Save each other // Joel Miller

Must be Dead

Sophies eyes fluttered open and she felt comfortable and warm.

"Am I dead?" She whispered out loud through a painful sore throat and chapped lips. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a chuckle from somewhere near her. Looking around frantically she found herself in a real bed. Mattress, comforter and everything. There was sunlight shining through the window to her right, lighting up a plain white bedroom with a simple desk, chair, and dresser in it. Leaning against the door frame was a familiar person.

"No, Darlin', you're not dead, yet." He chuckled some more as he lazily walked towards the chair. She went to quickly sit up but her whole body screamed. Hissing, she looked down at herself to see she was wearing different clothes, and she had a tight bandage on her right arm. It was also pulled tightly to her side in a sling that wrapped around her rib cage. Lifting her untethered hand she felt her face and found small bandages lined on her cheek and forehead.

"Calm down now girl! I was only joking." Tommy pulled the chair up to the bedside and sat down. "I'm Tommy and I have a few bones to pick with you."

She widen her eyes and tried to inch away from him. He's got a gentle face but he is still intimidating and she is utterly vulnerable.

"But first" he says as he hangs his head a little lower, looking down at his hands. He fidgeted with his palms and slapped them together, locking his fingers together. Looking up at her through messy locks and wrinkled forehead he continued, "I have to thank you."

She is speechless. 'He's thanking me?' Sophie thinks to herself exasperated. She had almost killed him, knocked him off and stole his horse. She left Joel to get beaten to the brink of death and almost did nothing about it. She gave him no reason to believe she was any good. 'What the hell is going on here?'

A flashed image of a bloodied Joel popped into her mind and she flinched very slightly. She wondered for a minute how Joel was. If he pulled through. She was pulled out of her thoughts by Tommy's voice.

"We were really in a bind back there, I mean, only havin' one horse didn't help." He gives her a lopsided smile, tipping his chin up. "But we found her, the horse I mean, and all made it home. Alive. All of us. Pretty much thanks to you."

He gets up and walks toward the door slowly as she watched him with wide eyes. She cannot believe this is happening. Something's got to give here. He, without turning around, stops in the doorway. "I'll get you some water and food, don't be runnin' off on us now. Someone else will be comin' to thank you soon as she finds out you're up." And with that he turns fully around with the brightest smile she has seen in months and softly closes the door behind him.

"I must be dead." Sophie says to no one as she let her head rest back on the pillow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joel felt like absolute shit when he went to open his eyes. He couldn't quite open them all the way before sighing heavily and closing them in defeat. He took a deep breath in through his nose, filling with the familiar scent of his room. He was home, and alive, and everything started to feel a little overwhelming. But before he could really react to it he felt the bed shift by his head.

"Joel?!" He heard a voice say. It was the sound between relief and disbelief. Ellie.

"Oh fuck Joel! You almost died man! There were so many people and they were pinning me down and this random lady came storming out of the bathroom like a comic book hero and she protected you and then Dina showed up and Tommy shot that girl and..." Ellie was talking so fast it made Joels head spin. He carefully put his hand on hers and she stopped talking immediately.

Joel tried again to open his eyes and found Ellie leaning over him, her eyes welled with unspilled tears and excitement. It reminded him of when they first started traveling together. Before the fireflies, before the betrayal, before the fight between them and the hope of rekindling what they had. Before all of that. She was his Ellie again, and even though he was sore and broken, he had never felt happier.

"Joel... she saved you, and Tommy, and me." She spoke slowly and carefully. Almost as if she wanted him to really soak in what she was saying. And he did.

Just then the door flew open. Tommy, Dina, Maria, and Jessie stumble through the door with excitement. They chatter with each other, filling the room with happy sounds and a light atmosphere. Joel shakes his head, closes his eyes, and smiles to himself. Just as he's drifting back off to sleep he hears Tommy's voice ring through,

"She's awake too."