Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or its characters. This story was only written for entertainment purposes.

Save Me From Myself

Chapter Thirteen

"The sickness you are suffering from is called love, child." Martha spoke while smiling a motherly smile. With the patients only a woman of immense wisdom could have possibility possessed, she ushered the shocked brunette into a private room and watched in amusement as the young woman began to stutter.

Abigail's face grew a bright red, almost the color of a riped tomato ready to be picked and eaten. Her stuttering slowly progressed into short, raspy scoffs, all the while throwing the older nurse looks of pure disbelief.

"No." Abigail whispered back, afraid that Alex and, his soon-to-be wife, Gina would overhear their conversation. "No. No. No! A-Are you sure it's not just some bug going around? The flu? Maybe an animal illness that rubs off on human when are exposed to it for a long period of time? Or – "

Martha laughed softly, shaking her head in even more amusement at the sudden explosion of extraordinary knowledge of health risks the shocked brunette had managed to acquire in the matter of five minutes.

"Now, Abigail, please calm down and have a seat." Martha waited until the young farmer complied with her request before continuing. "You have caught a bug – "

"I knew it!" Abigail interrupted in a loud tone with an all knowing look on her face.

Martha momentarily ignored the outbursts, simple rolling her eyes behind her glasses and patting the young womans hand affectionately. "It's called a love bug, but it is only a fictional 'bug'. When I was your age, the girls all used to tease each other with having 'caught the love bug' if you felt flushed when you are around a certain boy. Or if you always found yourself smiling at the mere remembrance or mention of said boy."

Abigail nodded slowly, not entirely keen on admitting that she was experiencing the flushed feeling or having a serious case of the uncontrollable smiles at the mention of... of Jamie. Her face grew hot and a small smile began to form on her lips. Goddess! It was true! She looked up at Martha and forced the smile that was threatening to explode on her face to go away. Forming a believable frown, she shook her head and ran a free hand through her loose hair.

"Is there a cure?"

Martha laughed and shook her head. "Oh, child. No, there is no cure. Why would you want one? Love is a wonderful thing to experience, and I believe it is about time you allowed yourself the opportunity to love and be loved in return."

Abigail looked away in distress. No cure, wonderful, but what was she expecting. It was a childish question to ask, but she just had to know. Falling in love with... Jamie wasn't an opportunity, it was more like a possible disaster. Her heart ached at the thoughts that began to run ramped, each scenario played out her confession to him and he would repeatedly reject her.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine." She lied.

"Who is the lucky man?"

She flinched and slowly shook her head, casting a curious glance towards the door when a feminine yelp echoed from the room behind it. "No one."

"Oh, sweetheart... it is not Alex is it?"

She tore her eyes away from the closed door and stared at Martha with wide eyes. "No! He's like the big brother I've never had. No. No. No. That would be very... awkward to say the least."

Martha gave a sigh of relief and nodded.

They sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, until the door was suddenly opened. Martha stood from her seat and Abigail jumped in hers, neither were expecting to see a concerned purple haired farmer standing at the entrance. It was then when Abigail mimicked the gray haired nurses actions and stood from her own seat, her face slowly heating up from the odd look Jamie was giving her. She licked her lips nervously and inched towards her safety net, Martha, as her former rival stepped into the room. He paused his actions and the odd look was quickly replaced by one of apathy.

"Good morning, Jamie. A pleasant surprise to see you here this early, was Alex unavailable?" Martha folded her arms in front of her and confidently strolled towards the free entrance.

Jamie shrugged his shoulders, keeping his eyes locked onto the brunette farmer, before answering in a low voice. "Hn."

Martha, not at all fazed by the lackluster response, nodded and smiled. "Did you hear the news?" Jamie finally looked away from Abigail, successfully avoiding drawing unwanted attention to his inexplicable staring, and watched at the smile on the older womans face grew. "Alex and Gina are going to be married in the Winter. What a lovely time to be wed, don't you think so?"

Abigail released the breath she had unintentionally been holding and tried to bring her beating heart to normal. She had momentarily feared that Martha would have told him that she was in love. Although she didn't know who, Jamie would have undoubtedly realized with ease that it was him who she was in love with. She wasn't ready for that. She wasn't ready to see a disgusted look on Jamie's face. She wasn't anywhere near ready to have her heart completely destroyed when he told her he wanted nothing to do with her.

"Well, Abigail thinks it's a perfect time to be married, don't you Abigail?"

Martha's voice quickly released her of her dark thoughts and she was faced with both of them staring intently at her. She gulped and nodded. "Y-Yeah."

A frown tainted Martha's face and she swiftly made her way to her side. "Are you sure you're alright? You look a bit pale." The nurses hand brushed against the farmers cheek, it slowly traveled to her forehead, and she finally pulled back with a deeper frown. "And you're burning up."

Abigail's stomach clenched as her eyes bounced from Martha's frowning face to Jamie's narrowed expression. It was suddenly harder to breath. Her breaths were coming in short pants, and her vision blurred. "I'm fine." She whispered, but there was a lack of confidence in the voice and it came out with a loss of breath.

"No, you look much too pale to be fine, Abigail." Martha moved towards the opened door and called out for Alex.

"I'm fine, really. I just – I just need to – "

She felt it a struggle to remain standing on her own feet. The room began to move on its own, but it stilled for a moment as she felt herself being pushed against a chest. Her eyes darted upwards and she was met with ice blue eyes. They looked very anger and hurt, and it caused her to flinch from the gasp, but they were soon filled with concern and it was the last thing she saw before her world fell into darkness.

– – – –

Jamie watched as she laid asleep. It had been a few hours since he had stormed into the clinic, momentarily blinded by anger, and secretly hurt, that she had skipped their daily morning meeting. But at the moment, his anger had melted and concern, mixed with a healthy dose of fear and uneasiness, was the replacement emotion. As he sat in the lone seat next to the pure white bedding, he found himself worrying about the farmer that was his rival.

He wondered if she was working herself too hard, and if she was, what could he do to make her slow down. Maybe she was stressed about something, which he again found himself musing over what he could do to make the problem disappear. Or was she seriously ill? The thought cut though his chest and he straightened his back, watching the sleeping farmer closely.

Martha quietly shuffled towards the faux bed and eyed the purple haired farmer cautiously. "She experienced a panic attack. She should be just fine once she wakes up, but we'll keep an eye on her for the next few days just to be on the safe side."

Jamie remained silent, taking in the information and locking it away in his mind for future use.

"There is no need for you to stay, Jamie, I know how busy your schedule can be. If you'd like, I can stay with her until she awakes." Martha softly commented.

"No." He answered back.

Martha noted the quick response, the snap tone he answered in, and the tense position he had adopted as soon the suggestion left her lips. She raised a single brow in realization and nodded her head. "Very well, if you get hungry please do not hesitate to ask for anything. I will be doing some laundry."

Jamie nodded, never taking his eyes off the sleeping brunette before him, and listened to Martha's soft steps as they lead away from him. He gave a brief glance over his shoulder and watched the older woman disappear into the built in kitchen. With a quiet sigh, he stared back at the bed and listening to the even breaths his former rival gave out in a steady rhythm.

He noted that she looked at peace. She was no longer frowning like she has been when she initially fainted. She looked content now, with a small smile on her face, it was almost tempting to smile along. But Jamie refrained himself, still plagued with worry.

She took a deep intake of breath and he watched, both afraid and hopefully that she would awake, but her eyes remained closed as she exhaled slowly. He slouched in his seat, disappointed and relieved that she hadn't opened those big brown eyes of her.

A panic attack. She sounded just fine before he had let himself into the room... and she had stared at him like he was some kind of monster when she realized it was him. He winced at the look of pure shock and... horror in her face while Martha spoke to him about Alex's pending marriage. She even moved deeper into the room when he tried to get close to her, like she was afraid of him. Or disgusted.

Jamie frowned and he clenched his hands into tight fists at the thought of her wanted nothing to do with him. The frown slowly transformed into a dejected look. Had he destroyed their friendship last night? He removed the large hat from his head, setting it on a nearby stand, and cursed at himself for possibly bringing the only normal relationship he'd managed to have with another human being to an abrupt halt.

Thoughts began to run a muck in his head. Each thought worse than the last, but all revolving around the same topic. Would she continue to let him stay in her life? Was she going to completely cut him off, view him as a nuisance and end all contact with him?

"No."

Jamie's jaw clenched and his eyes glued themselves to her face. The brunette remained with her eyes closed, but she had unintentionally answered his unspoken question. She was frowning in her false sleeping state and her hands formed small fists. As he stood from his seat, he watched as her eyes fluttered open. An unexplainable feeling began to overwhelm his entire body. They way she looked up at him, with complete and unadulterated curiosity and happiness, caused his breath to hitch.

She blinked and continued to stare. "Am I still dreaming?"

No amount of self control could have held off the smirk from his face, nor could it have stopped his heart from speeding up. She had been dreaming. More specifically dreaming of him.

Smiling and peaceful with only him in mind.

Playlist: "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5; "Airplanes" by B.o.B.; "Seduction" by Eminem.