Blood Emperor's Lazy Doctor [Under Revision]

Chapter 05: Home (III)

The difference between cold and humid, to hot and dry, rushes Halona's face. She squints, surveying the room once before walking inside. Achak looks back, pulling Halona to him.

The once large room felt small. One large man leans at the edge of the bed board, taking up so much room between him and the adjoining room, that the space felt suffocatingly small. Another man, not quite as girthy in width, but instead very tall and intimidating stood a few steps to the left of the heater, an invisible circle around him, silently scaring away any who would dare to approach. And lastly a stocky woman, perfectly balanced between muscle and fat, her stoic beauty competing with ease, those two men barely able to reach her glow of authority glimmering off her, stood between the two with both arms crossed.

Istaqa sneers out a laugh.

"Kid, did you pick up a husband from some random ditch? Although I approve of such forthrightness, I think—–he may be a tad bit too old for you. But if you want him, don't worry, uncle Istaqa will- vyouch!" Istaqa clasps his sore head, pushes off the head board, and glares at his aggressor. "Halona you- you hitting me has got to stop!"

"If you learn to filter your words before letting them leave your mouth then perhaps I might no longer need to hit you. —–Luo'er is not of your Mashkosi so don't push your brash customs onto her, you hear me?" Halona challenges his glare, daring him to retort.

As expected he kept his mouth shut, clicks his tongue repeatedly, and scratching his head with a huff. "You're lucky you're family," he growls under his breath.

Halona just snorts, then walks over to the bed. "Luo'er?" She calls out softly. When Hong Luo reluctantly looks away and up at her, Halona sits down and pulls the pitiful looking child into her embrace. "You've just returned, exhausted and worn, and still you want to care for another when you yourself are also in need? Have you forgotten the first lesson all healers of the Nahele learn?"

When she paused and shook her head, Halona raised a brow, but patently caressed her matted hair, tilting that boney chin up. "Oh? You remember and yet you still dare to continue? 'Only under extreme circumstances are healers allowed to operate in distress. If another healer is available, you are to request assistance for both yourself and the patient.' That is the first lesson we teach, to avoid two deaths instead of one, to put a stop to the same tragedy that wiped out a hundred healers in a single day from happening again." Seeing that stubborn and unmovable face she signs." ——–This man shows no signs of dying yet the healer, yourself, on the other hand looks to be one foot in the grave."

Hong Luo's small body jolts then trembles, she opens her lips, mouthing the words, 'I'm not that bad' right out of Halona's sight. But she didn't need to see it to know that's what she was thinking. Halona knew Hong Luo too well after all, watching her grow since the day she was formed in her mother's belly.

"Luo'er, we are only one stone toss away from here and you know that. The tribe does lack healers." Then two old faces pop in her head pushing out a chuckle, "and even if by some miracle it did, that old bickering couple in Iolanthe are even closer by. Those two would never turn down their little apprentice that they love enough to kidnap under the eyes of her parents. If they aren't fighting with each other, they're fighting over you. Competing endlessly. Head aching anyone in arms reach. Truly childish and never will they grow up."

Hong Luo laughs in remembrance, which in turn results in a cheek tug from Halona. "There's that smile I was looking for, I was wondering where it went, it was just hiding from me, being a sneaky little rat burrowing inside that crazy hair of yours."

After tickling her pitiful little girl into a mess of laughter, did Halona stand up with her in her arms, those legs wrapped around her waist, those arms curling her neck. Soothing pats rub into her back, making her doze off little by little.