Ice and Fire and Love

二十四 (Twenty-Four)

I slowly open my eyes. I'm looking up at wood. A wooden celling where the water drips. I feel all numb and my head really hurts. I turn. I see a window made of stained glass. It shows some kind of Buddha. It feels like I'm lying on mattress. I look at my hand. It's bandaged. Where is Ao Bing? What happened?

I slowly stagger into a sitting position. I feel around my chest. Bandages. They feel a little ragged and made of cotton. I remove my hand. The blood still soaks the bandages. I look around. This place is big. Really big. There were thousands of boxes around. A storehouse? A warehouse? What is this place? I see Ao Bing on a chair. He looked asleep. I let out a breath.

He slowly flinches and wakes up. His eyes widen when he sees me. He stands up and walks over. He sits down on my bedside and examines my wounds. He looks at me.

"How are you feeling?" He asks.

"As good as I can be." I say.

"Did my best bandaging the wound." He says.

"Where are we?" I ask.

"An abandoned temple. My Father bought it for me. Heh. Of course, we eventually turned it into a storehouse." He says.

He looks at me. I let out a cough. He forms an ice glass out of his power. He fills it with water.

"Drink this." He says.

I nod. I grab it and I chug it. I gasp in a breath afterwards. He wipes my mouth from the water. I rub my face.

"How long have I been out?" I ask.

"Three days." His answer shocks me.

"Three days?!" I yell.

"Hah. Kidding. Just wanted to hear you yell. Just a couple of hours." He reassures.

I can't help but feel like I'm missing something.  I try to ignite the fire in my hand. I manage it but it's really small. I feel like I'm weaker. I feel like I lost something.

"Ao Bing." I look up at him.

"What is it?" He asks.

"I've lost the fire." I say.