The Vigilant Yaksha

Chapter 38

Oh god.

She'd made it to the kitchen, struggling to hold back the urge to throw up as she adverted her eyes from her hands.

So much blood. The smell- I can't.

Her mind briefly flashed back to memories of her mother's death- the ones she'd been desperately distracting herself from ever since she'd first sniffed that metallic smell, focusing every possible brain cell she had on devoting her attention to Xiao.

But now that he was away and presumably stable, her thoughts began to drift, threatening to throw her down the drain as her mind betrayed her.

Hold it together. He still needs you.

Vigorously scrubbing at her hands, she refused to leave until she'd picked off every speak of dried blood from her skin, struggling to steady her breathing and drag herself down from the impending panic attack as she breathed deeply through her nose and out of her mouth.

After minutes of washing her hands over and over, she finally stopped and dried her hands off on a clean towel as she closed her eyes for just a moment, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat.

I need a mop and a bucket for the floor.

She managed to find those very items in a nearby supply closet and wasted no time in cleaning up the floor in the main room, being sure to keep an ear open just in case Xiao called for her as she made sure not to miss a spot.

Just as she'd finished cleaning up and putting away the cleaning supplies, she heard the sound of bare foot steps approaching.

How thankful she was to know that it was always Xiao as long as she was here. It couldn't be anyone else, and that fact made her feel so safe and secure.

"I'm ready for part two, Dr. Vena."

Well, he was able to poke fun at her, so that was a reassuring sign.

She'd been cleaning her medical supplies off and sanitizing them before she mended the rest of his wounds to be sure of no cross contamination.

Swiveling around to face him, she quickly adverted her gaze elsewhere, somehow forgetting that he'd be stood in front of her in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist so she could medicate and stitch the wounds that had been under most of his clothes.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him raise a brow at her reaction, clearly amused.

"Right, sit." She cleared her throat awkwardly as she slipped on a pair of plastic gloves this time, clearly in much less of a panic than before to make sure that he was alright so she could take the more necessary precautions.

He did as he was told and took a seat in the metal chair she'd drug in from another room so he could be a little more comfortable while she worked on him.

"And drink this." Her hand outstretched toward him, holding a cup of delicious smelling liquid.

Without a question, he simply took it and drank a sip, actually surprised by the pleasant taste. He could tell by the smell that it was no doubt some type of herbal tea, which that fact didn't surprise him in the least.

"These herbs will help boost your immune system and help your wounds heal faster while also easing the pain and discomfort." She decided to explain even though he clearly didn't mind the taste, going so far as to take another greedy sip as she'd begun cleaning out more wounds across his back and chest, putting medicine on every open cut and stitching anything that looked as though it would need some extra help in order to heal back to normal.