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the feeling of scrubbing the dirt and blood out of my scalp felt amazing, the hot water dripping down my body, feeling clean was refreshing, especially after going weeks and weeks without water. my legs were a little itchy and irritated from shaving my legs after a long time without doing it, i guess they were just used to body hair for so long, but it's good to be hairless again there.
i laid in the singular bed of this house, where all the patients were. a nice girl named denise took care of me after my interview with deanna. she let me shower, change into some clean clothes, and get the medicine and fluids i needed. an iv was stuck through one of my veins, pumping antibiotic fluids into my system, i'm not completely healed, but i'm feeling better. thank god for this community, if aaron never came across us, i'd have been dead by now from infection.
i wore soft grey sweatpants, a white tank top, and a blue zip up jacket. it was nice feeling the touch of clean clothes rub against your skin again, it was amazing.
i was snapped out of my trance at the sound of the front door opening, when i looked i saw it was rick, and i could've swore i didn't recognize him at first.
his face was shaved clean, and his hair was combed back with a haircut. he looked so much better than before. i liked the cleaner look. "look who it is." rick says with a sing-song tone, his face lit up at the sight of me.
just as i was about to reply, denise walks in from the kitchen, her face expressed that she was nervous, my guess was about us all being new people. "your wife is okay on treatment for tonight, you can take her back to your guys' house for the night—but tomorrow she'll have to come back tomorrow for more full treatment. is that okay?"
rick nods in response as denise moves over to take the iv out of my arm, "yeah, yeah it's fine." what had me thinking instantly that so far three people have assumed that me and rick are married, we're together—but not married.
me and rick now are just playing along i guess, it would be better to just let it go than explain we got together after our spouses who cheated on us had a child together and died, and that we were now taking care of that baby as our own.
when denise was done unhooking me from the machines she helped me get out of bed, and rick took over. i was a little weak in the legs but i could walk, that's a plus. so i didn't fall, i gripped onto rick's bicep tightly as we walked out the door. the night weather was chilly, a cold breeze passed every few seconds as we walked. it was nice to get fresh air, i liked it. "i'm sorry i hesitated." rick apologizes suddenly.
i look at him, crunching my eyebrows in confusion, "what do you mean?" i quickly realized on what he meant, "rick, you're fine, you were just protecting our people—keeping them safe. it's understandable. we didn't know if these people were good or not, you were being cautious."
"you coulda' been dead by tonight, denise said. i—i can't believe i hesitated on the one person i need right now." he takes in a deep breath as we continued walking, "the-the kids need you, i need you and i hesitated on your life—when i shouldn't have-"
"i love you."
i didn't even think about it, i just said it to stop his ranting. but i meant the three words more than anything. i love rick, i do, he's my family and i'd do anything for him. he showed me love again, something i never thought i'd feel with someone again after shane.
rick stopped us in our tracks on the way to the house. the expression on his face is one i'll never forget for the rest of our lives together. he cracked a small smile, "i love you too."
to hide my blush i covered it up by planting a kiss on rick's lips. the first feeling i felt when i kissed him for the first time was still there after all this time being together. it's still hard for me to believe that i used to avoid rick to ignore my feelings for him. but that phase is over, rick is the man i love. end of story.
- !gif is of nikki with rick! awe! after sixty chapters they finally said it<3
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