Savior

Disoriented

It was lunch time, Rick and Shane were in their patrol car eating, while monitoring the roads for any trouble.

Shane took the last bite of his burger, crumpling up the thin paper it was wrapped in, stuffing it into the brown bag. "So how's Carl? His eye healing well?" Shane asked hesitantly, knowing that Rick was sensitive to it.

"Yeah" Rick mumbled, looking over to Shane and breathing deep. Shane nodded softly at that, thinking of how to change the subject. "Sorry" Rick said, shaking his head quickly. "It's healing fine. He's got a doctors appointment next week to get the stitches out." Rick exhaled.

Shane was slightly relieved that Rick didn't get upset with him asking about Carl's eye, since he did all the times before. "I'm glad. You know, he's gonna look badass with an eyepa-" Shane was interrupted by the radio. They both listened closely.

"10-56A, 97 Wick Street south side" came out of the radio. Rick picked up the walkie "Copy, on our way". Rick gave Shane the fast food bags for him to throw out. Putting the car in drive, Rick drove off while Shane threw the trash out of the window into the garbage can.

"Suicide?" Shane asked confused. Rick looked over to Shane, rolling his eyes. "Close, suicide attempt. C'mon you should know this by now." Rick huffed. "Yeah, yeah." Shane exhaled, turning his head to look out of the window.

As they pulled up in front of the house, there was an ambulance in the driveway waiting. Rick and Shane got out of the car and walked up to the two EMT's.

"Hey, we can't go in until you guys say it's safe, the guy in there is a little aggressive and has a knife. Refuses to put it down." One of the EMT's explained. "Thanks, we'll head in" Rick stated as he walked past them, Shane following.

As they approached the front door, Rick stopped to look over at Shane. "I know this is your first time handling a suicide attempt. Don't be aggressive, stay calm." Rick mentioned. "Got it" Shane nodded his head in agreement. "And. Do not take out your gun, taser if anything." Demanded Rick.

Once the door was opened, Rick peeked his head in looking around then announced "Its the police! We're coming in!" Rick stepped inside fully, slowly walking towards a hallway. At the end of the hallway there was a closed door. One room on the left and one on the right. They approached the room on the left first since it was the closest. It was a bathroom, empty. Shane went in front of Rick and headed to the room on the right, which seemed like an office, but also empty.

The only room left was the one at the end of the hallway. Rick decided he should go first instead of Shane, so they switched spots again. Rick put his ear on the door, listening for anything. It was silent. He knocked, "I'm gonna open the door now!" said Rick. He turned the knob and pushed the door open, revealing a man on the other side of the room, sitting on the floor. Two small puddles of blood on each side of him.

"Hey" Rick said softly, approaching the man slowly. "Looks like you need to get bandaged up, huh?" Rick said as he knelt down in front of the man. Silence filled the room for about a minute, before the man spoke. "I'm sorry".

Rick furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Hey, you don't need to apologize. It's ok. You're ok." Rick tried his best to reassure the man in front of him. He noticed some towels on the floor a few feet away, Rick grabbed them. "Can I wrap these around your wounds? I'll be gentle." Rick offered.

Finally the man looked up, right into Ricks eyes. "Mhm" he mumbled, lifting up both of his arms in front of him. "Thank you" Rick said before he slowly started to wrap the towels around his arm.

Rick could feel the man still looking at him, but he didn't want to make it awkward, so he focused on wrapping the towels a little tighter to stop the bleeding. He flinched in pain, pulling his arm back slightly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just trying to stop the bleeding." Rick stated.

The man then leaned his head forward, resting it on Ricks shoulder as he continued bandaging him. "I'm sorry" he said again, almost whimpering this time. Rick stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath. He could hear the other man begin to cry softly. Rick released the towel and slowly wrapped his arms around the man, rubbing his back. "It's ok." There was a long moment of silence. "I need to get back to your wounds ok? You've already lost a lot of blood." Rick released the man from his arms and went back to wrapping the towels.

Once Rick was done, he was able to get the man up. "So what's your name?" Rick asked, looking at the man. It took him a moment to reply, but he did. "Negan" he said quietly, staring at Rick. "Well Negan, I'm Rick. Let's get you outside ok?" Rick asked.

He had Negan under his arm to support him, until they got outside to the ambulance. The EMT's took Negan into the back of the ambulance. "By the way, he wasn't aggressive one bit. Don't know who told you that" Rick mentioned, giving a weird look to one of the EMT's. "That's what one of the neighbors that found him said, I'm assuming he had just calmed down before you guys went in. But thanks for bandaging him up." She smiled softly at Rick, he nodded his head.

As one of the EMT's was about to close the ambulance door, Negan said "Wait!". They stopped the door and opened it back up. Rick looked inside the ambulance to see what was going on, his eyes met Negan's. "Thank you" he said. Rick gave him a soft smile "You're welcome. Take care of yourself."

The EMT closed the ambulance door again, this time completely shutting it. Rick and Shane watched them drive off.

Shane put his hand on Ricks shoulder, looking at him. "You ok?" he asked quietly, his voice almost breaking. Rick looked back at him, "y-yeah."

"You handled that better than I ever could." Shane mentioned, giving Rick a smile. "Harder than it looks, trust me." "I can't imagine. I even had a hard time just watching that."

Rick walked away from Shane's touch, going back to the car. "Hey, you drive." Rick said looking back at Shane, who nodded in response.

They pulled up to the police department, parking out front. Shane got out first, then Rick. "I-I think I'm gonna take the rest of the day off." Shane looked back at Rick suddenly, a concerned look spreading across his face. "Are you sure you're alright man?" "Shane, I'm ok, I just need a little break right now. Don't worry." Rick assured him.

Shane took a deep breath, trying to relax himself. "Ok. I'll be here if you need me" he replied. "Yup" Rick said as he walked off, towards his car and opening the door. He started the car, slowly pulling out of the parking lot and driving off towards the sun.

During Ricks drive home, his thoughts started to flood his mind. Why did he do that to himself? He seemed so disoriented, like he was truly lost. Rick had a hard time understanding why someone would do that to themselves. There had to be a reason, right? There also had to be a reason why this man, Negan, touched him so deeply.