Hey everyone! I haven't posted my other stories because lately I got into Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands. My friend let me borrow her game and I got terrible hooked on it. I was so hooked on it that I decided to write this story. It took me a while to plan it out and I think I did a good job. And with that note, please enjoy!

Written by Soren Shinigami. I do not own Harvest Moon Sunshine Islands

Love Sick

Something wasn't right. She's usually always in here at this time. I went to check my watch but I stopped myself. What was I doing? Why was I so worried? She's probably running late with her chores. I waited for another two hours. Mirabelle looked at the clock. "She's late. She's usually here early to buy some food for her animals." "Mmm" I said in acknowledgement. Chelsea was very late. I usually went to the café at this time but I stayed here longer waiting for her. She's always been a pest but I guess I got so used to her being nearby whenever I was here. When she first started here, she started trying being everyone's friend, including me. She even gave me presents.

I started pacing around, unsure of why I was so anxious to see her. I never like being around people and yet…

"Vaughn, will you do me a favor and check on her? I'm starting to worry about her. She's probably still working but will you at least put my mind at ease?" Mirabelle kindly asked me. "…yeah sure" I grumbled and left the store. I never went to visit her in her ranch before so I was a little nervous. What happens if she was just working overtime? After all, there were a few festivals she was preparing for. I arrived to her ranch and I looked around. The sun was starting to set but I didn't see her around. What if she was in town visiting other townsfolk before seeing me? …I mean…before coming into Mirabelle's shop.

I went up to her house. Maybe she went to bed early? I went up to the door, "Chelsea? Hello? Are you in there?" I knocked on it but the moment my hand made contact, the door swung open. I started to worry, did something happen to her? I looked inside her home. It was pretty big but it looked very lonely. There was a big kitchen and a table. Her tool box was full of her tools. She wasn't working, her tools were all here. I went further inside. There was a desk with all her financial records and notes. Her diary was there too, but I didn't dare peek. At the back of her home was a small bed next to her calendar.

Her bed was neatly made and hasn't been used today. I left her house, closing the door behind me. I decided to check her stables. I went to the first stable house where she kept her dog, Floppy, her horse BooBoo, and her cat, Paws. No sign of Chelsea. I went to her chicken coop. Her two chickens, Pollo and Chichi were sleeping on some hay. I went the barn where her cow, Mr. Moo (when she ordered the cow, she thought she was getting a bull but they gave her a cow instead and the name just stuck) and her sheep, Fluffy were eating on some fodder that was in their food dispenser. I noticed that all her animals were fed but there was still no sign of Chelsea.

I went to her farming grounds where she planted her crops. I hated vegetables so I tried avoiding going there but I guess I had no choice. I walked to her crops and I had to walk carefully or else I would trip on them. There were lots of crops and rocks and weeds sticking out of the ground. I tripped on something heavy and I fell. I looked back at what I tripped over and I froze.

The girl I was looking all over for was lying on the ground. I went closer to her and I noticed her face was flushed and she was breathing heavily. I put my hand to her forehead. She was burning up. Without thinking, I picked her up bridal style and went inside her house. I carefully laid her down on her bed and tucker her in between the sheets. I went to the phone and called Dr. Trent.

He came by an hour later to check on Chelsea. I paced around, waiting for him to finish his examination. After waiting for what felt like hours, he came over to me. "Well, she has a terrible case of the flu." I started worrying but he must have noticed the worry in my eyes because he said, "Now don't panic, it's nothing a little medicine and rest can't fix." He handed me some pills, "Make sure she takes these once every six hours and I would prefer if she didn't get out of bed for about a week. She probably got the fever from overworking." "Alright, thanks doc." "No problem, call me if there are any more problems." And with that, he left. Chelsea was asleep on the bed. I looked down at the pills that were in my hand. I needed to talk to Mirabelle. I decided to leave Chelsea alone for a bit and I went to the pet store.

I stepped in the store and Mirabelle quickly walked up to me. "What's happened? What took you so long? Is she alright?" I quickly cut her off to keep myself from being overwhelmed by her frantic questions. "Yeah, she's alright. It took me a while to find her but when I did, she was passed out on the ground. She's bedridden with the flu." "But that means she won't be able to work!" that started to worry her. Chelsea was the provider of most of the food any money on the island. If it wasn't for her, the island wouldn't be as successful and productive. She made this place into a peaceful, stable home for everyone. Now that she was sick, her work would be wreaked. Her animals needed to be fed and cared for and her crops needed to be watered. Without her, her plants would die and her animals would starve. "…what a tragedy…" Mirabelle commented. Her face suddenly lit up, "Wait! If we can find a caretaker for her farm, everything will be alright! All we need is someone to help her! But who? Taro is too old, Elliot recently got married to Julia so they're away on honeymoon. Denny went on a fishing trip with Lanna, Gannon, Chen and I need to manage our stores…" She started listing everyone on the island. Everyone here had duties to do and some people were away for a vacation.

I thought of Chelsea, who would help her? She works so hard for everyone and now she's sick. Yet no one noticed her disappearance all day. They probably thought she was overworking or went to bed early. It's been known to happen every now and then but even then, she always went to town to buy something or say a few "hellos" to the townsfolk. Was I the only one who noticed? Tomorrow was Tuesday, I would still be able to go over to her place and help with her chores but after that, I have to leave. If only I didn't have work… "I'll be right back" I told Mirabelle who was still rambling on about who wouldn't be able to help Chelsea and listed many reasons why.

I left the shop and went to the diner. There was a telephone I could use there. I quickly dialed my job at the ranch and my coworker, Benny picked up. "Hello?" "Hey Ben, is the boss there?" "Boss ain't here, what'd ya need?" "I need a week off." "What? Why?" "…I'm not feeling too well, doc says I gotta rest." "…well…if the doc says so go ahead." And with that I hung up. I don't know why I couldn't tell him about Chelsea but as long as I got the week off, I don't mind telling a small lie.

I went back to Mirabelle's shop. She was still rambling. "Mirabelle, I'll stay and help Chelsea." "You will?! That's great!" I sighed and left. I went back to Chelsea's place. She was still sleeping on the bed where I left her. I sat down on the floor beside her bed and watched breathe slowly. I was going to stay beside her and make sure she gets back on her feet. Without her, even I can't get some work done. It was getting late and my eyes started to close. I sat back against the wall, facing her and I fell asleep.