Before the Journey Starts

"Hm? Where am I? There are so many people," he rubbed his eyes while looking around.

"We are with the people from South City and your villagers. We are traveling to the capital," I replied from behind him.

"Do!" Si excitedly called.

"I'm glad that you are okay," I smiled. "What are you looking for?" I asked seeing he couldn't sit still, constantly looking around.

"Where's Ly Giai? She's not with us?"

"Over there," I pointed to where Ly Giai was pushing a female patient's cart.

Si saw her and energetically stood up, waving his hands. It caught her attention, she waved back. Her face was so happy and relieved when she saw him.

We were so happy seeing each other that for a moment, I forgot that we were in the middle of the people. Their looks of judgment and caution were getting on me. But doing anything now would only make things worse.

When we stopped for lunch, the three of us sat together, staying far from the people.

Ly Giai and I quietly watched Si devour his meal without a care in the world. We couldn't be happier.

"Have ours too," we handed him our portion.

He wasted no time and snatched the food from our hands before we could blink and finish them in an instant.

"Ahhh," he let out the sound of satisfaction while rubbing his belly.

"Are you full?" Ly Giai asked.

"Yeah!" he smiled and swung his feet back and forth.

I turned left and right, making sure no one was near us. I quietly whispered to Si, "Make sure you always stay close to either me or Ly Giai."

"Why is that?" he naively asked.

"We are both not welcome here. I'll protect you if anyone bullies you. Make sure to not stand out until we reach the capital. We are only two and a half days left before getting there," I explained.

Our little boy nodded. "I won't run away."

"Good," I complimented and patted his head. "Go back to the cart and rest. Ly Giai and I will return with you soon."

"Okay!" Si replied and jumped off his seat, sprinting back to his cart.

Next to me, Ly Giai commented, "Are you keeping Si from knowing his symptoms?"

I nodded, "I don't want others to be infected by it either. That's why I told him to only stay with me and you."

"Is Si going to be okay?" Ly Giai worriedly asked while watching him from far away.

"We'll find a way," I assured her.

After that, the group continued until the sun began to come down. We stopped and set up camps to get over the night.

As instructed, after Ly Giai and I put up our tents, we helped the doctor set up the medicine and patient tents.

Like he taught us the day before, we prepared the medicine and brought it to the patients. This time, Mr. Sao didn't reject me. He quietly took and drank the medicine.

"How are you feeling?" I asked after he finished drinking.

"A little better. This thing is too bitter. Did you prepare the medicine correctly?" he scolded me.

I shrugged to myself, knowing he would never speak softly to me, but at least he answered my question.

"I did as the doctor instructed me to. You don't have to worry," I said. "Now, I will have to wipe your body to keep you clean."

"You think I will agree to that!" he shouted.

I ignored him and brought in a bucket and a towel. "Keeping your body clean helps prevent complications to your illness. Here, you can wipe yourself," I said and handed him the towel.

Seeing him didn't say anything, I took that as a yes.

I then closed the veil to give him some privacy and moved to the other patients. I gave each of them towels and told them to clean themselves. After all of that, I checked on Si.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm hot... and cold," he weakly said while covering half his face with a blanket. The temperature was dropping as the night came. Si couldn't playful as he was in the morning anymore.

"You are just having a cold, don't worry," I smiled, trying to assure the kid.

I put my hand on his forehead. Indeed it was hot, typical of a fever. But then...

His forehead turned extremely cold for a few seconds before returning to being hot.

This happened frequently, just like the doctor said. But it was more frequent than the last night.

I was worried and anxious, but I kept my face cool to not worry Si. "Ly Giai and I will be back with you after taking care of the other two."

"Okay..." Si almost whispered. "Be quick... I'm scared..."

I hurried to the medical room and asked the doctor as soon as I got in, "Have you figured out what illness that is? The temperature switching is becoming more frequent..."

My throat closed when my eyes had enough time to process what I was seeing. The doctor, practically fused with his desk, furiously flipping page after page of his medical book in frustration. The tent was a mess with books scattered everywhere. His face was pale, his hair was messy, and he had big eyebags that weren't there yesterday.

"You... didn't sleep or rest at all since yesterday?" I asked worriedly.

But he just ignored me completely and rambled on his own, as if I was non-existence. "Why can't I identify it? I'm close, very close. I can feel it. What am I missing?"

Seeing him acting like a madman, I held my breath and slowly stepped backward until I was out of the tent.

"Phew. I thought he would jump at me," I let out.

"Any news?" a voice from nowhere came from behind making me jump up in shock.

"Oh! Oh, Ly Giai. You almost killed me," I had to put a hand on my heart to calm it down.

Ly Giai was also stunned by my overreaction. But she got right back quickly. "So?"

I signaled her to take a peek.

She slightly leaned in and saw the doctor as I did.

She stepped back and turned to me, "Do you think he'll figure it out?"

"I'm not expecting it," I replied honestly. "But I think there is a higher chance someone at the capital can identify what illness Si has."

"Yeah... I hope so too."

Two days later, the last night before we reached the capital. "I gave up," the doctor said to us as we visited him at his medical tent. He sounded so tired, his eyes were practically dead. "I went over all of my books, none has an illness with sudden temperature change as a symptom.

Ly Giai and I looked at each other. We both expected this. So we didn't feel disappointed when hearing it.

"We understand. It must be difficult for you. We feel bad for having you spending so much energy on this," Ly Giai said.

"It's okay," he replied. "I am just worried if what Si is having is dangerous, and how quickly can it spread. We are in wartime. Having an unknown illness is very bad especially when medicine will become rare."

Ly Giai and I looked at each other with concern. "But Si is still fine. I mean he looks like he's fine. So it probably is not deadly?" I said.

The doctor scratched his head while having a big yawn. "Yeah. I hope the big doctors in the capital can identify what that illness is. This is too much for a small doctor like me... zzzh zzzh"

The tiredness had caught up to him, and he collapsed in the middle of our talk. Ly Giai and I knew our place. So we blew off the candles and covered a blanket over him before leaving in a tent in silence.

The moon is somewhat bright that night, enough for us to not have to carry torches to see things in the dark.

"Tomorrow we will reach the capital. Finally," Ly Giai whispered.

"Our journey is close to the end. You and Si don't need to suffer in the wilderness anymore. Hopefully, we can get him treated too."

Ly Giai smiled, "I don't like how you said 'Our journey is close to the end.' Do you plan to leave us?"

I smiled back, "Not unless you all leave me first."

"Then our journey is just about to start!" she said positively.