estirose

Author: Estirose
Fandom: Stardew Valley (video game)
Title: This Town And That Town
Rating/Warnings: PG; Pam swears some. (Also, mention of a certain thing working when it is not at the beginning of the game, and a location you can find out about early on but don't get to meet probably for quite some time.)
Characters/Pairings: Harvey, Pam. Background Maru/Alyssa.
Word Count: 969
Summary: Harvey is the only person on the bus when it happens and Pam is injured.
Notes: for HC_Bingo, prompt "Vehicle Crash". I've tried to read up on concussions since Harvey is a doctor. Also, fits into my Alyssa storyline after "Whispering Something Along The Lines" but before "Have This Dance With You". Any misspellings with Pam's dialogue are intentional since she is concussed.

(Title is from a translation I ran across for "Gera Gera Po no Uta".)

Harvey was thrown forward when the bus to the Calico Desert stopped abruptly. "What the-" he asked, before realizing that the bus had collided with something. Pam was slumped over in the driver's seat, and Harvey sprang forward to check on her, glad that he could focus on her for the moment, being the only passenger on this trip.

Pam's pulse was still strong, thankfully. There was a good chance of a concussion and wiplash, but his main concern was making sure she was all right. He wondered if she'd gotten a little too much to drink at the saloon the previous night, or if Pam just had incredibly bad luck.

He peered out the windshield and saw the car in front of them, blocking both lanes. "I'll be right back, Pam," he said, in a normal tone of voice, and then tried to open the doors. To his relief, they were briefly stuck but opened after a moment. He'd have hated to have to use one of the window emergency exits since he wasn't sure that he could get back in.

For a moment, he wished his nurse, Maru, was there. She shouldn't be too far, he realized. Once he made sure that neither car nor bus was going to explode and nobody was going to die, he could haul himself back to Pelican Town. The farm that Maru shared with her wife was not far from the bus stop, and Maru wasn't working for him today. He just hoped she wasn't visiting her parents. Of course, maybe her wife Alyssa was at the farm.

He venured a look at the car. The driver was at least unconscious, and he reached carefully through their open window to check their pulse. Dead. Only one patient to tend to, then, and he headed back to Pam to check on her. He didn't think that either of the vehicles would be exploding anytime soon, but he was a doctor, not a mechanic.

Pam was groaning as he stepped inside. "What happn'd?" she asked, looking vaguely around as if not sure where she was. It wasn't a good sign.

"Car hit us, I think." He hoped that she could follow. "I'll get medical help as soon as I can, Pam." Though how he could get that and yet make sure she didn't die, he wasn't sure.

His driver laughed. "Probably comin' for us. Bet you could hear that crash all the way back to the trailer."

If so, that brought him some relief. Maru or Alyssa had probably heard. Alyssa had become sadly adept at patching herself up after venturing too far in the mines. "I'm sure Maru's coming, then. Do you feel like you can move?"

Pam half-rose, and then sat down again. "'s a no." She settled back in the driver's seat, squinting at the road ahead. Another not so good sign. "Should have pushed Penny more towards the girl."

"Maru?" They were friends, yes, but he hadn't known they were romantically interested in one another.

"Alyssa." Pam closed her eyes. "She fuckin' gets things done. Din't think about hooking Penny up with 'nother girl." She opened her eyes briefly. "Any help yet?"

"I'm sure it's coming." Once people figured out that something had happened.

"My head hurts." Pam shook it.

"Stay still, you don't know how badly you're injured." He put a hand gently on Pam's shoulder. "Did you have this headache before?" He hoped she didn't think he was going to lecture her about her drinking.

"To'k asprin long before I got on." Pam reached down in the direction of her purse. "Should ha'e some."

"I have something that should be safe." Not all painkillers were safe for concussions.

"Water bottle's by m'legs." She shrugged a shoulder in that direction.

He got out the painkiller and managed to snag Pam's water bottle. "Here you go." He carefully gave her the painkiller and the aspirin. "Don't try to move too much, okay?"

Pam was sensible enough not to. "Talk t' me, doc. Don't get too essateric on me - I know big words."

"Then let's talk the war." It was a safe enough topic that she had some interest in.

"Yah, sounds good." She gave him a wavery smile.

They talked until Harvey heard the rumble of something coming up from behind. He peeked out the door, sighing in relief as he saw Maru - and was that a mine cart she was in, with Alyssa pushing it?

"Doctor," Maru said when she caught up with him.

"We figured something had happened to the bus," Alyssa said. "The fastest way we could get here was by minecart. Is everybody okay?"

A minecart was better than nothing. "Pam is injured. We should get her to the clinic immediately."

Maru nodded rapidly before returning to a professional demeanor. "Pierre and his family and Kent are following with a stretcher. The other driver?"

"Dead."

"Fuck'n dead," Pam added.

"But Pam is concussed. Maru, do you have my kit?"

She did, and he was finally able to tend to Pam's wounds very carefully. Full examination would have to wait until they got home and he could check for a skull fracture in a place that was set up for taking care of one.

And then, sooner than he could hope, Kent, Pierre, Caroline, and Abigail were there. "Pam, could you?"

"Gues' I c'ld." She seemed to be fading, and Harvey prayed to Yoba that she would make it back home. She closed her eyes.

"Keep talking to me, Pam," he said, and she did, all the way home.