Lillian marched straight up to the counter in Ayame's clinic. Hiro was standing behind the counter, while focusing on a medical book. He looked up and his face lit up.

"Well hello there, Lillian! What can I help you with?"

"It's Mikhail. He's sick and I don't know what's wrong with him. Can you and Dr. Ayame come and examine him?"

"Sure, right away. Stay right there." Hiro ran from behind the counter and zipped up the stairs. It was only a matter of moments until he came rushing down the stairs, Dr. Ayame right behind him, holding a large medical bag.

"Hey there, Kiddo. Hiro tells me that Mikhail's sick. Can you take us to him?"

"Yeah, follow me." She lead the two out of the office and straight to the town hall. Inside she led them to Mihail's room and opened the door slowly. Ayame and Hiro made their way towards Mikahil's bed, where he was laying with his right arm over his eyes.

"Lilly.. is that you?" He slowly moved his arm and lifted his head slowly.

"Yes Mikhail. And I brought Dr. Ayame. She's going to make you better, I promise."

Ayame sat her medical bag down on the night stand next to his bed. "Hello, Mihail! I hear you're not feeling very well.. So Hiro and I are here to make you well again. Now, tell me what's going on."

"My head is killing me, I have bad chills, and when I cough I wheeze a lot. And, I'm really weak."

"Alright, that's a good start. Can you sit up for me please?"

"Yeah, I'll try." Mikhail sat up very slowly, cringing from the pain of his sore body. Once sitting up, he quickly wrapped his blanket tightly around him. Ayame opened up her medical bag and took out a stethoscope and a thermometer. She placed the thermometer under his tongue and positioned the stethoscope onto his chest. "Take a deep breath for me."

Mikhail did as he was told, but stopped mid breath and began to cough roughly. He held his chest and squeezed his eyes shut. Ayame moved the stethoscope to his back and had him take another deep breath. The same outcome happened again. She removed the thermometer after a few minutes and read it carefully. "103.6 Hiro. Write that down, will you please?"

"Right away, Dr." Hiro began to jot down notes in a small notebook. Lillian observed the two and began to grow even more worried once she heard what his fever reached to. After a few more moments of examining Mikhail, she unhooked the stethoscope from her ears and put her hands on her hips.

"Young man, you have a bad case of pneumonia."

"Great." Mikhail sighed and let out another cough. Lillian could feel her heart sink. She should have had them stay at a hotel in the city. Maybe this would have never happened.

"Don't tell me you were out in that storm yesterday." Ayame put her tools back into her bag and then looked over to Lillian. She could see that the young farmer was blushing a deep red.

"Yes. We were. But we didn't think it was going to lead to this! You see, it was his birthday so we went to the city to have his violin checked out and on our way home we got caught in the storm and-"

"Well, it could be a lot worse. It isn't anyone's fault, it's just nature's wrath. But he needs strict bed rest. No playing violin, watching tv or going on walks. Sleep as much as you can. I'm going back to the office to make up some medicine for Mikhail, and Lillian, please keep an eye on him. If he seems to get worse, or isn't responding as well, come get me asap. This is important. Now Mikhail, try to rest and take good care of yourself. I'd hate to see you end up in my clinic with IV's in your arm."

"Yes Ma'am." Mikhail laid his right arm over his eyes again and sunk deep into his warm bed. Lillian pulled up a stool and sat by his bed.

"We will be going now. Lillian, I'll have his medicine ready in about 2 hours if you would like to come pick it up for him. You two take care now, okay?"

"Thank you both so much for coming out."

"No problem. See you around." Ayame and Hiro walked out of the town hall and back to their own building. Lillian sighed and looked over to Mikhail.

"I'm so sorry, Mikhail.. It's all my fault. I should have paid for a hotel for us to stay in." She lowered her head in shame.

"Don't beat yourself up, Lilly. Besides, I had a lot of fun, and that's what matters, right?"

"I had fun too, but you got sick from it."

"Lilly.. please. I'll be okay. I just need to take care of myself, that's all."

"I was really worried, Mikhail. To come in and see you like this…A cold is one thing, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone this sick."

"I wish you wouldn't worry. Everyone gets sick. It's part of life."

"Yes, I'm aware of that. But yours could have been helped."

"It could have, but it's too late now."

"Yeah.. I guess it is. I can't take it back, but I can take good care of you. Do you feel like eating anything?"

"Not really."

"Well, too bad. I'm going home to make you some soup. That will give you time to rest, and then on my way back I can get your medicine from Ayame."

"Sounds like a plan. Maybe by then I'll have an appetite." He formed a weak smile and took Lillian's hand into his. "You really are wonderful, you know that."

Lillian blushed and turned her head slightly. "Well, you'd do the same for me. That's what girlfriends are for, right?"

"Right. And yes, I would do the same for you."

Lillian stood up and tucked Mikhail in snugly. "Rest up, I'll be back soon."

"Alright, be safe."

Lillian walked out of the town hall and straight towards her farm. She couldn't stop worrying about Mikhail, but knew she couldn't change what was happening. She walked into her home and straight to the fridge where she pulled out an onion, carrots, peas, tomatoes and a container of prepared tofu. She carefully washed each product and began cutting them in uniform sizes. She began to sauté the onions, carrots and peas in a spoonful of butter, to bring out the flavor of each vegetable. She then added water, the tomatoes and cubed tofu and set it on the back burner to simmer.

'It's not much, but I know he likes tofu. I just hope he'll eat it.' She flopped onto her bed and gazed up at the ceiling. 'I wonder what kind of medicine Ayame's going to give him. I had it when I was younger, but it wasn't even remotely bad as what Mikhail has. I don't even remember the type of medicine I had..' After a few moments of pondering, she drifted off to sleep. She awoke an hour later, and noticed that her house was filled with a savory aroma.

"I can't believe I fell asleep." She got out of her bed and walked over to the stove where she began to stir the soup. She gave it a quick taste test, and approved it for consumption. She took it off of the heat, and put a lid on the pot. "It'd be a shame if it went cold.." She then put the pot into a box so it would be easier to carry, and then went straight out the door towards Ayame's clinic. When she arrived, she sat the box down and opened the door and scooped the box back up into her arms. Hiro was waiting for her behind the counter.

"Hello Lillian. Dr. Ayame has Mikhail's medication for you right here." He smiled sweetly towards her and handed her a bottle of liquid medication. "It's a form of penicillin. Make sure he takes 2 tablespoons every 6 hours, with something to eat. Give it to him until all of it has been used up. Don't skip doses, or he may get worse."

"Thank you Hiro. I really appreciate it, and I know Mikhail does too."

"You're welcome. Say, do you need a hand with the door? I notice you're carrying something heavy."

"That would be wonderful. Thank you Hiro, you're sweet." Lillian turned around and made her way towards the door. Hiro opened the door for her and slightly blushed.

"No problem. Just trying to help out a lovely lady like yourself."

Lillian felt a little awkward from this statement, but decided to shake it off. She thanked Hiro again and walked off towards the town hall. She made it inside and went straight towards Mikhail's room. She entered quietly, making sure not to wake him.

"Hey, Lillian."

"Oh. Hey Mikhail! I didn't know you were awake."

"Yeah, I just woke up a few minutes ago."

"Did you sleep good?"

"Eh, kinda. I woke myself up by coughing."

"Aw, I'm sorry. Here, I made you some soup. Where do you keep your dishes at?"

"In the small cabinet over in the right corner. There should be spoons there too."

Lillian made her way over to the cabinet and pulled out a bowl and a spoon. She poured a ladle full of soup into the bowl and returned the lid to the pot. She walked over and gestured for Mikhail to sit up. He did so, moving very slowly. He cupped the bowl in his hands and began to eat slowly.

"It's not much, but I know you need something warm in your stomach right now."

"Lillian, it's delicious, thanks!" Mikhail began to eat a little faster, slurping the broth as he went on.

Lillian let out a sigh of relief. "You're welcome, Mikhail. I was hoping you would like it. It was just something I whipped up real quick." She was happy that he was actually eating.

"Well, you did a good job. See, I'm already done!" Mikhail handed her back the bowl. It wasn't much, but it was enough to give him nourishment.

"Would you like anymore?"

"Nah, I appreciate it though."

"Alright. Well I'll put it in your fridge. But I need you to take this medicine now." She stood up and walked back over to the cabinet. "Do you have any measuring spoons?"

"Yeah, they should be in there."

"Aha! Here they are." She pulled them out of a small drawer and walked back over to Mikhail's side. She pulled the small bottle out of her pocket and poured him a tablespoon. "Now you need to take two of these, so swallow this."

Mikhail did so, cringing at the taste. Lillian filled up another tablespoon full and handed it to Mikhail. She watched as he struggled to keep it down. She fetched him a cold glass of water so he could wash it down.

"Thanks Lillian. I really appreciate you taking care of me."

"You're welcome Mikhail. Anything for you."

"Lillian?"

"Yeah Mikhail, what is it?"

Mikhail took a deep breath and sunk back into his bed. "I…love you."