CHAPTER ONE:
What day is it
And in what month
This clock never seemed so alive
I can't keep up and I can't back down
I've been losing so much time
Rick felt so alone. He had lost everything. His wife and his son were killed in a car accident a month ago. He didn't know what he would do now that they were gone. He never went out, he had lost weight from missing so many meals. His friends would come over but he wouldn't get out of bed to answer the door and eventually they stopped coming. They stopped calling his phone and then he stopped paying the bill. He was disconnected from the outside world and this was his way of grieving. He knew he'd have to pick himself back up but he didn't know when that would be. He could still hear their voices. The rare times he did get out of bed, he'd go to Carl's room and lie back down on his son's bed. He hadn't spoken a word to anyone or anything in a month. After their funeral, he stopped seeing his parents. They tried to send help to his house but again, he wouldn't open the door. Rick just wasn't happy anymore. He thought about ending his life multiple times. He felt he had nothing to live for. Nothing at all.
Michonne was a therapist and she had heard about Rick Grimes and how he lost his family. She had heard from her colleagues that his parents had come to the office to seek help for their son but no one said whether they saw him or not. One of her colleagues did write down a few things that the parent's had told them. Speaking of, she asked around for his parent's number and decided to give them a call. Michonne was one of the most loved people in Atlanta. She was so nice and sweet to everyone she met. She knew how it felt to lose a child so she connected with her patients more than anyone else and they all loved her. She'd help Rick deal with his pain. He had to know that he wasn't alone and that there was always someone going through the same thing as him.
"Hello, my name is Michonne Parrish." Michonne greeted his parents as they sat down in her black chairs. His mom looked like she had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy and she still had tears in her eyes.
"I'm Richard, this is my wife Rachel." The older man said. He sounded sad too.
"I heard about your son, I read some things that some colleagues of mine wrote down. I think I can help him." Michonne handed them some papers that had a lot of her information on them. Her education and her degree in psychology. Her track records and the news about her baby boy.
"I'm so sorry for your loss." Rachel said. Michonne nodded in appreciation.
"I heard that no one could reach your son. Do either of you have a key to his home?"
Rachel thought about that, "My sister has one." Michonne wondered why but she didn't ask out loud. She nodded instead.
"If you like, I could go by there and see what I can do for him."
"Please." Richard said. "I'm afraid of what he'll do if he's alone any longer. He'll like you. Thank you Miss Parrish."
His country accent was amusing to Michonne and he somehow still sounded as professional as ever.
"My pleasure. I'll be in touch. The best thing for your son right now is to just have one person around until we can get him to appreciate an audience." She told them. They all shook hands and left. Rachel called her sister and asked to send her the key to Rick's home.
A few days later, Rick heard someone trying to get into his home but he didn't care. He stayed in bed and stared at the empty wall in front of him. He was getting weaker and weaker everyday. He still wouldn't eat. His house hadn't been touched in a month. It was still spotless and everything was in the place his family left it.
He heard an unfamiliar female voice from downstairs.
"Rick? Are you here?" How did she know his name. He heard her get closer and he still didn't move. Then his door opened and in stepped the woman. He didn't even look at her. He didn't move at all. If she was there to kill him, he was happy.
"Rick, my name is Michonne. I spoke to your parents the other day… they're really worried about you." She said. She bent down so she could be in his view and he looked at her with those blue eyes. Those sad blue eyes that showed nothing but pain. She sat up against the wall.
He didn't even need to ask how she got in because she held up a key.
"Your parents sent this to me. I'm here to help you."
He still wouldn't respond. It was as if his brain forgot how to form coherent sentences so he just stared at her. He felt absolutely nothing. Not joy, not pain. He couldn't feel a thing.
Michonne noticed that he wasn't exactly dirty but she could tell that he hadn't showered in a while. He looked extremely malnourished. Michonne sat beside him on the bed and felt his forehead and then his neck. He was running a fever. It was going to take work to get him back to normal but she was determined to make it happen.
"I'm gonna help you get to the shower now." She told him before she lifted his arms. He was as light as a feather. Michonne picked him up fully and he didn't make a sound. She helped him to the bathroom and striped him of his clothes. She turned on the shower and helped him in. She got in behind him and grabbed the liquid soap to wash him. After his shower Michonne dressed him in some comfortable clothes but she wouldn't put him back into the bed until the sheets and comforter was washed. She took him down the stairs and sat him on the couch.
What Michonne walked into was a horrific scene. She had to get him better. He was such a beautiful person and she had to get him back to the way he was. She made some soup for him to help with the fever and it was something light. Couldn't give him something too heavy since he hadn't eaten in so long. She fed him the soup and surprisingly he ate it.
He wasn't too far gone.
"I'm going to go get your stuff for your bed and then you can rest, okay?"
He didn't respond but Michonne knew he got the message. She left the room and came back a few minutes later, she helped him up the stairs and got him into the bed and under the covers. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light.
She didn't realize how bad things had gotten for him, she'd have to stay with him and help with his physical health and then she could work on his mental health after that.
She stood above him, watching him sleep. He looked so peaceful. Such a beautiful, beautiful human being.
The next day, Rick was still asleep and Michonne guessed that he hadn't gotten any in a long time. He needed this so she left him to go to the grocery store. It was about an hour later when she arrived back at his home, because she went to get some of her things and then she made breakfast for him. She went up the stairs and into the room. Rick's eyes were open but he didn't look like he had gone anywhere. She went to his side and told him that she made him some breakfast. He didn't give her a reaction at all. She sighed and helped him out of bed and down the stairs. He sat down at the table and tears fell from his eyes.
Michonne looked at him and went to his side, rubbing his head with her hand.
"I know what you're going through, Rick. I know how much pain you're in right now. I can't say everything will be okay but I promise I'll make it somewhat better for you. Eat your food. We're going out today." She said and he actually listened. Little by little, Rick ate his food.
Later, Rick and Michonne were in Michonne's car. She turned on some music and began singing along to her favorite song, "Candy Rain".
"You're the same, my candy rain." Michonne sang. She didn't see it but Rick gave her a small, tiny, barely visible smile. She would've loved to see it.
They arrived at Michonne's favorite spot for lunch, it was a chinese restaurant. There was rarely anyone there at lunchtime and she figured it was perfect. Not a lot of people to overwhelm him.
"So, we're going to order lots of food and we're going to eat it all." She said as she paid for them to eat and they sat down across from each other in a booth. Once their menus arrived, Michonne looked it over and picked out all of the things she knew were good. She told the waiter what they wanted and he smiled, jotted it down, and walked away telling them he'll be back shortly.
Michonne thanked him and turned her attention to Rick, "You're going to love every last bite, trust me." She said. He just looked at her and then looked around. His eyes landed on a small boy and his mother. The woman was rubbing her fingers through the small boys straight hair.
Michonne watched tears form in his eyes and she turned his attention back to her. "You have beautiful eyes." She told him.
He didn't respond and she sighed. Their food came and they ate. Michonne was proud that Rick ate everything on his plate and drank lots of water like she instructed. They left the restaurant and were sitting in Michonne car when she spoke.
"We're going to start our exercises, okay?" She waited but he didn't respond. She pulled some Rorschach tests out of her backpack and said, "I want you to tell me what you see."
She held up the first picture, it was a butterfly.
There was a long pause but finally he spoke, "It's a butterfly…" He said. Michonne smiled and nodded. Definitely not too far gone.
She held up another one, it was an elephant.
"An elephant." He told her. He sounded a lot like his dad with that Southern drawl.
"Great." She told him. She moved on to the next activity. "I'm going to say a word, I want you to say the first thing that comes to mind, okay?" He nodded.
"Sunshine."
He thought about his answer, "Rainbow." He responded.
"Health."
"Vitamins."
"Swimming."
"Lifeguard."
Michonne smiled again. So far, he was passing his tests. She was trying to pick out his personality so that she could work with that before she moved on to the heavy stuff. He was indeed depressed and with everything she found out from his parents, he was deep in depression he was practically drowning in it. She had to be his lifeguard and pull him out.
"Alright, that's enough for one day. We're going to take this one step at a time and I don't want to overwhelm you so we're done. Any specific place you wanna go?" She asked.
He shook his head and she nodded before driving to his home. Upon arrival there were people outside. Michonne stepped out of the car and told Rick to stay put. She walked up to the people and asked them who they were.
The three men turned around but only one spoke, he had brown hair, brown eyes and a little scruff on his face. He was a lot bigger than Rick and not just because Rick was malnourished. But because he probably grew up that way.
"I'm Shane. Who are you?" He asked, his voice was deep and his accent was even deeper. He must be a friend of Rick's.
"My name is Michonne. Are you all here to visit Rick Grimes?" She asked.
Another guy spoke, he looked really young, he was either Asian or Korean. His black hair was slicked back and his brown eyes were on full display. He looked sweet.
"Yeah, uhhh, I'm Glenn. We all came by here a few times but no one would answer the door. We're kind of scared of what we'll find if we call the police." He said.
"Rick is doing alright, he's in my car right now." All three men looked over at her silver kia. They were about to walk away when Michonne put her arm out to stop them.
"I just got him out and talking today, I don't want to overwhelm him with guests. I promise to keep you all updated but at this point in time, I can't allow you all to see him." She said.
Shane, got upset and started to raise his voice. "He's our friend! We thought he was dead! And now you're tellin' me that you ain't lettin' me see him? Bullshit!"
"I understand your frustration but as a professional psychiatrist, I can't let you see him at this time." She repeated. Glenn was the voice of reason to his friend, he gave Michonne his number and walked away with Shane and the guy in the back who hadn't spoke the whole time. Michonne let out an exasperated sigh and went back to the car. Rick was staring at her when she sat down.
"What?" She asked him.
"They're leavin'." He pointed out. His voice sounded like he hadn't used it in a while.
"Well, yeah. As a doctor, I can't allow you any visitors until the first part of your exercises are complete." She told him. "But they'll be in touch." She promised.
A few weeks passed and Rick was starting to speak more and more. It was finally the day he would see his parents. That was the first step and his friends would visit him the next weekend. Michonne was putting the finishing touches to Rick's outfit when the doorbell rang. She smiled at him and he sat on the couch. She opened the door and greeted his parents.
"It is so nice to see you, Mr. and Mrs. Grimes." She said.
"It's nice to see you too, Miss Parrish." Richard smiled and Rachel followed suit.
"He's ready to see you now, but please. Keep the conversation lighthearted. We haven't began talking about the incident." His parents nodded and followed Michonne.
"Richard, honey." Rachel said. She went to her son and hugged him.
"Hey mom." He responded and hugged her back. He had missed her a lot.
Rachel moved and let her husband hug their son.
"It's good to see ya, son."
Rick nodded and looked over at Michonne. She simply smiled and walked out of the room. His small smile faded. He couldn't do this without her. He got nervous until she came back and sat next to him. He sighed in relief.
"So, Rachey got a job at that hospital, like she always wanted." Richard said.
Rick's eyebrows shot up to his hairline, "Really? You wanted that job so bad when I was a kid. Congratulations." Rick told her.
"Thank you, honey." Rachel said. "Your father and I moved." She revealed.
"Yeah? Where to?" He asked. Michonne was proud of all of them. Keeping the conversation going and keeping it positive. It was refreshing because it usually didn't happen in families.
"We moved back to King County, saw Johnny the other day, owns his own house now." Rick's father said.
"I'm surprised, considerin' Johnny used to be a drug addict but I'm happy for him. If anyone deserves that it's him."
Michonne smiled and placed her hand on his back, "What a sweet thing to say." She complimented. Rick smiled at her and then she asked everyone if they were hungry.
Everyone nodded and she was about to get up until Rick placed his hand on her leg and told her that he'd go get the snacks. She said okay and watched him walk away with his bow legged strut.
"He's skinnier than I remember." Rachel said. "Is he sick?" She asked.
"He was. He was very malnourished but I'm getting him back healthy again. He'll be exercising in the weight room at my house on Monday." She said.
"Thank you for all that you're doing for our boy." Rachel said.
"It's no problem at all." Michonne smiled.
"How much do we owe you?" Richard asked as he pulled out his wallet.
"Oh no, I'm doing this pro bono. Don't worry about payment."
"Nonsense. You need somethin' for all your hard work."
"Really, it's okay. I love what I do. Helping people should always be free. And I have a soft spot for your family." She said. Richard nodded and Rick came back with plates of finger sandwiches that he and Michonne prepared.
After one last conversation, Rick's parents had to leave. They hugged their son and told him that they loved him, hugged Michonne and left the house. Michonne was so proud of the accomplishments of Rick. Usually these things took a while but each day he was coming out of his depression more and more.
"I'm proud of you, today." Michonne decided to say out loud.
Rick smiled, "Thank you. For everythan'. How much do I owe you?" He asked and she chuckled. "What?"
"Like father, like son. I'm not doing this for the money, Rick. I'm doing this because I care, because I want to help you. I don't want any money for this." Rick nodded.
She told him it was time for bed and after saying goodnight, he was gone.