Only In My Dreams | Dr. Harvey | Stardew Valley

Chapter Five: I Will Take Care of You (Part 2)

It had been almost been a week since being admitted into the hospital and I could already feel that things were beginning to improve. My concussion was still our only concern, but since it wasn't getting any worse than it was, Harvey took that as a positive sign. Though, he mentioned that head injuries are tricky and could take a bad turn if I didn't stay up on the medication I had been taking. It was important that I followed his instructions and didn't do anything too active. While things were starting to look good for me, so did Kevin and his bad relationship with alcohol. He was starting to show a side I hadn't seen in a long time and he was starting to limit how often he would hang our with Shane at the bar, which was honestly a big surprise to me. I wasn't sure what Harvey and him had discussed, but whatever it was, it seemed to really motivate him to change. It was nice to not have to worry as much I had been. 

Looking up from the book I had been reading about women's health and positivity, I watched as Harvey came into the room with a bouquet of fresh flowers and a magazine. My eyes widened while he set an vase on the nightstand next to me. "A sweet lady came into town this morning selling these and I thought you would enjoy some color in here." He smiled, a subtle blush dusting across his cheeks.

I placed my hand on my heart and set my book faced down on my lap. "Harvey, you didn't have to get me anything. This is so sweet of you!" I felt my cheeks get warm as I peaked over at the magazine he sat beside his gift. Escape into Cottage Core. "How did you know I was into this sort of thing?" I asked, reaching over and picking it up.

He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "I noticed a few notes and magazines you had already collected at your farm about cottage core aesthetics." He put his hands up a little frantically, waving them. "I wasn't snooping or anything! I just happened to take a glance when I was gathering your things for you."

I covered my mouth, not being able to help but giggle at his anxiousness. "Even if you had snooped, I wouldn't have minded." I pushed the covered down and carefully scooted my way towards the edge. "This really made my morning, Harvey. Thank you."

He nodded sweetly before grabbing ahold of my hands. "Here, let me help you down." One of his hands slid down to my waist as I tried not to lose my balance when my feet hit the floor. "Careful not to put too much pressure on your leg." He reminded me. Once I tried taking a step, I felt a shooting pain go up my leg that made me almost fall down. I squeaked and tripped. "Careful!" 

The sudden grip around my hips and back pulled me closer to him, protecting me from my fall. And for a split second, I looked up and noticed the small space between out faces, our eyes meeting for a moment. My cheeks began to feel a little warm and I felt a feeling in my heart that I hadn't ever felt before. A fluttery feeling that was almost similar to stage fright, but not as painful. I loosened the tight grip I had on his shoulders and slid them down, trying to distance myself a little bit. Only for a second did we stay in silence before someone cleared their throat near the entrance of the room. I looked over to see Kevin with a pretty sour expression.

"Am I interrupting something?" He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, his eyes narrowing intensely at Harvey. 

I blinked a few times before frantically pulling away and getting into my wheelchair with the edge of bed keeping my balance. "N-No, not at all." I frowned a little in shame. "Harvey was just helping me, that's all." 

I could see Harvey return the same stare to Kevin. "Anything I can help you with?" Was his only response.

"I was coming in here to check up on Mae." He turned and looked at me, almost upset. "How are you feeling this morning?" He walked over and stepped in front, clearly trying to separate Harvey away from me. 

"I-I'm doing better." I shrugged with little to come up with. 

Kevin looked at the flowers then straight to Harvey. "Isn't she well enough for me take her home and take care of her there?" He seemed a little impatient.

Harvey gripped the bridge of his nose in frustration and closed his eyes. "We've been through this a hundred times, Kevin. She needs to stay here for me to keep an eye on her. Her concussion could get worse if she's not under proper care." 

His response struck a nerve. "I'm starting to wonder if you think I'm not capable of caring for my own girlfriend. You're just a doctor, you barely know anything about her. I know what she needs more than you do." Anger started to fill his eyes.

"Kevin, I think we should listen to Harvey. You may know more about me, but he knows more about what I need for my health. If I could do all of this in the comfort of my own home, trust me, I would." I frowned and placed my hand on his arm. 

Not responding to a word I said, he turned to Harvey again and crossed his arms. "She at least needs to get out of here and have some fresh air." He stated and grabbed the back of the wheelchair. "She needs time away from here and we need time alone together without a nurse and doctor always up our noses."

Harvey glared. "I'm sorry, but you're not thinking in Mae's best interest. Maybe if you both were married it would be different, but being a boyfriend doesn't mean anything in the medical world." 

I widened my eyes at his statement, fearing that it would cause a possible fight between the two. I put my hands up to get their attention. "Look, maybe a stroll around outside would be good for me! I won't be doing any strenuous activity and Kevin may be right, the fresh air would do me some good." I bit my lip, a bit scared of the response.

Harvey looked at me with slight concern. "Are you sure that's what you want?" 

I sat in silence, thinking a bit deeply on his question without a for sure answer. Kevin decided to answer for me. "You heard her. Come on Mae, I'll take us somewhere it'll just be us two." He started to roll me towards out of the room and towards the exit.

I turned around for a minute. "It won't be too long, I promise. Thank you, Harvey." I smiled a bit sadly and faced forward as we made our way outside.

My eyes were nearly completely blinded as the sunlight beamed onto my face, causing me to flinch and look away immediately. As my sight adjusted, I took in a deep breath of fresh air, enjoying the late spring wind blowing through me. I took a good look around at what I have been missing out on this past week and smiled when I saw Evelyn outside planting in her small garden. It was lovely to be out for a moment. Though, when I looked up behind me to look at Kevin, his expression looked nearly resentful. My stomach dropped and I could feel a bad feeling come over me as I faced forward, watching him roll me towards the dirt path that leads to Marnie's ranch and Leah's cabin. 

He pushed me over towards the small lake and walked in front of me. "Now that we're finally alone, you can explain to me what the hell is going on." His glare shot right through me.

I was completely speechless. "What are you talking about?" I frowned and hugged myself uncomfortably as I tried to think about what he was referring to.

"Don't play innocent and naïve, Mae. You know what I'm talking about." I could see his face stiffen as he clenched his teeth and his fists tightened.

"I'm sorry, I really don't know what you're-"

"You and Harvey!" He leaned forward and grabbed ahold of my cheeks with one hand, causing a small squeak to escape me. "Ever since you and him have been getting some quality time alone, it seems to me you've been getting romantic with each other. And don't think I don't see the way you look at him." His glare turned into pure hatred. "First you show up to meet me with this asshole by your side, then you sneak around late at night and wind up here? And you have the nerve to tell me that all of this was just convenience and he's the only one who can take care of you? I know you're not really hurt that badly." Standing up, he reached into his vest pocket and pulled out the medication pills that Harvey had been giving to me. My eyes shot wide open. "And drugging you with who knows what?" He stared at one of the labels. "I mean, how do you even pronounce this shit? Has it ever occurred to you that he's just keeping you there and babying you just to get closer to you? To my girlfriend!" He shouted.

I looked at him in disbelief, seeing how absolutely absurd he was being. "Kevin, what has gotten into you?" I was afraid to continue, but I needed to reassure him that nothing was happening. "I need those and you know it! Harvey wouldn't ever do anything to-"

"Oh, really?" His shoulders relaxed and a small grin stretched across his face. I watched as he opened up the bottles and tossed the lids to the ground, walking over to the edge of the water. "We'll see what happens when you don't have these anymore." 

Tears filled my eyes as I yelled at him. "Stop, Kevin, please! I need those!"

He dumped them carelessly into the water and threw the bottle as far off as he could into the distance, turning around and making his way over. "We'll see how much you need them when it wears off at home." He kneeled down and got close to my face. "I'm not much for playing games, Mae. You should know that by now." 

I started to cry. "I want to go back! Take me back now-" A hard slap across my face stung my cheek. I was stunned as the lump in my throat caught any noise I could make. 

"You're absolutely pathetic." His words stabbed through me.

"Step away from her. Right. Now." A familiar voice spoke firmly in the distance.

Our eyes both darted over to see Harvey standing behind the shrubbery. His sleeves were rolled up and I could see the look of pure anger in his eyes. Something I had never seen on him before. Kevin's eyes shot him a glared as he stood right in front of me. I wanted to do more, but I felt so weak and defeated. I lowered my head and closed my eyes in fear. I could feel my entire body start to shake as I hugged myself tightly.

"You should turn around and head back while you can, Harvey." He chuckled and rolled his eyes egotistically. "Or this really won't end well for you. You're not much of a fighter."

Harvey took a few steps closer. I looked up to see him standing taller than him, causing a bit of a nervous flush to spread across my cheeks. He quickly gripped the collar to Kevin's shirt and brought him inches away from his face. I could see the confidence wipe away on Kevin's expression, leaving nothing but a frightened coward. He tried to push and shove Harvey off of him, but to no avail. I never knew Harvey was so strong. It was . . . almost attractive. 

"You need to pack your things and leave this town, before I do it by force." His voice was cold and demanding. He let go of him with a firm shove. 

Kevin rolled his eyes and shot at glance at me. "Go ahead. Take the unfaithful whore." 

Harvey's stare quickly narrowed as he raised his right fist and knocked him a cold hard blow to the face, shooting Kevin down straight to the ground. "Call her that again! I dare you." He walked up closer to the sad rat laying curled up on the ground, holding his now probably broken nose. "If you know what's best for yourself, you'll get out of here without a word." The anger he was feeling showed as I looked at his balled up fists, trembling. His breathing was heavy, but his posture stood tall and strong. 

Kevin stood up weakly and held onto his face, blood dripping down his chin. "Whatever." That was the last thing he said as he made his way down the path toward my farm. 

Silence filled the air before Harvey kneeled down in front of me and took my hands gently. "Oh, Mae. Are you alright?" He looked hurt. 

I nodded slowly and looked down. "I-I'm sorry . . ." I bit my lip to fight the tears urging their way down my cheeks. "I had no idea he was going to do that." I threw myself into his arms, hanging on the edge of my wheelchair. "Oh, Harvey. I should have listened." I burst into tears.

He held me close and gently stroked my head, shushing me quietly. "It's going to be okay, Mae. There is nothing to be sorry about." He sighed and pulled away, cupping my cheeks. "I knew something about him was off and I knew I had to follow to make sure you were okay." He looked off to the side, his cheeks going a bit red. "That's probably a weird thing to do."

I shook my head and smiled sadly. "Thank you." 

His eyes met mine as a small moment of silence passed. "Your health matters to me, Mae." He rubbed the back of his neck and his shoulders tensed a little. "If you'd like to, you could stay at my place above the hospital. I'm a bit uncomfortable knowing that there could be a possibility that he could come back. And you'd be down there all alone." I saw his mustache droop along with his lips. "Would that cross any boundaries between us?"

I blushed, my heart almost dancing with joy with the amount of concern he shared with me. "That would actually be great. I'm a little afraid, too." 

"Great! Then I'll help you get settled in. Since it's above the clinic, I can still get you anything you need, medication wise." He smiled while standing up, heading behind me to push me. "I'm happy you're safe, Mae."

I am happy, too . . .