Chapter 1 - On the Verge of Burning Out

Spring, Year 1, Mon. 1

Harvey

Harvey was relatively new to Pelican Town; he didn't know any of the residents, nor was he comfortable with the layout or confident enough to ask for directions. The long road was bare and empty, a sight that fueled his worries that Pelican Town was indeed a ghost town. For a moment, he did regret quitting his job in the city, well-paying and established, not to mention a position of leadership that even his father couldn't look down at.

"Oh, are you the new doctor?"

The voice was so sudden it startled him out of his thoughts. As the young doctor turned his head, he met a stranger with red hair and a child at her side. It took Harvey a moment to get his brain out of the oven, but as the sudden terror died down, he was able to speak like the professional he was.

"Yes," he mustered. Fantastic, after standing there for twenty minutes in bleak silence, that's the best he could muster. "I'm… sorry. Is this Pelican Town?"

"Nope, Grampleton," The woman said with a cheeky smile, then laughed once she got a flustered response, "It's alright, Doc, yes. Pelican Town is down the street. Mayor Lewis and I spent the last several weeks preparing for your arrival. Come, I'll show you the clinic... or lack there off."

"There's no hospital?" Harvey asked out of concern.

"Not for miles," The woman answered, "Sorry, where are my manners? I'm Robin, the local carpenter. This is my daughter, Maru."

"Hello!" Maru waved.

"Hello there," He replied in a light tone.

"Can I work for you one day?" Maru went on excitedly, "I wanna be a nurse, and mom said I could use the exposure…."

"When you turn eighteen, honey, you can," Robin laughed with a smile, "Come, I'll show you what we have."

"Excellent," Harvey went on as he followed the small family towards Pelican Town. Soon they came across what looked to be an abandoned building, stuffed to the brim with flickering lights and undone walls. Something vile traveled throughout the clinic… was it mold?

Rest in peace, hard-earned medical license.

"Sorry about the mess. Pelican Town hasn't had a good doctor for years, and Mayor Lewis failed to see a reason to keep the building going. Doctors get paid, don't they? With enough time, you'll have the clinic up and going in… five years?"

"Five years?" Harvey stumbled; he couldn't make a living without a building. With house calls, he was paid by the patient, not the hour. Most of his expenses would go towards rebuilding the clinic from the ground up. Of course, doctors really didn't need a large hospital to do some good, sometimes emergencies were performed on the fly and merely recovery time was spent in a hospital. He'd need help from neighboring towns if times grew too complicated, but his hands and his most basic procedures would have to do for now.

"Oh, the best part, your apartment is upstairs," Robin said, "You get to live where you work, Doc. Isn't that exciting?"

"Thank you, Robin," Harvey answered, "I'll... see where things go from here."

"No problem," Robin encouraged warmly, "Don't worry, Pelican Town is fairly new, a lot of us came here with nothing. You'll fit right in."

As Harvey waved goodbye to the small family, all he could do was stare at what he was given to work with. Of course, he had the gold to keep this going, but the time. The patience?

Was he in over his head?

Hard to believe that was ten years ago, and the payoff was worth it, sort of speak.

Harvey was an odd duck. Normal doctors would settle in the city, find ways to make a living in the hospital, buy out a nice house and settle down with a family. As he grew up and studied medicine for Yoba only knows how long, no one told him how grueling the path to doctorhood would be. Somehow, someway, he found it in his mind to keep going. Some would quit after they failed that first course in human biology back in high school, some drop out after their year in med school. Harvey kept going, his heart and mind knew he was very capable. Simply put, he was an odd duck, hyperfocused on his goal and nothing stood in his way. He knew this growing up, and he knew this was something that would trickle into adulthood. It was also something that kept him from mingling in other social circles, people took one look at him and sniffed out what made him different. It wasn't something he wanted to harp on, something he could afford to discover if it truly was psychological, but he knew he was... well for a lack of a better word, atypical.

It was something that made living in Pelican Town rather difficult to navigate. If he wasn't a doctor, then what else was there? The true Harvey was afraid to come out of his shell, and it wasn't without reason. He wouldn't consider himself shy an introvert masquerading as an extrovert when he needed to be. Communication, confidence, intellect, motivation, all played into filling his role as a doctor. He couldn't clam up and freeze whenever he had a life on the line in the emergency room, nor a phone call from Evelyn worried sick about George not breathing properly in the middle of the night. Harvey had to be able to bounce whenever and his anxieties, his oddities, had to be kicked down the road. His performance took a dip as of late. Harvey found himself zoning out whenever a patient expressed their current grievances, almost assigned the wrong medication at one point, and found himself going the entire day without eating a meal.

He knew the anxiety had a habit of blocking the appetite, and perhaps downing three or four cups of coffee every single day wasn't healthy either. He tried to break things up, instead of frozen meals he'd eat bags of frozen vegetables and even invented a travel cooker, but it wasn't the same as the home-cooked meals he used to make himself in the city. Today was planned to be a busy day in the clinic, and his leg was acting up this morning, something he didn't want to deal with. Ten years ago, back when he first moved into Pelican Town to start his own private practice at the age of twenty-eight, he decided to take a walk around town to get to know the layout.

It was near the mountains when it happened, the roads slick with ice and the ledge he was on stood tall and proud. It was a sheet of black ice that did it, a condition in winter that was known to drive cars off the road if drivers weren't careful. Thankfully he was merely walking, but the slip caused damage that would haunt him for the rest of his life. He fractured his hip, which led to months of physical therapy to try and correct, and a cane for aid if the pain became too much to bear. Harvey didn't like the sight of it. In his mind, it wasn't a good look for the doctor to seem unable. Ever since the fall, he wrestled with the idea of how this was going to harm his business, and how rumors that the doctor couldn't take care of himself would impact his only source of income. Of course, the villagers have been nothing but kind and supportive, but Harvey took a while to adjust.

A walking aid at such a young age baffled him for a long while, but even he knew as a doctor these were a part of life. Sometimes accidents happen, sometimes the celestial dice of Yoba hands out second chances and sometimes he simply chooses not to. After all, it could've been much worse, he could've snapped his neck that day, and it would've been game over. He was thankful for it, but also thankful for the ability to be able to get up and do things, and not have chronic pain flare up on a rather cloudy day.

Harvey climbed out of bed, and not without heartache. He tried not to focus on the stabbing pain in his left leg as he prepared to get ready for the day. Rainy Tuesday meant a busy day for him in the clinic, where he scheduled most of his appointments from not only Pelican Town to Grampleton for extra profit.

Most of the time the payment for the profession was more than decent, but for private businesses, he was paid by the patient, not the hour. Harvey lamented about not being able to make ends meet more than once, but the villagers took care of each other. Whenever someone stumbled, someone else stepped up, the perks of living in a small community.

Gus made sure the residents wouldn't go hungry even if they couldn't pay, Emily made clothes for those who couldn't afford them, Robin repaired structures after a storm whenever requested, Demetrius took care of the soil with his science experiments whenever an heir decided to return.

Pelican Town and Grampleton were the last bastions of life before reaching the Gem Sea, so it was nice to keep a tight-knit community… or so he thought. The villagers only mingled during festival events or weddings, which happened twenty years ago with Kent and Jodi.

Nine O'clock, Harvey should've been in the clinic twenty minutes ago, but truth be told his brain was in zombie mode. He could just roll out of bed in his pajamas, but he also knew that Pelican Town deserved better. His eyes lingered over to the photo he kept near and dear, a relic of a past that his mind refused to let go of. It was one of the few things he held in his apartment that provided comfort, aside from his radio and collection of hobbies he normally kept on the bookshelf.

Moving to Pelican Town and diving headfirst into general family medicine seemed like a proper fit in hindsight, however, it's what Harvey lacked the most. Deep down he wanted to do some genuine good and help others, but as a twist of fate, it worked against him. Building his own business from the ground up sliced through everything he had, and little did he know it was close friends and neighbors that would become the people he'd be responsible for.

Being the only doctor for miles was quickly something Harvey learned he wouldn't wish on his own enemy. The population in Pelican Town wasn't that high, precisely less than thirty people, but carrying the weight of thirty people who didn't give a damn about their health made him want to pull the strands of gray in his hair that kept on coming.

Thirty-eight years old, already shreds of silver in the light. Of course, the stress came with his job, but it really was rewarding. Whether or not he was good at it though was up for debate. This also didn't hide from the truth of the matter, he was growing older, and his own bouts of motivation drained by the second. Five years… five years since it happened, the passing of a soul that mattered to the most, a soul he couldn't save…

"Doc, we got a bad one!"

Harvey found himself zoning out in his patient room so much that the voice of his nurse once again startled him. It wasn't unlike him to get lost in his thoughts, but with Wednesday being particularly a slow day in the clinic, and with only three cups of coffee down with it barely being noon, the Doc was struggling to stay alert.

Still, this was enough to give him a jump start, a patient needs his help, no time for daydreams, he could save that for later. He poured through the flappy doors of the clinic and in all honesty, it was the last person he wanted to work on today; The Farmer, left hand-dipped in a container of alcohol with a deep laceration that could only be done with an ax or a saw.

"Sweet Yoba, look at you," he mumbled, perplexed, then faced his nurse, "Thanks, Maru. I'll take it from here."

"You better," Maru replied with a grin, "I'm going out to lunch, be back in ten."

"Twenty," The Doc added on with a shy smile, "Ten of those minutes are travel time, another five before the meal is cooked. Go on. You've earned it today."

"Thanks, doc," Maru replied, putting away her nurse's uniform for now, "See you later, Noelle. Sorry about your hand!"

Oh, that's her name? Harvey knew it was terrible with names but remembered faces. Harvey had only seen The Farmer once or twice, usually in a mad dash to Pierre's and back to Bluebell Farm.

He caught wind of the granddaughter moving back in, he could only imagine what caused her to move back, a tough time in the city? He knew that too well. Being a good neighbor would have to come later, however, the fear in her eyes told him this needed to be done. On instinct, Harvey reached for one of the soft plush towels for this occasion alone—it wasn't healthy to have a patient's blood all over the place.

"Let's take a look," He instructed, his tone coated with an authoritative layer that would intimidate the hell out of anyone. He wasn't sure why he presented himself that way, but it worked. Harvey wanted to make sure he wasn't the type to grab a beer or a cup of wine with. A doctor was his only purpose. He could be friendly and respectable, but friends? That ended with med school.

The Farmer mostly remained silent but stared at him with a pair of curious yet fearful brown eyes. Brown skin, long hair that seemed to be the texture of wool. Perhaps the first African American to move in since a friend of his in the mountains.

Nevertheless, calming her down and making her comfortable was his top priority. It was a part of his oath to treat everyone with respect despite their background and upbringing. He didn't want to create a shield of distress between him and his new patient, but Harvey had a feeling it was already present, and he couldn't blame her for it.

"This will require stitches," Harvey mumbled, more or less to himself as he felt his mind slip knee deep into the procedure, "How do you feel about needles?"

The Farmer shook her head, looked everywhere but the stitches in her hand. Again, Harvey couldn't blame her for wanting to stay silent, perhaps she was doing everything in her power not to sob in front of her. Which, he wouldn't be a stranger to.

Patients cried in front of him all the time, and it would be a double standard for him to dissuade her from doing so. Crying was a natural response to pain after all. She was the new farmer; this was a new life change for whatever reason that forced her to move to Pelican Town.

The Farmer remained silent as he continued to work. He was impressed with her bravery, looked away and bit on her tongue each time the needle pricked her skin. Harvey knew he had this procedure down to a form of art; he could repair the wound without leaving too much of a scar. Yes, there were ways to do this without grotesquely damaging the skin. He handled her with care, tied the knot and mopped up the blood before carefully tying a bandage for completion.

"Good, good," Harvey complimented once he let go, and the Farmer observed her hand, "Nice work… fantastic."

"Um… thanks?" The farmer said, "I… have to get going."

"Thank you for your patience, I'm sorry you had to go through this," Harvey concluded, "I'll schedule a follow-up appointment for the stitches to be removed in seven days, and it will take another seven days for your hand to fully recover. Keep the bandage for up to forty-eight hours and you should be good to return to your day-to-day activities. Please be careful with farm work, Farmers are known to injure themselves more than any other profession."

"Thank you," the farmer replied, "… What's your name?"

"Dr. Becker," Harvey replied with an authoritative tone, "May I ask for yours?"

"Noelle," she answered, "I… moved onto my grandfather's estate about a few weeks ago."

"You've been the buzz around town," Harvey continued, impressed he was able to carry on the conversation. It wasn't that he hated interacting with people, he just wasn't a conversationalist. He often missed social cues and preferred to not make a fool of himself. But because he had an appointment in a few minutes, he couldn't make it long. "I'll let you free, you'll be receiving a bill within seven to ten business days."

"Alright," Noelle said as she slid off the bench, while Harvey respectfully prepared the door for her. Harvey caught the amused expression on her face as if that wasn't often done for her.

"Oh," she complimented, seemingly more relaxed than before, and that's when Harvey knew he'd done his job as they meandered back to the front of the clinic. "Thanks."

"Take it easy, Miss Noelle," he said gently, plopping back into his seat and returning to his work. But as he sat, and the minutes ticked on—Maru should be back from back by now, Harvey found himself unable to work. Distraction wasn't a thing he normally suffered from, but for some reason, his brain simply didn't want to.

"I'm back!" Maru's voice chimed as the doorbell to the clinic rang with her entrance, her smile faded once she noticed the stake of his best friend, "Yoba, was it that bad? Didn't take you as the squeamish type."

Harvey blinked as it took a minute for his brain to reboot, "Oh, it's... nothing."

"You don't look so good," Maru pressed, "Did the patient give you a hard time?"

"Oh, no. She was fine," Harvey answered, "The wound looked terrible, but she sat through it, like a champ."

"Sounds like we got a tough cookie," Maru chirped with a smile, "Poor thing, she was bleeding all over the place. Emily's on her way for her physical, by the way."

"Good," Harvey said as he whipped his face and covered his mouth with a yawn. He shouldn't be this exhausted. Even after three cups of coffee, his eye lids remained weary and worn. In fact, much of the time his job required him to sit at his desk and write up new patient reports, taking appointment calls, or running a simple physical every now and then. Tuesdays and Thursdays was his busiest days in the clinic, other times he could close without consequence unless someone needed an emergency call.

The farmer, from what little research he stumbled across on his downside, carried a heavier load. She encountered daily physical labor, which required her to work in rain, sleet, and shine. Harvey also knew this from her grandfather, an old soul he'd gotten to know quite well before his passing. Already Harvey could see so much of Richard Sinclair within Noelle, he picked a fitting heir to take over the Bluebell estate. Maybe they'd bump into each other, maybe not, Harvey wasn't going to put too much thought into it.

"Yoba, you look awful," Maru exclaimed as Harvey exited the hallway that separated his home from the clinic, and of course the wretched cane clanking the tile floors with each step and a limp that kept him behind. "Rough night?"

"I'd rather not talk about it," Harvey answered in a pilot manner. His mind had a habit of gravitating towards the negative. "Sleep or not, I still have a job to do. Whose first on the list?"

"Physical due for Emily and then it'll be patients from Grampleton for the rest of the day," Maru explained, then turned to the doctor with a skeptical look, "Are you sure you're okay, doc?"

Ah, Emily. Something about her visits brightened his day a bit. Not in a romantic way, but her presence was naturally sunny and uplifting. There were two types of patients in this world, Harvey learned, those who participated and others that… well made him want to quit on most days. After all, he was still human, still allowed to have these feelings if his bias didn't get in the way.

Don't let spite ruin your performance, Harvey reminded himself.

"Nope," Harvey answered honestly, "But I won't harp on it."

"Harvey, seriously. If you need me to phone Dr. Carmon so that you can have a day off don't break yourself." Maru warned. "You don't look healthy yourself."

"I'm fine, Maru, thank you," Harvey smiled trying to distract from the fact that

"Just looking out for your Doc," Maru confirmed, only to be interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell in the clinic. Emily, right on time.

"Morning Harvey, Maru," Emily greeted warmly as she waved hello, "Yoba, Doc. You look awful."

"I said the same thing," Maru said as her face focused on the computer screen, "Good luck Emily, I hope things go well!"

"Thank you, Maru," Emily smiled as Harvey fell silent, letting the conversation happen on its own. He wasn't the best at small talk.

"Rough night doc?" Emily asked as they reached the back of the patient room, the same room where he had to do The Farmer's stitches, "Oh my Yoba, Harvey there's blood on the floor!"

Harvey blinked, unaware of his surroundings for a moment. His stomach twisted at the realization that Emily was right. It was dried and old, perhaps a trail left behind when The Farmer struck her hand. How he missed this was beyond him, Harvey took extra care to make sure his clinic was in tip-top shape for the next patient. How did he forget just then, was he on autopilot? Was he that exhausted to the point of forgetting basic protocol?

"Let's… head to the other room," Harvey said, embarrassed, as he guided Emily out of the way just for that reason.

"You need to take a day off, doc," Emily said, "You don't look good, and your aura is all off. What happened? Had a nightmare?"

Harvey froze, not sure how to proceed with this question as he guided Emily towards the other room. Patient becoming a doctor, never a good sign.

"Was it about Mona?"

He flinched, "No… no, it's fine, really."

"You're lying Harvey," Emily smirked as she sat on the patient bench, "Now I know Harvey is a neat freak, and I know he would never leave a trail of blood on the floor in his right mind. What happened yesterday, did you hurt yourself this time?"

"Due to the law, I can't really tell you," Harvey explained, even though he just broke several this morning without even thinking about it. "I'm alright not answering the second one."

"Harvey," Emily said in a sympathetic tone as Harvey began checking her vitals. "You're struggling."

Harvey focused on his work. It wasn't the first time people were able to catch him under the weather. It also wasn't the first time Harvey had to push through it. He wasn't feeling fantastic mentally, but he knew how to go into autopilot mode and just turn off the part of him that often got in the way. Nevertheless, Emily's physical only lasted a few minutes, and as a grown man should be able to, he got the job done.

"You'll be able to reunite with Mona someday, Harvey," Emily said affectionately, "You two were just the perfect couple. If anyone deserves a happy ending it's you."

"Thank you, Emily," Harvey replied in a pilot manner, but he could tell she wasn't finished.

"Prepared to hear the good news?" Emily said with a grin, Harvey tilted his head curiously. Her news and predictions of the future came from… questionable resources but Harvey decided to entertain her.

"I don't think she was meant for you," Emily encouraged warmly, "Well… of course I don't mean to mock her passing. Even though you two got along well, I just assumed Mona was meant for a greater purpose, you know. Maybe to show you… what you would like to see in someone one day?"

Harvey stood confused, "Pardon"

"Sometimes we need to go through hell to get to heaven," Emily shrugged. "Forgive my theorizing, but I'm suggesting she was meant to show you something, not the endgame… like foreshadowing in a novel."

"Oh," Harvey blinked, not sure what Emily was going on about. Of course, when you fall in love with someone it doesn't mean forever and ever. Anything can happen, and it's a roll of the dice whether it does.

"Have you considered therapy?" Emily suggested calmly, "I think you and half of Pelican Town could benefit. Nothing against you Doc, we just want the big brain of yours in top shape."

He chuckled dryly, big brain, right. Idiot savant seemed more fitting, Harveys saw himself as the most unintelligent bastard to ever walk the planet. He might have memorized every bit of information found in a medical book, but he's also the same person who left a trail of blood on the floor. That's not only a HIPPA violation had someone reported it, but a law regulated by the Firngil Republic. He could lose his job by that one mistake alone.

"If one could lend me three eight hundred gold per session, once a week, that would be lovely," Harvey said in a sarcastic tone of voice, though it was still somewhat playful. Simply put, he couldn't afford to go to therapy even if he wanted to. He had a hard enough time paying for the clinic, and that came first before anything else. Once bills were processed, Harvey had hardly enough to spend on himself. Harvey was left with two hundred to three hundred gold to get by.

Was it worth it? Yes, he knew sacrifice was part of doctorhood.

"Clinic's been going under doc?" Emily questioned, "Must be difficult running this place by yourself."

"I have enough to get by, not enough for frivolous spending," Harvey answered, sounding a tad defeated. Perhaps with his job in the hospital, he could afford a session, but as a small-town businessman, any and all profits made went back towards his job.

"Attending to your mental health isn't frivolous," Emily said with almost a serious tone, "Maybe you should stop by for one of my therapy sessions, I don't charge that high. I'll send over an amethyst just to get you started! Shame to admit Harvey, your chakras, they aren't vibing… haven't vibed since Mona was alive."

"I'll manage," Harvey lied, no… he wasn't managing. He couldn't allow his emotions to show at work. "Thank you for the kind offer, Emily. I hate to cut our chit-chat short but I have another patient in three minutes."

"Oh, sorry to keep you waiting Harvey," Emily said as she slid off the bench, "Do remember those breathing exercises I taught you."

"Those have been helpful," Harvey concluded, then opened the door for Emily to take her leave. It was silence once more in the clinic as Harvey waited for his next patient.

Breath in… breath out…

Things were going to be just fine.