Once

The Past

Chapter 4

Rick POV
What have I done? How in the hell am I going to apologize to them and I know that things will never be the same in between us. She thinks that I don't know the hurt of loosing a child. But I know that all too well. Lor- we lost a baby when Carl was three.

I make up my mind and decide to wait for them to come to me so I don't intrude them more than I already have.

Carl, I could tell by the look he gave me that he now hates me.

Flashback to when Lori lost the baby
Lori and Rick made their way to the hospital after Lori started to have bad pains. They had to leave Carl behinde with his cousin Elizabeth while they rushed to the hospital. When they got there the pain was unbearable for Lori so they took her in right away.

Twenty minutes later
"From the looks of the ultrasound; it appears to be that the baby has dropped. Lori,you are in full out labour right now." As he spoke you could tell that he knew for sure that the baby would not make it.

"No, no, no. I am almost six months; she can't be coming yet. She won't survive." Lori pleaded with Dr. Warren.

Dr. Warren looked at them and shook his head and said," I am truly sorry but we can't stop it. You see its like rolling a boulder down a steep hill. Once it has started its very hard to stop."

"Is there anything you can do to save our daughter?" Rick pleaded with him. While hugging a crying Lori.

He looked puzzled for a moment and then continued," Well we could give Lori medications to stop the contractions and then go in and position the baby away from the cervix. But-"

"But what?" Lori intruppted.

"You see we have never done anything like this before and I don't know if you both will survive Lori." Dr. Warren said while bowing his head and then looked at the couple.

"We do it." Lori said while rubbing her small bump.

An hour later and everything was going as planed until Lori was doubled over in a jolt of pain. Not too long after she had to start pushing.

Their baby girl Rosey April Grimes arrived just a half an hour later and weighed 1.6 pounds and was 12 inches long. She was a spitting image of Carl only a lot smaller.

The only thing that Lori could do was cry over the death of, what she thought would have been, her only daughter.

When they came home the next morning they went home with only the two in the car. They always talked about how it would be them with their daughter in the back seat with Carl waiting on the porch with her bear.

As soon as they pulled up a three year old Carl came running outside with a teddy bear that he had picked put for his little sister back a couple months. They had already agreed that they would let Carl name her so he had her name put on the white bear.

Carl burst into the back seat and looked for her. When he couldn't find her he looked at his dad and said," Where's Rosey? I want to meet her daddy I promise that I will be gentle like we talked about." He was now begging and it just broke their heart even more. Lori started sobbing and he noticed so he said," Mommy I am sorry if I was bad but I want to see her. I love my baby sister."

"She loved you to Carl. She loved you so much but she has to go away for a while so she can get better before she comes home to see you. Okay?" Lori tried to explain.

Carl protested," I have to go with her mommy. She has to be with someone who loves her and can take care of her. She can't be by herself she's just a baby. "

Carl now had a steady stream of tears coming down his face when Rick told him," Son we all wish we could be with her right now but its our job to stay here and wait for her to come home."

Carl looked his dad in the eye and asked him a question that still haunts him to this day," Did she die dad?" At that Lori grabbed him and cried into her sons little torso. After a good half an hour he pulled away and said," Can I see a picture of her?"

They nodded and showed him a picture and all he could say was," She's going to be the most beautiful angel in heaven mommy. But don't worry because she is safe and God will watch her until we get up there."
End of flashback

Maggie POV
Well I have to face him sooner or later. I take Glenns hand and we walk out towards the group and I see Rick.

"Maggie I'm so sorry I didn't know or else I wouldn't have said anything like that to you." Rick tried to reason to me so I just wanted to clear the air.

"Rick its okay just don't let it happen again. I cant hold it against you if you didn't even know in the first place. Besides I have to live with you for however long I have left anyways." I said to him and chuckled at him for thinking that I would hate him or something like that.

AN/ There is going to be some new characters in the next few chapters and a major plot twist.😆