Chapter 6: When it Rains, it Pours

Thud. Clank. Thud.

The shovel hit the floor. My hands were shaking. A wave of chills ran through my body.

"Yukihana," Tom nook said as he rounded the corner. "Do be more careful with the merchandise."

All I could do was nod. Everything was starting to feel odd. Nothing felt like it was supposed to. I should have known when I woke up with the headache that felt as if two boulders were crushing my head. I should have known to call in sick today. Mr. Nook was counting on me though. We had just received a large shipment and it needed to be placed on the shelves.

"Yukihana," Mr. Nook said, now standing in front of me. "You do look so well. I think you should take the rest of the day off. You really shouldn't push yourself so hard."

"B-but," I winced at the pain developing in my throat, "I need t-to help w-with the shop."

"You can help when you get to feeling better. Now go home and rest."

I was nearly to the bridge when the rain started dripping. Even though it was the middle of summer, the rain felt ice cold. By the time I was across the bridge it was pouring. My legs were very wobbly and I was becoming very tired.

My foot must have hooked on a rock or something. The next thing I knew I was flat on the ground and everything was blurry. Then my world was enveloped in black.

When I became aware of my surroundings again, I could feel something soft underneath my body. It obviously wasn't the hard dirt path beneath me. Through the chills of my body, I felt something warm laying over me. I cracked my eyelids a tiny bit. The room was dark. Only every so often would it light up for a second. Then a rumble in the distance would break free from the sky.

I flinched at the sound. Slowly I tried to sit up. The room started spinning on its own accord, so I squeezed my eyes shut. When the wobbly feeling subsided I carefully opened them again. The shadowy figures that sat around the room looked very familiar. Then it hit me. Somehow, I was back in my room. I had no clue how I got there. My head was starting to spin again.

Suddenly I heard a knock on the door and a small familiar voice whisper. "Are you awake?"

"Yes, I am." I replied in a small scratchy sounding voice. "Come on in, Nan."

My grey goat friend stepped in with two others right behind her. Pate and Deena were right one her heels. "How are you feeling?"

"Not so good," I replied. I had decided that trying to put up a front would not work with them. "My throat and head really hurt. Also, I'm cold and dizzy feeling."

"Well the last time we check you were running a rather high fever," Pate said looking extremely worried. "We found you near the bridge passed out."

"Luckily, Tank was with us and carried you here. We dried you off the best we could. Nan ran to the store and bought you some medicine," Deena said fidgeting with her shirt. "You should change into something drier though. Just so you don't get worse."

"Do you think you could eat some soup?" Nan asked. "You will need to eat with the medicine I got you." I nodded. "Alright. Deena and I will go fix it. Pate, would you mind staying with Yukihana, to make sure she doesn't fall or anything?"

"Not at all. I can even get her clothes out so she doesn't have to travel across the room."

Before I knew it, Deena and Nan were out of the room and Pate was in my closet getting me some clothes. That's when it happened. A large clap of thunder rattled my room and Pate nearly jump 4 feet of the ground. By the time she hit the floor again she was huddled in a tight ball.

"Pate," I said. "Are you okay?" I hurried out of bed, just to send the whole room spinning again. When I finally reached her another loud clap shook the house. I could tell just by looking at her that she was shaking all over. I pulled an extra blanket from my closet and covered her with it. She looked up at me with tear filled eyes. I smiled back at her pulling my own blanket off the bed and wrapped up next to her. "I have a cousin," I told her through my scratchy, sore throat voice. "He was afraid of thunder, too. Whenever it would get too bad my aunt would wrap him up in a blanket and sit with him until it was over. Eventually, he overcame his fear. Now he actually goes outside and watches the lightning and all."

Pate looked at me with wide eyes. "W-when I was little," she began. "My parents worked a lot. I would have this babysitter who wanted to have an easy job. So, the only thing she would just make my dinner and send me to my room so I would entertain myself. One night, it was storming really badly and the lights went out and everything. I ran to find her for safety but I couldn't find her. Turns out after sending me to my room her friend came over and they had gone out. She was planning to return right before my parents got home. However, the storm prevented her from doing that."

"So, the whole time you were..." I could finish the sentence. I was dumbstruck by the idea of leaving any young child alone.

"Yes," Pate said. "I was all alone for about three hours in a storm that shook the house." As if the storm outside heard her, the thunder boomed and rattled my walls. Pate let out a small screech. Then she continued in a shaky voice. "My parents were furious when they found me home by myself, hiding in a closet. Needless to say, they fired that girl. I was sent to my aunt's house if they had to work late. Ever since then, however, I feel overwhelmed by thunder and I freak out."

"I can see why," I said.

"Please don't tell anyone though. I don't want to worry anyone about it. Plus, I think this might help some. I can see why your cousin felt so calm." The blue duck finally let out a sigh of relief as we heard the next rumble of thunder come from the distance.

After the storms had died down to just the pitter-patter of soft rain, Pate regained her composure and helped me wobble back to my bed where I changed into my pajamas and laid back down. A short time later, Deena and Nan brought up some tomato soup and the medicine.

My friends took care of me the rest of the afternoon, and then decided to let me rest. Nan said she would come back later to check on me.

I was just about to doze off when the ringing of a telephone startled me. I carefully wobbled over to it. Even though the medicine had brought my fever down, I was still feeling weak. I couldn't think of who would be calling me. Tom Nook was the only one in town who had a telephone that I could think of but the shop was still open. I wasn't sure if Town Hall had a telephone or not. Even if they did I could think of any reason they would be calling me.

After about the fifth ring I finally picked it up. "Hello?" My voice crackled.

"Yukihana," the voice said. "It's me, Cooro."

"Oh, hi." I said. "How did you get my number? How are you even calling me?"

"We have a phone at our house and I got your number from Nook after I heard you were sick. I told you not to push yourself." He went on for a few minutes scolding me about how I needed to take care of myself.

"How did you know I was sick?"

"I went to your job to let you know that you won't see me the next couple days because sis has an appointment across the border. Nook told me you went home sick. I would have stopped by but I was already running late, so I asked if I could have your phone number. How are you feeling?"

"Kind of tired. Pate, Deena, and Nan came over a took care of me today. Speaking of which, I am a step closure to breaking the curse."

"Who's secret?" He sound astonished.

"Pate's. I can't tell though. I promised. Just like with you." I heard him chuckle. "But I think as long as we collected them we don't have to break promises by sharing them. Just need to write them down and hide them until the right time."

"Sounds good to me. Just find a good hiding place so our friends don't find them. We don't want them to become suspicious. By the way, have you found out anymore for Leea's diary?"

"Not yet. I've been really busy." I sighed.

"Well, I should let you rest. You need to get better." I could hear the worry in his voice. "Take care. See you in a couple days."

"Good-bye." I replied. Then hung up the phone and went back to bed.

A/N: Well, here is another chapter. Let me know what you think. A big shout out to Cake of Legend and Princess Hephzi for their reviews. I really appreciate them. The next chapter is going to be a fun one. Thanks you for all your support.

~Snowflower90