Never again, the farmer decided, would she take the advice of the wizard without a grain of salt. One moment she was exploring a new and exciting patch of forest and the next she was collapsing into Harvey's arms in a battered heap, all because Rasmodius was generous enough to share his secrets, but too forgetful-or perhaps just too distracted-to mention their drawbacks. She screwed her eyes shut to block out the blinding white lights from the fixture over the gurney Harvey had half-carried her to a few moments earlier and groaned at the indignity of it all.

"Easy—I know it isn't pleasant, but we'll be done very soon," Harvey piped up from where he was clearing away the remnants of the slime attacks, his low voice almost soothing enough to distract her from the burn of the alcohol swabs as they stripped the venomous muck away from her skin. She knew he was placating her. With the veritable horde of slimes that had swarmed her in the Secret Woods, she was covered in wounds from the large patches where they'd rammed her legs to the-thankfully-smaller splotches where the more adventurous specimens had launched themselves at her torso. Getting rid of the gooey, toxic slime they had left behind would be a longer process than she was ready for.

"You said this happened in the woods? That's an unusual place to encounter anything like this," Harvey spoke up again as he moved on to a swath of slime that wrapped around her ribs on one side, his voice wavering somewhere between his usual concerned disapproval and intellectual curiosity.

"Not the usual woods—the Secret Woods, by Rasmodius' place." She broke off to stifle a yelp as Harvey brushed over a particularly tender section of flesh. He frowned apologetically and murmured a string of soft nonsense as he eased back the pressure on the wound.

"I'm sorry about the sting, dear, but that should almost be the worst of it. We're nearly there." He smiled that taunt little half-smile the farmer had grown so familiar with over her many visits to this very gurney. It was hard for him to toe the line between the worry of a panicked partner hovering at his love's bedside and the calm efficiency of a doctor doing his job, and it came through loud and clear in that fretful smile, in the collection of worry lines around his eyes, and in the tension of his shoulders as he tried to keep his composure while he worked. All of it made her heart ache to take his hand and banish all that worry from his mind. And yet, circumstances always seemed to conspire against her and land her back under Harvey's care. "What were you saying about Rasmodius?"

There were many things she could say about Rasmodius at the moment, but not many of them were nice. It wasn't that she disliked the man—as it happened, he was among the first and best of her friends in the Valley—but since he was indirectly to blame for her entering what seemed to be a slime nest without any weapons apart from her axe, well...she might wait a while before marching over to give him a piece of her mind. Just to have time to cool off. She gritted her teeth against Harvey's careful ministrations and hissed the words through them.

"He tipped me off about some hardwood in a—Ahh!"

"I know, honey, I know...just a little bit more now."

"—in a remote part of the forest northwest of him. Had to hack up some fallen trees to get at it, but he was—" She sucked a breath through her teeth to ward off another cry of pain. "—right about the wood. It's more than I've ever found anywhere else. More slimes, too, though."

Harvey let out a grumble of his own, his brow furrowing as he finally set the swabs aside and reached for a cannister of ointment and a roll of bandages. His hands stayed gentle as he began the process of medicating the wounds and binding and taping everything up, but the farmer could see the muscles in his jaw clenching with annoyance.

"Those woods are so close to your farm...If there's a slime infestation, you'll be in danger of further attacks while you're out tending crops or walking home from—"

"Harvey," she cut him off softly before he could work himself up into one of his towering lectures about safety (even if he might have been justified this once). "It's not that bad. Really. I've never seen a single slime outside of those particular groves. And even if I had, things would've gone very differently if I'd been armed. Which I will be on any future trips out that way, at least—" She stumbled a little over the words, the effects of so many slime stings beginning to catch up to her. "—at least until we can figure out if the slimes really do stay contained to that area."

Harvey pursed his lips and pressed the last strip of tape over the large square bandage that now wrapped around her side, clearly unconvinced. He frowned deeply as he cleared away the mess of medical equipment and peeled off the gloves that had kept his own hands safe during the procedure. The farmer yawned in the abrupt stretch of quiet, her eyelids beginning to flutter as the adrenaline she had needed to stagger her way to the clinic began to fade under the sluggishness that always came with slime attacks. It was tempting to fall drift off here and now, with the silence of the clinic and Harvey's calming presence to lull her to sleep. But, as weak and woozy as she was beginning to feel, it didn't seem fair to abandon him when he was still so upset. She reached for him, now that his hands were clean and unoccupied, and steadfastly ignored the fact that her own hand was trembling a little.

"I'm sorry about tonight, love."

Harvey looked up from sorting the instruments from his tray back into their proper drawers with more force than necessary and immediately closed the gap between them in two hasty strides, his eyes firmly fastened to her wobbly hand. He closed both of his gently around it, despite the fact that just one of his hands would dwarf hers. For a long moment, he just held it, mournful brown eyes wandering down to the bandages he had just placed before he blew out a heavy sigh and lowered his head to brush a kiss against her knuckles.

"I know. And I know you can't always help it when things like this happen. When it comes to it, I'm just grateful you're alive."

"Me, too." The farmer smiled and shifted her hand to rest it against his cheek, absently rubbing her thumb over the evening stubble that peppered his jawline. Harvey craned forward to give her an easier reach, propping one elbow on the bed to lean on and keeping the other hand pressed over hers. He smiled faintly then, a hint of his usual amiableness creeping back onto his face as he watched her.

"So, not only do you find all sorts of ways to injure yourself in the mines, you've progressed to attracting trouble above ground, too...What am I going to do with you?"

"Kissing it better would be a good start," she murmured back, though she found it harder to stay alert by the second. Somehow, that didn't matter much now. Harvey chuckled softly, and reached over to smooth her disheveled hair off her forehead.

"I suppose it would be," He stooped to peck a featherlight kiss above her brow before straightening again and clearing his throat. "But it should be followed by at least three days of bed rest and a week of taking it easy around the farm."

The farmer made a growly noise of disapproval in the back of her throat, too tired to argue eloquently, but still quite opinionated on the matter. She had crops and animals to tend and a colony of slimes to take revenge on, none of which would keep for a week of lazing around the cottage.

"I mean it, dear," Harvey said as firmly as he could muster. "You need to rest. And you will, even if I have to take care of the animals and harvest the parsnips myself!"

She snorted, wincing at the way the movement jarred her battered body, but too amused by the image of Harvey bustling around the farm in his neat suit and tie to hold back her snickers. Still, it was a nice sentiment. And if it meant that much to him, perhaps she could endure a few days' rest. "That's sweet, Harvey...I suppose I can rest a little..." The words were punctuated with a yawn that made the declaration seem a little redundant.

"Good." Harvey's shoulders sagged a notch or two in relief. "Now that that's decided, would you rather stay here tonight since you're already settled or would you be more comfortable upstairs?"

The farmer deliberated for a moment, weighing the merits of staying put on the clinic cot, where her sore body had already hollowed out a comfortable groove in the ancient mattress, or making the arduous trek upstairs to Harvey's cozy apartment, which had the added bonus of having both Harvey and Harvey's bed in it. It wasn't much of a contest.

"Upstairs, please," she murmured, biting back a groan as she struggled to get up. Even the thought of hiking upstairs on her jelly legs made her tired, but it would be worth it.

"Wait!" Harvey surged forward, looking alarmed as he looped an arm around her shoulders and scooped another beneath her legs before they could hit the floor. "I didn't mean you had to make it up there yourself! Please, let me."

He waited long enough for her nod of approval before he carefully gathered her up and eased her off the table. The farmer let her head fall against his shoulder and relaxed into him, pleasantly surprised by how easily he carried her out into the hall and up the narrow flight of stairs that divided the office and the home. He was stronger than he looked, his tall frame and gentle manner apparently hiding more strength than he let on.

She closed her eyes, breathing in the coffee and caramel scent that clung to his shirt from his daily mug of indulgence and the candies he kept in his pocket for difficult patients. His steady heartbeat beneath her ear and his warm, steady presence made the evening's tension melt away a little more with each slow, measured (to avoid any jostling) step he took. She drifted off in the knowledge that all was well, just as it usually was when Harvey was around. There was no better place to fall asleep. And no one better to fall asleep with.