Chapter 4: A Community's Love and a Doctor's Fear
Claire was out cold, presumably for the night...the medicine he'd given her had a tendency to cause drowsiness. After one last quick check of her vitals, he decided to head for bed himself. She was doing very well and wouldn't need him to monitor her again tonight. In all honesty she could've gone home tonight, but he'd kept her here because he wanted to be sure the snakes were indeed all gone. "I'll have to thank Gotts next time I go foraging for herbs on the mountain," the doctor said to himself. As he gazed at her sleeping form, he suddenly felt so relieved that she was okay. When he'd brought her to the clinic he'd been running like a madman. He told himself it was his job to take care of his patients, but when he'd found her there in the dirt he'd been terrified. He always kept a straight face, but in that moment he'd allowed himself to think the worst, something he always swore never to do...and now he knew exactly why. It had really shaken him. "No. Never again," he whispered to himself, "She is my patient. Nothing more." He slowly turned off all the lights in the clinic, heading for his small loft upstairs. He needed to get some sleep.
"DOCTOR! I NEED YOUR HELP, DOCTOR!" Elly cried out, a look of panic on her face, tears streaming down her cheeks.
He came in to find Claire flatlining. He raced to her side, shoving Elly out of the way. He began pumping her chest, "One, two three...one, two, three...come on, Claire, stay with me!" Beginning to panic himself, he began performing mouth-to-mouth. He did everything he could, but...she was gone. "Claire, please...please, stay with me...don't do this..." he dropped to his knees, and began crying. "Claire...no...I'm so sorry...I couldn't help you...no...no..."
"NO!" The doctor sat bolt upright in his bed, sweating and still in shock. A nightmare? But he never had dreams about any of his patients. And why was he still shaking? This was ridiculous. If only to give himself peace of mind, he sneaked downstairs into the clinic. when he found you, still fast asleep, he let out a sigh of relief that he didn't even realize he was holding in. The doctor had never before felt such a deep need to take care of someone...it was really beginning to take its toll on him. "No, I can't keep doing this," he mumbled to himself as he went back to his own bed, "She is my patient. End of story. Nothing more. And I will treat her and see her as such."
In the morning he was a bit groggy, but the doctor got out of bed, got dressed, and was on his way down to the clinic. Claire would want to go home as early as possible. Seeing you awake and ready to leave, he came over to your side. "So, I take it you're feeling very good this morning, Claire? No pain, dizziness, or nausea to report?"
"Well, my leg still hurts a little, but it's much better than it was. I think I should be fine." She smiled, then asked "Also, doctor? where are my clothes? I haven't gotten them back yet."
"Ah, yes. I'll get those for you in just a moment. First I want to give you one last vital check and you can go home. Okay?" The doctor began his quick work, not even noticing that several villagers had just walked into the clinic, taking Elly by surprise.
"If you're all here to visit Claire, she's about to be discharged, so you've come a bit too late, I'm afraid." Elly then noticed Popuri was holding a large gift bag, presumably for Claire, and all the villagers seemed to be rooted in the clinic's lobby. "Please, everyone, give gifts and speak to her later, she'll be leaving in a few minutes." Popuri quickly spoke up.
"Elly, please at least let me give this gift bag to Claire, she needs it. We all got together to get her these!" Popuri showed Elly the bag's contents, then she smiled widely and agreed to let her bring Claire her bag.
"Doctor, Claire? Popuri is here to give a very important gift. Can she come in?" The doctor began to refuse, but Elly quickly whispered to him what the gift was and he changed his mind immediately. "Okay, Popuri, please come in!"
I sat in the clinic bed, wondering what Popuri was giving me that was so important. I was grateful I was even getting a gift at all. When Popuri came in with the gift bag, I was shocked by its size alone, it was huge! What could she possibly have for me?
"Claire, I got together with some of the other villagers. We all pooled together to buy you these! I hope you like them!" She held the bag out to me and I nearly started crying at what was inside. The doctor and Elly both left to give me privacy, and to thank the villagers as well for their amazing act of kindness.
"Popuri...I can't believe this...you have no idea what this means to me!" First, I pulled a beautiful pair of cowgirl boots out of the large bag. They were beautifully made, but I could also tell they were made for hard work, built to last many years. And next I pulled out the gloves, just as beautiful as the boots but also definitely made to last. Last was a pair of overalls with a pretty flower pattern embroidered on the chest and one of the legs, along with several flannel shirts, all different colors. Blue, red, green, yellow...everything I needed was right there. And it was all thanks to the kindness of many villagers who barely even knew me.
"Hey, don't go getting all emotional yet! You still have to try them on, I want to see!" Popuri smiled and turned her back to me to give me privacy, and I stripped out of the gown and into the yellow flannel shirt first, then into the overalls. Once I had the gloves on, I went straight for the boots, and they all fit me perfectly. I couldn't help but let a few stray tears fall. Popuri turned, still smiling brightly. "Hey, now. No crying! You look beautiful, and you don't want to go out there and thank everybody with tears in your eyes! Come with me, let's go out there." She led me out of the small room and into the lobby, where I found Mayor Thomas, Rick, Gray and Saibara, Mugi and Mei, and even Gotts, who I'd never had the chance to meet until now. Had they all really pitched in to buy me these wonderful gifts?
Before I could say anything, everyone cheered all at once and started clapping. "Everyone here...I don't know how I can ever repay you for all this. None of you truly know just how much this really means to me. I can finally start doing what I came here to do, and not have to worry anymore! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!" Before I knew it, the villagers were bombarding me in an enormous group hug. Mayor Thomas stepped forward looking a bit saddened.
"I'm so sorry, Claire. I should've known before you even came here that you wouldn't have what you needed. You lived in the city your entire life, of course you wouldn't think about things like gloves and boots for protection. I should've said something when you first arrived here, and I'm sorry I didn't. Maybe it could've prevented all this from happening to you." Thomas looked down, looking like he'd failed you somehow.
"Please, Mayor. Don't say things like that. I should've remembered on my own that I'd need these things, it was my own mistake, not yours. And besides, it's all said and done now. I'm healthy now and ready to take on that farm!" After giving him a genuine smile, I looked away from Thomas and toward Gotts. "And am I to presume you're Mr. Gotts? Thank you so much for getting rid of the snakes on my land. I don't know what I'd do without your help!"
Gotts just laughed and replied, "Hey, no big deal. There were a ton of 'em out there, though, gonna need to do some huntin' later. They'll come slitherin' back to the mountainside, and I'll catch 'em so the place don't get overrun. Gotta thin the numbers once in a while, after all. Nature's way. Figure they'll make a damn good stew if nothin' else!" I wrinkled my nose at the very thought of eating snake stew, and Gotts laughed again and said "Hey, now! Don't knock it 'til ya try it!"
Next, Mei came running toward me. "Oh, Claire! I was so sad when I found out you were hurt! But then I thought how pretty flowers always make me feel better, so I went to the mountain and picked you all the flowers I could find! I hope they make you feel better!" I knelt down to give Mei a big hug, accepting her gift of flowers.
"Oh, Mei," I looked at the little girl and smiled, "I love them, but just seeing you was enough to make me feel better. You're such a wonderful friend." I hugged her once more, then sent her back to Mugi, who smiled at me as he took his granddaughter's hand.
Suddenly the doctor spoke up. "Well, if Claire has everything she needs, I believe she should come and get checked out of here now so she can go home." Nodding in agreement, the villagers all began to head back home themselves. "You should consider yourself extremely lucky, Claire. Not many towns are as tight-knit as this one, and I can promise that anywhere else you'd likely be going home wearing muddy city clothes and arriving to your land still infested with snakes."
"I know that," I began quietly as I signed my checkout papers, "and thank you again, doctor. Without you I might not be here at all." With that, I was ready to head back home at last. The doctor had given me a small bottle of painkillers and advised me to use them sparingly, and he'd warned me to come back if any bad side effects came back within the next 2 or 3 days. He'd also warned me not to go all-out with clearing the land, because I'd collapse from exhaustion. He made it quite clear I'd need to pace myself until I could better build up my strength. I couldn't help but wonder to myself as I made my way back home. "Was he saying all that because it's his job? Or...is it possible he might actually care for me..?" I smiled at the idea, but I knew better than to jump to conclusions. Besides...I was back home and I had farmwork to focus on today.
