You are really here

"Are you kidding me?! I left for just a moment! For five minutes! Ten at most!" Maomao ranted mentally, still being trapped in Jinshi's embrace and barely able to move. "Just what did exactly happen during my absence?" She could feel Jinshi's labored breathing against her neck and the heavy beating of his heart against her upper body. A faint smell of her ointment was emanating from him. Still crying, he was kneeling there, in the darkness of the night, in the middle of his residence's hallway, and just holding her tight with his eyes closed, burying his nose against the crook of her neck. It certainly didn't look like he was planning to let go of her very soon. Maomao took a deep breath and grabbed him by the shoulders that were trembling from the force of his crying. Actually, his entire body was shaking so hard, Maomao could even feel it spread to her own. The young lord was in a truly terrible state. She wondered how he had even managed to make it from his bed all the way up to her in the first place, without falling down in the process. Probably only through sheer willpower. The apothecary buried her nails into his shoulders, in an attempt to attract his attention and to make him snap out of his delirium and listen to her. Though she didn't have a lot of hope due to how high his fever was. But there just wasn't any other option, since they couldn't exactly stay like that until daybreak. "You're burning up, sir! You have to return to bed at once, do you hear me? Master Jinshi!" No reaction. Jinshi merely kept sobbing while stammering "Y-You're here... a-apothecary... Maomao..." He was actually crying so hard that Maomao was afraid that he wouldn't be able to breathe anymore if he continued that way. His nose was still stuffed, after all. "Calm down, sir. You'll suffocate!" But he didn't show any sign of calming down, instead continuing to cling to her, with such desperation as if he was drowning in the open sea. Maomao didn't understand anything. What the hell was the matter with him?! She absolutely needed to give him more of her medicine. But before she could do that, she had to somehow get him up on his feet. Or at least free herself from his arms in order to run and fetch Gaoshun, who was the only one in the residence with enough physical strength to carry Jinshi. She tried with all her might to squirm free, to slacken his grip around her body, to place her hands on his chest and shove him away. But it was all for naught. Jinshi didn't budge. Even despite his fever and weakened state, he was still much stronger than her. "Uh..." Maomao grimaced a bit, for Jinshi's hug had become even tighter after her liberation attempts. So tight that her ribs were starting to hurt. How could she get out of that mess? The young noble clearly wasn't his usual self, hence there was no use trying to reason with him, was it? "Damn! If he collapses again right now, I won't be able to get him up by myself! Not to mention, catch him! Instead, I would probably fall down together with him!"  For the very first time, Maomao was cursing her small stature and physical weakness.  The apothecary closed her eyes for a moment and took another few deep breaths, trying to calm down and think of something else. It wouldn't help them at all, if she were to lose her composure now as well. Finally, she opened her eyes again and let out a snort. Very well. As it looked like, she wouldn't achieve anything with mere words or mere actions in that situation, so there had to be another way. One that combined these two things. First of all, she had to return the young lord to reality. Maomao managed to grab his head with both hands and with some effort, she could finally lift it from her shoulder. Jinshi's face was bright red and smeared with tears and snot. Right now, he was really nothing more than just a sick young man. Maomao was still of the opinion that he had brought everything on himself, but seeing him like that, was somehow making her heart ache. No clue why, though. "Master Jinshi," she tried to address him once again. Nothing. Alright, next attempt. Thus, holding him by his hot and damp cheeks, Maomao now began to stare directly into his widened eyes that were glassy from the fever, so closely that their noses touched. He just had to notice her now. "Apo... Apothecary..." And indeed: she realized that he was looking back at her. Maomao breathed a sigh of relief, however, she knew that it was still too early to be rejoiced. "Exactly, sir. You're right, I am really here. Can you see me?" "Y-Yes..." Jinshi blinked a few times, but he already looked a tiny bit calmer. It worked! He was finally listening! She had managed to get through to him, after all. "Good. And now let me go, sir. Please." These words made him shake his head so violently that she was having trouble holding it. "No! I... I w-won't let you go! Never again!" Maomao forced herself to remain calm. It would've actually been too good to be true, if everything had worked out right on the first try. She looked him in the eyes once more and then let go of his face. He didn't place it back on her shoulder. Well, at least something. "Just for a moment, sir, so I can help you stand up again. You don't even have to let go completely. Here, you can still hold my hand." The apothecary raised her left hand, so that he could see it. “You can't stay here, Master Jinshi, your fever will only get even worse if you do. And the floor is quite hard, so your knees must surely hurt by now, as well. Let’s get you back to bed, alright? Don't worry, I'm here and won't go anywhere." She tried to make her voice sound as gentle as possible. Although she didn't believe she was doing very great in that regard, since she didn't have any experience with that, she noticed to her utter joy that it seemed to work. Still having his left arm wrapped around her, he coughed and then slowly and a bit hesitantly took her hand she had offered him just now and squeezed it. His crying seemed to have become weaker, as well. "R-Really?" "Really." "You... promise?" "Yes, I promise, Master Jinshi. And now come, let go, please." Maomao could feel her patience starting to wear thin, but she had to control herself, lest all her efforts would end up being useless. But luckily, Jinshi seemed to be convinced at long last. He also removed his left arm. "Phew... I'm so glad it worked," she thought, giving her aching ribs a brief rub. "My very last resort would have been to slap him across the face in order to make him return to his senses, but I really wanted to avoid that." She directed another short look at his face. "He's already going through more than enough." She took his left arm, while still holding his right hand with her left. "Alright, and now, please wrap your arm around my shoulders. I'll help you get up on your feet." Leaving in order to get Gaoshun wasn't an option anymore, since that would require breaking her promise to Jinshi. So she didn't have any other choice than to somehow continue to manage everything by herself. *** With his left arm around her shoulders and her right one around his waist, Maomao was leading Jinshi through the hallway, step by step. He was still holding her left hand with his right one during the process. Maomao didn't say anything to that. She was just glad that she had finally managed to get him up from the floor. Even though he did move his feet more or less on his own and also refrained from shifting his entire weight onto her, for which she was very grateful, she was still forced to basically half-lead, half-drag him forward due to his weakness. It was far from easy for the petite apothecary to support the young lord, who was probably almost twice her weight, while walking, but she endured it with all her might. She didn't have any other choice, after all. Maomao was drenched in sweat and panting from the effort, so much that her tongue was almost hanging from her mouth. She felt as if she was about to collapse herself. But that mustn't happen, under no circumstances. She had to pull herself together. "Apo... thecary..." "I'm... here. Just... a bit, Master Jinshi. We're... almost there..." "Tomorrow, when everything'll be over, I'm going to take a long, hot bath," she thought, gritting her teeth and tightening her grip around his waist a little bit more. "I really deserved it." The entire time, she was afraid that his legs would give out on the way and make him fall again, but luckily, that didn't happen. So at least she had been spared from being buried under his body.  *** After some time that had seemed like an eternity to Maomao, she had finally managed to get Jinshi back into his chambers and into bed, without having either of them collapsing to the ground. She let go of his hand (which he strangely allowed without any protests, surely because he must have returned to his senses at least a bit in the meantime), covered him up with the blanket, and doubled over, leaning against the bed with both hands, in order to catch her breath. The apothecary would have loved to slump down on her chair and rest for a moment, but right now, she didn't have the time for that. First, she had to take care of Jinshi, since having brought him to bed had been nothing but merely the first step. It was far from being over. She briefly stretched her aching muscles and her back, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and ran to dunk a new piece of cloth into water. Said water wasn't really cool anymore, but it would still serve its purpose. What a blessing that Suiren had prepared everything before leaving. Maomao's gaze fell on the spare clothes, laid out by the chief lady-in-waiting. It actually wouldn't have been bad to change Jinshi's clothes, but she just didn't have the strength for that. "Mao... mao..." Jinshi muttered and coughed, having turned his head into her direction and following her with his eyes. He was just lying there, barely moving. Maomao wasn't sure whether she should consider that rather a good or a bad sign, but she was glad that he had finally stopped crying and was already trembling a little less than before. She assumed that he didn't have any strength left, either. Well, no wonder. "I'm here, sir." With all the stress, she didn't even notice that he had called her by her name. Multiple times, even. Well, but even if she did, she wouldn't have really cared, anyway. He was her employer, after all, so he could actually call her however he wanted. As long as it was nothing embarrassing, she was more or less fine with it. Maomao wrung the cloth out and returned to the bed, where she brushed the hair strands aside that were sticking to Jinshi's sweaty face and placed the damp cloth on his forehead. "M-Maomao..." "Yes! I'm here!" she assured him, a bit irritated. "I'm standing right next to you." "What a pain..." she thought, frowning and exhausted. "Worse than a little kid... Why's he so fixated on me, anyway? Even more than usual, I mean. I do get that he has a fever, but still." Repeating the same words over and over was slowly starting to get on her nerves, but Jinshi was having a really high fever, and she didn't want to risk him leaving his bed again. If everything from before were to happen a second time, then a worse ending was more than guaranteed. She turned her back to him for a second in order to grab the medicine from the table, and when she turned around again, she realized that Jinshi's eyes were closing. "Hey, don't fall asleep yet!" she snapped at him. Every remaining trace of her patience was spent now, making her forget their difference in status for a moment. "You have to take your medicine first!" Jinshi opened his eyes again and directed them at her. He looked so exhausted that Maomao felt a bit guilty for having yelled at him. But she couldn't let him sleep yet. "To hell with the spoon!" she thought and hurried back to him, holding the bottle in her hand. In such a rush, she accidentally knocked over the chair, making it fall and break the silence of the night with a loud thud that echoed through the entire room. Whatever, she would pick it up later. Right now, she had more urgent things to do. Maomao opened the bottle and approached it to Jinshi's face, while holding up his head with her other hand.  "Drink, Master Jinshi." Jinshi raised a trembling hand and placed it on her arm, the one holding the bottle. Maomao didn't comment on that, even though she still wondered where his constant need to touch her was coming from. But it didn't matter, as long as he was drinking. And he was. Although he was gagging and coughing, which made her move the bottle away from his lips several times, he finally did manage to swallow most of the liquid. When it was done, the apothecary wiped his mouth and chin, placed the now empty bottle back on the table and took a deep breath. "Now you can sleep..." she mumbled. *** After Jinshi had finally fallen asleep again, Maomao allowed herself to relax her tense shoulders and let out a long sigh. "I hope that the worst is over now," she thought, still standing by the bed and absent-mindedly stroking his cheek. Without even really realizing what she was doing. "If you just had listened to me earlier... then this might not have happened at all... what an idiot you are, sir..." Her inner voice didn't sound neither irritated nor angry... just tired. Awfully tired. The apothecary turned her head towards the window. The moon was still standing high on the sky. Not more than an hour could have gone by, since she had left Jinshi's chambers to get her stuff from her room. Hard to believe. "Ah, yes... the stuff. It's still lying on the floor in the hallway. Maybe I should quickly run there and pick it up, before someone could step on it in the darkness and get me in trouble." She didn't have any energy left to sew anymore, but at least she could do that much. Maomao bent over Jinshi once more and examined his face. Having made sure that he was fast asleep, she turned around and tiptoed to the door. But before she could even reach it, she suddenly heard a pained moaning behind her and froze on the spot. "A-Apothecary... Maomao... D-Don't go..." "What the... Damn!" To claim that the apothecary was baffled, would be an understatement. She had just confirmed with her own eyes that he was in a deep sleep! Was he able to sense her presence even in his sleep or what? Maomao looked at the bed. Jinshi had turned onto his side and stretched out his hand into her direction, as if he had indeed felt that she had been about to leave the room. His fingers were moving, grasping at nothing, as if he was looking for something. For her, she assumed. "Well, I did promise to stay with him, that's true..." she thought grumpily. She returned to him and took his hand once more. It wasn't as if she had any other choice, anyway. "I'm here, sir..." she muttered and sighed in resignation. Alright, then the sewing stuff would have to lie around a bit longer. Speaking of lying around. Maomao turned towards the chair she had knocked over earlier, intending to get it up and sit down, but she couldn't reach it. Not even as she tried to stretch out her foot as far as possible and to pull the chair towards herself.  The apothecary shrugged. Very well, then she would have to let go of Jinshi's hand for another moment. But then she widened her eyes, realizing that she couldn't... Jinshi was holding her hand in an iron grip. With the same force he had hugged her back then. No matter how much she struggled, she absolutely couldn't free herself. "Just how strong is that guy?!" she thought, upset. "And he's not only sick, but also asleep!" Not to mention that her own strength was spent, after she had basically dragged him to bed. Maomao cursed herself for not having picked up the chair earlier. She didn't want to make too jerky movements, in order to not risk waking up the young noble again. "Great. What now?" she thought, gritting her teeth for the umpteenth time. Maomao snorted, feeling another wave of fatigue come over her. Standing like that for the rest of the night was definitely out of question, since her feet wouldn't endure it. Sitting down on the floor as well, because her arm would probably fall off by daybreak, if Jinshi were to hold her hand until then. Then she had no other option than to sit down on the bed. Or no, actually, there was another one... Maomao gulped and cast another sideways glance to Jinshi. Would it really be alright? After all, he was still a noble, and she was his servant... Nah, it was him, who didn't want to let go of her, so she could use the argument that she didn't have any other choice in the first place and couldn't be blamed for it at all. Thus, she raised the blanket with her free hand and carefully lay down next to Jinshi on her back, covering both of them up afterward. Exactly. She wasn't doing that because she wanted to. Not at all. At that very moment, he let go of her hand. "That son of a..." But before Maomao even managed to think of a title for Jinshi that really shouldn't be said out loud, and to get out of bed again, Jinshi turned onto his stomach, immediately wrapped his arms around her waist, and placed his head on her chest. The apothecary froze. The young lord sighed out in relief, let out a few last sniffles, and finally calmed down for good. "Warm..." he mumbled quietly in his sleep. "Maomao..." She didn't give him an answer this time, but relaxed after a moment. "Does he take me for his pillow?” Maomao thought, a bit annoyed. “Oh well, whatever. At least, we're not in the hallway anymore.” The apothecary wiped the still remaining traces of tears from his face and placed the damp cloth, that had slid off, back on his forehead. She felt his still a bit labored, but regular breathing, and also the feverish heat radiating from his body. But since she had given him the rest of the medicine, it should become better soon. “But I don't believe I’m very comfortable to lie on.” She thought of the more than modest size of her chest. "Doesn't seem to bother him, though." Maomao placed one of her hands on Jinshi's head and lightly stroked his tousled, but still silky and soft hair that was falling over his shoulders and back. “Good grief, he’s so clingy.” The apothecary was glad that, at least, he wasn't lying with his entire weight on top of her, but only with his head and part of his upper body (that was already heavy enough, in her opinion), for he would have surely crushed her. That would have been a real grand finale for that long and difficult night, indeed. Not able to fight her fatigue any longer and inhaling Jinshi's scent that was lingering in the air, mixed with the smell of her ointment and her cold remedy, Maomao finally ended up falling asleep as well. With that, the almost complete silence returned to Jinshi's chambers.