First of all, I have to admit that I am not a native speaker, so there might be a few mistakes, but if you write me a message to tell me of them, I will correct them as soon as possible.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Nintendo, and I don't earn my money with these stories.

More than work

Sable hurried into the hospital. She had come as soon as she had heard the news. Like always the hospital smelled of disinfection spray and made her slightly nauseous but for him she would endure anything. She stepped in front of the reception desk and waited patiently for the fox to attend to her, suppressing the urge to shout at the woman. Finally, the fox turned to her.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

"Where can I find Tom Nook? He has been brought in here last night."

The fox typed something into a computer. "Ah, yes," she made when she had found his file. Her gaze narrowed at Sable. "Are you a relative of his?"

Sable knew that in critical states of patients only relatives were allowed to visit. Relatives and spouses. "I'm his fiancée," she lied quickly. I could have been his wife by now, she thought, if I had stayed with him.

"Very well," the fox continued. "He had a heart attack, probably from too much work. But he has been operated and now he's recovering. You can find him in room 305 if you like to see him."

Sable nodded and took the stairs to the 3rd floor. Before door 305, however, she suddenly became nervous. Since their breakup, they hadn't really spoken with each other. Sometimes they had met in the street, but she had averted her eyes and had gone by quickly. Now she had rushed here when she had heard he was at the hospital.

Don't be a coward! she told herself. You want to know he's alright, don't you?

She took a deep breath before slowly opening the door.

Tom was asleep, the machines around him buzzing, indicating his life.

Sable entered the room and slowly walked towards the bed. He looked exhausted and a bit pale. Sable watched him for a while, then she pulled a chair closer, sat, and continued to stare at his face. It was the first time since their breakup that she had the chance to look at him. At his kind, handsome face, and she smiled without noticing.

It had been she who wanted to be apart because she wasn't happy with him anymore – he had his work in mind first and only her second – but she never stopped loving him.

She had no idea how long she watched over him, but eventually he started to wake up, the machine showed a faster heartbeat and finally his eyes opened, and he looked at her.

Sable didn't know what to do or say, so she simply stared back. They were both in trance and it felt more like a dream than reality.

Suddenly the door burst open which made them jump out of their staring and the fox from the reception entered. "Mr Nook, you're awake," she smiled and looked business-like at the monitor. "How are you?"

"Fine," he mumbled.

"I bet you're better because your fiancée is here now, right?" She winked at him.

"My what?"

"Your fiancée," the fox replied more clearly. Then her eyes squinted in suspicion. "Or is she not your fiancée?"

Tom stared at Sable with wide eyes. He gulped. "Urgh, yes, she is. Sorry, I'm still a bit drowsy."

The fox smiled again. "Understandable." With one last look at the monitor, she announced: "I'll get the doctor" and left the room again.

Sable didn't dare to look at him anymore. With blushed cheeks she stared at a spot on the floor.

"My fiancée?" he asked after a while in a soft voice.

"I'm sorry," she said at once. "It was the only way to see you."

There was a moment of silence until he said: "I'm very glad that you're here."

She looked up at him.

"And I don't mind calling you my fiancée."

"Tom," she said and her heart broke. Not again… "You know that we… don't work."

But he kept on looking at her in a calm confident way. "What was the reason for our breakup?" he asked though he knew.

"Your work," she whispered.

He nodded. "Yes, and I have decided to work less."

She looked at him surprised. He had never during all the years she had known him mentioned the idea of working less. He was an ambitious, calculating man who had always put his work before anything else, even her.

He lifted his arm and stretched his hand out to her.

She gave him her hand and had to suppress a sigh at the old wonderful familiarity of it.

"When you have a near death experience, you realise what is really important in life. And for me that is you. I love you."

"Even more than your work?" she had to ask.

"Yes, even more than my work. Much more."

Sable had dreamed about this day but had never dared to hope to be this happy again.

THE END.