Three Orphan Pilgrimage (The Alternative to TWDG's Final Season) [Walking Dead]

67. Left Behind

"Hey, easy," urged Clementine.

"You fell into a river, again," said Sarah as she vigorously but thoroughly toweled Clem off. "Last time, you woke up sick."

"Barely," reasoned Clem as she felt Sarah scrubbing her back dry.

"And this time could be worse, so I'm not taking any chances." Sarah took off her jacket and wrapped it around Clem. Before Clem could even thread her arms into the sleeves, Sarah wrapped her own arms around her and pulled Clem in close.

"Um... what are you doing?" asked Clem as she felt herself being pressed up against Sarah's body.

"Warming you up," answered Sarah as she firmly cradled Clem.

"Oh..." Clem found herself instinctively moving her arms to hug Sarah, only to discover Sarah was squeezing so hard she couldn't move them.

"I read about hypothermia in that medical textbook, before the flood ruined it," explained Sarah. "It said you can use your body heat to warm people up slowly after they come in from the cold. You have to make sure you don't do it too fast, or warm up their arms and legs before their body or it could hurt their heart."

"Oh," said Clem.

"I did the same thing for Omid after we fell in that river. I should have told you and Patty about this, but I was worried about him and—"

"It's fine." Clem closed her eyes and rested her head against Sarah's chest. Wrapped tightly in her friend's jacket while being tenderly embraced in her strong arms felt incredibly relaxing and Clem wished it would never end.

"How do you feel?" asked Sarah.

"Good," said Clem with a smile. "Really good."

"I mean, are you still cold?"

"No, I'm pretty warm now."

"Good." Sarah suddenly released Clem and grasped her chin instead.

"Now what are you doing?"

"Seeing if there's anything wrong with you." Clem could feel Sarah's hand tilting her head and realized she was looking for injuries. "The skin on the right side of your face is kind of red."

"I think that's the side that hit the water first," explained Clem. "It really hurt."

"I don't see anything else, but I'm still worried. I mean... you fell off a bridge."

"I know," said Clem in a quiet voice, finding it hard to believe herself. "I just turned around and bumped into Anthony, and then I was falling."

"I heard him yelling your name and..." Sarah looked away suddenly, as if she didn't want Clem to see how upset she had become. "I couldn't believe it."

"Me neither." Clem let out a deep sigh as memories of all her previous brushes with death came flooding back into her mind. She suddenly found it hard to stand and started sliding down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. "Walkers, bad people, starving, floods, and now I fall off a bridge. Even if there was nothing wrong, I might die anyway because I'm stupid."

"You're not stupid, it was just an accident," insisted Sarah. "And... you're sure you're okay? Does anything hurt?"

"Everything kinda hurts."

"But is there anything you can't move, anything broken?"

"I don't think so, everything just aches."

"Do you feel dizzy?" asked Sarah as she grabbed a flashlight.

"A little when I was in the water. But I feel okay now."