Death Wish

2.Death Wish

Bao couldn't even answer his question.
What kind of girl was she? She thought to herself for a long time eventually spacing out before being interrupted by the Physician.

"Well....?" He asked

She looked up at him, studying his amused face. She thought of a response but nothing came to mind.

"All you need to know is that i'm not materialistic, and I advise you to stop judging people by what's presented to you and more on how they behave", Bao snapped giving him a cold look.

"You're right", he said scratching his head.

Bao left the tent she had decided to tour around the war camps, her feet could feel the ground was quite mucky, her eyes could see the sky was grey, there was crowds of soldiers running around the place,the smell of grass and fires filled her nostrils ,her ears heard the sound of soldiers reporting to duty and sharpening their swords, and lastly dead bodies being left there to rot.

Bao nearly threw up at the sight and smell of them, how could they leave children of other people, father's of others, and husbands to others in that condition. Why didn't they at least cremate the bodies if they didn't have time to bury them? Bao knew the image of the rotting corpses would haunt her forever.

She came up with an idea of asking her Father to order his men to burn up the corpses instead of leaving them to rot. To show respect as these men died serving their country.
When the idea came to mind she ran back to his tent.

When she arrived she found the Physician from earlier was still there sitting on a stool reading a book. She looked over to her Father who finally regained consciousness and was listening to the Physician read. A feeling of relief calmed her when she seen how peaceful her Father looked.

"My Gem, where'd you go?" General Wei asked in a tone of worry.

"Just a quick look around the camps- About that can you order your men to cremate the bodies out there, I mean such a shame the way they were abandoned, like they lost their lives serving the country", she asked her Father falling on her knees.

"Get up Bao, I'm very pleased you to hear you say that, I'll see what I can do...I know my leadership hasn't been great lately due to my illness.." The General's voice trailed off.

"It's fine Father it's not your fault its that useless Emp-" Bao stopped talking knowing disrespecting the Emperor was a crime.

"Are you guys hungry by any chance?" Asked the Physician.

The idea of food made Bao's stomach rumble and she hid her face with her hands in embarrassment.

"I guess that's a yes!" Exclaimed the general.

"I'll make us some sweet red bean buns with tea", offered Bao standing up to reach her belongs to take out ingridents she brought with her.

"I hope they taste good as they sound", said the phsycian watching Bao leave the tent.

As soon as Bao left the tent, a soldier barged in with fear and panic. He was repeatedly shouting general when he seen the General.

"Lee what's the matter,calm down and speak", asked General Wei.

"Hong...-hong", Lee's voice trembled.

"What about Hong?" Asked the general.

"He..he his..The Turkish general
Ãl-Emre....killed him", cried Lee in panic.

The Generals heart dropped, he was slowly beginning to find it hard to breath, he got down from the bed to his knees crying his sons name out and cursing his rival Ãl-Emre.

"There's no time to waste, this is a wake up call", said the general getting up running to his desk.

He got paper and and started writing rapidly. Tears strolled down his cheeks and he started coughing up blood which blotched the paper with stains.

"General!" Cried Lee.

The general fell on to the wooden floor vision slowly blurring and he knew it was his time. Lee and the Physician hurried to his side, and the general grabbed both of their shirts tightly,ready to say his last words.

"Take care of her..my Gem," the general said smiling and shut his eyes tight.

Lee and the physician knew he died when his tight grip of their shirts was light. The physician checked his pulse and started shaking his head.

"Is...he..de-", cried Lee.

All the physician could do was nod. Lee was bawling with tears, he had just lost his best friend and now his role model. It was all too much for him.

Bao arrived in the tent with buns and tea when she saw what had just happened. She dropped basket of food and ran towards her Father. She held him and repeatedly Kept tugging at him, begging for him to come back to her.

"Father! You can't leave me not now!" She cried.

The physician tried to pull her away from him but she slapped his hand and give him a cold stare, her brown eyes full of hate and pain. He shuddered in fear when meeting her eyes.

"This is your fault", she hissed not leaving his eyes.

"I tried...my bes..sorr-", he cried getting on his knees.

"Your best?" She scoffed.

"Bao please calm down, it was out of his hands", begged Lee.

"Brother Lee why are you even here, where's Hong? Does he know about this?" Said Bao looking up at Lee.

Lee didn't want to have to say what he had to say next. He didn't want her heart to break even more.

"Ãl-Emre..." Lee tried to say it but the words wouldn't leave his mouth.

"The Turkish general what about him?" Bao asked in confusion.

"Hong was killed by him in battle", Lee quietly mumbled.

Bao was in disbelief, it hit her hard she was on her own. Tears came rolling down her cheeks, she didn't care if the two men seen her cry she had every right to.

"He left a letter for you on his desk", said the physician holding on to General Wei's hand crying.

Bao got up and rushed to his desk to read the note that was covered in blood and tears.

"Is this a death wish?" She asked.