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chapter seventy-one | the patiently suffering
THE MOUNTAIN LAUREL FLOWER was used as medicine. It was one of her mother's favorites, although poisonous, it was beautiful. It grows in the mountains, native to the eastern states. Shades of white, pink, and purple were its colors. Her mother used to say that the day she was born and the sun was setting, the sky was lit up with those colors. And she knew the name was perfect for her.
Laurel sat in front of her sister, her jaw clenched and her hands clenched into fists as Cassie poked and prodded her half-missing ear with Ethan sitting next to the door of the gas station they huddled in. After they had walked about half a mile up the road, they found a small gas station. The windows were partly boarded up, and newspaper covered the open spots, including the double doors. There are a few aisles, mostly empty. They sat behind the counter, feeling safer behind something. They found some clean shirts and water, but not much else in the abandoned cars parked outside and inside the building. The area was pretty much picked clean. Only trash and remnants of the living was left.
Cassie used some of the water to wash her sister's wound, and rid most of the dried blood, apologizing every time Laurel winced. It didn't do much though, Laurel was covered in it. Cassie had to pick out dirt that was stuck to the wound. She used Ethan's knife (it was the cleanest) to cut the shirt they found into pieces to use as a bandage. Laurel cursed as Cassie held the somewhat-squared cloth to her ear, telling her to hold it there before she used Daryl's bandana to wrap around her head to keep the makeshift bandage in place. She couldn't hear anything through the ear, but she sure fucking felt it. And it hurt like fucking hell.
Cassie mumbled, "done."
Laurel closed her eyes, thanking her with a whisper before laying down on her back. She took a few deep breaths, before opening them as Cassie cleaned up the area a bit. "Where'd you learn this?" Laurel asked quietly as Cassie was closing the water bottle shut. She didn't want to sit in silence anymore and said the first thing that came to mind. Something to help ignore the pain as much as she could.
"Hershel," Cassie answered and Laurel's heart stopped beating. The girl continued, "when Beth had Judith and I had nothing to do, he sat me down and taught me the basics. Hopefully, we can find him and he can help you."
Laurel winced as an image flickered in front of her at the mention of his name. Cassie looked at her, noticing the pained look and tears that started to form in the woman's eyes. "What?" She asked, her voice quiet. She was scared.
Laurel slowly sat up, cursing under her breath. Ethan was getting Cassie when the Governor executed Hershel. They don't know what happened.
At least they didn't have to see it.
Liar.
His voice echoed in her head.
Laurel called out for Ethan quietly, when he limped his way toward them and sat behind the counter with them, she sighed before explaining. "The Governor had grabbed Hershel and Michonne before he came," she spoke softly, watching their faces. She stammered before continuing, "he killed Hershel."
