Hate That I Love You

Chapter 12

On The way back Lori confronted Andrea about her being a bitch about Lori having a gun and she doesn't. Dale had taken her fun after she tried to blow herself up. Shane was only letting me, Rick and Daryl carry along with himself. Because we knew how to properly use a gun. Then Lori confronted Carol about her glaring at Rick and blaming Rick for Sophia going missing. She was right no one else would have run after her like Rick did.

"Lori's right Carol, Rick ran after her. The only way he could keep her safe was to hide her. He gave her instructions on how to get back in case he got killed helping her," I said.

We then continued walking and Andrea said about partying that we find Sophia. "You know what all this hoping and praying isn't doing a damn thing. We're going to find that little girl and she's going to be just fine," Daryl had said. "Am I the only one Zen around here?" He grumbled and walked off.

Andrea ended up getting separated and was attacked by a walker but out of nowhere a woman on a horse came riding up and hit the walker with a bat then came to a stop. "Lori. Lori Grines," she said.

"I'm Lori," Lori said stepping forward.

"You need to come now. Carl's been shot. Rick sent me," the girl said.

Lori took her backpack off and got on the horse. "We don't know this girl. You can't get on that horse," Daryl argued.

"You guys are stuck in the big traffic snarl on the highway," she said and Glenn nodded.

"Mile back there's a lane names Greene," she said before she took off with Lori.

We eventually got back to the highway and told Dale what happened. He told me T-Dog had a blood infection. So I looked at his arm and it was red and he said it hurt really bad. He was running a high fever. Daryl ended up giving me antibiotics and pain meds that were Merle's.
Glenn and I end up talking T-Dog in Carol's car to the Greene's place.

Daryl, Dale, and Carol all stayed with the RV for the night.

Once we got there I ran inside with my backpack and found Rick coming out of a room.  "Rick, oh my god. Is he okay?" I asked.

He shook his head and I hugged him. I walked into the room to see Carl on the bed. I knelt down beside the bed and pulled my stethoscope out. I listened to Carl's heart and lifted his shirt to see gauze soaked in blood. "He had fragments from the bullet inside that need taken out. One of them nicked an artery," I heard a man's voice. I stood up and turned around to see an older man.

"Hershel Greene," he introduced himself.

"Dr. Nikyla Grimes,"  I introduced myself and shook his hand.

"Doctor? You're a little younger aren't you?" He asked.

"I graduated high school early at 16. I was only four years into my residency when everything happened," I said.

"Well I'm only a vet so it'll be nice to have someone else here that has experience in doing surgery on people," he said.

"Absolutely anything you need," I said.

Shane and the man Otis who had shot Carl after shooting a deer. Had gone to a school that had a FEMA shelter set up. They needed to get the equipment that was needed to do the surgery. Shane ended up coming back but without Otis. He had Ricks run that Rick gave to Otis and he had all the equipment we needed. He gave some story that Otis has himself so Shane could get out.

We decided not to tell Patricia Otis's wife that he was dead until after we did the surgery. We took the bags from Shane and admittedly went to work setting everything up. Once I got the tube down Carl's throat and he was put under we started the surgery. It took a couple of hours but we were able to get the fragments out and stitch up the artery to stop the bleeding. He was going to be okay. I walked out of the room and Rick and Lori stood up right away.

"He's going to be just fine," I told them.

"Thank you. Thank you so much Nik," Lori said.

I nodded my head "Hershel did most of it I just assisted," I said.

"You still helped save Carl. Thank you, sis," Rick said and hugged me.

After that, I walked away and went to clean up. Carl was taken off the respirator and laid in bed. Rick and Lori were with him. I went and checked to see how T-Dog was doing. The next morning after the sun came up.  Dale, Carol, Andrea, and Daryl came driving down the lane to the farm. Once the parked and got out we greeted them.

"How's Carl?" Carol asked.

"He's going to be just fine. Thanks to Hershel and his people. And Nik she help Hershel with the surgery," Lori said.

"And Shane. He got the stuff that was needed to do the surgery, " Rick said.

I was a little skeptical of Shane's story. I didn't know Otis but I didn't believe he just up and threw himself at walkers. We had gathered Ricks to make a memorial for the man and Patricia asked Shane to say something. He refused at first but then agreed.

"We have to save the boy " see that's what he said.

"We were down to our last bullets and my busted up ankle. If it wasn't for him Carl wouldn't be alive. If anyone's death every had meant it was his," he continued and put a rock at the top of the memorial.

After that Hershel let us set up came by a group of trees not far from the house. I was blowing up my mattress when Daryl walked into my tent. "Daryl?" I said questioningly not sure what he was doing here.

"You didn't but Shane's story either? I saw yer face," he said.

"Oh. Ummm. Yeah no. I don't buy it. I think he killed Otis to get away," I said.

"Me too," he said. "Ya think this farm thing will work out?" He asked.

"I don't know. Hershel is a nice man but I don't think he takes to strangers to well. I think he'll want us gone when Carl is better and we find Sophia," I said.

Rick wanted to start the search for Sophia but Hershel and I stopped him right away. "Rick, you have 3 units of blood. You won't last in this heat you need to rest," I said.

"And you with your ankle you push it now you'll be laid up for months," Hershel said to Shane.

So Daryl went out on his own. He likes it that way. He was determined to find Sophia no matter what he had to do.