"Pelican Town to Sims Town" - A Stardew Valley, Sims 3 Fanfic

The beginning of Chapter 6 is here! :smiley:

Author's Note:


Enjoy! :)

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Pelican Town to Sims Town

Chapter 6

Elliott stood in the foyer of the guy’s house, back pressed against the wall and reading a romance novel, while waiting for Shane’s return. It was a fantastic read, but he couldn’t focus on it as well as he would’ve liked because of the thoughts that kept popping into his mind on how he was going to approach Shane once he arrived. He didn’t particularly like the guy, most in town didn’t, so he never really associated with him. Therefore when Harvey asked him to keep a close eye on Shane, he was somewhat unwilling and at a loss as to what to say or do to help him.

Soon though all thoughts of Shane disappeared as a particularly erotic scene began unfolding in the novel and Elliott’s eyes were glued to the words on the pages. A bright grin gradually formed as he envisioned the two characters being him and Leah.

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Suddenly, Shane burst through one of the front doors, startling Elliott, and promptly kicked it closed behind him with great force. It was a miracle the glass didn’t shatter. Sam and Sebastian watching TV on the other side of the house even jumped at the slam. Shane made a beeline for his bedroom, fists clenched, and face red with rage.

“Hey Shane,” Elliott felt to acknowledge, not looking up from the book, “how’s it going?”
“Pi'ss off!” came the sharp reply and he slammed his bedroom door closed.
Elliott’s eyebrows jumped for a moment. “That went well…”

Inside the bedroom Shane paced the floor, unable to control the tremors any longer and it was driving him insane! Violent thoughts kept trying to enter his mind and he tried with whatever strength he could muster to push them out. He threw his hands upon his temples, boring his fingernails into his head while continuing to pace and pace. Stop. He breathlessly ordered. Just stop!

There was a knock at the door which sounded much louder to Shane than it was. “GO AWAY!” he fumed.

“Shane, it’s Elliott,” the man spoke in a tone of concern. “What’s going on man?”
“I told you to go away!”

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“Where’s Harvey and Alex?” he asked, playing like he didn’t know anything.
“I dunno! Probably carrying on in their pointless exploration.”
“You guys were supposed to stay together. What happened?”
“NOTHING! I just got tired of exploring and dealing with Harvey so I bailed. Now leave me alone!”
Elliott pressed his arm against the door, drawing in a breath. “Look Shane, whatever’s bothering you man we’re here to help okay. I mean it. I’ll check back on you in a little bit.”
“Like hell you will! I don’t need any of your help!”
“I think you do...”
With one last breath, Shane shouted, “I just wanna be left ALONE alright! Is that too much to ask!? And if any of you come in here I’ll kill you!”

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Elliott’s eyebrows rose again as he released a big sigh. Sebastian then approached him, with Sam following behind. “What’s going on?”
“Shane’s going through alcohol withdrawal,” Elliott replied in a whisper. “And it’s pretty bad from Harvey’s tone about it.”
“Seriously?” Sam asked, munching on a granola bar. “I thought you only get withdrawals from sugar and drugs.”
Sebastian turned his gaze toward Sam with an incredulous look. “Geez, how stupid are you?”
“What!?” he innocently asked with his arms spread apart. “I don’t know anything about alcohol. My parents and school taught me to stay far away from that stuff. Unlike some people,” he muttered that last part.
“Hey,” Elliott sharply addressed Sam in a whisper, “not everyone who consumes alcohol gets addicted, like myself, and just because someone wishes to indulge in it doesn’t make them a bad person.” Sam shut his mouth and looked away.

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Elliott now addressed them both. “Look, I don’t care for Shane any more than you guys do, but...we need to put our self righteous judgements aside and take care of him right now alright? He’s one of us...and he needs help! It’s been long overdue honestly.”
“Sounds like he doesn’t want our help,” Sebastian noted.
“Whether he wants it or not doesn’t matter,” Elliott countered, “he’s not himself right now and probably doesn’t know what he wants, except for a drink. We just need to be here for him and make sure he doesn’t hurt himself. Got it?”
The two boys nodded.
“I know this won’t be easy...but we have to try. Or,” he gravely paused, “he could die.”

On the other side of the door, Shane slumped down to the floor beside his bed. He pressed his forehead into his knees, the heat from it seeming to burn and cool them at the same time from the perspiration. His entire body shivered and it wasn’t just from the withdrawal and impending fever. A sudden fear of the unknown overtook his entire mind, except for a tiny, shining image of hope. The face of someone very important to him.

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“Jas,” he whispered, squeezing his eyes closed to block the tears; he’d gotten pretty good at doing that. The tremors continued to nag at him and he leaned his head back, eyes closed toward the ceiling, trying to control his breathing. “I don’t know…if I’m going to make it kid. But I will try.” He lowered his head to where his chin now rested upon his knee. “I have to keep my promise...That’s right Shane...focus on the promise. Focus on her. Focus...focus.”

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But the intense desire for a drink hit him hard again, causing a quick, upper body spasm, which made it all the more difficult to focus on anything else. He could feel the deepest, darkest side of his depression gradually creeping in, seeping through all his internal defenses, and without the “medication” to hold it back...he feared losing complete control over his mind. That’s what terrified him to the very core; it wasn’t the thought of never having a drink again. At least while drunk he felt somewhat in control, not totally incapacitated. His body shook and shivered harder and faster. No, I won’t let you take over again. I WON’T!

Because he knew that if it did...there’s no telling what he might unconsciously do.


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A few minutes later, Harvey and Alex returned home and Elliott informed them that Shane had shut himself in his room and that Sebastian and Sam were now on board to watch over him and help in any way they could. Harvey was pleased to hear it.

Even though he figured it would probably be best, and help ease the situation, if they all just gave Shane some space, Harvey was still very concerned about his health and suggested they all focus more on aiding in his physical needs than mental for the time being because...he wasn’t allowing any of them in in that department. And probably never would. They all nodded in agreement.

Sebastian and Sam offered to make a salad for dinner since they “can’t cook worth a darn,” and as they did that, Harvey found a couple of water bottles in the kitchen and bravely approached Shane’s door.

“Get lost!” came the sharp response to the knock.
Harvey sighed. “Shane, I’m not trying to bother you, I just brought you some water to drink.”
“Don’t need any.”
“Well, since you’re so set on staying in your room I think you do.”
There was a pause. “Well, I’ll step out when I need to take a pi'ss and I’ll drink something then alright!”
Harvey shook his head. “Shane you need more fluids than that in your system right now. You’re dehydrated and that’s only going to make this experience even worse.”
“Save your medical advice for someone who cares, Harvey. And I don’t drink water, it su'cks!”
“I know,” Harvey lightly responded, pressing his fingers upon his forehead while trying to keep his cool. “But could you please just do this one thing I am asking of you and I won’t ask you to do anything else. Please? I’m opening the door…”

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Harvey barely opened the door a few inches, when Shane abruptly pulled it open all the way and hissed, “Fine!” while grabbing the bottles and then slamming the door in Harvey’s face. The doctor just shook his head and walked away.

While holding the bottle of tasteless and boring liquid in his shaking hand, Shane couldn’t deny his extreme thirst. Imagine it’s your favorite drink, he told himself with his eyes closed, and it’s gonna taste good! Drawing in a breath, he unscrewed the cap and promptly took a drink. After two gulps he spit out the rest. “Oh G*d!” he whined in disgust, wiping his mouth with his jacket sleeve and slamming the bottle onto the desk. He stooped down to the floor and onto his knees moaning. Soon he found himself lying in the fetal position, his body continuing to shake uncontrollably. He squeezed his eyes shut, imploring himself to breathe and take control and never succumb.

While struggling in the pit, he failed to hear Sebastian knock on the door and after not getting a response, the young man opened it up and peeked in. “Dude are you alright?” he asked Shane, but there was still no answer. Shane just lay there, shaking and whispering words that couldn’t be made out. Sebastian wanted to help, but didn’t know how...so he simply said, “I brought you some dinner. I’ll just leave it here if you feel like eating.” And that’s just what he did, before gently closing the door.

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“Harvey,” Sebastian addressed while returning to the dinner table, “Shane’s trippin’ in there. He’s on the floor and shaking.”
Harvey nearly choked on his food. “Is he having a seizure!?” he cried, bursting up from his chair.
“No,” Sebastian stopped him with his hands raised, “sorry I didn’t word that right. He’s like shivering, all curled up on the floor and whispering stuff to himself.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
“How would you know what a seizure looks like?” Sam asked his buddy.
“Because! I’ve seen the movies!”
“Sometimes it’s not the same,” Harvey interjected. “I’m gonna go take a peek to be sure.”

A minute later, Harvey returned and informed everyone, “He’s not having a seizure, thank goodness. But he’s having some intense tremors which is normal,” and sat himself down.
“Can’t you do anything?” Sebastian asked.
Harvey sighed. “There’s really not much I can do…”
“Yeah,” Elliott spoke out, “and even if there were Shane won’t let you touch him with a 10 foot pole!”
“Why?” Sam asked. “What’s he got against you Harvey anyway?”
“I honestly don’t know,” the Doctor replied, “it could be any number of things, but right now I’m just trying to respect his wishes. If I can gain his trust, he might finally allow me in.”
“But what if he gets worse during that time?” Sebastian asked.

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“Then I’ll intervene,” Harvey assured, “and that is exactly why I need you guys to take turns discreetly checking up on him hourly and report back to me.”
“Even at night?” Sam asked.
“Yes.”
“Aw man!”
“And while you guys are doing that I’m going to be up studying all those medical books in my bedroom. There’s gotta be something I can find or compound around here that can help ease some of his symptoms.” He gripped his chin for a moment, stroking his mustache with his forefinger in thought. “He may need an IV so I’ll have to figure out how to craft one of those...I dunno.” He shook his head. If only there were a hospital around! This has the potential to become very serious. And without me knowing his prior medical history...

“Well,” Elliott said, looking down at his latest text message, “Leah says the girls are on their way over here to discuss everything you all discovered out there today. We better clean up.”

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To be continued...