Asterid always tried to work the morning shifts in the apothecary since that’s when Burdock would come by to see her. He woke up at the ungodliest hours of the morning to go to the woods, hunt and gather, and then walk the three hours from deep in the woods to the apothecary.

Today, Burdock was on time, like normal, but he did not look good. He’d been hurt. Asterid wasn’t sure what happened by just looking at him, but she could tell it was pretty bad.

She rushed out from behind the counter and looked Burdock up and down. Definitely hurt.

Asterid practically dragged him out of the front room of the apothecary up to her room without asking what happened. She could’ve gone just to one of the back rooms like standard protocol whenever there was an injured person to treat, but no, she went straight to her bedroom.

Her parents still weren’t too fond of Burdock but it wasn’t pure hate anymore, so hopefully they wouldn’t kill her for this.

She got a few weird looks from her older brother as she was dragging Burdock to her room but ignored them.

The pair got to Asterid’s bedroom. She pushed Burdock down on her bed and then went back to get any supplies she’d need. Disinfectant, bandages, some of the plants Burdock had collected for the apothecary yesterday, etc.

She plopped down on her bed and started questioning him, trying to calm herself down, “Okay, first off, what happened?”