Xinye's view
It was about a month before the blacksmith was ready, and the combined work between the carpenter and blacksmith was completed. Strangely enough, it rained the day it was all finished.

"Thank you, Lord, for the rain," I said as I looked out into it.

I did not realise though was the General was back home. He had been sent away a week after I had tended to his injuries the last time he was home. It was now three weeks after he left. I was looking out my window, enjoying the rain and Thanking my God for it when Xin returned covered in blood and holding his side.

"Get Xinye," he ordered Li, so I went out to see what was wrong.

I took one look at him and was afraid then. The amount of blood was worrying to me. I needed to assess the damage as soon as possible, so I moved him to the bathroom to do just that. I knew I would need a lot of water, so I sent both Fergus and Li off to get water. There was no point trying the tank. The rain had not been falling that long.

As soon as I removed his clothes, he asked, "Can you fix me like you did before? You are the only one I know of who I trust enough to do this."

I felt honoured and stressed at the same time as I knew this wound was beyond my capability to fix, "I am sorry, Xin, this is beyond my help. It is too deep, and your muscles have been cut. I know only one person who might be able to deal with this." I looked at Li then, hoping that the imperial physicians could do surgery, so I asked, "Can the imperial physicians sew this up?"

"No," she shook her head, "People who are cut like this more often than not die."

"So, I have to gamble on the help then," I teared up and prayed before instructing, "God, please let Dr Hack still be able to perform operations. Fergus, please go to that man at the apothecary's and say this to him, 'Dr Hack, Karen Chen is requesting your help. It is an emergency, and only he can help as the wound is too deep for a mere ex-registered nurse. It needs a surgeon."

Fergus nodded and ran to wherever it was she was talking about.

"Who is Karen Chen, and who is Dr Hack? and what is a surgeon?" Xin asked.

"Karen is my English name, and we say our family name last, not first there. Dr Hack is like an apothecary that specialises in operations, but he retired ten years ago because of his age. He is our only hope, though." I explained.

I cleaned the wound as best I could and then moved Xin to the table in his office.

"Shouldn't we put him on a bed?" Li asked me, clearly thinking that the table was inferior.

I shook my head, explaining, "No, Dr Hack will need to be able to move around the table freely to operate, and someone needs to be on the opposite side to him."

Fergus arrived a short time afterward with Dr Hack and a young apothecary I thought I had seen around the town.

"Hi Dr Hack, this is my friend Fang Xin. He has a deep abdominal wound caused by a sword by the looks. It is a clean cut, but it looks to have severed his muscles down to the intestines. I hope you can look and sew it up. Do you think you can?"

Dr Hack nodded, "Let us have a look, I might not be able to sew it anymore, but I can instruct this young man on what to do and where. He has been learning from me. Don't worry. I can still step in if something is beyond him. I wish we had gloves, but we will have to make do with clean hands. Do you have water and alcohol ready so we can clean ourselves?"

I nodded and showed them the 3 prepared bowls - two with fresh water and one with whiskey.

"Right, let's put him to sleep so we can work," Dr Hack said as the young man covered Xin's mouth with a rag. I must have looked concerned as Dr Hack said, "Don't worry, it is just chloroform. I made some here. I will inject something that is like local anaesthetic into his spine so that at least for a little while, the area will be completely numb."

I nodded. I assumed he was going to do the equivalent of a spinal tap. I thought it was a good idea, but I just hoped it had no adverse effects. Xin would never forgive me if he could not walk. I knew he would rather be dead, so again, I prayed that he would survive and recover from his injury.

Once they lay Xin down again, after the spinal injection, they set to work. Dr Hack inspected the wound first before starting. They also set up a brazier with hot pins in it, and I guess the pins were to cauterize any area that was bleeding too much.

"He's a lucky man," Dr Hack said, "His intestines were not cut, but his appendix is a bit inflamed, so I will take that out while he is cut like this. It is a shame I cannot check his gall bladder too, but it is what it is. Ok then," and he proceeded then to instruct the young man on what cuts to make, what to cauterize, where to sew it, what muscles to sew together. He put a bamboo tube about halfway down his wound, sewing either side of it. This bamboo tube was attached to a wineskin. It looked like a made-up drainage bag, so I did not say anything as I felt Dr Hack would explain later.

"What is that for?" Chen Li asked, interrupting my train of thought.

"To drain the wound," I answered, "It could fester if it isn't drained, but in saying that, the drain will have to be pulled out for the same reason. About how long do you think Dr Hack?"

"About 3 days," he replied, "Take it out the 4th day."

I nodded, "And the dressings?"

"Hong will come and do them," Dr Hack said, "I know you can do them, but the medicine is different here. It is better to leave it to Hong."

We nodded, figuring that the young man with him must have been Hong. Thankfully Fergus, being young and not so observant, clarified for us, "Who is Hong?"

"Hong is my assistant," Dr Hack said, "Hong, meet Karen, Fergus and... I am sorry, what is your name?" looking at Li.

"Chen Li," she supplied, with a nod, "This is Fang Xin." indicating the man unconscious on the table.

"We should move him to a more comfortable place," I said, thinking that the table would not do to recover in.

"Fine, do that," Dr Hack said, "Fergus and Hong, please move Fang Xin to a bed."

"He can use our bed, Fergus," I instructed as I was worried about Fang being too far from me to look after. Fergus nodded, and Hong and he moved Xin to the bed. "Put him this way, Fergus, we can all fit, and I can keep an eye on Xin.

Xin was placed so that Xinye could look after him and Fergus could still sleep on the bed. I would not have thought to lie to him like he was laid, but it made sense. How else would he be looked after and people still be able to sleep? Though the bed was clearly crowded. I thought it would be ok for a night, so I would get bedding tomorrow for Fergus. He could sleep in my room on separate bedding while Xin was injured.

I suspected, though, that Xin would want this permanently at some point, but for now, we all had to share the king-sized bed. I had Xin on the left-hand side where the pillows would typically be, then me, then Fergus. I thought Fergus was lucky as he was still small enough to fit comfortably on the bed, no matter the position.

I spent the next five days on tenterhooks as Xin had lost a lot of blood until he was sewn up. Even then, he still lost a bit more while he healed. As the young surgeon was there the next day to look after Xin, I disappeared to see the carpenter and a potter. I had the carpenter make up a commode and the potter a male urinal container. I stressed the importance of making it as soon as possible, so he had one made by a glazier instead. I also headed to the blacksmith and got him to make up a fine tool to clean teeth like the curved dentist tool - the dentist scaler. He could only make me one with copper as it was the only metal he could get that small. I was not sure how it would work, though.

Both the potter and the carpenter had the items I wanted by the afternoon of the same day. The basin I was using for the commode the potter had made for something else, and the carpenter adapted the commode around it. I was just thankful that Xin no longer had to move miles just after the operation. He could relieve himself if he needed.

It took a few days before Xin needed to use the commode. It was probably just as well as just lying still was painful for him for the first three days. For the first five days, he ran a fever. I think it was his body just dealing with the shock of being sliced open, operated on, and losing blood as his wound remained clean.

The blacksmith brought me the scaler on the third day, as he had problems making the scaler strong enough so as not to break with pressure. He bought a few as he had no confidence that they would not break. I was to bring them back to him to fix when they did fail. I bowed my thanks and set to clean Xin's mouth. I was bothered by the amount of plaque that had built up on his gums. It did not bother me when his mouth was closed, but as he was smiling at me a lot more, I decided to fix it as I was not giving up my precious toothbrushes.

I was surprised that he let me. I had sat and put his head in my lap as I cleaned off the 30-plus years of plaque off his teeth.

"What are you doing?" he asked me.

"Cleaning your teeth," I replied, "Just lie there, open your mouth and try not to move. I am not sure I will be able to do this as I have never done dentistry before, and my hand, as you know, is rubbish."

He nodded, "Ok, you have saved me twice now, so I will trust you." With that, he opened his mouth and closed his eyes. He looked adorable, but I had a job to do. I shook off the temptation to just look at him like this in my lap and got to cleaning his mouth. I noticed he had already lost a few back teeth, the same ones I had lost. I put my hand to my mouth and smiled ironically. I at least had artificial replacements - he did not. He flinched a few times but overall was very still during my whole attempt at cleaning his teeth. I could not do behind the front teeth as I had no small mirror to see, but I cleaned all of his teeth as best I could without it.

"All done now," I finally said, "Do you want to rinse your mouth out with water?"

He nodded, "My mouth feels weird. Is that normal?"

"Yes, I think we will have to do this at least once a week since you guys don't have toothbrushes. Do you think you could handle that? You should be able to keep your teeth longer looking after them."

"I will," he agreed, "If it means I get to keep my teeth, I will sit through it."

I had not noticed, but Chen Li had gone. She had left the day after Xin's operation, and Taiji had gone too. I did not see them again for another month. I really did not notice, though. I was too worried about Xin and helping him get back on his feet. As Xin healed, we got closer, spending almost every waking moment together in that month, doing exercises to help his muscles get strong again and the newly added regime of scraping his teeth clean.

On one of the rainy mornings, I thought he was still asleep as he had been grumbling about his muscle pain. I figured that the rain exacerbated the pain, so I ignored his grumbles and left him to sleep. I was looking out at the rain and thanking God for it, as it made my life much easier. Now we had a water tank which I had been using for bathing. It had begun to run low as I relied on it more than I should have been, and Xin had been as well.

Unbeknownst to me, Xin had quietly slipped behind me, and on overhearing me talking to myself, he surprised me by hugging me from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder, he asked, "What God are you thanking? I overhear you thanking some God, but I have never seen you worship Lord Buddha, and I get the impression that you do not think the emperor is one, so I guess that you're praying to someone else."

I stood there still looking out at the rain, wondering how do I answer this? And this hug is nice but do I pull away or accept it? I am married back home, but does this even count as I don't have much hope that he is here and if he is, will he be allowed to live?

"I am praying to Father God who has a son called Jesus who was crucified, died for three days, and rose again and now sits at the right hand of the father waiting to come again. I doubt that you will have heard of him yet, but he is a God who is hated, but despite this is the only one who gives life. His disciples are hated, too, as despite being human, they are expected to be perfect and sinless. No Human is, except for Jesus, so I don't understand this expectation - we are all human, and we all make mistakes.
Why are you holding me?"

"Why? Are you bothered by it?" He chuckled.

"Yes!" I nodded, "I told you that I am married in the modern world. I don't know if he is here too."

"I have been looking for you, asking any foreigner what their name is. So far, there is no trace, only a truck driver, whatever that is, who knows him has shown up, but he hasn't seen him. From what I can gather, only those in the valley were taken. If this is the case..." the General paused before continuing, "he won't be here with the people."

I sighed. I was afraid of this. What am I to do now? Do I accept the General's offer now or continue to wait in hope? I am finding it harder to deny my attraction to Xin, especially being in such close proximity for the past three weeks. I felt a blush rise to my cheeks as I thought about how close we had been sleeping. If it weren't for Fergus, I am not so sure our sleeping arrangement would have remained chaste. We were not stone.

"You're not ready yet, are you?" he stated, releasing me to stand beside him, his hat to protect him slightly from the rain in his hand.

"No, I am not sure I ever will be as he did not die, and technically he is not alive yet either, so where does this place me?" I ask him as I continue to watch the rain.

"What is that metal thing you put on the building? Is it what you have been using for our baths?"

"A water tank, and yes, it's to make bathing and collecting water easier for us. However, it is dependent on this lovely weather. I hope it rains to fill this tank completely for us. It would give us a few more days of ease, at least. I am glad the blacksmith made up a showerhead for us and understood the tap system enough to be able to use the water. It would have been a waste of time if he did not understand."

"What is a shower and tap? Is that the thing that you wet me with after turning?" He wondered.

"Yes, the shower is the rain-like thing we use in the tub, and the tap controls it. As you have seen, if the tap is on, the shower falls."

"It has been a handy way to bathe. When I am on the road, and we are camped out, I sometimes pray to Buddha for it to rain. Rain is the fastest way to get clean and dirty too. But I like the clean part." he turned to look at me then and fixed his cone hat to his head, "Well, I must leave you now, be careful. The palace has been somewhat uneasy. I am concerned by what I heard today at the training grounds. If it goes the way I think it is going to go, you and your son would be better married to me. Unless you want your son a real eunuch?"

I shook my head, "I do not think Fergus would thank me if he became one."

He nodded at that and stepped out into the rain off to serve his friend the Prince, who had returned the evening before with Chen Li. Chen Li had come with several packages yesterday, but did not show us what was in them as she went straight to sleep. I guess the road travel got to her.

Chen Li left not long after Xin to serve the Prince. Sometime later, Chen Li arrived looking somewhat flustered, "They are doing a search of all the quarters. They think there is a thief."

"I have nothing but the clothes I am wearing," I worried about Chen Li's actions, "Why are you worried?"

"Because I have a dress in my quarters that the prince gave me while we were gone," Li trusted me with her secret, well, sort of.

"You do not want them to suspect you are a woman? How long has the prince known?" I mused to Li's surprised face.

"Woman? I am not a woman! The prince knows nothing," she stuttered.

"If that makes you happy to deny it, sure, you are not a woman," I said dryly. After being here all this time, I could understand her worry. I would be too if I were her, "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me, but I suggest putting it in my quarters if you do not want questions asked."

She nodded and scrambled to do so. She was returned to stand with me and waited for the people searching to arrive.

It did not take long, and I could hear the grumbling, "why do we have to search in this weather? It is atrocious."

Thankfully Fergus was with the group when it came, or they would have beaten me for not answering in Chinese.

"Who are you?" the head eunuch investigator asked me.

"Chen Xinye," I replied.

"Oh, you must be Chen Li's sister?"

"No, perhaps niece," I denied. If we were related, she was likely a great-great-grandmother or aunt. I felt it prudent not to add the greats. I did not think Chen Li was her name. It felt made up.

"I see. Are you one of the unfortunates who were dumped here with nothing?" the investigator continued, "Although you seem rather well dressed for an unfortunate."

I nodded, but I did not bother to explain my dress as I was hoping my cat was out and not here or we would be in trouble for this too. Even though it was left for dead, it was still illegal for anyone else in the palace to have a cat in their rooms. Thankfully, for whatever reason, he had gone hunting in the rain and was not in the house, nor had he left any presents for us to find. His presents were usually mice, but we got grasshoppers, lizards, and snakes every now and then. He had brought us a bird only once, and after being roused on, he never hunted birds again.

I guess he figured out we were pleased with the rodents as they were our most common gift. We did not seem to suffer thanks to him from the mice and rat problems others had. I worried about how we would go if he was killed or taken away as I did not like things crawling on me when I slept. It was bad enough being hugged when I slept.

I love hugs, just not when I sleep, as I feel like I am suffocating. It's probably why I would sleep sitting up most of the night. The General slept like that too as soon as he could as he felt he could not afford to relax.

That night, after the check, the General came home laden with red clothes and candles, which he had protected from the rain.

I looked at him and asked, "What are they for?" It always amazed me that he seemed to understand my question, although he had never learned English. I wondered if there was a reason for this, but my thought was lost as he answered.

"I am sorry," he apologized, "I really wanted to wait until you are ready, but we cannot afford to wait. Tomorrow, they are checking the eunuchs if they are indeed eunuchs' and the only way I can protect your son is to marry you and swap him to the palace guard unit under me. Unless he does not mind becoming one?"

I turned pale, thinking it was unfair for Fergus to be neutered before he had even grown. "I see," I put my head down to think. Fergus had not returned from his day yet. "Do you mind if we wait to ask Fergus?"

"Is he not here yet?" Xin asked me, surprise showing.

"No, he is not," I shook my head.

A worried look flittered across his face, "I will be back." he said as he thrust the clothes into my hands and stepped out hurriedly into the rain.

It was sometime later that Li, Xin, Fergus, and Hong Taiji returned, all wet from the rain.

I hurriedly brought them all cloths to dry themselves off, and I wondered at the 4th prince's presence. However, I did not ask.

"Mum," Fergus said, "Thanks for the towel. Xin explained my situation to me, and I would prefer to become a guard if at all possible. I can't really ask you to marry for me, though, since, well, you know..."

I nodded. I did know. We were just pretending to be family as we were all we had in this world.

"I will marry for you then," I said, "Would you mind helping me get ready then?" as I dropped the privacy screen to our room.

Fergus smiled, nodded, and laid out the clothes for me to dress in before exiting to let Xin know of my decision.

A/N If you enjoyed this chapter, please take the time to vote by pressing the star. Please let me know if you see any errors, as this is unedited.