Delivering My Love

Chapter 6

"He's barely breathing," Jingfei cried, tearing open Zan Yu's shirt. Tai Shi ripped off the tattered garment, his fingers grazing Zan Yu's chest. Tai Shi gasped at the heat of Zan Yu's skin. "His fever has only gone up. Give me that," she thrust a hand out for the medicine bag. Tai Shi placed it in her open hand before turning back to Zan Yu. Sweat trailed down Zan Yu's forehead, and his lips were leached of color.

"What do you think it was? Poison? Did someone follow us?" Jingfei ripped open a package with her teeth and thin, orange leaves spilled out. She tossed them into her mouth and chewed them.

"His drink being spiked at the tavern was just a coincidence. I'm pretty sure they were spiking a lot of the drinks with something stronger. This is something different." She spit out the leaves into her hand. "Check his body for any opening, any infected cuts." She got up and ran out of the cave.

Tai Shi ran his hands down Zan Yu's body, his eyes searching for cuts and scrapes. He flipped Zan Yu over gently, and spotted a deep gash in his lower back. "Ohhhh sh*t," he panted. The blood rushed to his head. Jingfei was good with miracles, but he doubted that she had the supplies to heal Zan Yu. He adjusted Zan Yu when Jingfei raced in. She slid to her knees next to him. Her eyes settled on the cut, and her lips pulled into a grim line. She held her refilled waterskin in one hand and the chewed leaves in the other. Tendrils of hair that had escaped framed her drawn face as she concentrated on cleaning his wound. Red-stained water dribbled down Zan Yu's sides and melted into the dirt floor. Zan Yu wheezed in his sleep, his back arching weakly. Tai Shi held him down so Jingfei could work.

"Why didn't he say anything," she muttered under her breath. She smeared the leafy paste over the gash, the pink paste mingling with the blood that had begun to flow from irritation. She reached into the bag and pulled out bandages.

They spent nearly an hour fixing up his bandages and cleaning the area. Then they had cleared out the cave. Jingfei said that they would need to wait at least a week before traveling again. A major setback, but neither of them suggested doing anything but wait. A fire was set up, and cots and blankets unraveled. Tai Shi sat by Zan Yu's side, unwilling to move until Zan Yu had awoken.

Jingfei stepped out to hunt for small animals and returned in the evening with a few rabbits. After skinning them and setting one rabbit to roast over the fire, she headed out again. She came back with her hair dripping with water and wearing a fresh set of clothes. Her old ones, which were stained with Zan Yu's blood, were now wet and clean. She laid the clothes on a slanted shelf of stone jutting out from the cave walls to dry from the heat of the fire. Night fell soon after, and soon the only sound was the crackling of the fire.

"I tied the horses into a smaller cave just a hundred feet away. I blocked out the area so nothing big can get in," she told him. She sat down on her cot.

"Tai Shi..." Jingfei hesitated. "I don't think—"

"Don't. Just don't." Tai Shi brushed his hand over Zan Yu's forehead, combing his fingers through the curls. He looked at Jingfei. "Why is he here? He mentioned some scroll? What are we really doing here?" Jingfei shifted uncomfortably in her cot. She got up and came over to the cot Zan Yu was laying on, a good ten feet away from the fire. Just far enough to give him warmth without raising his fever. Tai Shi had dragged his cot over to Zan Yu's and sat with his back against the cave wall. Everytime Jingfei had glanced over, Tai Shi had not moved from his spot next to Zan Yu. One of them had to watch him at all times, but still. She tugged Zan Yu's blankets, fidgeting. Tai Shi reached out to stop her, placing his hand on hers. She bit her lip, holding back a sob. He could tell she was worn-out, bone-tired from all she had done that day.

"He thinks he's delivering a scroll." A tear trailed down her face, and more rimmed her red eyes as she met Tai Shi's eyes.

"What scroll." Tai Shi remained stoic, fury boiling beneath the surface.