Pedro's characters one shots

Family Man pt.1 (joel miller)

The main characters name is Rosa. In this particular multiverse version of TLOU I've decided that Joel and Tommy are Hispanic. Rosa is also Hispanic, so we might see Joel and her speaking Spanish to each other (in front of Ellie lol). When I say "the Millers" I'm referring to Joel, Tommy, Maria and Ellie. Rosa was a nurse before the outbreak and now works in the little medical center in Jackson.

A brooding older guy and a young girl, one could only assumed was his daughter had moved into the commune early spring of last year. The man's name was Joel and it turned out he used to be a contractor and he was eager to start doing something in the community to be of service. He joined a small team of men who were making repairs to one of the vacant houses in the commune. Rosa got to know Joel and Ellie pretty quickly because she was already friends with Maria and Tommy and the group often sat together at meals.

Rosa quickly realized that the little girl in Joel's care was probably not his daughter. For one she called him "Joel," and it seemed like she had not been raised by this southern man. She would get a lot of "Ellie!"s In almost a whisper from Joel when she said something out of pocket. One night at dinner she looked up at Rosa from across the table and asked"how old are you?" Rosa couldn't help but chuckle at Joel's mortified look. "Ellie- manners!" He grunted. "No no, I don't mind" she assured both of them. "I'm 42...how old are you?" Ellie smiled. "I'm 14 and this douchebag is 56" this was too much for Joel. He set his fork down with an "Ellie Williams! What did I tell you about that word. Can you use your table manners please?" "See what I mean" is all Ellie said in response. Rosa had to excuse herself and pretend her water needed refilling so as not too laugh at the "father-daughter" exchange she had just witnessed.

It was nice getting to know Joel and Ellie more. There would be nights when you we all hang out at Tommy's and stay in the backyard with a bonfire much too late considering our age. As the weather got warmer, these nights increased. Sometimes Ellie would curl up in a lawn chair and fall asleep, and Joel would scoop her up to make the short walk home. Moments like these made Rosa's heart melt. How could she have been so wrong about this man at first? Sure he comes off as rough and tough, but he's just a very protective guy with a heart of gold and big, brown puppy dog eyes. Rosa resolved to not let her feelings for Joel  go any further than admiration.

Unfortunately, Rosa found it more and more difficult to keep her promise to herself. One afternoon Joel came into the medical center with a very worried looking partner. Rosa recognized him from one of the men working on the repair team that Tommy had organized. The young man explained how Tommy had instructed him to walk Joel here because there had been an accident at work and Joel broke his wrist. "I told him I was fine to walk here, honestly I'm not even sure it's a break 'prolly just a sprain. Don't sweat it kid, why don't you run on back to Tommy and let him know you go me here safe." The youngster nodded and let himself out the door. "Well Mr. Miller, why don't you come on back and we'll get you taken care of." Rosa said warmly. Joel sat on the little cot while Rosa pulled up a chair and turned on an overhead light. She gingerly took his hand in hers. Joel couldn't help but notice how cold they were. He inhaled slightly at her touch. Rosa looked up with furrowed brows "I'm sorry did that hurt!" Joel smiled and shook his head. "No no...it's just your hands are so cold." Joel chuckled. "I know, I'm sorry I should have warned you...my hands are always cold even in the summertime." Joel wasn't trying to make her feel bad, but he was afraid that he had. "You know what they say about cold hands though?" she added. "what's that?" Joel asked. "Cold hands-warm heart." She was smiling,  but she kept examining Joel's wrist. "Well shit what does that mean about warm hands?" Joel joked. Rosa laughed a little and shrugged. "Joel I do think this is fractured" Rosa said with a concerned look. "I'm going to wrap it up to help with the swelling and then I want you to come see me tomorrow so we can take a look at how it's progressed, but until then I don't want you using this hand at all." Rosa turned to get supplies from the drawers behind her when door slammed that made both Joel and Rosa jump. "Joel??" shouted a nervous Ellie. "I'm back here kiddo." Joel responded. "Tommy told me you were here with like a broken wrist or something. I was on my way back to the house from school and I came as quick as I could." Rosa smiled warmly. "It's not a full break and it's nothing we need to be very concerned about. These kinds of things happen all the time." Rosa explained gently as she began wrapping Joel's wrist. Ellie walked over and placed her head on Joel's shoulder to watch. "Oh" she said quietly. Joel turned his head slightly to kiss Ellie on the temple. "Don't worry baby, it's going to take a lot more than a broken wrist to take this old man down. Even if I am as old as a dinosaur as you so tactfully put it." Ellie giggled. Rosa's heart rather warm and mushy on the inside. Something about Ellie reminded Rosa of her late little sister. Watching Joel and Ellie interact was somewhat cathartic for Rosa. Her sister had passed away on outbreak day during the bombings. she wasn't much older than Ellie at the time of her death.  Suddenly Rosa realized she was staring stupidly at Ellie and Joel with a distant look of sadness on her face. The bandage had long since been fully wrapped on Joel's wrist. "Um sorry." Rosa said awkwardly shaking herself back to reality.

"So you're not going to want to use this hand at all. Are you by any chance left handed" Joel shook his head. "Well then your job, is to make sure this old man doesn't use his right hand at all" Rosa said turning to Ellie. Ellie smiled "Oh I can do that. Joel says I'm really good at being bossy." Joel just rolled his eyes. "Alright kid you scamper on outside I'll see you in one sec. I need to fill out some paper work with Florence Nightengale here." "who's Florence Nightengale?" Ellie asked looking rather confused. "never mind Joel waved just wait for me outside." Rosa felt her stomach tighten a little. As soon as the door was closed she turned to Joel. "Hey you know there's no paper work or anything-" Joel cut her off. Those puppy dog eyes were laced with care and concern. Joel spoke softly when he asked "Hey are you okay. You just had this look like something was going on ...I know It's none of my business, but just thought I'd ask." Rosas heart did that thing again. "Oh, you're kind...no It's just um. Well too be honest with you Ellie reminds me very much of my little sister. And I ..yeah anyway" Joel's face was gentle and sad at the same time. "I'm sorry" he said softly. "oh I mean that was 20 years ago. It's okay." Rosa said turning around and pretending to be busy putting things away so that he wouldn't see the her eyes brimming with tears. "20 years or 2 years it doesn't make a difference. Loss is still loss." Joel said softly. Rosa wiped her eyes quickly with the sleeve of her sweater. "well you better hurry your kid - I mean sorry! I didn't mean to.." Joel cut her off and raised a hand to silence her. He was smiling sweetly. "Hey it's fine. It's not like I've ever properly explained the situation so how would you know any better?" Rosa was grateful for his generosity in this moment. "Tell you what maybe I can buy you a drink some time to say thank you for this (lifting up his injured wrist) and to tell you the whole picture with me and Ellie." Rosa was sure that her heartbeat was audible at this point. "yeah. I would like that." she said feeling like a little school girl who had just held hands with her crush. "Great." Joel said with a grin, and then he left.