The soldier was already lying down on the bed, his body deprived of any clothes, and his eyes closed. Jingting took the white cover for his clothes, put it on, and tied his wide sleeves with a strip of fabric. Xuhua helped him to get inside his gloves and gave Liu Sheng a mirror and a candle.
"I already gave him the herb pillow, and his wound was made painless with our paste," Xuhua said and smiled while putting her own apron on.
"Painless?" Liu Sheng asked, confused. Whenever Fang Tao took care of him, he would almost faint from the pain.
"There are some plants that make your skin tingling, and after a while, you can't feel anything. I found out, and I can use them safely to sew cuts. Or to work without the person to crawl out of their skin from the pain. It's easier to find if anything is wrong when the wounded person is not trying to actively get down from the table." Fang Tao's eyes lit up once again. He looked like a child who had been shown a new toy.
"Which plants?" he asked, and Jingting understood why he was like that. Those plants available for a war doctor were something precious, more than anything else.
"Xuhua will show you later. Now, come from my side, so you won't obstruct the light." He said and looked at Liu Sheng, who was positioned by Xuhua. The light that was available was not the best. They used only two mirrors, one reflecting the natural light from outside and the other reflecting a bit of the flame Liu Sheng was holding. He would have to go by his touch once again.
He looked around to see whether everything was ready, if there were more pairs of gloves ready, and then looked at Xuhua. She nodded, understanding what he meant.
"I will do something I don't do often, so listen carefully. I prefer for you to save more lives than butcher everything. I hate those who only take a pulse and do nothing more than put paste on wounds. Many people die that way. But I can save some more people. I can teach you how. But it's messy, disgusting, and strenuous. Are you willing to learn from me?" Fang Tao actually took a few moments to decide, and Jingting understood it was against everyone's beliefs. Their bodies, to every hair and bit of skin, were received by us from our parents, and they must not presume to injure or wound them. Cutting the body was immoral, not saying to even dissect someone.
"Will I save more?" he asked, carefully. And Jingting was glad that this was the reason.
"You won't be able to save everyone. You have to instruct all the soldiers that they have to keep all the objects that have pierced their bodies inside them if it's possible. If they tear it out, there is a possibility of blood stasis. That's the worst to spot and actually kills a lot more people. The same is when they get blunt force trauma. When there is a huge bruise anywhere on the belly or chest, you have to cut them. If they don't bleed outside doesn't mean they are not bleeding inside. Also, when they hit their head. Once I read about releasing pressure by screwing the skull and letting the blood out. I've never done it, and it was from a Western Arabic journal. But there is always a way." Fang Tao was making mental notes. Of everything Li Peien said.
Liu Sheng was really proud of Jingting, and also he felt fascinated by the knowledge he had. It was also making mental notes.
"See, the blood immediately flows out, so have the boiled silk ready to soak up the blood that will run out. You actually have to change them and always keep the wound free of blood so you can move around."
He was explaining everything he did, making the wound bigger, finding and clasping what was broken, seeping, sewing, everything. A few times, he had to remind Liu Sheng to keep the fire from moving, and Xuhua was assisting by giving him all the tools he needed or new gloves. He also let Fang Tao touch inside, to try and see, to try to burn, he was directing his hand, holding as if you would a child. But even though he might have been older, he was a child compared to Jingting's knowledge.
In the end, the soldier had internal bleeding, and they had to sew one lung.
"I'm not sure he will survive…" Jingting said he wasn't sure immediately when he saw the bubbling wound after he took out the arrow.
"If he tore the arrow out before, he would definitely be dead. I think it will take one instance of time to die when one of your lungs does not work." He was still giving a lecture on the procedure and how to take care of the soldier even after the healing.
"It does not end here, it can take days, weeks, months… He will be weak; his wound can't get infected. If it does, cut out the bad edge. The more you have clean things, the less the chance of infection…" His head spun, and he staggered. Thankfully, Liu Sheng, who was already behind him, caught him. He fell into his arms, and that was the only thing that kept him standing.
"Are you okay?!" they all shouted. He steadied himself and tried to stand up, but he was exhausted.
His day was too long. He traveled from his sanctuary to Datong, he's been through the sandstorm, fought on the battlefield, and thanks to the bath, he was able to save one more person from dying. But that was enough for his body. He couldn't go on.
"I'll take you home," Liu Sheng said, and Jingting couldn't even argue. He let him guide him outside, to help him get up on the horse, and then he was being led by him back to the Liu family mansion.
He was surprised to see, after they got out of the bingfang, that it was already dark outside, so there weren't many people on the streets this deep into the night. Otherwise, he wouldn't let him lead the horse as if he were his bride.
When they arrived, he was once again helped into the bath and then clothed. Well, he was led to the bathing area and given clothes, then his general gave him privacy. And this gesture made him warmer than anything he had done before. The trust he had in his ability to function as a normal person, not exploiting his weakness.
When he got out only in his undergarments, Liu Sheng looked away and led him toward his bed, tucking him in before going to take a bath himself.
Jingting was still awake when he was done and giggled to himself once he saw the torn general between the brick bed he was sleeping on and the Arhat bed he could sleep on. To save him, he smiled, opened his eyes, and said: "It's your bed. We can both fit here."
Liu Sheng did hesitate for a few moments, but then he slowly joined Jingting in bed. He took Jingting's body and hugged him, his lips just a tiny little bit from touching Liu Sheng's collarbones. Yet, it was so peaceful that Jingting closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep.