Ellie Dixon

Sleeping Beauty

Over a year. After my fight with Beta, I'd been in a coma for over a year. In that time: Alpha and Beta had died, Maggie and Glenn had come back with Hershel, Maggie killed Leah, mama had left to go "help some people" as Sophia put it, and then there's the Commonwealth. Seventy five thousand survivors. Alexandria once had a population of twenty seven. Now? We were in a city amongst seventy five thousand strangers. The only reason dad had agreed to stay at the Commonwealth is because they had a hospital. A hospital meant medical care. Medical care meant a chance of me waking up. It worked. I'd undergone a couple surgeries to get me to wake up, none of them had worked until the last one which took place a week before I woke up.

I couldn't handle seeing anyone for the first two days. Nobody except my dad. I couldn't handle the fact that I'd been asleep for over a year. For over a year I'd abandoned my family. I couldn't handle the fact that mama had left. Ever since she entered my life, she was the only one who never left me for long by choice. Now? She's been gone eight months. She left without knowing if I'd ever wake up again. That stung, but I knew there was something about her departure that Sophia wasn't telling me. I had too much going on to really process it... So, I chose not to process it.

I'd been out of the hospital for a week. I'd seen everyone individually apart from Maggie, Glenn and Hershel who were in Hilltop. I was desperate to see them. However, I now had a dinner party to attend. I really didn't want too, but they're my family. Slowly, with Sophia, dad, RJ and Carl we entered Yumiko's house. She was a fancy pants lawyer so her place was better than all of ours. The rest of us were pretty much dead ass broke. Again. 

Everyone was already in there and when we entered they all did they mini cheer thing which took me by surprise. I pursed my lips together and awkwardly waved. I looked around to see: Jerry, Nabila and their two children, Ezekiel, mum, Gabriel, Finn, Charlie, Eugene, Princess, Mercer, Stephanie, Rosita, Coco, Magna, Connie and Kelly. Rosita walked over with Coco on her hip. "Hi, mi amor." She smiled at me while my siblings and father went to socialise. Actually, dad went to stand silently next to Ezekiel and let the king talk at him.

"Hey." I smiled as she handed Coco to me. "Hi, baby." I kissed her cheek as she smiled up at me.

Rosita put her hand on my cheek. "I really missed you."

"You've said that every day for the past ten days." I reminded her.

She nodded, blinking away tears. "We had no idea if you'd ever wake up again... You were our very own sleeping beauty."

"You know in the original folk law she was actually raped, right?" I pointed out.

Rosita raised her eyebrows slightly. "I did not. But, I can say with confidence that didn't happen because you always had a mini guard on you. We all took shifts to make sure that at least one person from Alexandria was with you at all time. Gabriel would read you Bible verses, Eugene would explain mechanics, Sophia would gossip, Carl would stare silently, so would your dad, me and Coco talked to you as if you would talk back."

"Coco talked?" I questioned.

"Well... More baby blabbed." Rosita admitted.

Ezra and Aliyah ran over to me. Jerry and Nabila's children. They smiled at me silently for a few seconds. "My sister says that you're a princess." Ezra stated. Ezra was five, whereas his sister was three.

"Oh-" I nodded. "Cool... Cool. That's great." I nodded, not sure how to respond to them. "Right, well I'm gonna see what food they have." I told the kids before handing Coco back to Rosita. I brushed past the children before heading to the food table. Before I got there, I was wrapped in a hug. "Oh, hi, mum." I said, instantly knowing it was her.