Harvey
He hissed through his teeth as Lauren pulled the needle, followed by the thread, through his skin. The split in his eyebrow would leave a scar; there was no doubt about that. No matter how deft the young nurse's slender fingers were - Alex had marked him for life. Harvey clenched his jaw and made an unintelligible grumbled sound through his teeth.
'If you want the sutures to be neat then you need to stop moving,' she scolded him and rolled her eyes. She tied off the thread and continued to repair the damage. He pulled his head back taking the needle with him. 'Please keep still. Trust me when I say you haven't given me an easy task here Doctor.'
'It's like you are purposely trying to cause me further pain.' He reluctantly leaned forward again and took on a statue-like pose; staying as still as he could. He eyed her stern expression, her full lips were pursed, and her eyes focused. He wondered how far he could push her before she lost her cool with him. The corners of his mouth curled up. 'Maybe I should have a whiskey… you know, for the pain.'
'How about some water or a strong coffee?'
'An Irish coffee? Hmmm...' He grinned dreamily and licked his lips.
'Umm no, just a regular coffee to sober you up. I'm really quite surprised at the state you've got yourself in to - you really don't look like the type.'
'Fine,' he grumbled, giving up. He flinched again as she passed the needle through his skin once more. 'What type do I look like?'
'The nerdy type,' she raised an eyebrow at him as if challenging him to deny it. His thoughts went to his model aeroplanes upstairs; he felt his cheeks warm up. He noticed her expression had softened. She was smiling, clearly amused at her insult. 'I know it's none of my business but was it worth it?'
'Yes,' he grinned - his thoughts returned to the moment he buried the first fist in to Alex's face. His eyes flicked down to the grazed skin on his knuckles and felt extremely satisfied, 'and it felt fucking amazing!' His grinned widened and he let out a chuckle.
She frowned, saying nothing further and instead tied off the last stitch and disposed of the needle in the sharps bin. He watched her rifle through his supplies as she tended to his wounds. She seemed to know where everything was kept. He wondered if she would consider staying on long term, he could do with the second pair of hands. He wasn't sure how long he could afford to keep paying the high agency fees, but perhaps if she was interested they could work something out.
'I'm sorry but what is the purpose of that?' His hand unsteady as he pointed at the large hole in her earlobe.
'It's a vortex to another dimension but only a few are lucky enough to gain passage.'
He stared at her for a few moments and then a deep chuckle escaped his lips which he instantly regretted because his chest was racked with agony. 'Fuck! Ahhh! Fuck! Yoba that fucking hurts!'
Lauren unwrapped a piece of gum and popped it in to her mouth. 'Come on - lift up your shirt, let me take a look.'
He felt as though he were being punished. Lauren moved her hands over his torso, feeling for what he already knew himself; his ribs were broken. In such close proximity - the sweet sickly smell of her fruit flavored bubblegum offended his nostrils, whilst the slurping, chomping, and sloshing sound of it being flipped and rolled around her mouth irritated him to his core.
'You've got three broken ribs. You'll need to take painkillers to manage the pain and use an ice pack for the next couple of days to get the swelling down.'
'Yeah, yeah, okay,' he grunted half annoyed and half woozy from the alcohol. He gritted his teeth and breathed out deeply and whilst he waited for the pain to subside he found himself looking at her tattoos. The one covering her neck and chest fascinated him, he couldn't tear his eyes away from it. Jane didn't have any tattoos and he could confirm that as he'd seen every inch of her beautiful skin, well not unless she'd had any done in the time they'd been apart. He sighed deeply and cried out again. Lauren caught him staring at her, his gaze transfixed trance-like at the memory of exploring Jane's body. Lauren rolled her eyes at him. 'Shit, umm… Sorry I wasn't staring at your umm…'
'My breasts? I didn't think you were.' She let out a laugh. 'It's okay, I guess you don't see many women with as much body ink around here as I do.'
'Not really.' He raised his hand to scratch the back of his neck nervously but it was a wave of pain made him woozy and he wobbled sideways but luckily Lauren noticed and steadied him. 'Thanks,' he breathed out feeling nauseous.
'Careful there Harvey, we don't want another injury to add to the long list you've already accumulated this evening.' She smiled and popped another piece of gum between her lips. 'I had my chest tattoo done last year. It's done in japanese styling if you want to take a look.' Without any warning she undid the top three buttons on her blouse and showed him a cartoon-style face. He wasn't sure what it was meant to resemble, it could have been an elderly woman with her hair in a bun on top of her head or some sort of Japanese warrior.
'It's umm… very nice,' he looked away towards the ceiling. He didn't want to be accused of staring too long at her cleavage so he tried to find something else to focus his eyes on. 'How is the patient? Pam - is she okay?'
'She's asleep, her stats are fine. I'll monitor her overnight.'
'Thank you.' He was relieved to see that she had done her blouse back up.
There was a moment of awkward silence where Harvey considered discussing the weather, but thought better off it. She already thought he was uncool. He didn't know what was worse than uncool but he was certain he didn't want to be that.
'Your ex-wife didn't seem to approve of you brawling in the street. I only caught the end of the action but from what I saw she didn't look too happy with you.'
'She's not my ex-wife.'
'Your wife then.'
'We aren't married!' he grumbled; feeling rather irritated with her assumptions.
Lauren shrugged her shoulders in what seemed like defeat. 'I'm beginning to see why.' She rolled her eyes and returned her attention to his injuries.
'Maybe you should mind your own business!' he growled at her but then let out a deep sigh. 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I've been having a bit of a rough time and my head is all over the place.'
'No worries,' she shrugged again, 'I'm used to doctors being jerks.'
'I guess I kinda deserved that, but I wouldn't really say I'm a jerk. I'm usually quite nice.' He coughed roughly and exhaled deeply as if releasing a huge amount of tension he'd been holding in. 'She's umm... having my baby.'
'Congratulations.' She offered him a smile; a sweet smile with a hint of amusement at the corners of her mouth.
'Thank you.' He glanced away; the awkwardness returned. He rubbed his jaw which was very tender; he dreaded to think how he must have looked.
'So… do you know what you're having?'
'A baby,' he responded. Lauren snickered but then full on belly-laughed. Harvey joined her, groaning at the pain, but then he stared off towards the wall; his own laughter faded off. 'We haven't been on talking terms, so your guess is as good as mine.'
Lauren recovered from her laughing fit. 'I'm sorry to hear that. Having a baby is such a joyous time - it's a shame you aren't able to celebrate together.' She offered him an apologetic smile.
They both jumped when they heard someone knocking loudly on the front door.
'DIDN'T I WARN YOU?! HAVEN'T I GIVEN YOU CHANCE AFTER CHANCE TO GET YOURSELF TOGETHER, TO STOP THIS NONSENSE?!' The Mayor was red in the face and spittle sprayed from his mouth as he reprimanded Harvey. He marched back and forth across the room with his chest puffed out. One hand was on his hip, whilst the other one was closed in to a fist as he shook it in anger. Harvey thought the man looked like an overinflated balloon that was about to burst at any moment.
Two bored looking police officers stood at either side of Harvey. Even if Harvey had had the nerve to make a run for it - where would he go?
Harvey observed his captors. The taller of the two police officers was nibbling at a rather ragged fingernail on one of his meaty hands; it looked like he was trying to gnaw his finger to the bone. Harvey tried his hardest not to offer medical advice, and instead he glanced at the other police officer, who was an older man with a deeply pockmarked face. He caught Harvey looking at him; the shark-like snarl that flashed across his mouth was enough to make Harvey avert his gaze.
'Are the handcuffs really necessary?' He held his hands, palms up, out towards Mayor Lewis.
Lewis shot Harvey a stone cold look. 'I've seen the damage those hands can do. I'm taking no chances.'
'Fair enough,' Harvey snorted, feeling highly amused again at the memory of pounding his fists in to Alex's face.
'Is this just a big joke to you my boy?'
'No Lewis. Believe it or not but this time it actually wasn't my fault.'
'You'd better start explaining yourself. I want the truth!'
Harvey thought about his tête-à-tête in the Stardrop saloon with Alex which escalated to them both brawling in the street.
'He attacked me,' he rubbed his jaw remembering the feeling of Alex's fist connecting with his face, 'I was heading home when he jumped me.'
Mayor Lewis cleared his throat before he spoke. 'Where were you heading home from?'
Harvey closed his eyes for a moment, letting out a deep sigh. 'The Stardrop Saloon.' He opened his eyes to see the furious expression had returned to the Mayor's face. 'It's not a crime to have a drink Lewis!'
'No it isn't, but as previously discussed with you - you are a respected member of this community and therefore need to carry out both your professional and personal life in an equally respectable manner! Being drunk and disorderly is not acceptable Harvey!'
'Lewis I was attacked and I defended myself.' He raised his handcuffed hands and pointed at his face. 'Look at my face - look at what that asshole did to me!'
The Mayor appeared to be considering what Harvey had said. There was an awkward silence. Harvey felt exhausted, he needed to get some sleep and he'd prefer if that happened in his own bed rather than on a grotty piss stained mattress in a jail cell.
'Hmm… you do look,' the Mayor paused as if searching for the most insulting description he could think of, 'a mess, but then Alex looks worse.'
'I defended myself!' Harvey declared louder than he had intended. 'Alex would not leave things alone - he was seeking some sort of vengeance for last time-'
'-The last time you were drunk - when you attacked him?'
'Oh for fuck's sake Lewis! Give it a rest will you! Am I to be forever punished for that incident in the Stardrop? Have you never done something you have wished you could go back and do differently? You know I'm a good man!' He was getting wound up, he could feel the tension in his jaw.
'Sorry to jump in here but it's late and Dr Harvey has sustained many injuries. He really needs to get some rest.'
'I'm sorry but who are you?' Lewis snapped, his tone quite curt.
'I'm Lauren - I'm from the Nursing Agency in Zuzu City. Dr Harvey hired me to help out at the clinic.'
Mayor Lewis dropped the irritation from his voice. 'Oh yes of course! Please excuse my rudeness.' He held out his hand and Lauren shook it. 'It's always refreshing to welcome a friendly face my dear,' he glanced at Harvey, 'Yoba knows we could do with a few more around these parts. What a shame you aren't a doctor!'
Harvey's lip curled in reaction to the snide comment. A dozen responses popped in to his head but he held his tongue - not wanting to dig himself a deeper hole.
'Yes well as I was saying - Dr Harvey really needs to get some rest now.'
The Mayor returned his attention to Harvey. His moustache twitched and his eyebrows dipped in to a frown. 'Luckily for you Alex has confessed. He has admitted to initiating the umm… drama. I wanted to confirm that your version of the story matched his, considering your rather rocky track record. I'm both surprised and relieved to say it does.'
'You could have just asked me Lewis instead of restraining me like some sort of dangerous criminal.' He held up his hands. 'If you are satisfied with my answers would you mind removing these handcuffs?'
Mayor Lewis nodded and instructed the two police officers to stand down. 'This does not mean you are out of the woods, my boy! Believe me when I say you have a long road yet until you return to my good books.'
Harvey massaged his wrists where the cuffs had rubbed his skin.
'I could really do with a drink now.' Harvey thought to himself but then realised he'd actually said it out loud. He felt his cheeks flush.
'I wouldn't recommend that,' Lewis answered gruffly; the frown still displayed on his face.'
'He's going straight up to bed.' Lauren chimed in. 'The only drink he'll be having is a glass of water to wash his meds down.'
'Oh oh yeah, of course. I'll… um leave you to it Lauren. Good work and umm… I hope you decide to stay here in Stardew Valley!'
After the Mayor and his two goons had left, Harvey felt a sense of relief. He laughed childishly, still quite drunk but also amazed to have got away, unscathed, with beating Alex to a pulp; well not entirely unscathed- he had taken quite the beating himself.
Harvey was exhausted, practically dead on his feet. After she had locked the front door to the clinic Lauren ushered him up the stairs to his apartment, with strict orders to go straight to bed. He drunkenly brought his hand up to his right eyebrow and saluted her, only to then wince in pain.
He kicked off his shoes without undoing the laces and then hopped from foot to foot as he awkwardly pulled his jeans off, finally dropping them on the floor in a messy heap. Almost every part of his body hurt, and all he wanted was to let his head hit his pillow and sleep for the next ten years. He haphazardly tossed his spectacles on to his bedside cabinet, clumsily knocking his preventative inhaler on to the floor where it came to rest underneath his bed. He'd forgotten to take it but he made a mental note to do it first thing in the morning.
The bed was welcoming; the pillow was soft and the sheet was cool. Harvey closed his eyes and relaxed in to a deep sleep.
Jane
Through the darkness Jane could just about make out two figures that looked like men rolling about on the ground. As she moved closer she could see they were fighting. They grabbed at one another's clothing, tore each other's hair, kicked and punched at each other. It wasn't a clean fight, it was vicious; brutal. Both men groaned and cried out as the blows landed.
As her eyes focused it became clear that the two men were Harvey and Alex. Her heart thumped hard against her rib cage. What was Harvey doing?! He had Alex pinned down on the ground; crushing the younger man's chest with the full weight of his body.
She watched in horror as the father of her unborn child beat the other man with his fists over and over.
'Please! Help me, please someone help me!', she heard Alex call out pathetically. Her heart broke for him.
She rushed forward. 'Harvey no! This isn't who you are, please stop!' She stopped dead when she saw the expression on his face; it frightened her. Blood gushed down his face from a nasty looking split above his eye, whilst bloody saliva dribbled down his chin from his swollen lips. He was seething, with his lips pulled back and his teeth bared. He looked deranged and not at all like the Harvey she knew.
She looked down at Alex, who was sobbing in defeat, and then her gaze followed Harvey as he got to his feet. He towered over her.
'Who am I then Jane? I'm sorry to tell you sweetheart, but sweet geeky Harvey has gone. This is who I am now.' His lips were wet with blood and foamy spit. He raised his arms out at his sides, 'This is who you have turned me in to.' She took a step backwards when he stumbled towards her.
'Harvey, please!' She took another step backwards but his stride was longer than hers so she hadn't put that much distance between them. 'Let's talk about this. How about I make you a nice cup of coffee up in your apartment?'
'You know… I'm really more of a tea drinker,' he said as he closed his large slender hands around her neck and squeezed.
Jane sat bolt upright in her bed. It took her a moment to get her bearings, to realise where she was. Her digital alarm clock displayed 02:09. She pulled her knees up to her chest, kicking the bedcovers off her body as she did so, and hugged them tightly. She felt shaken and flustered and absolutely terrified.
'It was just a dream, that's all - just a dream,' she said out loud to no one but herself.
Bear clambered on to the bed and settled down next to Jane, but not before licking the underside of Jane's chin affectionately. The dog then dropped her huge shaggy head on to Jane's baby bump and let out a loud yawn.
'Harvey...' Jane spoke softly - giving the dog's head a scrunch. 'Oh Bear what have I done?'