Brother's Keeper ¹ || The walking dead

84.

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"..here, my mom kept a box of baby clothes that was way too expensive to just throw away." Reagan placed an old box that he had found in the basement.

They had returned to his home, where Riven practically claimed his old room, not that Reagan minded at all.

Riven looked at him before looking at the box, and without saying a word, he dumped all the clothing on the bed.

Mercury lay in the middle of the bed, sleeping, and Reagan sat near her, staring at Riven, who looked through the baby clothing, trying to figure out which one would fit Mercury.

"You can't just leave like that," Reagan spoke, "What if I didn't get to you in time? You could've been killed."

Riven didn't reply as he continued to look through what seemed like an endless pile of clothing.

Reagan let out a sighed, "Riven, look at me."

Riven turned his head, and his eyes met Reagan's, "I need you to promise me that you won't do that again."

Riven sighed, "I can't promise anything, but I do promise to be a bit less reckless because of her." Riven gestured to Mercury.

"She needs someone to take care of her, and I don't really trust you and anyone else to look after her," Riven told him, "No offense."

Reagan sarcastically smiled, "None taken."

"This one's a cute one." Riven held out a small pink dress with flowers, and he threw Reagan a small smirk,

Reagan rolled his eyes, "Don't even say it. It was my sister's."

Riven let out a small chuckle, "Sure."

Riven put the dress to the side, and he frowned, Izzy should be here. She should be the one looking through the baby clothing for Mercury, not him.

"Are you alright?" Reagan questioned, and Riven nodded his head a bit, not bothering to reply.

Reagan continued to stare at Riven, noticing the way his hands were shaking, and the way he shifted around, small winces escaping him every once in a while.

"It's worse than before, isn't it?" Reagan questioned, standing up and approached Riven.

"It's fine." Riven quietly replied, and Reagan huffed,

"Shut up. Let me see." Riven rolled his eyes at Reagan, but he lifted his shirt from the back a little bit.

The stitches were clear as day. The skin around the wound was red, but the wound looked fine.

Reagan touched Riven's forehead with the back of his hand, and Riven flinched back at the sudden contact and furrowed his eyes at Reagan.

"You're warm. We're heading back to the sanctuary to London." Reagan said, "We'll take the whole box with us." He quickly tossed all the baby clothing back in the box.

Riven let out a small groan, "Hey, you just lost the one I was gonna put on her. Why do we need to go now? It's late, and I don't want to wake up Mercury."

"Because I think your wound is infected from the inside, and you're taking antibiotics, no excuses." Reagan responded,

"Reagan.."

"Don't argue with me on this, Riven." Reagan interrupted him, turning to face him.

"I was gonna say you missed one," Riven grabbed a dark blue dress with a weird character on the dress, "Don't touch it, I'm putting it on Mercury."

"I'm putting this in the truck, and when I come back, you two better be ready." Reagan said, grabbing the box,

"Oh, wait, take the baby bag." Riven said, and Reagan rolled his eyes but grabbed the baby bag before walking out of the room.

Riven chuckled to himself before he stood up, "I don't even know what kinda of character this is, but I think you'll rock this outfit."

Mercury had woken up after Riven was finished changing her outfit, and Reagan had just come back in time just as she started crying.

"Here, let me take her." Reagan walked over, but Riven held her away from him with narrowed eyes,

"Why?"

Reagan chuckled, a little amused, "I'm just gonna take her to the truck. You are in no condition to be carrying a baby and walking at the same time."

"I can carry her." Riven insisted, and Reagan sighed,

"I know you can, and I know you want to, but your leg can give out, or you can have a seizure on the way to the truck." Reagan told him, and Riven frowned,

"Yeah, sorry." He handed Mercury to Reagan, and Riven followed after Reagan, having to use the wall as support.

Reagan was right. As soon as Riven arrived at the door, his leg gave out on him, and he fell to the ground with a thud, and it was a good thing Reagan had Mercury.

It took a moment for Reagan to come over, and without Mercury, "Where is she?"

"Hey, hey, relax, she's in the car, luckily for us, My mom liked keeping a lot of baby stuff, and she kept a carseat in the basement, she's safe," Reagan told him, and Riven nodded, a small sighed leaving him.

"Come on." Reagan wrapped an arm around his waist and easily helped Riven up, and Reagan could feel the warmth radiating off of Riven,

Riven was burning up. There was no way they were going to make it the sanctuary, but he knew once place that was closer.

"Shit." He cursed, and Riven looked at him in confusion,

"What?" Reagan opened the back door knowing Riven would like to close to Mercury at the moment, and he lifted Riven with ease into the truck.

"Nothing you should worry about." Reagan said, closing the door before heading to the driver side.

Once Reagan was in the truck, he noticed that it was quiet, zero noise coming from the back, and he turned to look at Riven and Mercury and found them both with their eyes closed.

Mercury's little hand was tightly clenching Riven's pinky finger, her head titled to the side, asleep, and Riven had his head leaning against the window, his cheeks were flushed, and Reagan sighed before he started the truck.

He started driving towards the one place he would rather not be in, and that was...

Hilltop.

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1033 words

Short chapter ):

Thoughts?