Heal These Battle Scars | MxM

Chapter Ten- Time Spent

Commander Wang Yi often walked strong, had a stone-cold face and shouted and bickered by himself — behaving much older, considering his young age. Still, Xiao Fang knew he was a young man, so when Yi flinched — batting away unshed tears for the tenth time, and hissed in agony whenever Xiao Fang dipped a washing cloth on the gunshot wound, the doctor would internally smile.

Good. Commander Yi deserved every bit of pain he was going through.

The communist soldiers didn't give Xiao Fang much to go by, and all he knew was that a nationalist soldier discharged a round at Commander Yi at a close range during a siege in Shangdong village. Since then, the bullet remained lodged in from where it had entered Yi in his back left-side shoulder blade. It was a good thing none of the soldiers didn't try removing it too, or Commander Yi would've been dead already from blood loss. Though he didn't die from blood loss, the young commander barely escaped the possibility of a septic shock. Lucky bastard.

The wound wasn't too bad either — at least it wouldn't cause Yi any permanent damage, but it would take a shit load of tending too, and unfortunately, there was no anesthetic, so when Xiao Fang dug the bullet out with a pair of tweezers,

Yi groaned as sweat-soaked his body as he laid on his stomach on the single bed in the military's infirmary, face pressed against the tattered pillow to stifle any unwanted noises.

"Bear with me, Commander Yi," Xiao Fang said, stuffing a piece of cloth in the open wound, soaking in all the blood seeping out. "It'll be over soon."

"I'll be dead before it's over," Yi growled, pressing his head deeper into the pillow, seeking comfort.

Xiao Fang rolled his eyes at Yi's childishness but didn't bother to argue, considering Wen Han was standing by the front door — arms folded, looking all tense as he watched Xiao Fang's every move. Several more soldiers were peeking through the door, wanting to get a glimpse of what was happening, but kept their distance nonetheless.

"I'm going to stitch you up now," Xiao Fang said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Try to stay still, yeah?"

"Fuck. Hurry and be done with it," Yi grunted, unbothered or unaware of the soldiers watching him stumbling over his words.

Xiao Fang swallowed. "Alright."

When the needle started threading through Yi's flesh, stitching the open wound back together, the commander's eyes flashed red, and an agonizing whimper escaped his trembling lips, making Xiao Fang's breath hitch. Although seeing a patient in such a state wasn't new to him, he still felt terrible at how helpless Yi was, grunting and withering, willing the pain to end.

When the minutes started feeling longer, drifting on in a never-ending stillness, Commander Yi's cries became unbearable to listen to.

Still, the doctor continued threading through the skin, visibly sick at how Yi's eyes fluttered as he bit at his trembling lips until they bled. Or as he dug his nails in the bed cover until it ripped. Or the countless curses seeping out of his uncensored mouth.

Though Commander Yi had handled the grueling ordeal. The bastard lasted longer than Xiao Fang wanted.

When it was all finally over, Yi blacked out.

++++++++++

Xiao Fang sighed, eyeing Yi lying in bed, unconscious. To say the doctor felt sympathy for him would've been an understatement — after all, the commander was still a child, prancing around in a grown man's body, wanting to be a monster, capable of death and destruction.

"Commander Yi needs to be taken care of twenty-four hours a day," he eventually said, turning his attention to Wen Han. Wen Han stood beside him, scanning his worried eyes on Yi. "Someone will have to be at his beck and call at all times — his wound needs cleaning and changing daily. If he doesn't get it —"