she heard a faint voice calling her name.
“Zhao Xi….”
She turned to him; he was no longer in his wheelchair. Shen Fei had fallen on the ground and was helplessly sighing, “You left me behind.”