On the other side, at the clinic, Emily had taken another nap.
Because she had been overworked these past few days, Emily fell into a deep sleep the moment she finished her medicine. Maru had found the time to go to the Saloon to request a day off for her.
"She can't make it in for the afternoon?" Gus paused his food prep and said, "She really did look exhausted these past few days. She was probably preparing Haley's dress."
"Yeah, she was completely burnt out. I heard she fainted right at Ron's door when she went to drop off the dress, and Ron was the one who brought her to the clinic," Maru explained.
Just then, Clint happened to walk through the door.
The moment he walked in, he heard the terrible news.
"Emily collapsed?"
Gus paused and looked at Clint. "If you ask me, you bear some of the responsibility too. If you hadn't gotten so dead drunk yesterday, Snorlax and I wouldn't have wasted so much effort dragging you home, and Emily could have gotten off work on time."
Clint slowly pulled the foot he had just stepped inside back out the door.
Remembering that Clint was his best customer, Gus hastily backpedaled. "But you spent so much yesterday, so I'll give Emily a bonus as compensation for getting sick—I mean, this is entirely my fault, it has nothing to do with you."
Gus might as well have had "please don't stop coming here" written all over his face.
But Clint still backed out.
He changed direction and walked toward the clinic.
Remembering that Emily had been working so hard on Haley's dress, Clint walked into the clinic looking completely guilt-ridden.
"Good afternoon," Harvey, who was sitting at the counter, greeted him. "What can I do for you?"
"I came to see Emily."
"Emily? She's right over there on the hospital bed," Harvey said, pointing. "But she should be asleep right now. Keep your voice down; she's completely exhausted."
Clint walked over in silence.
The moment he reached the bedside, Emily slowly opened her eyes.
"Did I wake you?" Clint asked, sounding a little flustered.
"No." Emily smiled. "It's about time I woke up anyway. I must have been asleep for a long while."
This didn't offer Clint much comfort. He scratched his head and said softly, "I'm sorry—I didn't mean for yesterday to happen."
"Hmm?" Emily looked at Clint, taking a long moment to realize why he was apologizing. "Are you talking about you getting drunk last night? It's fine, that was part of my job anyway."
Emily asked cheerfully, "By the way, how are you feeling today? If you have a hangover, make sure to get some proper rest."
"Much better." Just as Clint was starting to feel moved by Emily's reassurance, he heard her continue, "We're friends, after all. Plus, you didn't do it on purpose."
"Friends..." Clint murmured.
"Why wouldn't you be?" Emily looked at him in confusion, feeling a sudden skip in her heartbeat. "Don't you consider me a friend?"
Emily looked as though the sky were falling. Aside from Sandy, Haley, and Ron, Clint was her only real friend.
"—Right, we're friends," Clint replied. "Yeah, you get some rest. I'll get going."
"Okay, see you at the Saloon tomorrow!" Emily waved at him.
Just then, Ron walked in, bumping right into a completely dejected-looking Clint.
Clint lifted his eyes to glance at Ron. He opened his mouth, about to say something, when an exclamation came from the hospital room behind him: "Ah, Ron! You're here! I heard you stayed by my side this morning before Maru came in for her shift?"
"Yeah. Are you feeling any better?"
"Much better!"
Emily chatted with Ron in a highly cheerful tone.
Clint turned his head and looked at Emily's expression.
Emily was a naturally cheerful person who wore a smile most of the time.
But Clint couldn't shake the feeling that her expression right now was different from usual. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, though.
He just knew he didn't want to think about it too closely, otherwise, his heart would start to ache.
"Bye, Clint!" Noticing Clint's gaze, Emily couldn't help but wave at him.
"Yeah, bye."
Clint left the clinic, heartbroken.
He bumped into Maru, who was just coming out of the Saloon. Maru had been about to exchange a few words with him when she noticed the look on his face.
She vaguely remembered Robin mentioning not too long ago that Clint supposedly had a crush on Emily.
Normally speaking, visiting the person you like shouldn't leave you looking like that.
Was it guilt? Maru wondered to herself as she walked through the clinic doors.
The moment she walked in, she heard Emily and Ron talking.
"You already packed it up? Thank you! You wrapped it perfectly!"
Emily said joyfully, looking at the dress inside Ron's backpack. "I was just stressing out about this! I didn't expect you to pack it so perfectly."
It wasn't exactly a stereotype, but at least among the men she interacted with regularly—whether it was Gus, Clint, or even her own father—
None of them knew the proper way to store clothing. They seemed completely oblivious to the fact that balling up these luxurious garments could cause irreversible damage to the fabric.
But Ron had packed it flawlessly, paying attention to every single detail. Even the gems on top had been carefully padded with cloth so that the jewels and accessories wouldn't snag the dress's fabric and warp its shape.
Ron, who had entirely let Audino handle the packing, scratched his head a bit awkwardly. "It's nothing special."
"You're way too humble! This is absolutely the most meticulous packing job I've ever seen!" Emily continued. "It looks exactly like how I pictured it before I passed out! It's amazing—it's like you read my mind on how I wanted it done."
Ron finally realized what Audino had been listening to when it tilted its head back then.
"I don't know how to thank you enough!" Emily said excitedly. To be honest, she had been really stressing over this. After all, she was the one who had asked Ron to bring the dress to Haley, and she was the one who hadn't packed it properly. If something had actually happened to the dress, she would have had no right—or reason—to blame Ron.
But if it had been ruined, all her hard work over the past few days would have been completely for nothing.
"When you get back from Kalos, maybe we could—" Emily pondered out loud.
Theoretically, she should treat Ron to a meal. However, Haley's reaction to her cooking had left her feeling a bit less confident.
She couldn't help but feel her cooking probably wasn't suited for entertaining guests.
"I don't know if this really counts as a proper thank you, but when you get back... if you ever have a free day, do you want to go camping together?" Emily asked.
"Camping?" Ron thought about it. "Sure, if I have the time."
Emily stretched, then turned her head and saw Maru leaning against the doorframe, looking at them with a teasing smirk.
"Uh—can I be discharged now?"
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