Heal These Battle Scars | MxM

Chapter Eight - A Day In The Field

Drenched from the thundering rainfall, Xiao Fang's eyes were hooded from lack of sleep as he stepped out of the military jeep. The trip down Nanjing lasted longer than the soldiers had expected — a week longer, to be exact. Although Xiao Fang felt his heart cracking whenever he thought back to the slaughtered nationalist soldiers in Jiangsu, he had put on a brave face, knowing that he needed to escape and return to the Kuomintang Headquarters to deliver the crucial piece of information he gathered from eavesdropping on Commander Wang Yi's conversation. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, it would be enough to ease his guilty conscience about helping the enemy.

Throughout the returning trip, the communist soldiers mocked him, groped at his hair, and one man went as far as to splash his canteen of water in Xiao Fang's face for cheap laughs. However, despite his rising pulse, he had thick skin, so he bit at his tongue, not wanting to cause a scene that might get him killed.

The rain kept pouring as two low-ranking soldiers tugged brutally on his arms and hauled away Xiao Fang, dragging him back to the awaiting rat-littered prison cells. The further he went, Commander Yi approached and harshly, unintentionally skimmed against his shoulder — almost tipping him over. When the bastard commander turned around, his eyes bore daggers at Xiao Fang, and the doctor felt his heart hammering in his chest.

"Careful there, doctor," Yi said in a stiff voice. "Or you might get hurt."

"Huh?"

Xiao Fang couldn't make out what Commander Yi was babbling about through the rainfall. Fortunately, he didn't need to because Yi didn't stick around, nor did he utter any more words as he turned on his heels and walked inside the military base. At that, Xiao Fang heaved a sigh as the soldiers continued dragging him in the opposite direction. It was strange how Yi's glances alone could make his stomach curl with disgust and his heart race with uncertainty at the same time. He figured it must've been the stress during these daring days.

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Xiao Fang groaned, silently cursing when the soldiers shoved him and laughed as he went crashing down on the dirty floor. "Dirty bastards," he gritted his teeth. Those communist bastards wouldn't stop manhandling him, making him feel unworthy of the uniform he wore.He felt weak, too. Oh well, in time he would get his revenge once he escaped from this hellhole.

When he picked himself off the ground, muscled arms crushed Xiao Fang's slender frame and his eyes doubled, seeing Jie Yu, hugging him as though he must've been gone for years. "Xiao Fang — you're back," Jie Yu laughed, tightening his hold, and Xiao Fang could've sworn he was losing air. "We all thought those fuckers killed you. We asked and they told us nothing. Are you alright — they didn't hurt you, did they?"

If Xiao Fang could've spoken, he would've.

Xiao Fang's hands clasped against Jie Yu's back, desperately wanting to rid his friend of unintentionally suffocating him to death. "I'm fine — really. I miss you all. I thought —" I thought those bastards killed you all, Xiao Fang wanted to add. Instead, he concluded, "I didn't know what to think. I'm glad we're all back together."

When Jie Yu let go, Xiao Fang scanned the prison cell. What greeted him back wasn't smiling faces as he had expected. Instead, all his comrades looked as though they might've aged a year in two weeks, and the thought that the communist soldiers must've tormented them angered the doctor dearly.

"Why are you so worried — he had it easy," Cheng Li bit out from the far corner, unbothered by anyone else.

"Yeah," Jiang Han chimed in, a scold on his forehead. "We're the ones who were slaving ourselves for these mongrels while he's playing — tsk." Jiang Han waved a hand in the air, dismissing what else he was about to say.