Chapter 3

Leah was forced out of her thoughts when she heard Emily cry, “Blech,” from the bar, taking a drink from one of the bottles and instantly spitting it out.
“What’s wrong?” Leah turned to ask.
With a sour expression on her face, Emily replied, “I dunno what this is, but it’s certainly not an alcoholic beverage!”
Leah shook her head with a chuckle. “Maybe it’s what alcoholic drinks taste like in this world?”
“I doubt it,” Emily replied, a little burp escaping her mouth. “Oops! Excuse me. Oh yuck! That made me taste it again!”

Chuckling louder, Leah’s gaze returned to the front door and her body jumped in a startle as it burst open. In came Abigail with an unexpected familiar face accompanying her.

“Harvey!?” Leah cried with a gape.
Even Emily gasped at his presence.

“Surprise!” Abigail chimed, throwing her palms in the air with a cheeky grin. “The bachelors of Pelican Town are here with us too!” Five other bodies approached from behind them.

“Which room is Penny in?” Harvey asked, not wishing to waste anymore time.
“Oh, this one,” Leah answered, pointing behind her and Harvey hastened his step in that direction.

“Hey guys!” Emily greeted, stepping away from the bar.
“Hey!” they all answered in various different tones.
Once Emily saw Alex she shouted, “Haley, get over here! You won’t believe who just walked through the door!”
“You ladies look positively radiant,” the man with the longest hair of the group expressed, stepping forward. When Leah’s eyes met with his, her heart skipped a beat. She prayed this wasn’t her aching heart and mind playing tricks on her.

“ALEX!” Haley squealed with joy once she entered the main room and took notice of her BFF.
“Haley!?” Alex exclaimed. “Woah girl…you’re lookin’ HOT as usual!”
Haley jumped right into his outstretched and muscled arms. “Why thank you! You too!”

Leah didn’t hesitate slipping into her best friend Elliott’s outstretched arms as well. “Oh Elliott you’re here,” she breathed. “Oh how I missed you!”
“Leah,” he whispered beside her ear, “you have no idea how much I was missing you too!”

Shane stood alone behind them all, slouching, hands in his pockets and wearing that blank expression he always did. Emily hated for him to feel left out so she gave him a little wave along with a smile. He gave her a slight nod of acknowledgement. Ever the loner, Emily thought.

Sebastian broke away from Abigail and Sam’s conversation to get a better look around the room. When he didn’t see the girl in question he turned and asked to anyone listening, “Where’s my sister?”
Emily heard. “She’s in the bedroom with Penny, but I wouldn’t go in there now that Harvey’s in there. You should wait until he’s done looking Penny over.”
Sebastian shrugged in consent and took a seat at the nearest couch to wait.

Conversation floated all around them, but Elliott and Leah heard nothing as they broke their embrace and gazed deeply into each other’s eyes.

“Leah you look so beautiful!” Elliott remarked. “Usually I am a man of many words, but I can’t think of any right now that would adequately describe your exquisite appearance in this world.”

Leah’s cheeks turned a dark red. “Well you don’t look half bad yourself,” she stated. “As if all your wavy locks didn’t look lovely enough,” she ran her fingers through them for a second. “They’re so soft and fine…”
Her touch sent a pleasurable shockwave through his entire body.
“So,” she started, drawing in a breath to calm her fluttering heart, “you guys answered the Wizard’s call to his tower too I see.”
“Yep. It seemed too intriguing not to.” He winked.
“Indeed. But sending us to a whole different world? Isn’t this the most bizarre thing ever!?”
“VERY bizarre!”
“And oh my gosh I thought I was never going to see you again Elliott! Or at least not for months, heaven forbid, years! I mean,” she pressed her hand to her heart, “I was dying on the inside just thinking about it!”

Elliott would never wish for Leah to feel such torment, but those words pleased him. He inched closer to her as he revealed, “Oh Leah, my heart was breaking at the thought too.”
“Really?” she beamed.
“Yes. So much so, I sat down and wrote a poem about it while the guys were all bickering after our arrival.” He reached into his jacket pocket.
Leah held a hand to her heart again. “You wrote a poem about me?” That was just about the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her.
“Well, sorta,” he answered shyly, unfolding the paper. “Would you like to hear it?”
“Gladly!”

Elliott lightly cleared his throat as he began to read:

Nothing here seems good without you,
Everything is so gloomy and blue,
Why did this happen,
Why are we apart?
You are so special to me,
You stay in my heart,
I can’t bear this distance now,
I promise we’ll be together soon,
If the fates will allow.

Light tears formed in Leah’s eyes at the conclusion and a smile lit up her entire face.

“I know it’s not that great…,” Elliott blushed, tucking the paper back into his jacket pocket. “It’s just something I quickly jotted down to help calm my nerves.”
“No,” Leah corrected, “it was absolutely beautiful and so incredibly sweet! You’ve filled my heart with so much warmth with those words.”
“Well then, knowing that warms my heart too.” He blushed.

For a moment their hands brushed each other’s and Leah didn’t hesitate taking Elliott’s into hers. Noticing, Elliott glanced back up at her with a twinkle in his eye. He never looked so handsome to Leah before. She was beginning to feel a vast array of intimate emotions for her best friend that she never dreamed she’d ever feel for him and found it hard to keep them contained. “Come with me,” she whispered, leading him by the hand toward the stairs. Elliott’s face beamed as he gladly followed.

Shane watched as the two practically tripped over each other while racing up the stairs and shook his head with an eye roll.

Meanwhile, when Harvey gently knocked and opened the door to the bedroom, Maru looked over her shoulder to see who entered and her mouth dropped, quickly forming into a bright grin.

“Harvey!?” she asked in surprise. “Is that really you?”

Harvey returned the smile. “In the flesh,” he quipped, with his hands spread apart. “It’s good to see you Maru.”
Maru rose from the bed and came to him, the two taking each other into a hug. “Thank goodness you’re here!” she expressed. “Oh this works out perfectly! Thank heaven!”

When they broke their embrace, Harvey’s attention quickly returned to Penny. “Alright, bring me up to speed on everything that’s happened with Penny so far,” he said, grabbing a nearby chair and setting it beside the bed, sitting himself down. As Maru explained, he did a quick exam of the patient, taking particular notice of Penny’s shallow breathing and enlarged pupils.

“It would appear she’s been in a state of shock ever since the arrival,” the Doctor informed, once Maru concluded speaking.
Maru’s face instantly went pale. “Oh my gosh I didn’t even think about treating her for shock!” She slapped a hand on her forehead, disappointed in herself. While she didn’t always work alongside Harvey in the clinic – her job was mostly in the lab and sometimes manning the front desk – she’d certainly learned a few medical things watching him in action. Treating for shock was always the first thing he did in most urgent cases that came through the door. How could she forget?
“It can easily be overlooked,” he said in a tone of comfort, “especially when another condition is so obviously present.”

“Did I fail her?” Maru asked with worry. “Please tell me she’s going to be alright.”
“No you didn’t fail her,” he assured, “and yes she will be.” He pulled the afghan from the other bed and draped it over Penny’s body to warm her. “She just needs to wake up so she can get more oxygen into her system; and I wish I could see where her blood pressure is at.” He shook his head. “I’m going to need you to elevate her legs for a bit to get the blood flowing to her brain, while I keep an eye on her pulse and do my best to carefully wake her.”
Maru nodded and did just that, gripping Penny’s ankles, and struggling to face Harvey while trying to keep her emotions in check.

Looking up from his stethoscope and taking notice of her distress, Harvey voiced, “It’s alright Maru. You did very well caring for her under the circumstances.”
“Thanks,” she expressed with a slight smile. “And forgive me…my strength is weakening. There’s so much I’m worried about and it’s difficult to keep it all suppressed.”
Harvey nodded, understanding completely, and slung the stethoscope over the back of his neck. “Would it help you feel better to know that your brother is here too?”

Maru’s eyes instantly lit up. “Yes, it does!” Oh thank goodness! Now I know dad isn’t ripping into him. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah. Granted we were all feeling a bit frantic when we landed in this place, but once we gained our bearings, we’ve all been faring just fine. I think it really helped Sebastian to have his best buddy here with him.”
Sam, she thought with a nod. Perfect!
“He’s out there with the other guys if you want to see him. I’m sure he’ll be very happy to see you.”
“Yeah,” she nodded, “but he can wait until I’m done assisting you. I promised Penny I wouldn’t leave her side and surely she’d wake up just after I leave the room.” Her eyes rolled with a smile.
“True,” he chuckled. “Well, I’m seeing a little more color in her face already so hopefully she’ll wake up momentarily.” He leaned over and took Penny’s hand, gently rubbing at it while whispering her name to help the process along.

Meanwhile, when Leah and Elliott reached the top of the stairs, Elliott found them walking into a grand room, most likely a recreational area because of the TV, treadmill, and large bookcase, with two doors in the far left corner which he assumed led to another bedroom and bathroom. Leah stopped in her tracks with her back turned to him, biting at a nail for a moment. He chuckled as he asked her, “Why have you brought me up here?”

He watched her inquisitively as she paced for a few seconds and then turned to face him with an alluring smile. In a split second she lunged towards him, planting a deep and intense kiss upon his lips, gripping his back to hold him there. Even if his lips hadn’t been occupied, Elliott was speechless.

When Leah removed her lips from him she gazed into his eyes with that same alluring smile, working to catch a breath. Elliott’s mouth dropped like a cannonball and he stared at her in shock.

“L-Leah,” he stammered, “why did you…I-I thought you–”

“Elliott,” she stopped, gently pressing her finger upon his lips. “I know what you’re thinking and I know exactly what you’re going to say…”
The man froze; his eyes, and heart, begging her to go on.

“Right before I moved to Pelican Town,” she began, “I was so lost and depressed. I didn’t even know who I was anymore. I tried to make something of myself in the city, explored many things, even had what I thought to be a strong relationship with my partner, and…one day everything just suddenly fell apart. I needed a change of pace, a change of scenery; a place where I could really focus on me and grow in my artistic abilities.” Then she chuckled, “I don’t know why I’m saying this because you know all this, it’s just,” she paused, locking eyes with him and inching closer. “Ever since that fateful day when I arrived in town and you offered your friendship to me, you opened my eyes to the beauties of life and all its possibilities. You believed in me…when no one else in my life ever really did. Throughout our friendship many things about myself have changed. Even some…interests have changed,” she said, taking his hand and gripping it tightly. “And finding myself in this new world just a couple of hours ago without you, I felt this gaping hole in my heart, just like I felt when I left the city. And I suddenly realized it was because I was missing the one person in my life that completes me. The missing piece to my heart’s puzzle. The one I was destined to be with all those years ago, I just couldn’t see it.” She smiled with tears weighing upon her eyelids. “You, Elliott.”

Elliott’s cheeks turned red as his smile lit up in the purest of joys. “Really?” he asked, just to be sure. “You want to be with me? Romantically?”
“Yes, silly!” she chuckled. “I love you Elliott. I’m sorry it took us being apart for me to finally realize that. And that adorable little poem you wrote for me back there made me fall even more in love with you.”
“Oh Leah,” he whispered, pressing his forehead upon hers, “I have always been in love with you. Since the moment I first laid eyes on you. I never thought this would ever happen and…my heart has had this chronic ache ever since. But…you are my best friend and I…I wanted to be respectful.”
“Oh you were!” she expressed, gently lifting his chin. “You really were! And that’s another reason why I love you so much! Elliott, I don’t ever want to feel like I’ve lost you again!”
“You won’t,” he promised. “Come ‘ere.” And he pulled her in close to him…

…and opened his mouth to hers, caressing his lips upon her lips, in a kiss he’d been practicing in his dreams for years.

They gripped each others shoulders so as to pull the other in for another kiss after each and every breath. They drank deeply of each other, making up for lost time.

Soon Leah was guiding Elliott towards the nearest door, keeping her lips locked on his. Pinning him up against it, Elliott let out a moan of delight as Leah worked on removing his jacket. “Oh yeah?” he managed to ask.
“Oh yes! Mmm…”
Hearing that response he whipped her around and pinned her up against the door too, kissing her rapidly while running his fingers through her braided hair.

Somehow during it all, Leah managed to reach behind her to turn the doorknob and kick the door open while Elliott pushed her into the room and then kicked the door shut behind him.

Clothes were immediately removed and in no time at all the two found themselves making love underneath the sheets of the nearest bed.

Sometime during their act of passion, a magical spark arose from the bed, forming into a star. It then whipped its way out of the bedroom through the nearest window and ascended high into the sky, taking its place among the stars; not yet visible in the day’s light.

Thousands of miles away, the Wizard took notice of the new star appearing within the bubbling cauldron and gave off a pleasing grin.

When the two lovebirds emerged from the sheets giggling, they gripped each other’s hands tightly and panted for breath.
“Oh my Elliott…wow!” Leah breathed. “That felt…amazing! Utterly intoxicating! Oh my…”
Elliott smirked at her. “It pleases me that I have pleasured you so.”
She giggled at his response.

Then she gasped as realization set in and her body shot upward. “You don’t think the others heard us did you!?”
“I hope so,” Elliott somewhat joked, sitting up himself.
“Shut up!” she playfully said, smacking his arm, to which he laughed. “We better hurry and get dressed before someone comes up here looking for us.” She swung her legs over the bed to stand.
“Hey…,” Elliott stopped her, taking her arm. “Stay here and cuddle with me for a bit? I’m not ready for this moment to end.”
The longing look in his eye melted Leah’s heart. She didn’t want it to end so abruptly either. “Okay,” she consented, “but only for a couple of minutes or so because someone will surely be coming up here soon!”

Elliott honestly didn’t care if any of the others caught him with Leah in the nude like this, he just wanted to hold his girl close to him and savor their first time together for as long as possible.

Meanwhile downstairs, Penny’s eyes finally began to flutter open, regaining consciousness, after hearing her name being whispered over and over again in her dream. The face looking down on her finally came into focus and she wasn’t at all startled by it, but greatly comforted by it.

“Doctor?” she whispered. “Am I home?”

Maru threw Harvey a glance as the man carefully answered, “No…but there’s more of us here now so it’s starting to feel a little more like home.”
Penny then closed her eyes and gripped Harvey’s hand tighter, expelling a breath. “So more of us are stuck here then?”
“Only for a little while, not forever,” he said, placing a hand upon her forehead. “Your head feels warmer now so that’s good. How do you feel?”
Penny thought for a second while rubbing at her temples. “My head hurts…”
“Yeah, you’re pretty dehydrated. However I want to wait a bit before allowing you to ingest anything. Do you feel any nausea?”
“I don’t think so,” she faintly replied. “Mostly I just feel like I can’t…breathe,” she choked, her previous emotions quickly resurfacing. “What’s wrong with me!?”

Harvey repositioned himself on the bed and held Penny’s hand in his while tenderly gazing into her eyes. Normally he’d never do something so intimate with a patient, especially one of the opposite sex, but he needed to do whatever necessary to keep her calm. “You’re experiencing a panic attack,” he informed, “which is completely understandable given the circumstances, and your body is still recovering from a state of shock. So try to relax and take deep breaths so you can get to feeling better.”
“I know,” Penny acknowledged, “but I can’t stop feeling scared, Doctor. I’ve never left Pelican Town in all my life, let alone to another world!”
“I know,” Harvey soothed, “but right now I want you to look me in the eye and listen solely to the sound of my voice.”
Penny obeyed and felt her heart beat rapidly in doing so. His eyes were such a pretty hazel, she observed, when she always thought them to be brown. And he was looking just as handsome as he always did to her.
“I’m going to teach you something,” Harvey continued, “that you can do any time you feel anxious that should prevent this from happening again, alright?”
She nodded, holding his gaze.
“Breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose like this,” he demonstrated, “now exhale slowly through your mouth, keeping your lips pursed a little…That’s it.”
Maru smiled at Harvey, ever admiring his sweet and compassionate nature.
“Now let’s do that together again for a few minutes, keep your eyes on me. In…and now out. Good.”

After doing that for a good five minutes, Harvey then went on to listen to Penny’s heart and lungs while asking her to take some normal, deep breaths.

Seeing Harvey in this whole new world light, his handsomeness, compassion, and gentle touch were really beginning to arouse Penny. To the point that her heart fluttered wildly, and she hated that he would notice with his stethoscope.
“Relax,” he soothed, indeed noticing, “you’re feeling better by the minute.”
“I’m working on it,” she lightly chuckled. “You know how nervous I’d always get whenever coming into your clinic…”
“Well, we’re not in my clinic anymore,” he said with a wink and a grin.
Penny blushed as she worked to choose her words carefully. “Okay so it’s doctors that make me nervous. I’ll finally admit it!”
Maru raised a questionable eyebrow at the two, wondering.

“Six years of treating you and you still haven’t gotten used to me?” Harvey playfully asked. He wasn’t usually one to engage in playful banter, but if it would help to keep his patient’s anxiety at bay then so be it.
“I think that part of my 16 year old self has stuck with me throughout the years,” Penny admitted. “And it always will.”
“Has it really been six years since you became the town physician?” Maru asked in disbelief. She was just as young as Penny at the time Harvey arrived as the new doctor in town.
“Yep,” he replied, “fresh out of medical school. I can hardly believe it’s been that long myself. Man how fast time flies the older you get…”

The three of them stared off into different directions of the room and sighed at the truth of that statement, lost in their own thoughts about their personal futures.

“Well,” Harvey broke the silence, addressing Penny. “Let’s work on getting some fluids back into your system. Slowly.” He turned to Maru. “Do you think you ladies have some straws in your kitchen? That’ll make it easier for her to take little sips of water at a time.”
“I can definitely go look,” Maru said, heading for the door.
“If not,” he called after her. “It’ll be fine. Thanks.” Then he faced Penny again, studying her countenance. “You’re looking much better now than when I first arrived. You feeling better?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “Although I am feeling a bit tired,” she yawned, “which is odd since I’ve practically been asleep this whole time.”
“Well, your body has been through a lot. Once you get some fluids in, I want you to sleep for the rest of the evening, alright? Doctor’s orders.” He smiled. “I’ll be back to check on you in the morning.”
Penny nodded with a blush, greatly looking forward to it.

After Maru returned and Penny sipped as much water as she could, she got under the covers of the bed and Maru tucked her in. “You got this!” Harvey heard Maru say to Penny, while patting at her hand. He too admired Maru’s kindness and compassionate nature. She’d fare well in the medical profession, he always thought, but knew she held greater interests in other fields of study.

“Alrighty,” he sighed, once Maru approached him. “I’m not sure what the others are doing at the moment, but I need you to help me bring everyone together so we can talk about this quest business; see what their thoughts are on what it is and how we’re going to complete it so we can get back home as soon as possible.”

“Indeed,” she agreed in a whisper. “But…shouldn’t we wait until tomorrow to discuss it when Penny is awake?”
“I’d like to, but this can’t wait. Especially when we’re already gathered together like this,” he whispered as well, sticking his hands into his coat pockets. “Plus the last thing Penny needs right now is to be thrown into a bunch of conversation about the unknown which will only fuel her anxiety. I want to be able to present her with a solid plan that we’ve come up with to give her the stability and comfort she needs right now, and the assurance that we’ll make it back home.”
Maru couldn’t agree more. Harvey always thought of everything. “How can we come up with a plan though if we don’t even know exactly what this quest is?” she couldn’t help asking.
“I have an idea of what it might be that I wish to share with everyone,” he replied. “But whether they’ll agree or have formed ideas of their own is why we all need to discuss it. This clearly involves every one of us.”
“This could be a real challenge…”
“No doubt it will be. I don’t think this was meant to be an easy quest.”
Maru’s shoulders fell as she released a giant sigh.

“Well,” Harvey began, lightly placing a hand on her shoulder and leading her to the door, “let’s allow Penny to rest and I believe your brother is waiting to see you outside.”
“Oh…yeah,” Maru voiced, shuddering.

It’d been a while – too long actually – since she and Sebastian engaged in any real conversation and she wasn’t sure if she was entirely prepared for this one.

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