- Harvest Moon, A Wonderful Life -
A Changed Life
- "Doctor Hardy's Notes" –
A/N: My Apologies for lacking in updates... school's gettin' me down, along with recent troubles. I'll try to update as fast as possible.
Seth was up and early the next day, looking for Jake.
"Jake? Where are ya, buddy?"
Nowhere in sight was his dog. He scratched his head.
"Hmmm. Odd. The mutt never misses his breakfast."
Suddenly, he heard a bark. He jerked his ear to make sure he wasn't hearing things.
"Jake?" he called out. "Where the hell are you?"
Another bark. Seth paused.
"Stop screwing around and come get your breakfast," he demanded. "Now!"
There was silence.
"Don't make me come out there..."
Suddenly, he heard scampering behind him. When he turned around, Jake leapt up and jumped onto his face.
"Aaaaah!!!" Seth yelled. He fell to the ground. "Damn it, Jake! Alright, very funny, now get off and get your breakfast."
Jake obliged after seeing his bowl. He was off in a flash.
Seth stood, dusting himself off.
"Dogs are weird creatures, eh?"
Seth turned. It was Hardy.
"Erm, yeah," he said.
"Seth, I need to talk to you about something."
(((SFR)))
Hardy placed a large book on his office desk. Both he and Seth were in the Medical Clinic, or Galen's former home before Nina had passed away.
"Seth, this is where I keep all my notes on past patients. Read this one on Galen."
Seth looked where Hardy pointed, and began to read.
Date: Spring 9th, 2002
Patient: Galen
Galen seems to have gone in through a lot of shock. He doesn't go outside much, and when he does he ignores everyone. He seems a bit grumpy. It's almost nearing Summer. He's been like this for a long time throughout Spring. I don't think he will recover quickly.
"Are you done?"
Seth nodded.
"And look at Galen. He got over it, and was over for a while since. But then that heart attack... God rest his soul."
"Why did you show me this, Hardy?" Seth asked.
"This is only part of what I want to show you," Hardy said slowly. "Seth, I want you to read the notes I wrote about you."
Seth's eyebrows raised. He watched as Hardy flipped through the pages until he got to Seth's file. Laying the book flat, he indicated the pages. "I'll leave you alone while you read," he said quietly.
He left before Seth could protest. Having no other choice, Seth cleared his throat and began reading the notes Hardy had wrote about him.
Patient: Seth
Date: Summer 1st, 2003
There was an incident at the Blue Bar that I had witnessed. There were three casualties: Muffy, Murrey, and Takakura. And this brings me to my next patient: Seth. Seth has gone through a lot of depression. It had been at least two days since this had happened. It even grieves my heart to know that three citizens lost their lives to a bad incident.
Date: Summer 4th, 2003
Seth doesn't seem to be getting any happier. In fact, maybe even more sad. I visited him today. I talked pleasantly to him, but he just didn't seem any happier. I wonder when he'll begin to recover?
Date: Summer 6th, 2003
Seth barricaded himself in his house and refuses to leave, even for food. He's been getting a lot worse. I don't even know what else to write at the moment...
Date: Summer 7th, 2003
I made a strange observation while treating Takakura in my clinic. It seemed he had gotten some sort of lead poisoning. Could it be that the ammunition Griffin was using in his shotgun had some kind of lead in it? And is this connected to Seth's depression?
Date: Fall 2nd, 2003
It's been about one month, or season, since the BB incident happened. Seth unbarricaded his house, a sign of recovery. But I'm not getting my hopes up yet. I was able to visit him again today.
Date: Fall 7th, 2003
Dear me, I forgot to update. Well, the same's been going on, and I saw Seth buying some fruits from Vesta. She secretly told me that they had been taking care of his dog, Jake, for some time. I don't even think Seth noticed he was gone.
Date: Winter 1st, 2003
Almost two months. It'll soon be a new year. Will Seth finally get over his troubles? I do hope so, nothing is worse than a depression in Winter.
Date: Winter 3rd, 2003
Seth appears to be getting worse. It is as I suspected: the winter has got to him. He seems a bit more depressed, and nobody sees him anywhere. They don't dare go near his farm.
Date: Winter 5th, 2003
When I visited Seth this morning, he was caring for his cow, Fiona, and his horse, RyuKeshu, in the barn. It seems he does actually tend to the animals each day, as he told me.
Date: Winter 8th, 2003
Almost Spring. Maybe the winter depression will get off his back. He seems to be getting a bit lighter on himself.
Date: Spring 1st, 2004
Happy new year. Seth appears to be slightly better, he even came to the celebration. He didn't talk much, though. I wonder when he'll smile again? (I've been wondering quite some time, obviously)
Date: Spring 3rd, 2004
It has been a full three seasons, which we also call months. Seth is light, but not too light on himself. He still hides away in his house. Well, "hides" is a bid too rude... I can't blame the man. I brought Galen with me on my visit today, and he told him about his troubles when the elder Nina had died. I honestly don't think Seth gave a damn...
Date: Spring 4th, 2004
I talked to Celia today. She said Seth seemed slightly better, he didn't even snap at her. I was even told by Galen that Seth had shown up at the Blue Bar and had a drink. Maybe he is finally getting better?
Date: Spring 5th, 2004
Seth came to visit Takakura today (He's been doing this daily). Beforehand, Takakura told me a secret he was keeping within himself. He knew he was going to die. He didn't tell Seth, nor I. I didn't want to tell Seth when he seemed to be recovering... what's wrong with me?
Date: Spring 6th, 2004
It is late at night. I am very saddened to write this update. Takakura is dead. It turns out, I had made a mistake on the prediction, and Takakura died at least a week earlier than expected. I plan to tell Seth in the morning...
Date: Spring 9th, 2004
Seth went depressed all over again. It seemed to be getting so close to and end, but then Takakura had to go and die. But something extraordinary happened. Celia told me Seth was dancing around Fiona, his cow. He had finally cured her. Could it be he is actually happy again, again after such a long time? Something seems wrong...
Date: Summer 1st, 2004
It is night again, and as I suspected, the medicine Seth used to cure Fiona was faulty. Expired. It killed Fiona...
Seth stopped reading after he read that sentence. Faulty? Does he mean that he was the reason Fiona had died?
No. He wouldn't believe that. It had to have been the sickness.
He continued reading.
Date: Summer 2nd, 2004
It turns out Seth goes to the city every day, with Takakura dead and all. He does seem to be recovering, despite the cow's sudden death. Something astonishing happened today, also: Griffin had returned. But with astonishments also come confusements. Galen was strangely grumpy today about something, but he would tell no one what it was.
Date: Summer 3rd, 2004
Galen had just died of a heart attack. Weither or not it was the reason he was so angry, I don't know. But he had died. I broke the news to Seth as I came out of Galen's house.
Date: Summer 4th, 2004
Seth seemed really fine about Galen's death, though he did feel guilty for yelling at him before he died. But he had just told me that Celia and himself had finally fallen in love. It's always nice to hear about relationships. Well... the good news, at least.
Date: Fall 1st, 2004
Everyone has some point of their lives where they don't know either to feel happy or confused, or even... well... some other emotion. And I think Seth just might be getting over the terrible incident that had happened months ago. Just like Galen. Before his passing on, he himself had gotten over the loss of his sweet wife, Nina...
That was the end of the notes. Seth ended the last sentence, and quietly closed the book, waiting for Hardy to return.