Room for Pain (Shane Walsh love story)

Chapter Seven: A Dozen Lies and a Funeral

Chapter 7: A Dozen Lies and a Funeral

Shane and I walked together into the house after spending a little while outside in the warm summer air trying to clear our minds of recent events. I knew what was going on inside the house at this time and I felt it was best to face it now before it was too late. Shane held the front door open for me as we both made our way inside, Patricia’s sobbing echoing and reverberating off of the off-white walls. Her cries were so loud and painful they could shatter glass. It was awkward coming in as Patricia lifted her head from the table she sobbed at to sneak a glance at Shane and I. I could feel Shane tense up beside me as Patricia began to wail again.

“I’m going to go check up on Carl.” He whispered, walking away from me.

“I’ll be waiting.” I reassured him, placing my hand on his shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze before leaning on the door frame outside the room Carl was currently resting in.

Shane wasn’t in the room for long, as the sight of Carl probably only made him feel worse about his current situation. He came out barely a minute later with his face just as melancholy looking as before. Seeing Carl did nothing for him. I pulled him into an embrace and held his head at my shoulder, stroking his dark brown hair as he breathed on my neck.

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” whimpered Maggie as she strode up to us, “but I brought you some clothes and just wanted to let you know that the bathroom is upstairs.”

Shane took the pile of neatly folded clothes in his arms and nodded, “thank you.”

“They won’t fit well.” Replied Maggie, “They were Otis’.”

She gave him a weak and forced smile before leaving the two of us be.

“I’ll wait for you in the lounge.” I said, leaning in to give Shane a kiss on the cheek and walking away to join Maggie in the living room.

“I’ll meet you there.” He replied, then turning on his heel to jog up the stairs to the bathroom.

When I came into the lounge room I saw Maggie sitting next to Glenn on the couch while Patricia’s sobs continued from the kitchen. I relaxed back into the seat closest to Glenn and tilted my head back, closing my eyes squeezing them shut for a brief moment.

“You alright?” asked Glenn as I took a deep breath.

“Fine.” I sighed, squirming into a normal sitting position, “I’m just tired.”

“The chair is a recliner. I can fold it out for you if you’d like and you can rest up here for the night.” Suggested Maggie sweetly.

“You have no idea how good that sounds.” I laughed softly, getting up from the chair and letting her fold it out, helping her in whatever way I could.

“There are some blankets in the cupboard to your right if you’d like to grab those.” She said.

“Will do.” I said with a smile, doing as she had proposed.

Once the chair was all set up, I lay down in it and turned onto my side seeing as I often found it difficult to sleep on my back. I pulled the plaid patterned blanket up to my neck and curled up underneath it into a foetal position.

“You look cosy.” Chuckled Glenn.

“That’s probably because I am.” I smiled, “I can’t thank you enough, Maggie.”