The Reason
Chapter 3

"Oh?" Her hands shook as they gripped the flask of medicine he had, in a way, forced on her. "I…I don't feel…so good…" Without warning, she collapsed onto the Clinic floor in front of him.

"Claire? Claire!"

Trent suddenly found himself lying on his bed. The sun was warm on his face despite the cool temperature of his room. He rose slowly, placing a hand against his forehead.

'It was just a dream…'

He shook his head and climbed out of bed. As he exited his room, he noticed a note from Elli taped onto his door. It read,

"Doctor, I'm delivering those orders you finally finished yesterday to Mr. Zack.
Also, Mr. Gray had dropped by early this morning to let us know that the curtain rod is fixed, so please pick it up from the shop.
I'll be back by noon. Don't forget, okay? -Elli."

He stared at Elli's little doodle next to her signature as his memory struggled to function correctly. "Curtain rod…?" he murmured. "That's right, Claire broke it yesterday…" He sighed. "I hope she's alright…"

Lately, he had been thinking of her. No one in Mineral Town (except for Elli) really bothered bonding with him–he knew that they felt he was very serious about his work. However, from the moment they met, he felt that something about Claire was different. She seemed determined to befriend him. She came everyday to show him herbs that she found in the mountains, and she encouraged his studies. She even sampled some of his medicines, although…

He shook his head. 'What was I thinking?' he asked himself as he changed out of his pajamas. 'I shouldn't have given that to her…' He stared at the white lab coat that hung on the wall. 'What kind of doctor am I? But she wasn't mad or anything…' He reached for the coat and fingered the lapels, lost in thought. 'She just…smiled…' There was a feeling that rose in his chest every time he thought of her, as if a weight seemed to be lifted off of him whenever she was around. He couldn't explain it because he'd never felt that way before…

He climbed down the stairs as he put on the coat. He had to stop thinking about this nonsense and focus at the task at hand.

-

Trent immediately felt that his arrival was bad timing as soon as he stood in front of the Blacksmith's shop. It appeared that there was yet another argument between Saibara and Gray. When the door swung open, Trent had nearly jumped back in alarm as a very furious Gray stormed out of the shop. Saibara remained behind the counter, silently fuming.

"Yes?!" the elder man snapped as soon as he caught sight of Trent.

Trent flinched. "Um, I, uh," he stammered, "I'm here for the curtain rod…?"

Saibara pulled the curtain rod from under the desk and swung it at him. "Please take better care of your things, Doctor!" he scolded.

"Ah, y-yes, I'm sorry," Trent apologized, although he wasn't sure why. "Please don't hit me…" He paid Saibara for the rod and walked out of the smithy quickly. As soon as the coast was clear, he sighed in relief. "He sure is scary…" he muttered.

As he turned the corner, he heard a familiar voice laughing from the vineyards of Aja Winery. 'Claire…?'

"Cliff, you're doing it all wrong!" Claire taunted.

"No I'm not!" Cliff replied indignantly. "You're just jealous that I can harvest better than you!"

"Hey!"

Trent quickly stood behind a tree and watched them. 'What's she doing there?' he thought, slowly becoming annoyed. 'And with that guy, of all people!'

Cliff pointed at a basket at his feet. "See, look at how many grapes I've already harvested!"

"Liar, those are probably mine!"

Trent bit his lip as he watched the pair laugh together. His hand curled tightly into a fist, and his breathing began to quicken. He closed his eyes, and, unable to watch them any longer, turned away.

Rick was feeding the chickens when he noticed Trent walking by the Poultry Farm. He waved at him, but the doctor kept his head down and passed quickly.

Rick frowned. "What is up with these people?" he asked one of the chickens angrily, but received only a blank stare as a reply.

-

Elli debated whether or not she should walk into the Doctor's office. Ever since she returned at noon, she had found him totally focused on more paperwork behind the curtains.

'I wonder where he even found all that new paperwork,' she thought sullenly as she peered through the curtains. She glanced at the clock–it had been hours since the closing time. She took a deep breath and walked in.

"Um, Doctor?" she called to him timidly from across the room.

Trent didn't reply. The only noise in the room was the scratching of his pen against the paper.

Elli tried again, walking a little closer. "Doctor."

No answer.

Annoyed, she finally closed the distance between her and his desk and slammed her hands down. "Doctor! Doctor Trent!"

"Yes?" came the curt reply.

She winced. She'd never heard that tone from him before. "Um, it's-it's 8 pm," she said quietly.

The pen paused. She dared to go on.

"Y-you've been working nonstop. Is there…something wrong?"

Trent slowly put his pen down and looked up at her. "Elli…you're good friends with Claire, aren't you?"

'Of course it's about her.' The thought flashed in Elli's mind for only a second, but she already felt guilty for thinking it. "Y-yes, I suppose," she replied. "Um, did…did something happen?"

He moved his gaze to the side for a moment. "Is there…someone that she talks about?"

"What do you mean?"

Trent scratched the back of his head, obviously embarrassed. "I feel silly for asking you this," he murmured.

Elli folded her hands over his, encouraging, "Doctor, it's okay, you can say it."

He stared at her hands for a moment and sighed. "Is there…do you know if…" He blushed. "Does Claire like anyone?"

She blinked. "Huh?" Where did that come from?

Trent's face turned a few shades of red brighter. "F-forget it," he muttered, hastily withdrawing his hand from hers. "It was a stupid question…"

Elli frowned. "What happened?"

He closed his eyes and sighed. "I…I saw her today at Aja Winery," he began slowly. "She was with the boy who sees Carter everyday–I believe his name is Cliff–" He stopped suddenly, biting his lip as the memory came back to him. He leaned back on his chair and placed the back of his hand against his forehead.

"…Doctor…?"

"I saw them…" His voice shook. "They looked so happy together." He smiled bitterly. "I don't understand why I'm acting like this," he admitted. "I feel ridiculous."

'You're so serious all the time, Doctor,' Elli thought as she gazed at him. 'But it makes you so innocent...And that's what I like about you…' She turned around as she asked, "You don't understand because it's a new feeling to you, isn't it?"

"What's a new feeling?" he asked, confused.

Elli hid a smile as she walked out of the office. "Jealousy."

A/N: Thanks for reading. I hope that no one was too much out of character. I love all of you.