Our Extinction Event {Daryl Dixon}

One Kid's Okay, Let's Find The Other

Exhaustion took over Parker for a while, and she fell asleep sitting against the wall outside Carl's room. When Glenn saw that her head was resting at what seemed to be an uncomfortable angle, he sat down next to her and gently shifted her position so that her head was resting on his shoulder. She didn't wake up, she didn't even make a noise.

Later in the night, Carl had a seizure, so they started preparing him for surgery and that's when Glenn woke Parker up by gently shaking her shoulder.

"Carl?" Parker asked immediately, the thought of losing him was crushing her.

"Still breathing," Glenn assured her. "They're operating."

"But Shane and Otis- they aren't- are they back yet?"

"No, but he's going to die if they don't." Glenn tried to sound calm but it didn't cover up the panic that he was trying to hide. Parker stood up when she heard a truck approaching. She knew it couldn't be Daryl and the others, not until morning, so she looked at Rick.

"Is it Shane?"

"Yeah," Rick said. They ran off with the old man who was helping them, whose name was Hershel, and Shane got out of the truck, limping and out of breath.

"Carl?"

"There's still a chance," Rick responded. Hershel looked behind Shane, waiting for another door to close.

"Otis?"

"No," Shane answered quietly. Hershel looked around.

"We say nothing to Patricia. Not till after. I need her." Parker hurried inside with Hershel and Glenn, carrying the medical supplies Shane had returned with. Once she had dropped off the supplies, she headed back out to be with Rick and Lori, who couldn't stand watching Carl go through surgery.

She sat on the steps next to Rick, her arm around his shoulders as she leaned against him. They stood there for what seemed like hours before the creak of the door behind them made them turn, looking to Hershel for good news.

"Is he okay?" Parker asked.

"He seems to have stabilized," Hershel responded. Parker let out a sigh of relief as Rick stood up and hugged Hershel.

"Oh god." Lori was crying.

"I don't have words."

"I don't either." Hershel looked down at his hands. "Wish I did. How do I tell Patricia about Otis?" Rick looked at Lori.

"You and Parker go to Carl. I'll go with Hershel." Parker didn't wait for Lori before heading to Carl's room and found him asleep in the same bed as before. She sat next to him, taking his hand in hers as Lori joined her and sat on the opposite side of the bed. 

Shane entered the room, stopping at the door as he looked at Parker and Lori before his eyes landed on Carl. Parker, who had her doubts about Shane in his recent days, offered him a smile that was clouded by the tears of relief that fell down her face.

"Thank you," Parker said, her voice no more than a whisper. "Thank you. If you hadn't- you saved him."

"I would do it for any of you," Shane said, before looking at Lori and walking away. Parker already knew that Lori and Shane had been secretly dating during their time at camp in Atlanta, but she wasn't going to be the one to bring it up and possibly start an argument between them. What Lori did was her business, and although Parker had a hard time hiding things from her brother, she wasn't sure what had happened between them. She fell asleep again with her head resting against the mattress of Carl's bed, and Hershel woke her up again in the morning by gently shaking her shoulder.