War on the Body [1]

[5] Bleeding hearts

Paige is sitting with Beth telling her stories about growing up, when she hears yelling.

"Open the door! It's Hershel! Carl, come on!" She hears the voice yell, she soon recognizes it as Rick.

Carl opens the door for his father, letting the group that explored the rest of the prison back in, excluding Daryl. Paige rushes to the front to see Hershel passed out on a metal table, with blood all over his lower right leg. Paige rushes over to his right side, quickly holding her fingers to his carotid artery to check for his pulse.

"He has a pulse, Carol clear his bed off! Maggie and Beth give me room, I know this is hard but I need to work fast to save his life. Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog carry him to the bed please"

After the men had carried Hershel to his bed, Paige stepped to his side.

"Tell me what happened!" Paige demanded looking at Rick

"He got bit" Rick told her

"Oh, my god, he's gonna turn!" Beth said crying

"Did you cut it off?" Lori inquired

"Yeah" Rick said in a monotone voice

"Maybe you got it in time" Lori suggested hopefully

"We can only hope" Paige said before looking at his wound thoroughly. "Oh, I need bandages!" she exclaimed, ripping his trousers more to gain a superior vantage point.

"We used everything we had! "Glenn panicked

"Well, get more! Anything!" Paige yelled, red in the face.

"Carl, go get the towels from the back, right next to my bed!" Lori instructed her son

As Carl ran back to Lori's cell to get the towels, Beth spoke up. Her meek voice, causing Paige to soften her ire.

"Is he gonna die?"

"No, no, no, he's gonna be okay" Lori reassured the blonde.

Lori cradles Beth in her embrace as she breaks down.

"You think you can stabilize him?" Rick asked Paige, concerned for the well being of someone he has not only come to respect but consider a friend.

"I need to keep his leg elevated. Get some pillows!" Paige yelled, as Carl came racing in with towels sprawled out in his arms. Carl dropped the towels beside Paige, the girl quickly grabbed a towel putting pressure to his injury.

"We can burn the wound to clot the blood. I can start a fire" Glenn suggested to the young surgeon

"Oh, god, no please don't do this!" Beth begged, crying even more

"No, the shock could kill him. It's not gonna stop the arteries from bleeding. We need to keep it dressed and let it heal on its own." Paige said quickly dismissing Glenn's idea

Paige and Lori try to stop the bleeding the best that they can, while Maggie goes into shock. Maggie starts stuttering incoherent words and sweating profusely, Paige noticing takes action.

"Glenn, take Maggie to her cell. She needs to rest, Beth go along with her. You need to be there for her and you shouldn't see this" Paige demanded of the Asian and blonde

Paige checks Hershel's pulse, sighing in relief when she still feels a heartbeat. Paige is quickly distracted as she hears arguing from the common area. She looks to Carol, "Hold pressure to the wound, I will return soon"

Paige leaves the cell, walking to the common area with blood on her hands and arms and her hair sticking to her pale forehead and cheeks.

"What the hell is going on? I need some help from some of y'all" Paige yells