Another Chance ~Carl Grimes Love Story~

Chapter 18 - "Goodnight, Carl."

It wasn't long after that Rick and Daryl and the rest of them came bursting in through the door, antibiotics in hand. Carl told Daryl that my ankle was broken or something, so he picked me up and carried me to my cell again, nobody seeming to care anymore that they were fraternizing with the sick.

He set me down and just looked so worried. He told me he'd get Hershel to come in and take a look at me. After he had left I just heard Rick yelling at Carl. All about how he needed him and he wasn't there. How he had left and didn't warn him or tell him anything. I heard Carl yelling back at him about how he had heard gunshots, and that there was no way he was just going to wait and sit and do nothing about it. They argued for a little while, but then his dad just hugged him and told him he was glad that he was safe.

Glenn got his breathing back to normal and told me that he was feeling a little better when I talked to him. It was still in the middle of the night now, and I've been alone in my room for a while after Hershel came in and set my ankle back into place. He put some gauze around it for the time being, so now it's swollen and throbbing, but I'm surviving. I can't seem to sleep. Not after everything that's happened. I''m not feeling as sickly as I was before, and can move a lot better, ignoring my ankle.

I see Hershel come in. "You drinking that tea?" he asks me. I nod and smile. "Look, about everything that happened out there. I just want you to know I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to go through that, risking your life to save yourself, to save me... almost getting killed when you weren't even in battle or.. on a run or something." I just nod. 

"It's fine, Hershel. I'm not traumatized or anything," I say, smiling. "Glenn is okay, Sasha is okay, I'm okay, Lizzy's okay... everything is... okay." He smiles at me.

"I just hate that you had to go through that. You're so young. You have your life in front of you."

"Maybe God saved me." I say. I'm not even sure when the words leave my lips. It feels right to say it. Like maybe it's true. I can't be sure, but maybe I really just... had faith and didn't know it. He just looks at me and smiles a little, though it's a sad smile. He exits my room, leaving me alone again.

I wish that my mom was here. That Delilah was here. I miss them. I miss talking to them, just being able to see them. Maybe my mom is in heaven. That's why I'm still alive. That's why I didn't get my arm eaten out by a walker. I cringe at the thought. There really is no worse way to die than by that.

I close my eyes and breathe. I hate wondering if Delilah is out there. It hurts. She could be dead, for all I know. 

But... But she could be alive.

I see Carl walk into my room, interrupting my thoughts. "Hey," he says, crouching down next to my bed.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, propping myself up on my elbow. "It's the middle of the night." 

"I just... wanted to make sure you were okay." He looks down at my ankle. "So what was up with that?"

"Hershel says I broke it and that there is most likely severe fracturing. This is the best that he could do for now." He just nods. 

"Daryl was really upset," he says. I frown. "Why was he upset?"

"He yelled at everybody for not being careful enough. Said that there should have been more people watching over. Rick, me, Maggie. Anybody. He just... exploded." He looks at me. "That man really loves you." 

I smile a little. "Yeah... Yeah, I guess he does." Family. That's all I'm thinking. It's been so long since I've really felt like I belong anywhere. I really belong here.

Carl sits on the side of my bed, pulling me up to sit next to him by my hands. My legs are behind his back and I'm facing him, his feet placed on the ground. He puts his hands on my arms. "Sing," he says.

"What?" I say, feeling a little put on the spot. "Sing something. Please?"

"What do you want me to sing?" I say, figuring if I don't I may never get the chance to.

"That song you always sing to Judith." he says. "Sunday Morning?" I ask.

"No, the other one. La Vie En Rose." he says, smiling. "Really?" I ask.

He just nods his head and smiles. "Hold me close and hold me fast, this magic spell you cast, this is la vie en rose," I sing. He wraps his arms around me, scooting closer.

"When you kiss me heaven sighs, and though I close my eyes, I see la vie en rose." I feel my face heating up as I sing. He's looking at me so intently, his face as serious as I've ever seen it. I just look anywhere but his face, and I know I'm smiling a little ridiculously.

"When you press me to your heart, I'm in a world apart, a world where roses bloom," I sing. I see him smile slightly at the words I'm singing, but I continue on even though I'm blushing as he gets even closer to me, wrapping his arms tighter around me, bring him even closer.

"And when you speak, angels sing from above," I sing, a little quieter.

I look him in the eyes. "Every day words seem to turn into love songs..." I pause. His eyes are the craziest thing to me. They're just like Delilah's. But on him, it's... it's different.

"Give your heart and soul to me," I sing quietly. He places his forehead on mine, his arms wrapped around me tight. I breathe in deep and out, my breath shaky.

"And life will always be," he places a hand on my neck. "La vie en rose," I sing softly. I feel his lips lightly on mine. My stomach drops, and I try to react the best that I can. I kiss him back lightly, and he pulls away just as quickly as he came.

We sit there for a moment, our breath mingling with each others. He leans in and kisses me again, this time not as light as the last. I pull away slightly. "I said I didn't want to get you sick." I say, my voice only partially audible. He laughs a little, pulling me in again and kissing me deeply, my heart racing a mile a minute in my head. I kiss him back, placing my hands around his neck and pulling him closer, as close as humanly possible. We just stay there, wrapped in each others, his lips hard on mine, and I can feel his heart beating hard and fast through my fingertips on his skin. 

Everything just feels perfect. Like nothing is wrong anymore. There's no more walkers, there's no more sickness, there's no more pain or deaths or sadness because of loss. Everything is just okay. No, not okay. Everything is perfect.

Eventually we pull away, placing our foreheads on each others, both of us breathing in deep due to our lack of oxygen. I open my eyes slowly and see his still closed, though he's smiling. I move both of my hands from his neck down to his cheeks and he opens his eyes and looks at me. I smile and place my forehead on his. "Goodnight, Carl," I say, smiling to myself. I move his face in my hands and kiss him one more time, pulling away as slowly as possible, savoring the feeling of his lips on mine. "Goodnight, Emma." I feel my hands slip away from his skin and watch him look over his shoulder one last time, smiling and waving once to me, before he leaves my cell.

I lay my head back down on my pillow, feeling exhausted by the days events. It surely won't be forgotten any time soon. I close my eyes and try to sleep. I feel extremely warm, and I'm sure it's not because of the sickness.