Rehabilitation Therapist for the Broken Warrior – Chapter 64

“I’m going to change too, so just wait a moment.”

“…Okay.”

Zion, wearing an incredible outfit, seems to feel embarrassed and lowers her head.

As I searched through my bag behind her, I found, as expected, my comfortable pajamas too.

Fortunately, mine looked like regular pajamas. I pulled them out to put them on and noticed…

‘What’s this? A note?’

A small note attached to the top of my pajamas. Did Serin leave this?

I unfolded it to check the content, and it read…

[An overnight stay for lovers, perfectly prepared. Please take good care of Zion.]

So that’s how it is.

It was only natural that in the cabin, which was set up with a double bed for the two of us, they’d expect us to have that “kind of time” together.

The fact that we couldn’t have a child was something only we understood, so I couldn’t really hold any resentment towards Serin’s thoughts or preparations.

From a third party’s perspective, Zion doing rehabilitation to prepare for war was something totally unimaginable. Even if they thought of Zion as a patient, it’s unreasonable to expect them to share the same understanding about pregnancy as I have.

Sure, there are many contraception methods that could be tried in a situation like this, but we absolutely can’t allow even a “one in a million” chance of a baby…

‘In the end, I have no choice but to hold back somehow. Somehow…’

I steeled my resolve.

No matter how Zion looked, I would never let the patient suffer directly.

“All done.”

As I changed into my pajamas, I turned back to Zion.

I’m here to protect my precious patient and lover. I must never lay a hand on Zion…

“…….”

Zion, without saying anything, lowered her head, her face flushed as she glanced up at me.

‘Damn, this is impossible.’

As soon as I met her gaze, I felt breathless and had to quickly turn my head away.

Earlier, I was sitting on the floor in front of the campfire, looking up at Zion sitting on the bed, but now, standing, I was looking down at her, and it felt different.

Especially the way her cleavage was visible was quite a pressure. Plus, Zion’s outfit was rather scanty, and from above, looking down felt like peering through a gap in her clothes!

I must not stare too much…

“Hop Harvey?”

Was my turning away bothering her?

Zion called my name in a worried voice, and I gathered my thoughts and moved to sit beside her.

We sat in silence for a moment, and then Zion quietly closed her eyes and leaned in, inching her face closer to mine.

Naturally, I was about to bring my lips to hers when suddenly, ‘No, no, no, no! Absolutely not… If I get swept up in the moment, it will end up being one of those situations where I wake up having done something with Zion! It’s clear that going with the flow will never do!’

I desperately held onto my sanity and lifted my arms to pull her into a hug.

Now that I had her in my arms, at least it blocked my view of Zion’s body, so that was a relief… or it should have been!

Why is her body so soft and full?

When Zion had asked how I felt when hugging Now, she said she was too skinny for it to feel good, but that was completely wrong!

She had gained so much weight since then, had a healthy body, and without much muscle yet, she felt soft, perfectly fitting into my arms…

Moreover, the fabric was so thin it almost felt like skin against skin, but it wasn’t completely devoid of material, so the air flowed through, making it not too sticky, but cool and soft instead. What an incredible design and functionality! Serin must be an actual goddess? Did she really create houses and make clothes like Zion said? So perfectly? How could I possibly endure this? I’m seriously going crazy!!

‘Huh…’

My mind was swirling, and I felt like my head was going to burst, but I’m a doctor. I will absolutely not become a slave to hormones.

I held Zion for a brief time, feeling her body, but somehow managed to grab her shoulders and separate myself to face her again.

Zion’s expression after we parted looked pouted, clearly a bit upset over not getting a kiss.

“Zion. Let’s just sleep like this. You know what I mean, right?”

“…….”

Please help me, Zion.

In truth, if Zion were to come at me with her body, then that would be that. There’s no way I could resist.

Keeping my rationality is reaching its limit here. If I don’t stop now, the worst I feared will really happen.

Please, please…!

“…Okay.”

Does she understand? Zion, with her sulking expression, thought for a moment and then nodded, tightly closing her eyes and completely lowering her head.

But right now, I couldn’t afford to worry about that.

I exhaled a sigh of relief and climbed into bed, turning away from Zion.

If I looked at her any longer, my rationality would completely fly out the window.

“Thank you for understanding, Zion. Good night.”

“…….”

Now, if I just quietly lie here like this, everything will somehow be fine.

If I can just fall asleep like this…

***

– Crackle, crackle…

In the still cabin, only the sound of logs burning in the fireplace was heard.

Zion quietly stared at Hop’s figure as he slept with his back turned to her, gazing at the wall. After some time of looking at Hop’s back, she wondered if he truly had fallen asleep.

‘…….’

Zion moved from the bed to the wheelchair next to it, grabbed a cloak hanging and wrapped it around herself.

Then she moved toward the door of the cabin and opened it.

As she stepped outside and looked back towards the bed where Hop lay, he was still in the same position.

Carefully closing the cabin door so as not to wake him, Zion started to head down to the widening stream.

The season was still not summer, and she shivered from the cold night wind blowing by the river, tightly wrapping the cloak around herself.

‘Even though I wore such clothes, and we slept in the same bed… the teacher didn’t hug me.’

He had asked if I knew what he meant when he said let’s just sleep like this.

Of course I know. I’m aware. We cannot have children. It’s because of my body that the teacher said that. I definitely understand that all he does is for my sake.

But still…

He deliberately avoided looking at me, didn’t kiss me, and just turned over and fell asleep.

Maybe, just maybe, the teacher is…

‘No longer interested in my body?’

I’ve been feeling much healthier lately, especially since starting a relationship with the teacher.

I hardly have seizures anymore, rehab training has been going well, and I could possibly stand on my own if I wanted to.

So perhaps it’s true. The teacher’s indifference today might be because I no longer appear broken to him.

Because of my body being this way, perhaps Hop Harvey doesn’t like me anymore.

I’m not in a body that can have children.

And I’m certainly not in a body that the teacher loves either.

So then, what am I…?

Tears streamed from Zion’s eyes.

With a blank expression, she merely stared ahead, not bothering to wipe her tears as they fell, moving forward.

The stream had now turned into a river, and only upon reaching a waterfall did Zion stop her wheelchair.

Zion is a hero.

She indeed possesses transcendent willpower, but that doesn’t mean she is always calm.

Heroes are still people. Just like anyone else, they make mistakes and occasionally make poor judgments.

The stories of heroes involve overcoming such mistakes and growing from them.

For Zion, who isn’t completely healthy nor terribly broken, that pain means that under normal circumstances, Zion would naturally decide to become healthy. And up until now, she has been that way.

When Hop rejected her pledge to give everything on their first date, Zion vowed that she would offer him a healthy body capable of giving birth.

But right now, Zion’s mind isn’t clear.

Wearing pajamas that are basically underwear, being here for an overnight stay, and lying in the same bed as the person she liked… only to be rejected—that pain, along with Hop’s brokenness being normal for him, muddied her judgment even more.

‘If I say I wasn’t looking where I was going while taking a walk at night, that would work.’

Before Zion was a small waterfall. It was probably about 7 meters high.

She thought, maybe even if she fell, she wouldn’t die.

Sometimes, even a hero might want to choose the easy path.

In the silent, moonlit valley, only the quiet sound of the wheelchair’s wheels was heard.

Zion gently placed her hand on the control lever.

‘If I break like this, the teacher will definitely come back to me…’

And in that moment, Zion exerted strength into her arms and pressed the lever forward.

The lever in her hands moved forward.