Looking over his accounts one last time just to be sure it really was as bad as he thought, Harvey sighed. Looks like he'd have to settle for another month of microwave dinners, and put off signing up for fitness classes yet again. When he had first moved to Stardew Valley, owning his own practice right out of medical school had been a point of pride. Now, just a few short years later, he understood the hard truths of why the previous doctor had left for the city. There were hardly enough people in this little town to pay the bills, even for a bachelor like him. The way of life in town was healthy and safe, and it was rare to see his patients for much more than their yearly check up. He loved the town for its nature and slow country life, but some of his patients were more trouble than they were worth. His assistant, Maru, though a close friend after they had worked together for so long, often made costly mistakes.

At the sound of the door opening, he straightened. A patient? No one was on the schedule for today. Far too many days went by with the door only opening when Maru left to grab their lunch at the Stardrop. Maru poked her head through the clinic door.

"Hey Dr. Harvey, have you met the new farmer yet? She stopped by to say hello!" At that, Maru opened the door a little wider, and a tall, short haired woman stepped in. She was on the skinny side, and her paleness was accentuated by her dark, forest green hair.

"I just took over my grandfather's farm to the west of the town. I'm Arianne. It's nice to meet you." She stuck out a hand and he marveled at how soft her hands were as he shook it. Was this woman really suited to farm life? He wondered how long she'd stay here. Perhaps she'd make a go of it, and then give up and sell the land to Joja. He grimaced at the thought, but quickly recovered his composure. After his introduction, she pulled out a bottle of wine and offered it to him, much to his surprise. "It's a gift! Just a little hello from me."

He marveled at her good taste, and his opinion of her improved. Adding another potential patient to the town would do him some good, anyhow. There were all kinds of ways to hurt yourself on a farm. After she left, he chatted with Maru about all the details of this newcomer's life: she was the granddaughter of the late farmer and had just moved from the city. As Maru detailed the latest advances in agricultural technology, he wondered if he would get to know this tall stranger better.

For the next few months, he only saw her in passing here and there in town. Occasionally she would give him little gifts, and he watched as her skin turned brown from the long days in the sun, and her arms became ropy and thick with hard work. He began to develop a certain fondness for her. Her short hair and slightly masculine demeanor were appealing, in their little way. Her transformation from farm work hadn't taken long, and she radiated with a sense of vitality that appealed to his physician's sensibility. He began to think of her when his mind emptied of other things, and feel a twinge of longing on days when they did not cross paths.

One evening, as he was putting away his radio equipment for the night, he thought he heard the sound of the clinic phone ringing through his apartment door. He froze, running over all of the possibilities in his mind. That phone hardly ever rang after regular business hours, and only for the worst kinds of emergencies. The last time someone had called the clinic phone at this hour, Shane had eaten a bottle of sleeping pills and had to have his stomach pumped. Before that, it had been Arianne's grandfather, found passed away in his bed by Marlon.

He pushed the fear out of his mind and rushed to answer the phone. The voice on the other end sounded panicky and hoarse, but he could still place it. Sandy, from all the way out at the Calico Desert.

"Harvey! Oh, thank god. Please, come quick. It's Arianne. She's lost a lot of blood, and I'm really scared. I don't know what to do, I sent Pam back to get you. Make sure to hurry!" His heart felt like it would pound out of his chest as he frantically gathered supplies. What was Arianne doing in the desert? Could her wounds be life threatening? He ran to the bus stop and climbed in.

He carried the bandaged but still bleeding Arianne into the clinic and placed her gently into a bed. "Both of you owe me a beer after all that mess," Pam hollered from the doorway. He didn't feel like that merited a response, especially with Arianne still unconscious. Unwrapping the hasty bandages that Sandy had used to try to stop the bleeding as she waited for help to arrive, he began to take stock of her condition. Her tanned face looked sickly and gray, and she was covered in lacerations from scratches to deep gashes that were still bleeding profusely. Her face and arms had gotten the worst of it, and he silently celebrated the fact that she wasn't conscious as he disinfected each of the wounds. At least she could escape that pain.

Once that was done, he carefully stitched up the worst of the cuts and bandaged everything. She would have massive scars from this little escapade, but he had noticed as he worked that her body was already covered in them. Perhaps this was not her first mishap in the mines, just the worst so far. He sat up at her bedside most of the night, monitoring her vitals.

The next morning when she woke, he had to stop himself from being too emotional in his lecture to her about being more careful. He felt bad for having to bill her, but she didn't seem at all unwilling to pay up. From what he had heard around town, business on the farm was booming. He wondered distantly what it would be like to not have to worry about money, or to live on a farm out among the trees.

After saving her, he started seeing her a lot more often than before. She brought him coffee on his clinic day mornings and wine from her own vineyards occasionally. She began to appear in his dreams, and what was worse, in his head on nights when he couldn't sleep. She couldn't have been much older than twenty-four, and here he was at a solid thirty, pining away for her like a high school boy. He felt intense guilt at his attraction to a woman so much younger.

Gossip had followed his decision to hire Maru to work in his clinic, but he had done it more as a favor to Demetrius than out of any desire or need for an assistant. Still, the jabs from Gus about being a cradle robber and a dirty old man had stung to the quick, and he was not interested in living up to that stereotype any further with this farmer girl.

Still, late at night, lying in bed waiting for sleep, she plagued him. He tried to fight it, but the memories of her soft, smooth skin underneath the clothes he'd had to cut away to dress her wounds would not leave him alone. Even in the day time, when she dropped by to bring him his morning coffee, her strong, lean body drew his eye. He felt like a teenager again, constantly embarrassed by his affections, and his body's reaction to them.

As winter descended over the valley, Arianne showed up in his office banged up and bloodied more and more often, and their friendship deepened. As morbid as it was to think about, her constant injuries were helping his practice flourish. When she began coming in for even the most minor of scrapes, he started to wonder if she returned his feelings. He was far too shy to ask, and considered it a pipe dream. He had seen how Elliot looked at her, and how she spent so much time with Sebastian, and her drunken antics with Leah at the Stardrop at night. She was just a naturally flirty person, there was no way that her attentions to him were anything special. Even Maru was completely smitten with her, and hung onto her every word as she described her latest battle in the mines, or her struggle of deciding what to name her newest duckling.

Over time, her flirty nature drew him far enough out of his shell to get comfortable around her and really let his guard down. They were a good way into a bottle of starfruit wine that she had brought him when she asked him, laughing, how thorough of an exam he would be willing to give her. "Come and see me any time for a confidential exam, Arianne," he responded, his cheeks rosy with wine and sheepishness.

Looking right into his eyes, she responded "I'll take you up on that, Harvey." in a way that made him feel a little bit afraid.

Early the next morning, before the clinic's usual hours, he heard a banging at the door. He opened it to find Arianne staring at him, arm across the doorway resting on the frame. "I'm here for my confidential exam, doctor." she said, not taking her eyes off his face. She looked fresh, as if she had finished the morning's chores and taken a shower already. He stumbled over his words, trying to find the right ones to tell her to give him a minute. Her messy green hair fell over her forehead and into her eyes, and she tossed her head back. "Take your time. I'll wait in the exam room."

He rushed back into his apartment and furiously brushed his teeth, finger combed his hair, and straightened his moustache. Grabbing his white coat and stethoscope, he headed back out into the clinic. He took a deep breath at the clinic door, and then entered to find Lola sitting innocently on the exam table. Her long legs nearly reached the floor.

"Alright, let's start by listening to your heartbeat. Um, this works best with the stethoscope directly against your skin." he blurted. She smiled sweetly and leaned toward him.

"Feel free, Harvey. And get as close as you need. I don't want to hinder your work." She pulled him close to her, and he found that her legs had spread out for him to stand between. He slipped his hand under her shirt and pressed the metal stethoscope against her skin. She sucked in air between her teeth. "It's so cold!" She leaned forward even further and his hand was no longer pressed to her flat sternum, but to a softer part of her body.

His fingers had lost the stethoscope entirely, and she stared up into his eyes. "Kiss me." She whispered, and he leaned in and held her in his arms. He breathed in her earthy, fruity scent and felt a little surprised at her tongue finding its way into his mouth. His fingers found her nipple and stroked it gently, and her body responded to his touch. He could feel his cock straining against his trousers as she wrapped her legs around him and pulled him up on to the table and on top of her.

Their attention snapped to the exam room door as they heard the slam of the clinic door over the din of the blood rushing in their bodies. From the other room, Maru called "Good morning Harvey! Oh, are you with a patient already? I didn't see anyone on your schedule or I would have come in early."

"Yes, Arianne came in for an exam last minute, sorry for not telling you!" He called back. They both struggled to master their breath.

"Okay, do you need me for anything? I can come in and help!"

"No, that's fine. There's no need. We're just finishing up here."

Arianne looked at him and smirked at his bulging erection.

"I need a few minutes to calm down before we walk out." Harvey mumbled, looking at the floor. He tried to think of diseases.

"Take your time, no need to rush," she said, laughter in her eyes. She jumped down from the exam table and leaned against the wall by the door. "You should come by the farmhouse tonight, and we can finish what we started here." She crossed the room and kissed him gently on the lips before returning to her post by the door.

"You know, that really isn't helping me calm down," he whined. She smirked at him across the room and waited patiently. He thought of every infectious disease he could bring to mind, but it was still a struggle to calm himself with her standing there looking unsatisfied.

When finally he signaled to her that it was okay to open the door, she mouthed "See you at eight." and strode out.

"Hey, Arianne! I didn't know you had an appointment today! You should have told me, I would definitely have come in early to see you." Maru called, smiling wide.

"Ah, sorry, Maru. It was a little bit last minute. But we managed just fine by ourselves, didn't we, Harvey?" she asked solicitously. He tried his best not to make eye contact. He knew that he would not be able to hold it together, so he just nodded. "Anyway, I'll see you lovelies later," she called over her shoulder, one foot out the door.