Living on a Mountain with my Husband

Chapter 30: GHOSTS IN THE HEART

After the two men were subdued, everyone sat back to discuss what to do next. Zimo was a little exhausted, his health wasn't that great to begin with, and waking up from a nightmare this morning left him feeling a deep exhaustion. Mrs Li observed Zimo next to her.

She was confused when Zimo first got involved with the criminals. Her impression of Zimo, was that he was quiet, timid, and to put it bluntly a coward. But to her surprise, he took charge of the situation in an intelligent way, and even more surprising was how he won in a fight against the skinnier man.

Mrs Li admired Zimo's courage, but when she noticed Zimo's rough breathing and pale face that looked almost gray, she remembered what the doctor had said about his body.

"Zimo? Are you okay? Did you get hurt in the fight earlier? You shouldn't have gotten involved. Your body is too weak to do those types of things..." Mrs Li started nagging Zimo as the cart started moving again to town.

When they reached town, the couple decided to take the two men and hand them over to the government. Zimo didn't need to go with them, so Mrs Li and him left to find LongWei and old man Li.

While walking, Zimo was hit with an intense wave of dizziness and almost collapsed in the middle of the road. Mrs Li grabbed him tight and helped him regain his balance. She decided Zimo couldn't keep moving around trying to find the others so she made a bee line to the same doctor as last time.

...

"Welcome." the doctors young apprentice said as they entered the shop. He soon noticed Zimo's condition and brought a chair over for him to sit down.

"the doctor is currently out on a home visit. He should be back within an hour. Please sit here while you wait." The apprentice said.

"Thank you." Mrs Li answered back.

"XiaoMo, I'm going to go get LongWei and the old man and bring them over. You stay here and don't move. Okay?" Mrs Li said.

"Hmm. Okay Mrs Li." Zimo answered back a little out of it because of the dizziness.

Mrs Li quickly left leaving Zimo sitting in the shop.

...

It wasn't long before LongWei reached the shop. Breathing heavily, he looked around the room. When he spotted Zimo he walked over with big steps, knelt down to his level and hugged Zimo in his arms.

"Baby, what's wrong? Where do you feel sick? Is it your stomach again, or maybe your head?" LongWei questioned Zimo as he felt his forehead and stomach.

"Dear, it's not that bad. I'm just tired and a little dizzy. I think I might have overdid it today." Zimo quietly answered back acting a little coquettish. Seeing LongWei, it felt like they handed seen each other for days. He started to relax and the exhaustion took over. In his husbands warm embrace Zimo lost consciousness.

When Zimo fell asleep, LongWei first thought the worst.
"Doctor! Where is the doctor?!" LongWei yelled. Hearing the panic in LongWei's voice the apprentice ran over and checked Zimo's pulse. He had only been studying medicine for two years, but without the doctor here he was the next best option.

"Don't worry, he only fell asleep." The apprentice said as he sighed in relief.

"How can I not worry? Tell me where is the doctor and why isn't he here?" LongWei said. He was not in a good mood and spoke in a domineering tone.

Moments later the old doctor who had examined Zimo walked in.

"Sorry for the delay." He said as he quickly came over moving his apprentice aside.

"Doctor, sorry. I..." LongWei's emotions were unstable as he tried to calm himself.

"I understand, please let me check your spouses wrist please." The doctor said as he held his hand out.

LongWei passed Zimo's wrist for the doctor to check unable to breathe as he waited to hear what the doctor would say.

"Hmm. He is currently sleeping, but the cause for his exhaustion is a little worrying. There is some physical discomfort caused by staying in the sun for long hours and fire in his stomach from too much meat recently. However, his current state seems to be caused more by mental exhaustion than physical." The doctor explained.

LongWei looked at the little birdie in his arms. He wasn't certain about what had happened, when Mrs Li found him, she had only managed to say Zimo was at the doctors not feeling well before he darted off. He should have stayed behind to hear the full story, but thinking about Zimo sitting here feeling unwell alone his legs had already started running.

"Sorry doctor. Is there anything I can do to help him?"

"Hm.."
The doctor went silent and thought about what could be done.

"I'm sorry, but thee isn't any medicine I can prescribe. He is already taking the nourishing medicine, this will help his physical body. But the mind is not so easily treatable. I suspect he olds many ghosts in his heart. These ghosts can eat away at someone." The doctor said.

"Is there really no way to hep him?" LongWei desperately asked.

"The best treatment would simply be to love him, treat him gently, let him live in a calm, and safe environment. As he is immersed in this type of life, his heart will begin to heal. It is not something that can be rushed." The doctor patiently explained to LongWei.

"I understand, I will do my best." LongWei said as he hugged Zimo tightly in his arms.

...