AN: I decided to post this Tuesday evening instead of Wednesday in the early morning. I'm tired and don't want to get up at 4:30 am, but if I don't, I can't post it until late morning. So here you go, a few hours early! I hope you enjoy it, I'd love to hear what you think so far! :)
Ice
Tossing her corncob onto the roaring fire, Tina brushed her hands off and looked eagerly at Vaughn. Rio groaned inwardly, but Tina had purposely waited for her to take a bite before speaking up.
"So," she said, leaning forward, her eyes shining in the firelight, "you two got together after that?"
Vaughn flung his corncob onto the fire, too. "Nope."
Tina sat back, startled. "But… I thought…."
"It was just a drunken kiss, that's all," Rio said, frowning as she finished her corn.
Vaughn glanced down at her, raising an eyebrow as he looked thoughtfully at her. "True," he said after a moment. "It wasn't until winter that things began to heat up between us—in a manner of speaking."
"What do you mean?" Felicity asked, curling up and laying her head on Rod's knee as she looked up at him.
"Well," he said, slowly, sliding down to the ground and leaning back against the log. "It happened that I didn't see much of her after that night…."
Rio snorted. "You mean, you purposely avoided me after that night."
"Fair enough," he agreed, knocking his hat back and resting his elbows on the log.
"Then how did you get together?" Felicity asked.
Vaughn hesitated, and Rio gave an exasperated snort. "If you're going to tell the story, then tell it already—and tell it right. You see, we had a really bad winter that year—I was told it was the worst they'd had in decades…."
Rio stepped out of her house and shivered, despite her coat and scarf. The air stung, it was so cold and dry. Nothing grew in her fields—even the grass had died back under the heavy snowfall. She hunched her shoulders and ran towards her barns to take care of her animals, eager to get out of the wind and cold.
It was her first winter on her own, and nothing in her past had prepared her for this… this complete dearth. Her only sources of income were the milk, eggs, and fleece from her livestock, and whatever she caught fishing or dug up in the mines. It wasn't much, but it was enough… barely. She'd had to hold off on some of the construction she'd hoped to do over the winter, though. But then, even if she'd had the funds, she doubted that Gannon, mighty as he was, could manage to get much done in this weather.
She finished up her chores and still had the rest of the day to kill. She wished she'd been better prepared, she thought yet again as she trudged through the snow-covered fields back to her house. But then, her life had taken all kinds of unexpected turns over the past year or so, she thought bitterly. Remembering her parents' deaths reminded her of that night a while back, the anniversary of their deaths. When she'd drunk herself stupid on cheap whiskey. She just barely remembered Vaughn showing up and startling her while she was drinking, but that was about the last thing she remembered until she woke late the next morning, miserable from a vicious hangover and wondering how she'd gotten home.
She sighed as she stepped into her house. She hadn't seen him since that night. Not really, anyway—just a glimpse now and then in the distance. But whenever she arrived where she'd seen him, he was no longer there. It was like chasing mirages. She wondered if he'd been disgusted by her drunkenness, if she'd said or done something that had shocked him. Shaking her head to clear it, she put her tools away and headed back out. She had so little to do, she found plenty of time to socialize. Not that she felt much like it in this weather, but it gave her the chance to see if there was anything she could do to help her fellow islanders out. Winter was hard all around, after all.
Her first stop was Taro's house where she dropped off the milk and few eggs she'd collected that morning to be sold at market. He patted her arm encouragingly, saying, "Don't fret, m'dear. Winter can't last forever. My old bones tell me that it'll be a bright, sunny day tomorrow, so there's that to look forward to."
Smiling at the wizened old man, she thanked him before asking after his health. He was very proud to be so active at his age, but he wasn't above the occasional complaint common among the elderly. Today it was his hands. "Dadgummed cold gets to them," he grumbled. "Makes it hard to write, some days." She promised to chop some firewood for his stove later in the day and continued on her way.
She saw most of the islanders that morning as she stopped at each house and shop. But there was still no sign of Vaughn, although it was a Monday. Mirabelle noticed her looking around on her third stop there and smiled. "If you're lookin' for Vaughn, he was here early this morning. Said since business was slow, he was going to go out for a time. Can I help you with anything?"
Flushing, Rio shook her head. "No, thanks. I'm fine. I think I'll go do some fishing, or maybe some mining."
"The mines are warm and dry this time of year," Mirabelle called as she went back out the door. And as she shivered and pulled up her scarf up over her chin, Rio had to admit that warm and dry sounded pretty damned good right then. So when she reached the dock, she asked the boatman, Kirk, to take her to Volcano Island. She had her mallet and hoe with her, so she was set to do a little mining.
She was startled to see another, smaller boat already there when Kirk docked. She looked around, but didn't see any sign of anyone. Shrugging, she guessed someone must already be down in the mines, and headed towards the entrance.
Stepping inside and blinking to adjust to the relative darkness, she jumped when she saw a figure huddled at the far end of the cave. Approaching, she was even more surprised to see it was Vaughn. He looked unwell—pale, and thinner. He seemed to be asleep, but when she got closer, he started and looked up, scowling at the intrusion.
"Vaughn? Are you okay? You… you don't look well. Is there anything I can do to help you?" she asked, looking at him anxiously.
"Naw, don't bother yourself," he growled in a hoarse voice. "I can manage."
"You should be in bed," Rio started to scold. And that's when she noticed the pack and bedroll pushed back into the shadows. She stared at them for a moment, then looked at him. He stared back at her, scowling and defiant, but said nothing. "You… you've been sleeping here? In the mines? Why aren't you staying in the inn, like—" As she spoke, it dawned on her: business would be as bad for him as for her, if not worse, and he just didn't have the money.
She frowned down at him as she hesitated, making up her mind. Then she remembered something her Mama had told her once. "Kindness is when you love someone even if they don't deserve it," she'd said one afternoon as they had baked cookies together, to take to the cranky old man that lived down the road from their house. She hadn't understood, back then, why her mother wasted her delicious cookies on such a mean person time and time again. It wasn't until after he'd died that she'd learned he had been all alone, widowed and childless, and felt bitter in his loneliness. He was a cantankerous old man—but he'd always spoken of her Mama with respect and with a light in his eyes that shone for no one else in her recollection.
So with that memory fresh in her mind, she held out her hand to him, to pull him up. He didn't make it easy, of course—he just stared at her as if she'd lost her mind. "Come on," she said after a moment. "I'll get you some food."
"I don't need nothin'," he grumbled, then he began to cough, the spasms wracking his body.
Exasperated, she wished she was bigger, so that she could just pick him up bodily and carry him out of there. It might be a warm, dry shelter, but the sulfurous stench surely wasn't good for him, especially while he was sick.
"Just come on, already!" she exclaimed as soon as his cough subsided. "Don't be such a pain in the ass. Let me get you a hot meal."
He opened his mouth to refuse again, scowling up at her, but another paroxysm of coughing came over him. Finally she grabbed his arm and hauled him up, and although he protested, he didn't resist, either. She pulled him along behind her to the dock and got him into the boat, then hurried back to gather up his things.
When they reached Verdure Island, she stepped out, carrying his packs as well as her own, and helped him out. But as soon as he took a step, he wobbled and half fell over, landing on one knee. Kirk jumped out of the boat to lend a hand steadying him, and Ray—fishing near the dock as usual—hurried over to see if he could help. Rio asked him to hurry and get Mirabelle or Julia, and he took off at a trot towards the feed store. Meanwhile, Kirk helped her get him standing again and to support him as he suffered another bout of coughing. "I think I'd better go fetch Trent after you get him settled," Kirk said, once Vaughn quieted again.
"I reckon so. I guess I'll take him back to my house, at least for now, so if you could send him along there, that would be a big help. Thanks, Kirk." She peered off through the light snowfall to see if there was any sign of help yet, and a few minutes later, Julia came running along.
"What is it? What's happened?" she gasped, as she slipped across the icy dock towards us.
"I found Vaughn. He's pretty sick, and he can't walk too well. I need help getting him to the farm. Can you lend a hand?"
"Vaughn? Sick? Geez, Ma told him that was going to happen if he didn't take better care of himself. He's just too danged stubborn to listen." Julia said, exasperated. But she came around and took Kirk's place, supporting him on one side while Rio held him up on the other. Between the two of them, they managed to get him onto shore, which was less slick than the dock had been, and then they hauled him through town and to Rio's farm.
"Damn, he's half frozen," Rio muttered as they pulled him inside and quickly shut the door to keep out the cold and the snow. "Can you get his boots off and get him into bed? I'm going to start the kettle and build up the fire. Oh, crap—I need to chop some more firewood. Can you spare the time to stay with him while I do that? Kirk's gone to fetch the doctor, so he should be here in a couple of hours."
"Yeah, I can stay. Ma sent me because she was helping a customer—and you know how scarce those are these days. Though if she'd realized how sick he was, she'd have come anyway. But she'll be fine in the shop by herself for a while."
"I know she would have. Thanks, Jules—I'll be back as fast as I can. Go ahead and make tea for both of you when the kettle boils—you know where everything is."
Rio returned about half an hour later, her arms full of firewood. She carefully dropped it near the stove and hurried back out, returning a few minutes later with another armful, then made one more trip, bringing both firewood and some smaller sticks for kindling. She set some wood aside by the door to take to Taro, and put the rest in the bin by the stove. The fire was still going, but it was starting to die down a little, so she added some wood and went to inspect her guest.
"How's he doing?" she asked Julia in a low voice as she gazed down at him, sound asleep in her bed.
"Hard to say," she whispered, sipping her tea. "He gulped a cup of tea, then fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. I don't think he's feverish, or not very, so that's good news, anyway."
"Well, I can manage now if you need to get back, Jules. Thanks for your help."
"Oh, sure, anytime. That's what friends are for, right, Ree? But I think I'll stick around a bit, see what the doctor says. Ma will want to know."
Rio made them some more tea and pulled up the only other chair in the house. They sat and sipped their drinks in silence, not wanting to wake Vaughn, as they waited for the doctor to arrive.
About an hour later, there was a firm knock on the door. Rio hurried over and opened it, and Dr. Trent stepped in. "Where's the patient?" he asked, then spotted him in the bed and strode over, dropping his black bag on her table and shedding his heavy winter coat as he went.
He examined Vaughn, who kept slipping in and out of a doze the whole time. Then he stood up and looked at Rio and Julia. "Well, it's not too bad, yet. Just a severe bout of bronchitis. He's been neglecting his health, I see, which makes it worse. You'll have to be careful that it doesn't develop into pneumonia."
"Do you have any medicine that will help him?" Rio asked, startled by the anxiety in her own voice.
Trent shook his head. "No, not really. It's the same as with a cold—you just have to let it take its course. He should get better in a week or two, though his cough might hang on longer. But you'll need to keep him warm and dry while he recovers. He's in poor condition, though, so it's possible it will take even longer for him to fight it off." He packed his bag again and started to pull on his coat. "Plenty of fluids, plenty of rest, nutritious food, and keep him warm. Got that?"
Rio nodded. "Yes, doctor. Thanks. Can you send you bill to me?"
Julia nudged her aside. "No, doc—send it to us at the feed store. We'll pay it." Turning to Rio, she said, "I know you don't have a lot of money, Ree—you haven't been here even a year yet. Besides, Ma feels as if Vaughn's almost like a son to her. She'll want to do whatever she can to help."
She hesitated, then slowly nodded. "All right. Thanks, Jules, and tell Mirabelle thanks, too."
Doctor Trent left, and Julia started to follow, then paused and looked back with a frown. "Hey, where are you going to sleep? Vaughn's got your only bed."
Rio opened her eyes wide in surprise—she hadn't thought about that. "Well… he had a bedroll in his things. I guess I could use that, set it up on the floor here…."
Julia shook her head and smiled. "Don't be an idiot, Ree. We have an old folding cot somewhere, I'll dig it out and bring it to you. We have extra bedding, too, so I'll bring you some of that. I'll be back in a while."
About an hour later, both Julia and Mirabelle showed up, carrying the cot and bunches of blankets, a couple of pillows, and a few bags. "Ma wanted to bring over some things for Vaughn, too." Julia explained as they stepped in and deposited everything on the table and floor.
"How is he, Rio?" Mirabelle asked, her face anxious as she looked at the sleeping figure in the bed.
"Quiet. He must not have slept well in ages. He hardly even woke when the doctor was examining him."
"Poor, stubborn man. I tried to warn him…. Well, I brought you a bunch of rice. He loves rice porridge—I don't know if you knew that. No? It's his favorite food, if you can believe it! I guess it's just plain, simple, comfort food. Anyway, it seemed like a nice, hot meal for him. I brought you more tea and some juice, too. Oh, and some whiskey, honey, and a few lemons—for his cough, you know. I'll phone his boss and let him know he'll be out sick for a while. Is there anything else we can do for you? Then I suppose we'd best be on our way, now, and let the patient sleep. Let us know if we can help, you hear? Take care, sweetie!"
And then they were gone, and she was alone with Vaughn. The shadows were growing long at this point, so while she put away the supplies Mirabelle had brought her and set up the cot, she thought about what she could cook for dinner. She didn't know if he'd wake up and join her, though she felt as though she ought to at least try to get him to eat something. Soup maybe? She knew that he hated most vegetables—he'd told her so last summer, when she asked if he'd be at the summer crop festival. But maybe if it was just a broth…. Then she looked at the big sack of rice and decided that she'd try making porridge instead. She'd never even eaten it before, but she had a recipe that Nick had given her once. Looking at the scrawled instructions, it didn't seem too difficult, so she got too work.
An hour later, she was ladling up creamy, steaming porridge into a deep bowl. She carried it over to the bed and sat in a chair next to it. "Vaughn?" she said, gently shaking his shoulder. "Hey, Vaughn, wake up. I've got some porridge here for you."
One eye cracked open and looked up at her blearily. "Wha'…?" he croaked.
"Porridge, and a glass of juice, too. So sit up and eat while it's still hot."
He struggled to a seated position and rubbed his arm across his eyes. "Where… where am I? Rio? What happened?"
"Eat, and I'll explain while you eat," she said. He still just stared at her, dazed, so she sighed and said, "Are you going to eat this porridge, or do I need to feed it to you one bite at a time?"
He frowned and took the bowl from her and took a tentative bite. "Not bad. Pretty dang good, actually," was all he said, then he dove in, eating as if ravenous.
While he ate, she said, "I don't know how much you remember?"
He paused in his eating. "Last thing I remember was getting off my skiff and going into that cave on Volcano Island."
"Yeah, I figured," she said, watching him. "Well, I went to do some mining and found you there. You were in pretty bad shape—weak and coughing pretty hard. The fumes in that cavern must have made it even worse. I got you out of there and back to Verdure Island, but then you collapsed. Julia helped me get you back here, and the doctor came and looked at you. He says you have a bad case of bronchitis, and that you need to stay indoors and warm until you're better."
Vaughn scowled. "I'm fine," he insisted, then looked around. "Where am I, anyway?"
Rio raised an eyebrow at him. "In my house, where else?"
He looked startled and even turned a little red. "I'm in your bed, then?" He set the bowl down and started to rise. "I can't stay here," he said, flatly.
"Oh yes, you can—and you will," Rio said, pushing him back down and gritting her teeth. "Look, I don't know why you've developed such an aversion to me. But I'm not letting you back out into the snow and wind and cold—the doctor said you might get pneumonia if you weren't careful. So you're staying, if I have to strip you naked and hide your clothes."
That time Vaughn really blushed, though he looked pissed off, too. "Docs don't know everything," he grumbled. "'Sides, you wouldn't dare."
"Try me," she said with a determined scowl.
He thought better of it, and sat back. "Fine. I'll stay. For now, anyway."
"Promise no sneaking off while I'm doing my chores or sleeping at night?" she said, suspiciously.
"Yeah, whatever. I promise." He glared up at her—but she could have sworn that, for just a moment, she caught a hint of amusement in his eyes.
Still eying him suspiciously, she went and refilled his bowl and topped off his juice. While she was dishing up, another coughing spasm hit, so she quickly mixed together some of the whiskey, honey, and fresh lemon juice and took it to him. He drank it down, wincing from the burn on his raw throat, then she brought him the porridge. This time he thanked her, though somewhat gruffly.
As she watched him, she chewed her lip as she thought. Finally, she said, "Vaughn… why have you been avoiding me? Did I… was it because of that night when I was drunk?"
He looked up at her, startled, and the red crept back into his cheeks. "Don't you remember?"
Her eyes opened wide, and she looked a little panicked. "N-not really, the last thing I remember was you showing up. The rest is kind of lost in a fog. Did… did I say something?"
"Naw, I mean you said plenty, but it wasn't that," he said, scraping the bowl to get the last bite.
"Then… then what did—"
He abruptly lay back down and turned his back to her. "I'm tired. I'm goin' to sleep. 'Night, Rio. And… uh, thanks." Then he seemed to fall right asleep.
Rio just stared at his back for several minutes. Then she slowly stood up and quietly made herself a sandwich, which she ate while poring over one of the books about farming she'd been given as a gift when she arrived in the Islands. Then, glancing at Vaughn's back nervously, she quickly slipped out of her clothes and into flannel pajamas before crawling under the blankets on the cot and falling into a deep sleep.
Disclaimer: Harvest Moon: A New Beginning, and the locations and characters in this story belong to Natsume Inc. and MarvelousAQL Inc. The story's plot is my own invention.
Disclaimer: Harvest Moon DS: Sunshine Islands, and the locations and characters in this story belong to Natsume Inc. and Marvelous Interactive Inc. The story's plot and some characters & locations are my own invention.
