Nature's Medicine

Poison

"And this fucking shit happens!" Adella slams her ax on log splitting it in half.

Chopping fire wood isn't the best thing to take her anger out on but it was emotionally better than punching something and eventually going to the clinic seeing the doctor to get her hands patched up. Or worse, it could be his old mentor.

"Sounds like the universe doesn't want you to be happy." Shane leaned a bit forward drinking his beer.

Adella shot a death glare and placed another log on the stump, "I am this close to smacking that can out of your hand." She growled holding up pinched fingers before slamming her ax down in the log.

"Alright sorry but what did you expect me to say?" Shane shrugs in defense.

"Oh I don't know something along the lines of 'have a beer, maybe you'll calm down.'" She lowers her voice attempting an impression of him.

"Hey, I've learned at least one thing while living with my aunt. Never fuck with an angry woman with an ax." He preached taking another sip.

Adella raises her eyebrows agreeing with his statement, "Fair point." She continues chopping wood.

"But I'll agree with you on one thing, it's a bit odd that she showed up right before the string bean could finish his sentence."

"Yeah." She nodded wiping sweat off her brow. She glances out toward the dirt road and sees someone walking towards the farm. After closer inspection the person was Ashley.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Adella groans to herself and goes back to swinging her ax.

"Hey! It's Adella right?" Ashley checked with a smile, "I know yesterday was a bit awkward and I wanted to come out here to properly introduce myself. Also I brought these for you," She pulls out a small container, "Harvey told me you liked brownies and I wanted to make a better second impression."

"Well thank you," Adella half smiles, "That's actually really thoughtful of you."

"I try to be," she smiles lifting her shoulders a bit, "In case you were curious, I'm here to deliver an acceptance letter to Harvey about a fellowship at the research clinic I work at. Normally they would be sent through the mail but I told them I would deliver it personally since I haven't seen him in years."

"Wow, that's awesome! Has he thought about taking it?" Adella questioned hiding the sinking feeling in her gut.

"He said he would think about it and that's pretty much it." She told her with a slight sigh, "Well, I'm pretty much here till he gives me an answer. Guess I'll see you around then." Ashley waved before leaving the farm.

Adella waited till she was a fair amount of distance before going to throw away the brownies.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah! What are you doing with those?" Shane exclaimed stopping her.

"I am not eating anything she makes." She's about to throw them away.

"Don't put perfect good brownies to waste!" He takes the container and eats one. "What do you think she poisoned them?"

-<~***~>-

Adella was relaxing in her living watching the TV then her phone rings.

"Hello?" She answers and hears a distressed Emily.

"Shane is at the hospital!" Emily starts trying to get more information before getting back on the line, "He got sick at the saloon and we think he got food poisoning."

"Al-alright I'll be right over!" She hangs up and quickly her bag before sprinting out the door.

Something that Emily said bounced in her skull as rushes to the clinic. She couldn't concentrate on theories on how Shane got sick but more concerned about that sinking feeling in her stomach about the wellbeing of her friend.

Adella bursts through the door and sees the blonde doctor sitting at the front desk. Ashley glances up about to greet her but her mouth went from a smile to a surprised frown.

"I take it you're here for Shane." She said blankly.

Why the hell is she sitting at the front desk? Where is Maru? Was Harvey okay with her being there? Why did Ashley look at her like that? Many other questions raced through her head but Adella ignored it since it wasn't her business.

"Yeah, can I see him?" She asked focusing on what she came for.

"Follow me." Ashley motions her to the back and leads her to his room.

She sees Emily sitting in a chair next to his bed and rushes over to hug her. "How's he doing?" Adella asked trying to calm her down.

"He's asleep right now, Dr. Harvey pumped his stomach and he and Maru are doing some tests." Emily informed her glancing back at Shane, "He ate some pepper poppers before saying his stomach hurt and the next thing you know he pukes on the floor."

"That's a bit weird." She stated puzzled.

"Tell me about it," Emily nodded then they both hear Harvey walk in, "Did you find anything doctor?"

"Yes actually, we found an abnormal amount of alcohol in his system but also Atrazine, a common herbicide." Harvey read off his clipboard.

"What?!" The two blue haired women shouted in surprise.

"Surprisingly, the alcohol was trying to prevent the herbicide entering his bloodstream but clumping to individual compounds. I may sound hypocritical but his habit saved his life."

"That's awesome though," Emily smiled, "Will he be okay?"

"I'm happy to say he'll make a full recovery." Harvey smiles.

Adella had Ashley in the corner of her eye while they were talking to Harvey, when he said Shane will be fine she ducked out her view probably back to the front desk.

"But I'm curious as to how it entered his stomach." Harvey thought loud thumbing through the pages of his clipboard.

"I might be able to answer that but can I talk to you privately?" Adella asked then looked to Emily as to say she'll fill her in later.

"Of course," he obliged and walks across the hall to his office, "What do you think happened?" He questioned shutting the door.

"I think Ashley poisoned him." Adella started bluntly.

"What?!" He slammed his clipboard down on his desk. It frightened her to see such aggression from Harvey. "How could you accuse her of such a thing?!"

The boom in his voice echoed around the small room making her want to retract her statement. Despite him being irate she knew his bark was worse than his bite.

"She came by my house earlier today and gave me brownies because you told her I liked them." Adella barked, "I didn't eat them but Shane did."

The heat of his anger drained from as he stood there pondering at her words. He sighs not fully believing, "Just because he ate the brownies she made doesn't mean she poisoned him. Correlation is not causation."

"I just threw out an idea on how he got sick." Adella defended, "I didn't expect you to believe it but not completely dismiss it because your 'mentor' is involved."

"But that's a strong allegation to put on someone, especially a doctor!" Harvey argued.

"So?! You have the expertise to confirm or deny that by asking the person who got sick!" She fumed, "If you can prove me wrong I'll double down on what I said." She challenged before leaving his office.

Adella stormed back to her house shaken and fuming that Harvey would stick up for Ashley. She didn't fully know it was her but he should've known better to at least open to the possibility and follow through with an investigation. It made her physically sick that she could do something so heinous that was originally meant for her and she could bat her eyes to convince him she did nothing wrong. It's possible that Adella was being jealous and Ashley was genuinely trying to make amends. But who knows, she might catch her in the act if it happens a second time.