wastelands → the walking dead ¹

[ 013 ] new findings.

WASTELANDS.

chapter thirteen, new findings.
[ season two, episode two and four ]

HER HEAD IS SCREAMING. Her heart is pounding. Sweat beads at her hairline. Her fists grip the sheets. And Rick Grimes thinks he's going to drop of a heart attack when his daughter starts her screaming spell.

She thrashes, she screams, she sobs.

She's never had such a horrible ache in her head in her entire sixteen years. "Dad," she cries when he rushes into the room. He quickly sits in the bed and cradles his daughter to his chest.

"Dessa, where does it hurt?" He quickly asks as Lori and Hershel run into the room.

"My head," she grits out. "My head, Dad." More tears slip down her face. "It hurts so bad."

"What's wrong with her?" Lori looks at Hershel with wide eyes.

Hershel carefully checks her blood pressure, her heart rate, everything that he needs to check. Her heart rate and BP are both high but Hershel says that everything is okay.

"Then why was she screaming like that?" Rick asks, his own eyes wide.

Hershel has no answer, "do she have any previous head trauma?"

Rick shakes his head, "she did once. About two weeks ago, she hit her head on a metal bin and had a concussion."

Hershel frowns, "that could be a partial reason why she had that spell. She didn't have the proper medical care and now the force of the bullet is putting more pressure on her head." Hershel sighs. "All we can do is monitor her. I've already stitched up the graze. We can only monitor her for seizures, dizzy spells, and more screaming spells."

It's only a few more minutes until T-Dog and Glenn walk into the bedroom. Odessa, who is now propped against the headboard smiles, "T-Dog! Glenn!" She is happy to see the two men she considers her best friends. 

They both examine Odessa. Her baby hairs stick to her forehead from the sweat, her usual complexion is an ashen pale. But despite her unconscious baby brother at her side and how bad she feels, she still manages to smile for Glenn and T-Dog.

"Hey," Glenn smiles weakly at her. "Um, we're here, okay?"

"Thank you," Lori replies.

"Whatever you need," T-Dog rasps.

They leave the room and Hershel pulls down the bedsheets to reveal Carl stomach. Odessa gasps at the sight. "They don't get back soon, we're gonna have a decision to make."

"And that is?" Rick asks.

"Whether to operate on your boy without the respirator," Hershel explains.

"You said he wouldn't work," Lori replies.

"I know. It's extremely unlikely. But we can't wait much longer," Hershel tells them. Lori gets up leaves left the room and Rick follows.

Once again, Odessa is left looking over her brother. Hershel looks at her, "they're worried about your brother."

"I know," she nods and looks at him. "I am, too."

"Your mother— she hasn't even spoken to you." Hershel shakes his head sadly.

"It's nothing new. If it was just me that was shot she wouldn't have even come," Odessa shrugs. "It's just the way it is."

"Shouldn't be," Hershel says to the girl, "a girl deserves her mother. My Beth lost her mother and Maggie lost her stepmother to the epidemic. We lost Shawn, my stepson."