Title: Mending More Than Just Skin
Author: Lalipop
Rating: T
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Fandom: Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, neither Harvest Moon nor Natsume belongs to me.
Summary: Everyone's got times when they know something's going to hurt. Hell, they even expect it to hurt like hell and worse. But stupid people that we are, sometimes we do it anyway. KaixElli oneshot.
Author's Notes: Second one-shot. More of a crack pairing, but I hope you guys like it anyways.
The wedding was on the beach, not that I expected it to be anywhere else. She loved the beach, always had. It was how we'd met, all those years ago. It was where we always hung out, where I cooked for her and where we shared our first kiss (her first kiss period, my first kiss with her). I was invited to the wedding even though both of them knew it would hurt to see me there. I went to the wedding because I thought I knew it would hurt more to stay away.
When she said those two words, "I do," I realized I was wrong. I felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest as Carter announced them a happy couple. Where the others cheered, I felt like crying. Instead of doing so publicly and ruining my pride, I slipped back into the restaurant, locked myself in, and let the emotions go. Crying had never felt so good. Usually, crying made me feel worse. This time, it released all the pain and the heartbreak I'd been holding in since the engagement, since the day the wedding invitation had been delivered.
I heard the celebrations die down and knew that they had moved to the inn for the reception. They hadn't wanted to plague me with a job when the first girl I'd ever truly loved in the romantic sort of way was marrying another. It was all my fault that I hadn't been strong enough and smart enough to realize I loved her in the first place. I'd only realized that once it had been too late.
Nonetheless, I wanted to do something to show I had no grudge against the happy couple, so I went to my little kitchen and began chopping up some pineapple. I knew it was my favorite food, but I planned on making a fruit salad of some sort, so maybe they'd overlook it. She wouldn't it, I knew that much, but hopefully everyone else would. This was my last chance to show her how much I loved her.
"SHIT!" the curse escaped my mouth just as I felt the pain of the blade in my hand, slicing halfway through my thumb and then across my palm, narrowly missing the pulse in my wrist. How the hell had I managed that? I spent a good minute staring at the wound, watching it bleed as profusely as it did, wondering how people would feel if they found, dead by blood loss. It wasn't considering suicide, mostly because it had been an accident. The pains were different, and I much preferred this one, but I knew the Doctor would give me hell for it if I waited too long. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my bleeding hand, then headed for the hospital.
No one would see me, hopefully. I could hear the celebrating from the inn as I passed it and headed farther north. No matter what was going on, there was always someone at the Clinic. Doctor and Elli always switched off, never to any pattern I could recognize, but they did. I had no idea who'd be waiting for me to stitch up. I just knew that both of them knew how, and hopefully neither would ask questions.
"Kai?!" Elli's voice rang throughout the empty clinic as I barged in. Her eyes zeroed in on the towel, and she quickly said, "Go ahead into the other room – I'll be right there." I nodded and moved to sit down on one of the beds, waiting for her to get here with whatever supplies she needed.
The cute nurse bustled into the room, carrying what looked like a simple enough first aid kit. Maybe I should keep one of those around the restaurant, for things like this. She tugged on my good arm, pulling me toward the sink, and removed the towel, gasping softly at the wound I'd created. Glancing at me – I kept my facial expression completely neutral – she turned on the water and pushed my arm under it.
"Fuck! That hurts, woman!" I yelled, trying to wrench my arm away from the boiling water, and she hit my shoulder and guided the wound back to the steady stream of water. Man, she was strong. "Why's it got to be so hot?"
She rolled her eyes, turning off the water after a minute and leading me back to the bed. "It kills any germs that might have been transferred from that dirty towel of yours to the wound, preventing infection." I nodded as she pulled out a variety of things I didn't bother understanding the labels of.
After a minute of wincing as she worked on the wound, I couldn't stand the silence anymore and asked, "So why aren't you at the reception?" Come to think of it, I hadn't seen her at the wedding either. But hey, that might have been because of my whole "pay attention to no one but the bride or you'll fall to pieces" therapy idea. I still didn't think it had been such a good idea in the first place.
Her whole jaw tightened behind her soft brown hair, her eyes growing heavier. "Someone had to stay behind here in case idiots like you got hurt." Ouch, that one bit.
"I mean, why you? Why not the doc?" I asked, having noted her reaction.
"I'm not one for weddings," she snapped, her grip tightening on my arm so much it hurt. More than the wound. That was an accomplishment, which meant I also had to tease her about it. Not that it wasn't obvious that she was lying. It was, obvious I mean.
So I lifted an eyebrow and grinned at her, "Neither is the doc. You lab rats don't have the heart for romance." Maybe that was a bit over the top, but hey – I wanted to see where this was going.
She poked me with the needle she was using to sow up my skin. "Firstly, we are not lab rats, as you so ineloquently put it." Watch out! You know the pretty nurse is pissed when she starts using big words. "Secondly, we are able to have loved and lost, as much as we are able to love in the first place!" She was staring at me now, her eyes wide and full of…
… tears. Had I done that?
I stared back at her in surprise, not sure I was understanding correctly. Then, it clicked. "You're in love with him, aren't you?" I asked quietly.
I felt the tear land on my arm before I saw the nod. With my good hand, I reached up to brush the tears away, not sure what else to do. She had a needle in her hand after all, she was supposed to be stitching up my arm. Instead, she was crying because the guy she loved had just gotten married to someone else. And that someone else was the girl I loved. Sometimes, being birds of a feather sucked.
"You love him, and you didn't want to get hurt by seeing him get married," I assumed, thinking out loud. She was still crying, but her eyes lifted to watch me. Eyes the color of chocolate. Weird how I'd never notice she was so pretty before. "But you know what? Everyone's got times when they know something's going to hurt. Hell, they even expect it to hurt like hell and worse." I paused, grinning at her, and wiped away the last of the tears. "But stupid people that we are, sometimes we do it anyway. That's why I went. And that's why you're immensely smarter than me. You knew it would hurt more to go than to stay away."
I hugged her with my free arm, and she hugged me back with hers, leaning into my shoulder and nodding hesitantly. "I almost went. Almost. I'm not that much smarter than you," she admitted.
I chuckled, pushing her back a bit and pointing at the needle in her hand. "Hell yeah you are. I mean, you're going to college and getting your degree in nursing or whatever." I knew she couldn't stop the smile that my callousness caused. "I have no school but high school to my name. You probably read way more than I do, considering I don't have time. And man, you actually understand him when the doc's talking. I bet no one else in town does."
She returned to her stitching, blushing. "He is a bit wordy at times."
"At times?" I teased incredulously.
"Alright," she admitted. "Nearly all the time." At least she was smiling again. I'd seen the nurse angry, I'd seen her scared, and I'd seen her happy. But I swear, that was the first time I ever saw her cry.
When she was finished with the stitching, I kissed her cheek. "Thanks, Elli. See you soon."
"Not too soon, I hope," She teased back to me, blushing furiously but grinning as she waved me off. I waved back to her and slipped out of the clinic, smiling to myself. Sometimes, getting hurt was better than staying whole. The pain from the wedding had been purposefully induced, the pain from the knife had been an accident. Yet the accident had definitely been the best mistake I'd ever made.