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“Damn it, Jinshi!”
Cursing as she pressed the towel against his bloodied abdomen, Maomao began listing in her head all the necessary precautions she’d need to take. The blood was everywhere, no doubt he needed a stitch or two, no, definitely more. The knife was still lodged in, and she dared not have it removed without proper supplies beside her. She still had to make sure none of his organs were stabbed nor was it any deep.
Maomao thought she had her distilled alcohol in her pockets to clean the wound with, but she couldn’t be sure. She needed to let go of the towel first to check but his damn blood was spilling everywhere!
“.. Ugh.” He groaned. “I...know you're… pissed… hrk ” He needed to stop talking before she shoved another towel right in his mouth.
“B..but, I’d do it… again. ” He was holding one of her hands, and despite the lack of clarity behind those eyes, he was staring at her rather intently. She forcefully pried his hands away so she could actually work all the while glaring at the man before her.
The damned masochist! Why did every man around her have to be fools who insisted on wearing themselves off. She wasn’t anyone special. It wasn’t necessary for him to jump into her line of fire and stab himself. It wasn’t! He should’ve let her be and let the assailant get his way, who wanted to harm her .
“Please shut up.” She groused, applying more pressure to the now red towel against his abdomen. Just in time, Suiren came in with the warm water she had requested, new towels, silk threads, needle, her medicine supplies and a clean knife, just in case a surgery was needed.
The poor woman was pale everywhere, and looked on the verge of fainting. Feeling bad for what was about to transpire, Maomao decided to relieve her of her duty and have her stand guard at the front of the room. If anyone came in right when she was stitching, or even worse, cutting up the emperor’s younger brother’s flesh, Maomao had no qualms that she would be dragged to the dungeon immediately. No matter what intentions she had.
When Suiren left, Maomao directed all her attention toward the ghastly being before her. Maomao was relieved to see that he still seemed somewhat conscious and was able to feel pain. Taking off the soiled towel and replacing it with several new ones, Maomao assessed the stab wound to see what she had to work with.
Jinshi was breathing hard, but that was expected due to the pain. Judging by the lack of vomit or coughing, she could at least attest that there wasn’t any damage to his liver. She didn’t smell any discharge from him either, so she knew his kidney was safe.
While this certainly meant the wound wasn’t the worst, it certainly still wasn’t ideal. Pulling out the impaled knife, Maomao prepared for the onslaught of blood that followed soon after.
The smell of iron and sweat permeated the air, making her all the more aware of the severity she was handling. She grabbed another clean towel and started dipping it into the warm water, with practiced hand, she began wiping the blood around the wound. Jinshi was still breathing and grunting, which was exactly what Maomao wanted. Whenever Maomao felt like he was too quiet, she would deliberately apply more pressure on his abdomen. She needed him awake.
“If you ever do this again, I’m going to personally stab you with my needle.” Maomao grumbled. “See how you like it, dying from a thousand little cuts.”
Grabbing her needle, she took the distilled alcohol she had in her person and began disinfecting the needle with it. Now that the wound was clean, she was finally able to assess it properly. While none of his organs seems to be damaged, she couldn’t say the same for his muscles. At best, it would take several months to heal. At worst, he would lose proper use around the area completely.
Despite himself, Jinshi still huffed out a laugh. She had half a mind not to stab him with the needle in her hand, just as she promised.
You’re lucky I love you.
Maomao freezed. She didn’t know where the thought came from, unbridled and sudden. It was humiliating to even begin to think about it. Even in her head, she was aware how it sounded far too casual , like she had thought about it a million times.
Maomao could certainly tell herself with full confidence that she had never thought about it before.
So why now?
Shaking her head from the unnecessary thoughts, Maomao took the silk threads and began to work on his wound only to stop at the sudden tears streaming down his face.
“W-what’s wrong?” Maomao questioned urgently. Her mind a mile a minute. Did he perhaps feel a sudden pain? Has it gotten worse somehow? Damn it! I took too much time. With a flurry of movements, Maomao held the needle against his wound and started on the treatment.
A hand reached out and stopped her all together.
“Master Jinshi, What are you doing?” Maomao frowned. “Let me go, I need to close your wound.”
Instead of answering, Jinshi shook his head. Still with the damn tears in his face. The man was swallowing with difficulty and seemed to be trying to say something, however they had no time . The bleeding was going to get worse if he didn’t let go of her soon.
“Master Jin-”
His hand reached out to the back of her head. Unprepared, she couldn’t do anything about it. Then all of sudden, soft lips enveloped hers, pausing all her thoughts and motions. Her mind was racing, screaming at her to keep moving, his life is still in danger. However even she was helpless against the storming rush of butterflies when his lips started to move against hers, warm and soft. The smell of iron and sweat that filled around her was soon replaced by sandalwood and jasmine, and him.
Maomao didn’t know when she closed her eyes, but she did know when his tongue started licking her upper lip. She knew when it entered her mouth, moving and exploring like it was on a mission, like he was on a mission to explore and searched every single part of her.
And Maomao would gladly let him find what he needed to.
After she closed his damned wound!
Pushing herself from him, Maomao broke the kiss and watched as he opened his eyes. She couldn’t help but glare at the man. They were supposed to treat his wound. “What are you doing? ” Maomao panted, kneeling back toward her previous position before he pulled her in. “Can’t you do this later?”
“I’m sorry,” Despite the obvious pain she knew he was in, Jinshi was grinning with a full smile on his face like a madman. “It’s just…”
“y-you love me?”
Speechless, Maomao stared at the man long and hard.
One thing was for certain, for one way or another, she was going to start the suture.
She just didn’t know if she’d start on his wound or this thing she called mouth first.
Grabbing another clean towel, she shoved it into his mouth and asked him to bite it.
Maomao decided that his wound was far more urgent and needed immediate attention first. After that, maybe she could start working on sewing her damned mouth.