Chapter One

Plit, plot, plot! Claire rolled over in her bed and opened her eyes sheepishly. It was another rainy spring morning in Mineral Town, and when it rained early in the morning, it rained all day. Normally, on a wet day like this back in the city, it wouldn't really have affected Claire in her 9 to 5 office job. However, since she'd moved out to the untidy farm, she soon found how much the pouring rain seemed to tire out her body. "Well, a job's a job," Claire sighed as she stepped onto the hardwood floor, walking over to her kitchen to make some tasteless rice gruel.

She'd moved to Mineral Town only ten days ago, and while at first it seemed like a bit of a drag, she was slowly growing to favor it. The quiet, clean little town, the friendly townspeople, the beautiful, natural scenery; Claire loved it all so much more than the noisy and dirty city. While she did have to work much harder here, it was definitely the life she'd always dreamed of.

Getting to work, Claire adjusted her raincoat hood over her long, straight blonde hair. It seemed to be raining much harder than usual, but she saw through the blurry sheet of precipitation that a few of her crops had finally sprouted and were ready to be shipped off. Excitedly, she ran over to the plants, pulling and tugging on the different fruits and vegetables. Then, she remembered that she had some seeds that the Mayor had gifted to her for coming to the town, getting ready to plant those too. Claire got out her hoe and began to till the ground. She swung the tool over her head and into the rough ground in different patches for what felt like hours, when suddenly she realized how uneasy she felt. Working the heavy tool was starting to take a toll on her shoulders and biceps, but she figured it was just because she hadn't gotten strong enough yet. Just after that thought had passed her mind, she swung the hoe again and tottered over, falling facedown onto the soil, head throbbing intensely, not enough stamina in her body allowing her to stand up again.

"Get up," she groaned at herself, trying to catch her breath, but she felt so dizzy and exhausted.

"Claire?" A masculine voice called, but for whatever reason it sounded as if it was extremely far away. Moments later, she blacked out completely.

When Claire finally regained consciousness, she was in a white room, on top of a cot and covered in a scratchy wool blanket. She sat up and whipped her head around frantically, not used to waking up in unfamiliar places (especially in a town where she didn't know anyone). A pretty, baby-faced girl with short brown hair and a blue petticoat rushed over to her, looking pleased. "Doctor," She called out in a soft, high pitched voice. "She's awake, Doctor!"

"W-what are you…who are you… where am I?" Claire sputtered, looking down at her clothes to see she was now in a hospital gown.

"My name is Elli, and I'm the nurse here at the Mineral Town Clinic. Don't worry, the Doctor will take good care of you." The girl smiled, easing Claire back down onto the cot.

With a loud swish, the curtain to the side of where Claire was laying had opened, and a man emerged, wearing a mirror on his head and white medical coat. Claire widened her round blue eyes, suddenly feeling very nervous. He was an extremely handsome man: tall, lean, olive skin, wavy, jet black hair that rested on his forehead and was cut cleanly on the back of his neck, intense, dark brown almond-shaped eyes, with a chiseled square jaw and perfect angular cheekbones. He was quite young- looked to be about 26 or less. Instantly, her cheeks reddened.

The Doctor came over to the side of her bed, staring at her with those amazing eyes. "Can you tell us your full name?" He asked seriously, holding a pen and a set of notes.

"Uh… C-Claire Ryan." she stuttered as he watched her closely.

"Age?" He asked again, writing something down in his notes. His voice was deep, but still quite gentle and a bit quiet.

"Twenty-one." She mumbled. The Doctor peeked up at her quickly from his notes.

"Good," He said firmly, taking the stethoscope from around his neck and placing it on her back. "Take a few deep breaths for me." Claire did so, hoping he couldn't hear her rampantly beating heart. "You just moved here, am I right?"

Claire squeezer her eyes shut as he moved the cold metal onto her chest. "Y…yeah. About a week ago."

"Mmm," the Doctor nodded, writing down a few more things in his notes. Claire was still confused.

"Excuse me, but what happened? Why am I here? How did I even get here?"

The Doctor didn't look up, just kept scribbling away. "It seems you passed out from overworking yourself in the rain. Zack found you laying in your field and brought you here a few hours ago."

"A few hours ago?! W…what time is it?" She screamed, startled. What about her animals?

"He found you at nearly five o'clock. It's now eight." He reached out and came to touch her forehead with his large, clean hands. "Hmm, still a slight fever." Claire wondered if this was from her blush, which was now worse that he was touching her. "Listen, you really shouldn't over-exert yourself when you're working, especially not in the rain. It's extremely dangerous, as you've seen today. Have you been eating three meals a day?"

"W-well sometimes," Claire sputtered. What was the matter with her? Why couldn't she stop stumbling over her words? "But lately I haven't really had the time with all of the farm work."

The Doctor frowned a little. "That's very unhealthy. The strenuous activity that farmers put themselves through require a good nutrition, full of vegetables and other important vitamins. Make sure to save some of the crops you grow and eat them for yourself too, okay?"

"Okay," Claire squeaked.

"Make sure you get enough rest too. Go to bed early and don't work too late at night. And no more working in the rain, okay?"

"Okay," she mumbled again, heart thumping wildly against her chest.

He scribbled down a few more things, then tore off a page in his notes, handing it to the nurse, who seemed a bit flustered when his fingers brushed her palm slightly. "Here's the medicine and instructions for Ms. Ryan. Could you go make a copy and grab the medicine please?"

"Medicine?!" Claire jumped up. "I can't afford any medicine! I'm sorry, but I sold everything to come live here, which cost me a fortune, and I haven't grown any crops for profit yet!"

Elli and the Doctor exchanged glances.

"We could always hold you on a credit," Elli suggested. "Just make sure to come back and pay us when you can-"

"And of course, don't get sick again." The Doctor gave an innocent smile, showing Claire his perfect set of straight white teeth. She nearly fainted.

"I'll go make copies, Doctor," Elli said, grinning softly at him and widening her eyes. He didn't look at her, just went back to scribbling in his notes.

"Thank you." He started walking back to his office. "Rest well, okay Claire?" Then, with another swish of the curtain, he disappeared out of sight.

Claire sat stunned in her cot. He was the most gorgeous man she'd ever met, and she usually never found men attractive! And he seemed way too young to even be a doctor, they were usually in their thirties or older, weren't they? She flopped onto her back, sighing heavily. He didn't really even seem to notice her too much. Tons of guys back in the city would hit on her, but she was never interested. Maybe she wasn't his type? Claire rolled her eyes, not believing how fussy she was over all of this. She didn't even know him! Why was she getting so worked up?

Elli returned, holding a plastic bag full of little glass bottles. "You'll need to take one of these pills with every meal you eat. Also, make sure that you're eating enough and get a lot of sleep." She grinned, giving Claire the bill and went to grab her overalls and plaid shirt. Her raincoat was hanging up as well. "Need help changing?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Claire muttered out the side of her mouth, examining the high hospital charge. She wasn't sure when she'd ever be able to pay this off!

She got dressed and went back to her house. It was still raining, but she didn't notice. All she could think about was the handsome Doctor all the way home.