MEDICAL CRUSH

Qin Wanru watched the nightmare unfold in front of her like an onlooker to a tragic play. It was a strange dream. She watched her own horrible death. They dragged her down into a nightmarish abyss, slowly tortured to death, then cut in half at her waist. She looked down at her body, stiff and twisted, laying in puddle of blood at the foot of the golden gates.

In all of history, the Kingdom of Dongcang had never had a woman put to death in such a horrible way. She could hear the crowd still mocking her, the scoffing she knew all too well.

It felt so real. She could taste blood in her mouth, feel the hopelessness…

“Miss, wake up. Are you having a nightmare again?”

The voice beside her tore through the scene. Sun flooded through the ninety-nine golden gates that framed the path behind her corpse, burning the horrible scene to nothing. Qin Wanru opened her eyes in surprise. Her fists were clenched tightly, nails digging into her palm and sending shooting pains up her hand. Her heart was racing, and her bloodshot eyes were locked on the seam of the tent above her. Her sheets were soaked in cold sweat.

“It’s alright, Miss. It was just a dream,” the girl said gently. Qin Wanru heard light footsteps, and the bedcurtain lifted. Qing Yue, a maid of twelve or thirteen, looked over her.

In this life, Qing Yue was still lively and witty. In her previous life, Qing Yue had tried to protect her. For that, the girl had been beaten horrifically and left in the firewood shed to die.

Qin Wanru had woken up from these dreams two nights in a row. Every time she tried to sleep, horrific memories of another life played in her head. They were messy and fragmented, but they were too real to deny. She had been reborn.

It was still her body, but somehow, she had died and returned to when she was eleven.

She reached out with a weak and skinny wrist, so pale the veins showed beneath her skin, then propped herself up to look around. This was her bedroom. She could remember sleeping here as a child.

In her head, she was still weaving together the tragic and bloody scenes of her past. Looking through them, she could begin to see who had pushed her into the depths of hell.

“Are you alright, Miss?” Qing Yue asked.

When Qin Wanru continued to stare forward listlessly, Qing Yue reached out to check her temperature.

“I’m alright,” Qin Wanru managed, voice hoarse. She took Qing Yue’s hand and slowly sat up. “Is Nanny Yu doing better?”

Nanny Yu had nursed her as an infant. Yesterday, Stewardess Fang had criticized Nanny Yu harshly. Nanny Yu had forced herself to the laundry rooms and worked herself sick. When Qin Wanru woke up, Nanny Yu’s condition was already quite serious.

She had asked for a physician to diagnose her, and it was the first thing on her mind as she woke.

“Why don’t you have a sip of water for your throat first, Miss?” Qing Yue said, supporting Qin Wanru with one hand as she nimbly picked up the warm water from the bedside table the with other. “Nanny Yu is doing much better. I went to check a while ago. She said she slept well last night. As long as she takes care of herself, she’ll be fine.”

“How about the arrangements we made yesterday? Is everything ready?” Qin Wanru asked. She sat up and took a few sips, enjoying the warmth of the water spreading through her. It reminded her that she truly was alive again.

After handing the cup back to Qing Yue, she glanced out the window. She could see the bright red ribbon flowers that hung along the corridors. Everything was prepared for a wedding, a wedding where the bride’s little sister would replace the bride.

In her previous life, she had longed for this marriage, but it was the same marriage that would push her down the path to her death.