POWER ERASER

As much as her heart was beating wildly after her first kiss, she would not wimp out.

She narrowed her eyes as she kept her balance, taking care not to let her knees reveal the awkwardness she was feeling right now.

'I just want to treat his wounds.'

But the second his lips touched hers, and she tasted his manly scent, her body reacted in a different way. 

Her heart went wild as if it craved to escape from her body and throw itself at the adjacent bay to dampen its blistering temperature.

"Hey!"

Alarmed at her weird emotions, she dragged Raigon to the bench in a quick push. She inhaled the chilly evening breeze sharply and let its coolness flow through every cell in her body. 

"You are lucky I took these with me today," she grunted as she drew out her gloves and placed her hands inside it, pushing the scene aside.

Meanwhile, Raigon was yet at a loss for words at what just happened. He completely forgot about how he was bleeding profusely.

A lot of women threw themselves at him since he was a boy, but they don't have an effect on him as intensely as Zoe did. 

She was no longer the young innocent girl that she knew and he was not the immature boyish man that had a schoolboy crush on her the moment he laid eyes on her anymore.

He glanced at Zoe again, who was busy preparing her medical things to apply the treatment on him. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he recalled their initial encounter on the isle where he was the one who gave medicinal aid to her.

*****************

"One thing was for certain, this was going to be very painful," Little Raigon muttered to himself the first time he caught a glimpse of her foot injury.

The mud and grit had become enmeshed with raw pink flesh and was spotted with blood. The forest-made trap impaired Zoe as she fell onto it while she was scurrying out of the Blackvine Forest. 

He could have taken her to the Royal Infirmary so that she could get treated properly. 

But he realized it was better for a novice like him to tend to her, than an excellent physician who might possibly put her life in danger. 

"Ouch!" Little Zoe yelped. "You're hurting me!"

Little Raigon was startled at Zoe's response to his intervention. He was washing the wound with the water from the brook nearby and tried to scrub off the sludge with a clean cloth when Little Zoe cried in pain. 

"Shh! Be quiet!" Little Raigon shushed her in a stern manner with his forefinger on his lips. 

"Were still in the Blackvine forest and someone might hear you and harm you more than the suffering that you are experiencing now," He reprimanded her.

"Okay," Little Zoe nodded as she bit her lips to stop her sobs from escaping from her mouth. 

Her eyes cannot hide her sufferings though as a waterfall of tears gushed through her face.

Little Raigon felt sorry for Little Zoe. He grabbed another piece of fresh cloth that he sneaked out from the Royal Infirmary and wiped her tears away. 

"Hmmm…" He hummed his favorite song as he caressed her hair. 

Little Zoe fought through her emotional distress in between hiccups as she listened to Little Raigon's. 

At his pace, she breathed in and out until she released all her misery in the melodious air. 

"Do you feel better?" Little Raigon asked her while looking at her with compassionate eyes. Little Zoe acknowledged as she cleared her throat. 

"I know it hurts a lot. But you have to endure this so your wound will not be infected," Little Raigon instructed Zoe as he got the cleaning material and the clear water again.

 Little Zoe drew in a deep breath and nodded in agreement. He smiled at her as he gently plopped a herbal concoction on her skin.

It was a secret medicinal recipe handed down by his forefathers from generation to generation. His father used this as a cure for him every time he would injure himself from his naughty games when he was a child.

With that intervention, the wounds healed faster and didn't leave a scar. He also gave that to his sisters when they accidentally hurt themselves. He carefully sprinkled the pulverized herbs on her foot, taking care not to add to her discomfort anymore. 

"What's that?" She questioned Little Raigon with wide-eyed curiosity.

It was her first time to experience oriental medicine. As she grew up with her father being a doctor, he simply swabbed a saline solution to clean it, apply a clean dressing, and put an ointment on it.

Little Raigon beamed at her and picked up her palm. He dappled some on it before answering. "My family called this Power Eraser. It is so powerful it could completely remove your pain, leaving no traces behind."

"Wow!" Little Zoe blinked rapidly, followed by an open stare. With all haste, she poured out the Power Eraser on her foot, believing it will work out as Little Raigon said. 

He chuckled in amusement and pat Little Zoe's head.