Medicinal Love

Chapter 3

Date: Fall 7 Year 2

Petite hands plucked some mushrooms off the ground. There were a variety of them; some were colored brown while a few of them were red with yellow spots on them. Claire moved around a bit, a basket in hand. "Who would have thought that my only source of income would be mushrooms?" Saying this more of a statement than a question, she uncrossed her legs to let the blood circulate. She looked up to the sky. "I guess this is enough."

Clouds slowly moved in the clear sky, and Claire allowed herself to relax for a bit. There was nothing that could cause her worry or give her headaches at the moment. Her whole body was relaxed. She spent some time just lounging around the area. The softness and prickly feeling of grass tickled her neck and arms. As time passed, she forced herself to leave Mother's Hill. Reaching down to where the lake was, she noticed that there was someone else in its the reflection. That person was wearing a white coat and seemed to be bending down frequently. 'Please let that be someone else,' her mind pleaded. 'Anyone but the doctor.' Claire admitted that she was a bit put off at how the local doctor treated her. There was something inside her that just ticked her off at how he approached and talked to her. 'Was it from when he rejected my offer?' She paused to consider for a moment. 'No. That can't be it. I'm not that petty—not at a tiny rejection like that.' Claire bit her lip. She began muttering a list of possibilities of why she was feeling this way. It disturbed her how affected she was just by seeing the doctor.

Too lost in her own thoughts, Claire failed to see the figure approaching her. Once he saw her standing still, occasionally muttering something and having this displeased thoughtful expression on her face, he stopped his task and decided to talk with her to see how she was doing. As the person got closer to Claire, she snapped her mind back to reality and saw him coming. 'Oh no…' she quietly moaned. Something inside of her went erratic. Claire had a hard time determining whether this was a good or bad thing, but at that moment, she decided this feeling belonged to the 'bad' category. She decided to imagine that none of this was happening to her and that she'd just be ignorant of the situation and pretend that this was just another co-worker whom she really didn't like. 'Why me?' she once again moaned at her unlucky fate. Claire forced a smile toward the doctor. "Dr. Trent. It's a surprise seeing you here." There was feigned shock in her tone.

Trent gave her a curt nod along with a polite and stiff answer. "Today's my day off from work." He shifted his bag a bit. Several leaves were sticking out of it, Claire noted.

'I wonder if those were herbs that he was collecting,' Claire wondered, but decided not to go any further on that since it really was not her business. She tightened her hands around her own basket. "I see."

Heavy tensions emitted from the couple. Time froze, but to Claire, it felt like the world was continuing to move on without them. Leaves continued to fall and small animals continued to play around. But she was trapped in the dome that she had unknowingly created with Trent. Claire wanted out. Trent was unnerving her; and she didn't know why. One of them had to break out of this dome. However, it didn't look like Trent was making the effort to do so. 'Men. Such lazy bums.' She sighed in her head. "Well. I'll be going then since it looks like you're busy. Bye."

Dark eyes trailed her movement. "Good day." After watching her a bit, Trent continued his task.

'God that was nerve-wrecking.' Claire was a bit shaken. 'Why is he affecting me this much? Huh, I must be petty, then. If he didn't reject my offer, then none of this would have happened.' Pain began to pressure against her head. "Stop it, Claire. Thinking about this is only going to give you trouble. It's best to forget this and continue on with life." With determination, she continued trekking through the forest. The air around her felt different now, a difference one felt when there was a change in time.

Claire glanced at her watch after she shifted her weight from one side to another. The clock showed a hand at three. "Fudge. How the hell did this happen? It must be because of him." Her voice went harsh at the mention of the doctor. "Thanks to him, I got distracted and now I have to get to Zack's before he leaves." The last time she missed Zack, she had to run all over Mineral Town just looking for him. That time, she only had a bag of fish with her. It was not very thrilling and fun experience.

Small woodland creatures skittered around Claire as she bull-dozed through them. Trees slowly disappeared from view as a small field entered the scene. A small group of chickens clucked around the small stone fence as a cow and sheep gazed the fenced grass. There were a couple of fields; blank ones, but they looked like they were toiled and plowed through. Claire wished she could have taken the time to enjoy walking through Blue Moon farm, but time was running short and she had to get to Zack's before he engaged her into playing tag.

"Hey Claire!" Jack, owner of Blue Moon, yelled out to her as she jogged through his farm. He waved her to come over, shovel on the ground with his right foot on top of its head. Spark, Jack's dog, bounded over to her. Tail wagging, he jumped around Jill.

Claire slowed down to the point where she was just casually walking. "Oh. Hey, Jack. Done with today's work?" Dodging another 'attack' from Spark, Claire made sure to lead him away from her.

A wide grin appeared on Jack's face. "Hahaha. Not really. I just need to fertilize some soil and plant some carrot seeds."

Claire hummed a bit. "I would love to stay here and chat with you, Jack, but I really have to get to Zack's and drop this load off." She gestured at her basket, and shrugged. She started to leave, but something caught her shoulder. "Wha--?" Claire turned around to look at what had caught her: a gloved dirty hand. "Jaaack." There was exasperation in her tone.

"Wait up, Claire." Jack dropped his shovel to the floor, scaring away one of the Harvest Sprites who were taking a break from watering. "Oops. Sorry, Aqua." He turned his head to face Jill, whose arm he was still holding on to. "You don't have to go looking for Zack. He'll stop by here at five to pick up the shipment."

Claire's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Then you wouldn't mind if I come by here every time I need to drop something off for Zack?" She gestured her basket before setting it down on the grass.

"Go right ahead." Jack bowed down a little, sweeping his arms out.

She could not stop her impending grin as she shook her head. "Such a gentleman you are."

He got up close to Claire. Cupping one side of her face, he gently tilted her face toward him. "Only to fair maidens such as yourself."

Claire nearly wanted to snort at that, but that would be unlady-like and there was a slight chance Jack might be offended by that. She swatted his hand away as she chuckled. "Keep this up, Romeo, and you'll have the ladies here sweeping at your feet left and right."

"But not you?" There was a hint of curiosity in his tone. She made a small sound before unleashing a long, "Hmmm."

Claire said nothing more as she stared into the multi-colored sky. The playful atmosphere between them was long gone as things quieted down a bit. There were sounds of chickens clucking around as they pecked through the ground for food, and Claire scratched Sparky's head when he came over to her. But her mind was not there. She thought back to Jack's pick-up line. That type of pick-up line would never have worked for her. It might have worked on some other women, but right now, she was just not looking for a relationship, or even dating for that matter. There was no meaning in the pick-up line. It would take more than just flattery to get a place in her heart. Once she felt at ease with the current situation she was in, Claire went over to the apple tree and sat down at the base. "How's the farming going, Jack?"

Jack moved over to where she was, and he decided not to intrude on the clear avoidance of the previous topic. Picking two bright red apples, he gave one to Claire while keeping the other for himself. "It's going well. Farming is a bit easier now that I've gotten used to it." He took a bite.

"That's good. It's been a year since you moved here, hasn't it?" Claire asked. Mouth crunching the pieces of the apple, she savored the juice's sweetness. Jack nodded.

Heavy footsteps came from the front entrance of the farm. A loud voice bellowed, "Yo Jack! Zack's here!"

Jack stood up. He picked Jill's basket as he walked over to the large man. "Hey, Zack. Mind taking this shipment as well?" Jack showed Zack the mushrooms.

Zack carefully picked the mushrooms from the basket. "Sure Jack." Zack looked at them carefully. "I thought you didn't forage anymore, Jack."

"These aren't mine. Those are Claire's."

Zack let out a laugh. Apparently, he remembered that fiasco as well, Claire thought. She saw him hand something to Jack. He walked over to her with a small bag in his hand. "Here you go, Claire. Payment for your mushrooms."

She jiggled the bag a bit. It was pretty heavy, so Claire only estimated that she had probably gotten around 1300g. "Thanks again, Jack, for letting me do this."

Jack shrugged it off. "Hey, it's no problem. Alright? Anything you need to ship to Zack, you're welcome to come by my place."

A grateful grin was all that Claire found she could give to Jack. "I…guess I'll be going now. See ya."

"Later, Claire."

The sky began to darken. The moon was already out even though the sun had not set, so Claire took her time and enjoyed the setting around her. She noticed that Mineral Town was nothing like college or any other places she been to. There was something about the village that gave the true definition of a small town community. She would not mind living here for awhile, but deep inside of her, Claire knew that she would eventually get bored of this place. "Ahh. If anything, this could be a place that I visit in the summer or spring time." Squeezing the money pouch once more, Claire laughed. "One more and I don't have to forage in the winter."

"Look down, Claire!" There was urgency in the tone as someone called out to her.

Claire was confused. "Eh?" But she did as told and quickly caught a bundle of white feathers that bumped into her shins. The chicken, not pleased being held by a stranger, quickly started moving around. Claire struggled keeping the bird in its place until whoever had called her came up to her. "Rick?" Once she saw who it was, she wanted to slap herself. 'Who else would have chickens? Only Jack and Rick.' Holding the chicken out, Claire raised an eyebrow at Rick—who panted. "Runaway chicken?"

Rick paused as he tried to collect his breath. "Th...thanks a lot Claire." Another huff. "She managed to escape the bin, and I wanted to catch her before the wild dogs appeared." Rick took the chicken away from Claire. He looked to the side then back at Claire. While doing so, the sound of a bell rang throughout the village. Rick went paled. "Claire. Could you do me a really important favor?" Rick stared pleadingly to Claire.

Sensing the anxiety that was coming from Rick, Claire began to worry. "What is it Rick?"

"Could you stop by the clinic and get the medicine from the doctor? Tell him that it's for Lillia and he'll understand. There are other chickens that I have to catch before those dogs could get their teeth on them. Please Claire?" Rick looked imploringly at her.

Claire resigned herself to her fate. There was no way she could say no to a favor like that. Especially not when Rick needed her help; good friends always help each other regardless of personal bias. "Well why are you standing here asking me for? Shouldn't you be catching those chickens?"

Rick's expression relaxed as relief coursed through him. "Thanks a lot, Claire. I owe you one." Without a moment's pause, he quickly turned back and ran.

She blew her bangs away. "I wonder if he's there?" Claire asked herself. Her feet took her to the path. By the time she arrived in front of the clinic, the night had gotten chilly and she shivered. Raising her fist to the door, Claire knocked. "God. I hope he's there 'cause otherwise I'll be waiting out here waiting for him," she muttered as she scrunched her body closer to keep the warmth. Seeing that no one had opened the door, Claire knocked again.

What had seemed to be an eternity had only been a couple minutes. But the door finally opened, and Trent appeared in the doorway. When she saw him, Claire really wanted to make a snappy comment, but seeing how she was doing this for Rick, she refrained herself from saying anything that could be misunderstood.

Trent was shocked, though he kept that hidden underneath his poker mask, to see Claire standing on the doorway. "May I help you?" he inquired of her. Even though he was not currently working, he still had to maintain his profession; considering this place was a village, he had to expect the infrequent times a patient might come to him.

Claire shuffled her feet a bit. "Yeah. Rick told me to get some medicine for Lillia?"

Trent frowned and his brow creased. "I see." Claire saw him disappear before reappearing with a small black bag. He closed the door and went off. She stood there for two straight minutes.

"Bastard. He just left me here!" Claire was mad alright. She was furious at how Trent treated her; like she was invisible. Too disorientated by her rage, Claire went over to Rick's place, knowing that somehow she would see the rude doctor.

It hadn't taken too long when she arrived at Rick's. It also did not take her that long to get inside. 'Unlike a certain somebody who kept other people outside waiting in the cold,' Claire thought furiously. She looked around the living room. Laying on the sofa was an older version of Popuri. 'Well…that does it. Pink is natural in this family. …I think.'

"How are you feeling, Lillia?" Trent asked her; his bag opened and several bottles sat on the table next to them.

Lillia coughed. Her eyes stared weakly into Trent's. "The usual," her voice rasped as she leaned back further on the sofa.

"I see." Trent put away some of his tools and picked one of the bottles. "This one has never been tested before, but it should help you recover your stamina and fatigue."

Claire looked at Trent. "Never been tested…" she half-whispered; her mind was reeling. As if in slow motion, she watched the hand coming closer to the mouth. "Hold it right there!"

Her yell had nearly made Trent drop the unknown medicine and caused Lillia to look at her. Claire went over to where they were and grabbed the bottle away from Trent. Trent protested but Claire sent him a glare. "Dude. Why are you giving this to her if it's never been tested out?" She gave it a clear look, sniffed, and tasted it. Scowling, Claire sent another glare to Trent. "I may not be a professional pharmacist but I know enough to know that you," Claire stabbed Trent with her finger, "should not be making medicine and giving it out to patients before testing it out. That is why pharmacists exist." She stopped to get her breath. "Now listen. Give her the medicine that you usually give to her. Then you and I will talk about this later." Claire went over to Rick, clasping his shoulder with her hand as she said to him, "Sorry about that, Rick. I'll be outside."

The wait was not so long since Trent went outside a few moments after she had already done so. Claire glanced at the sky. It was already night-time and the moon was shining. There were howls echoing around and she remembered what Rick said about wild dogs. Fear began to creep towards Claire, and she shivered. Docile dogs were one thing; wild dogs were another. She hoped that none would come by and attack her.

Claire stopped Trent from entering the clinic after following him. "What are her symptoms, doctor?"

Trent looked at her. "I'm not at liberty to say."

"Well, Dr. Trent, there might be a slight chance I might know of the illness Rick's mom has. That is if I knew what the symptoms are," Claire said, though she understood what Trent was doing; this was all under patient confidential.

There was a slight hesitation coming from Trent. But after seeing her blow up on him when he tried to use the medicine that he had created, he had no choice but to believe her. Motioning for her to follow him inside, Trent led Claire to the back cabinets. He took a manila folder out and showed it to her.

Claire skimmed through the list. Then in her brain, she went through various possibilities and the only one that looked like that might fit was chronic fatigue syndrome. She told this to Trent, who looked at her in confusion as if he had never heard of the sickness before. Claire wanted to slap herself. 'Is he really a doctor?' She then began to wonder how the heck he had become a doctor. "It's the only one that I could think of. I'm not really 100 percent positive on this so you might have to do some research."

"Is there a cure for it?" Trent came close to her. A part of him wanted to grab her shoulders and look at her right in the eyes, but the rational part of him stopped that.

Claire looked away for a bit before meeting his eyes. Her next words destroyed any hope Trent might had received. "Well. Not really. There are some medicines that can increase the chances of recovery, but there is no known cure for it. But there's a good chance Rick's mom won't die from chronic fatigue syndrome if she takes good care of her diet."

After hearing those words, Trent slumped in his chair. He really wanted to help Lillia, to get rid of the illness so that her husband could come home. But finding out that there was no cure destroyed that goal. Also, add the fact that he had been scorned and lectured by a student studying in the field of medicine. That really brought his mood down.

Claire stared at him in wonder. Seeing his reaction over this had struck something inside her. 'He really cares about his patients.' "Hey. It's not that bad." 'Actually chronic fatigue syndrome is somewhat bad.' "As long as Lillia keeps a healthy diet and takes proper medicine, then there's about a 65 percent chance she might recover."

Trent scoffed at that. "What proper medicine would that be?" He laid his head down. "I'm a failure as a doctor…"

'Hmmm. Can't argue you with there, pal,' Claire thought to herself. Frankly, she was curious to see how he became the local doctor. She went over to his desk and sat on it. "Hey, listen. You're not that bad of a doctor." Before Trent could respond to that, Claire quickly changed the subject. "Besides. What kind of medicine were you attempting to make, anyway?" She held up the bottle that she had tested and showed it to him.

"It was supposed to restore stamina and fatigue," Trent sighed, his head tilted sideways.

There was a slight humming sound coming from one of the light bulbs above. Even in a dimly lighted area, Claire could still see the pristine white walls shining. The clock ticked.

"Well, you're sure about that? Because when I tasted it, I could practically feel my energy leaving me rather quickly. What did you put in there?"

Trent listed out the ingredients that he used. Some of them Claire recognized from the book that she had photocopied from the school library. Hearing those, her face started losing color a bit. Claire scoffed. "Listen. How about I work with you on creating that medicine of yours? I get my experience and you get your medicine. We will both benefit from this. So, what do you say?"

There was resignation in his voice. "Fine." He turned his back on Claire.

'I just sent myself to hell, didn't I?'

--

Author's Note: Ok, so some of you might be wondering about the whole doctor business with Trent here. I think, judging by the game, that Trent inherent his parents' profession. Sorta like how they do it in the very very old days. This is not my most favorite chapter, so I'm hoping this won't deterred you guys away from reading this story. All that is really needed is for Claire to work with Tim.

Oh and this chapter has been beta'ed by The Scarlet Sky.