Chapter 2

Jane

The next morning Jane woke up with a headache. She'd overslept, it was 10am and she should have been up at 6am.

Was last night just a bad dream? Oh gosh she had hoped so! She lifted her arm and saw her neatly bandaged right hand. Shit! Last night really did happen. Fuck Fuck Fuck!
She dragged herself out of bed, her body felt heavy, her legs were like lead. Every muscle ached.

'Thank Joba for the sprinklers!' she said out loud. She just had the chickens to feed, which wouldn't take too long. They were pretty low maintenance, and seemed to be quite content to peck about in the dirt most of the day.

She grabbed a glass of water and took two of the painkillers Dr Harvey had given her last night. She remembered she'd put them on the kitchen counter and noticed two pills were gone, that must be why she'd overslept. The pain killers must have been so strong they'd knocked her out. She set the empty glass aside, got dressed, pulled on her boots, and went outside. At least the pain in her hand was numbed.

The heat almost knocked her back inside. It was another scorcher of a day and it didn't help her bad head, she sun was so bright.

She noticed there were two letters in her mailbox. One from Pierre:

Dear Customer

50% off sunflower seeds. Be sure to stop by the store before stocks run out!

Pierre

The second letter was from Dr Harvey. Jane muttered, 'Idiot,' under her breath:

Jane

Please make time to come in to the clinic today. There are forms that need to be filled out, and your dressings will need to be changed.

Dr Harvey

Dr Harvey... what an idiot he was. He was persistent though, she'd give him that. His handwriting was unusually neat for a doctor, quite elegant in fact. She scrunched up both letters and threw them in the trash. There was a waft of smelly garbage that had been fermenting in the hot weather and she quickly replaced the lid.

The chickens were happy to see her this morning, which made her feel awful for practically throwing their feed at them. She didn't have a lot of energy, despite oversleeping. She gave them all a pet on the head which they responded to by clucking, and collected four large eggs.

'Good girls Chikita, Chickie, Chickpea, and Chickenpie' she told them as she left the coop. Perhaps she should have chosen better names, but those were their names and they each knew which was theirs when she called them.

After she'd put the eggs away she kicked off her boots and lay on the sofa letting the cushions mould around her body. It felt so good, so comfy that she closed her eyes she drifted off.

It felt like she'd only just closed her eyes when she was rudely awoken by someone knocking on her front door. She yawned, stretched, and got up to answer the door. Glancing at the wall clock she noticed it was almost 3pm, she'd been asleep two hours. Her stomach growled, and she realised she'd missed her lunch.

A young woman in her twenties was standing on her porch. She was quite attractive which made Jane feel self conscious in her muddy dungarees with her hair pulled back in to a scruffy ponytail.

'Hello?' Jane greeted her, 'can I help you?' The young woman smiled at her, her eyes seemed to sparkle behind her glasses. Perfect in every way Jane thought and laughed at how pathetic she was being.

'Hi, I'm Maru. Dr Harvey sent me.' She held out a hand to Jane, who shook it.

'Oh wonderful, what does he want?' she asked, sighing at the mention of his name. Maru smiled, looking like butter wouldn't melt. She did have a nice smile and that was a lovely shade of lipstick she was wearing. Jane started feeling self conscious again and tried to tidy her hair up a bit, and rubbed at her face where she thought there might be bits of farm dirt.

'Doc asked me to come and collect you. He said there are some forms that need filling out, and that you might be reluctant to come in on your own. So... umm... here I am.' She seemed nervous but continued to smile at Jane.

'Did he now? Well I'm busy and now isn't the right time.' She tried to find an excuse, 'I've got chickens to feed,' she lied.

'Doc said you'd say that. He also said if you didn't come to him, he'd come to you.' Maru seemed amused by the threat.

Fuck that! She didn't want him in her house. He'd probably be all judgemental, and ask why the washing up was piled up in the sink or why there was a pile of dirty laundry on the floor.

'Alright, I'll come. Just let me lock up first'. Jane sighed feeling beaten.

On the way to the clinic the two women made small talk. Maru asked Jane if she'd settled in to the life of a farmer, and Jane asked Maru what it was like working for Doctor Harvey.

'Oh it's great working for Dr Harvey, he's the sweetest boss I've ever had.' Jane thought being so young Maru can't have worked for that many bosses. 'He's so kind, and thoughtful, and he sometimes leaves me candy.'

Candy? Yeah, like that doesn't ring alarm bells Jane thought. 'He didn't come across that way to me, I have to say.'

'Oh, he is... he's lovely. Ask anyone in town they will all agree.' She was beaming. She either had a crush on DrStareyEyes or he was putting something in that candy.

'I guess I'll have to take your word for it then.' Jane smiled back, chuckling at how dizzy Maru seemed.

'We're here.' Maru announce as she held open the door to the clinic.

'So we are,' Jane said, once again sighing, not looking forward to round two.

Harvey

'Full name please,' Harvey asked – his pen at the ready to write down her details. They were in his office, Jane sitting in the chair opposite his. He had a clipboard on his lap.

'Jane Cooper,' she answered. Cooper, as in barrel making he thought. How interesting. He wrote her name down on the form, wondering whether to offer her an interesting fact about barrel making but thought better of it. She probably wouldn't appreciate it.

'Age.' He asked clearing his throat.

'None of your business.' She scowled, but there was a hint of mischievousness in her eyes. He could tell she was going to make this as awkward as possible for him.

'Nineteen.' She made a sound that indicated this was a fib.

'Really?' He questioned not believing she was nineteen, twenty five maybe.

She sighed and rolled her eyes in boredom. 'Thirty five.'

Harvey paused for a moment and glanced up at her, taking in her young features. Her face was unlined, the skin smooth. The freckles on her nose and cheeks gave her a youthful look. Her wavy red hair, so vibrant and full of colour... Not one grey hair. He would have put her closer to twenty five, and suddenly he didn't feel so old anymore. At forty most people saw him as too old to date, even though age was just a number - right?

He remembered celebrating his birthday last year, how disappointed he felt to not be with someone, to not be settled down with a family. The idea of little ones running around warmed his heart and made him start smiling.

'What's wrong with your face? Are you having a stroke?' Jane asked snapping her fingers in front of his face.

He had drifted off, but Jane's voice had snapped him back to reality. She was grinning, obviously amused at her own joke.

'I uh... was... just,' he stammered. He had forgotten what question he was asking from the list.

'Day dreaming!' Jane laughed, 'Admit it; you were off with the fairies weren't you?' Her eyes were watching his face clearly enjoying tormenting him.

He narrowed his eyes at her not enjoying being teased. He continued with the questions, staying professional. He wasn't very good with banter and usually got nervous around women, especially attractive women. Jane was attractive.

'Height?' Pen held ready waiting for her answer.

'Five foot two inches,' she answered quietly, obviously not all that keen on telling people her height. She was very short compared to him; he was six foot four inches. He imagined her struggling to reach the cabinets in the kitchen and let out a huge laugh. He was mortified!

She was staring at him open mouthed, obviously shocked at his outburst and complete lack of professionalism. Before she could say anything he moved on to the next question on the form.

'Umm...weight?' He asked nervously.

'My weight is fine thanks,' she said not giving him a number. 'Ask me another question...'

'I'm sure it is,' he smiled, 'but it won't take a second.' He stood up and started calibrating the scales ready for her to step on. He never really understood why women were often so reluctant to be weighed.

'What, so you can laugh at me again? You are doing this because you are clearly holding some kind of grudge from last night.' Her voice had increased in volume to the point she was nearly shouting. He was taken aback and if he was honest, he was a bit frightened.

'Umm... that's not true at all. I'm merely asking these questions because they are on the form. They are medically necessary.' He pulled at his neck tie slackening it off a little, it felt tight and he let out a couple of coughs.

'Are you saying I look overweight?' She got to her feet and held her hands out at her sides as if to confirm she wasn't fat.

'No...'

'Do I look fat to you?'

'No...'

'I don't see why any of this is necessary.' She growled at him.

'I'll be... right... back...' Harvey left the room, the door swung closed behind him.

Out in the hallway he leaned against the wall. The white painted brickwork was cold against his back. His chest felt tight. He took his green jacket off and let it crumple to the floor. Jane was stressing him out. He was always nervous around women, not that he hadn't had relationships because he had; he just wasn't good at talking to them. She was being mean, making comments, refusing to answer properly.

He closed his eyes, shook his inhaler and tried to take a dose of the medicine but Jane was right... it was empty. 'Shit!' he said under his breath and threw it in frustration on to the floor. The canister detached from the plastic casing and they both went their separate ways.

He started coughing and exhaled deeply to stop the next cough coming but it didn't work. Another cough came, then another, and another until he was having a coughing fit. The coughing was replaced by a deep wheeze. His breathing became laboured and every inhale was more difficult that the one before, his lung capacity was reducing and he wasn't able to bring in as much oxygen as he needed.

His stock of inhalers was in a locked cabinet in his office, where Jane was waiting for him. He bit the bullet and went back in to his office.

Jane

Jane sat picking at a callous on her left palm. Her right hand was still bandaged and she made a mental note to remind the doctor to change the dressings for her. It was taking him an awfully long time, what was he doing out there?

She wondered if maybe she'd been a bit hard on him, even a bit mean. She wasn't normally like that, but adding what happened last night to the questions about her weight and she just couldn't stop herself. She'd never been comfortable with her weight. In the city there posters of glamour models with tiny waists, in the magazines they showed models in beautiful outfits. The small writing next to the photo would say, 'model is wearing size zero.' Seriously, how could she not have a complex about her weight when a size four was considered large! She was a size six and barely had an inch of fat on her stomach!

She got up from her seat thinking maybe she should go and look for him, or maybe she could just sneak off home. Just as she was about to push the door open it swung inwards and Dr Harvey came rushing in. He appeared to be missing some clothing, his green jacket was gone.

'You were gone ages... I started to wonder if you'd gone home for the day,' she joked as she watched him trying to open a glass cabinet that looked stocked full of medicines. When he didn't respond she tried again, 'You ok Dr Harvey?'

'No.' His reply by barely audible and he sounded grumpy, but she took his wheezy breathing as an answer to her question.

'Harvey is it your asthma?' He nodded so she asked, 'Where's your inhaler? Is it in this cabinet?' He nodded again and let her take the bunch of keys from his large hands. His breathing sounded awful, but she tried not to show how worried she was. She hoped he knew what to do because she didn't. 'Sit down Harvey, I'll open it.'

After four failed attempts she found the right key and the lock clicked open. Her eyes scanned across the different boxes and bottles on the shelves, some had names she knew she'd never pronounce correctly. 'Got it! I think... is this the one Harvey?'

'Yes.' He said, his voice sounded gravelly.

She tossed the box to him. He didn't hesitate about tearing the box open. She watched him shake the inhaler and then take two consecutive puffs. He was breathing out heavily, almost blowing out air. He took two more puffs, held his breath for half a minute and exhaled.

'Thank you,' he said looking up at her. He looked exhausted. Jane walked over to him, loosened his neck tie, removed it and then undid his top two shirt buttons. He grabbed her small hands in his before she had a chance to remove them from his shirt. 'Thank you Jane.' He repeated. His breathing appeared to be normalising. She felt a wave of relief pass over her.

'Does that happen often... your asthma?' She asked cautiously, remembering how he'd reacted last night when she'd questioned him about it then.

'Some times... when I get stressed it can bring on my asthma.' He looked away when he said his. She could see his chest heaving beneath his shirt, like he had just finished a marathon.

'I'm sorry,' she said. 'Did I... was it my fault?' She already knew the answer; she'd stressed the poor bastard out and almost cost Pelican Town its doctor!

'No. It was mine. You were right, I am an idiot and if you'll excuse me I need to have a lie down. Asthma attacks... they take a lot out of me, especially the older I get.'

'Are you sure you're gonna be ok?' She felt awful, and was worried about him which was crazy because last night she hated him.

'I'll get Maru, my assistant, to send the form to you through the post, just fill it out and send it back. That way you don't have to worry about doing this again. Maru will see you out.' Instead of waving goodbye, he chose to salute her and left her.

She smiled, what an odd man. He never did change her dressings.