the deceased ❀ glenn rhee

prologue

THE DECEASED
prologue | ❝I'm Aurora, by the way❞

❀

"Hey, Bud. We're still here. We're still hanging in. Look, I'm sorry, man. I mean, watching the same crap every time I come in here. Everybody pitched in on these. They uh... they wanted me to bring them down, they send their love and they just... they hope you come back real soon. Linda and Diane from dispatch, they picked these out. You probably could tell, hmm? I'll just set this on your side table, ok?"

WITH A THUMPING HEADACHE, Rick opened his eyes. A dim light shone threw the window next to him, and though it took him a while to adjust to the brightness of the room, he realised where he was; a hospital. For a moment, Rick was confused. The haziness that had taken over him was immense, especially with the eerie quietness of his surroundings. Nothing seemed to make sense to Rick as he held his hand out to the vase of dying flowers beside him. No longer were his hands soft; his skin was cracked and dry, and as he pulled the petals from the flowers, the true fear and realisation of what was happening had begun to sink in.

To his knowledge, Rick had been shot and Shane had visited him. How long ago that was, however, remained a mystery. No amount of rattling his brain would make Rick think any quicker, and all solutions led him to leaving the small hospital room. But from being bed bound for so long, Rick felt his limbs numb. It was a strange feeling, as if somebody had been crushing his head. It felt as though he was barely breathing.

Glancing around the room once more, Rick scrunched his eyebrows together. A sudden jolt in his heart rate made him almost come back to Earth as his mind had begun wondering around every possibility. And with every waking minute of Rick lying immobilised in his bed, he felt more and more anxious.

Something in the back of his mind - though he wasn't sure what it was - told Rick to get up. It was like, and he knew it was impossible, that Lori was sending a message. Or maybe Rick was going crazy. Either way, the man made the mature desicion to heave himself up from the bed, another wave of dizziness crashing into him forcefully.

"Nurse! Help!" he shouted, doubling up in pain. Gulping harshly, Rick removed his arm from where he was cradling the abundance of bandages. His fingers laced across the old and tattered material, and a sudden flash back of being shot whilst on duty flew back to him.

Though he tried, Rick couldn't shake the feeling of helplessness. No sound of staff came to his aid as he lay against the floor, an agonising pain spreading though his body like wild fire. It took everything the man had in him to push himself up from the ground, surpressing the urge to allow himself to fall, and head towards the door.

A deep exhale came from Rick's throat as he peered through the door frame, having it open by a crack. The smallest of gasps escaped his cracked lips as he examined paper and blood lying on the floor of the hallway. And it wasn't until a bang, which sounded like a chair falling, made him flinch and open the door further. A muffled sound of a woman's voice echoed throughout the hospital, indicating for Rick to move forward.

"Hello?" Rick heard the voice this time, loud and clear. He was right about it being that of a woman's, but that didn't make Rick any less nervous.

Rick was moving slow, limping around the corner of the hallway. All he needed to do was find Lori and Carl, and Shane, if he could. But in his condition, he couldn't do it alone. The sharp corner startled Rick, as he wasn't expecting to come face to face with a woman covered in blood. And, by the look in her eyes, she wasn't expecting company, either.