Just Keep Walking

One hundred and seven

That evening, Mary finally opened her eyes for the first time since being shot.
"Mary? Moo, baby, how are you feeling?" Rick asked gently, stroking the side of her head, but as she woke up a little more, the pain hit her, and she began to scream in pure agony, hitting Rick away.
"Mary, it's okay. It's daddy. It's okay," Rick soothed, trying to hold her, "it's okay. It's only me. It's daddy, Mary. It's just daddy. It's just me."
"Give her some morphine. We have a little bit." Rosita ordered from her bed, as Mary screamed. Tara rooted through the drawers, and pulled out a vile. Rosita explained how much to give, and Tara inserted it into her IV.
"That's the dose for a kid. I think." Rosita mumbled, and panic flashed through Rick's face. It took almost a minute, but Mary relaxed, her eyelids fluttering as she looked up at Rick.
"That better, baby girl?" Rick asked gently, stroking her sweaty hair away from her face.
"Daddy?" Mary whimpered weakly.
"Yeah? What do you want? Some water? Are you hot? Cold? Carl Bunny is on the side, just here. And real Carl has just gone home, but Tara can get him. And mommy is asleep just next to you."
"Where's Glenn?" Mary mumbled groggily, still half asleep, the morphine making her foggy.
"He's not here yet. He's..."
"'T's okay. I saw him earlier. We played soccer. I wanted to stay and play forever." Mary breathed. Rick breathed in sharply, a tear rolling down his cheek.
"That sounds nice," Rick nodded gently, laying down next to her on the bed.
"Daddy, you smell. Gotta have a shower."
"When you're better." Rick promised and Mary nodded.
"Can I have Bunny?" Mary breathed, and Rick nodded, reaching over and grabbing the teddy, but by the time he had given it to her, she was already asleep.

"Good morning." Rick smiled to Michonne as she woke up the next morning.
"Hey." The woman croaked.
"Moo woke up last night for a little bit. She was in a lotta pain, so we gave her some morphine. She was really confused."
"Yeah?"
"Asked where Glenn was. Told me she saw him earlier, and they played soccer together." Rick sighed, and Michonne reached over, squeezing his hand.
"She'll be 'kay." The woman breathed, and Rick nodded emotionally. "Hey. 'T's 'kay."
"Yeah. Yeah, it's all gonna be okay." Rick nodded. He kissed er forehead, but jerked away as he heard a knock on the door, and he went to open it.
"Hey," Jesus smiled sadly, stood at the door, "we're goin'. But we'll be back, because we need to get ready. The outposts. Then the Sanctuary."
"Yeah. Yeah." Rick nodded.
"How's Mary?" Jesus asked nervously, and Rick sighed.
"She woke up for a little bit, but she was in so much pain. Gonna try giving her just a little bit of pain meds, see if the helps."
"Alright, we'll tell her Uncle Jesus says hi," Jesus joked lightly, "and she needs to hurry up and get better, because I have heard a rumour about an old toy store."
"I will." Rick laughed softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, I'll see you around, Michonne." Jesus called, and the woman waved. "Okay. Gotta help Maggie find Enid."
"Her and Carl'll be together somewhere." Rick shrugged, and Jesus nodded, then left.
Carl and Enid were, in fact, sat on the roof of the canopy by the lake, Carl's favourite place, eating a can of sweet corn in silence.
"Do you think this is gonna work out?" Enid asked Carl with a sigh, and the boy nodded.
"Yeah. I do."
"How's Mary?" Enid asked suddenly, and Carl sighed.
"In a lot of pain. Scared." Carl whispered, biting his lip, then he sighed shakily. "It's her birthday in a week. She'll be six. I've already found her present. Had this stupid doll house hidden in Aaron and Eric's house for the past week."
"She'll be fine. I know it." Enid promised, and Carl sighed.
"Hey!" Maggie shouted in annoyance, walking over, "Get down from there!"
"What?"
"We're goin'."
Enid sighed, then jumped down, Carl following her. "Hey, Jesus is gonna come by with Judith tomorrow." Maggie explained, and Carl nodded sharply. "Can you... If Mary wakes up, tell her..."
"She's laid there, dreaming, thinking she's seeing Glenn. She's so out of it, she thinks Glenn's alive. And when she wakes up, and realises he's still dead, and remembers what you said to her, you're not going to be who she wants to hear about. You broke her heart. She doesn't need you."
"Carl, I..." Maggie sighed, her voice shaking and pain filled.
"No. You don't get to pretend to be the victim. Glenn died and that sucks. It's horrible. But I... I know what it's like to lose someone you love most in the world. I lost my mom. I... Killed my mom. And I know that you're hurting, but you don't get to hurt Mary. So when you stop being selfish, and get your shit together, then you can talk about her, to her. But not a second before."
Maggie looked at the boy sadly, then nodded slowly. "Okay. Come on Enid." Maggie sighed.
"See you," Enid smiled gently to Carl, "hope Mary feels better soon."
"Thanks. I'll see you soon. Stay safe." Carl nodded gently, and they left. Carl sighed again, then went to the infirmary.
"Where's Rosita?" Carl asked as he walked in, seeing only Rick, Michonne, and a sleeping Mary.
"Gone home. She wanted to rest up there."
"You okay?" Michonne asked softly, eating a little jelly.
"Yeah. Maggie's a bitch."
"Hey! Watch your mouth," Rick snapped, "and don't be so rude. She's said some rude things, but she's... He's still one of us. We... Glenn wouldn't want us to treat her any different."
"She hurt Mary."
"We've all done things to hurt each other. All of us, all the time. And we've both done things to hurt Mary. Both of us. We've both had times when we've been harsh, brushed her aside, not had time for her. We do things wrong. But we can fix them."
"I'm not gonna lie," Michonne croaked honestly, "there's been times, at the start, when I first met you all... I could look at her. I was cold towards her, because she reminded me of Andre."
"For like a few days. Then suddenly you loved each other."
"And to be honest, I wasn't overjoyed about a little sister at first," Carl commented, "I was the sole child, I had all the attention. Then Mary came along, and she was a daddy's girl. And she takes up all of your attention. It bothered me. For like a week. Then I was suddenly in love with her."
"I had no idea you felt like that." Rick said in shock, and Carl shrugged.
"It doesn't matter. It bothered me, but from day one, she was my little sister. I wanted to keep her safe. And I'd die for her. She's Mary. She's just Mary. I can't imagine life without her now. I'd die before she got hurt."
"I'd die before any of you got hurt, if I could help it. Not you. Now, enough of this talk. No one's dying."
"Have I died?" A tiny voice whimpered into the air, and Rick and Carl were immediately at Mary's bedside.
"Hey, baby. Hey. You're okay. You've not died. You're okay." Rick smiled softly, and Mary's forehead creased.
"It hurts," she whimpered, "but not as much. I didn't die?"
"You didn't die. Why do you think that?" Rick asked her gently, and Mary whimpered.
"Glenn's dead?"
"Yeah." Rick breathed.
"I kept dreaming him. I thought maybe I had died, and we were in Heaven." Mary mumbled. "Where's mommy?"
"I'm here, Moo," Michonne rasped, pulling herself so she was sat up, facing Mary, "it's okay."
Mary's eyes blinked fearfully, seeing Michonne's swollen and bruised face, and she turned her head away from her.
"It hurts." Mary whispered, and Rick sighed, struggling to keep his eyes open; he hadn't slept properly in days.
"I know. I know, but you can't have any more medicine. You need to be strong, yeah?"
"I'm a big girl." Mary nodded.
"I love you, Mary Moo."
"Love you." Mary mumbled, and Rick kissed her forehead.
That night, he allowed himself to sleep.

As you may have noticed, my updates towards the end of last week were not very regular... I am on a forgein exchange, and it is very hard to find time to write! But I will be home on Friday, and will be able to write and upload like normal then.
Thank you!
Emmy xx