Intoxicated (Stardew Valley)

Chapter Three

MY HEAD WAS no longer pounding, and everything seemed totally fine. But... where was I?

My eyes were closed and I couldn't find the strength to open them. I felt myself lying down on a comfortable bed, and I knew for a fact it wasn't my bed. The sheets were soft and smooth. It was not my ranch. Instead of smelling the farm land or hear the birds chirp, there was light music playing in the background, and it smelled like... a clinic?

What happened to me? I remembered seeing Shane and realizing he worked for that horrible company, and then nothing.

I heard shuffling and suddenly I was aware that there was someone else in the room with me. My eyes fluttered opened and I half-expected to see Shane, but it was Sam. Just Sam.

I was slightly disappointed to see blonde hair, and not the dark purple that I was so accustomed to. But I shouldn't expect anything, much less from someone like Shane.

Sam was sitting on a chair a few feet away from my bed, eyes dark and face pale. Once he saw my confused expression, he got up. "Hey, you. You gave everyone a fright."

"What happened?" I sat up.

Sam combed his hand through his hair, a habit I noticed he did frequently. "You passed out in JojaMart a few hours ago. Shane found you and brought you here."

I craned my neck and looked around the room. There was no one else here, besides for Harvey, the local doctor, and his assistant, Maru, who who were mostly likely in the other room. Shane was not here.

As if answering my question, Sam said, "He went back to work and asked me to stay with you."

"Oh." For some reason, I longed for Shane's presence. Knowing that he was here and left was somewhat heartbreaking for me.

Seeing my expression, Sam sighed. "Look, Shane may seem like a cruel guy, but under his mask, he's a pretty nice guy. You just need to get to know him better."

I've tried to do that. Tried to break down the walls that Shane built up. But it was hard. It was hard when he kept blocking me out and pushing me away. I just wanted to be friends.

After a moment of silence, both of us buried in our thoughts, Sam spoke up, "Harvey said you can leave whenever you want. You just need to take care of yourself and refrain from doing any physical activity for a while."

I nodded and Sam helped me out of my bed. After saying thanks to Maru and Harvey, we stepped into town and were greeted with the starry night.

I turned toward Sam. "Thank you for staying with me. You didn't have to, but you did," I said to him, looking down at my hands in embarrassment.

Sam grabbed my chin and gently forced me to look back at him. He grinned and I could see his pearly teeth amidst the darkness. "It's fine, Mae. Anything for you."

I knew that my cheeks were on fire, that his grin and contact caused me to blush furiously. I was glad that it was the evening, for if it were day, Sam would definitely see a blushing mess.

"Do you think you'll be alright from now on?" He asked intently, his green eyes staring at my own. I nodded. "You won't pass out again?" I nodded again. "Good."

He gave me one last longing look before walking away, shoving his hands into his pockets. I watched his tall figure walk away and I was soon left in darkness.

As I walked back to the farm, I wondered, What the hell just happened?

⋆

After a while, I started to focus more on my farm than my sudden social life. I became adventurous and dug deeper into the mines, I gathered enough resources to build a barn and coop, I got better at fishing with Willy, and I was saving up items for the season.