Not Without You
Rick realizes his love for Michonne in the worst circumstances.
The Safe Zone was celebrating with a small bonfire. The weather had just started turning a little cooler in the evenings, so the community decided to come together before fall/winter actually settled in. There was guitar playing and singing. Some kids played touch football, others were across the way at the park. Food was served as well as drink. Rick and Michonne were off duty in plain clothes, but continued to be alert in case anything should arise. They were seated with their group when the commotion started.
Michonne looked to where the raised voices were coming from, then turned to Rick to say, "I got it." She moves from her position and walks toward the bonfire. Sure enough, it was Oliver Jensen, the community troublemaker. He especially earned that title when he had a little too much to drink. Michonne had handled him before, so she didn't think twice when she approached him.
He was arguing with another man who was trying to take his bottle away from him. Michonne nods at them, then asks, "Is there a problem here?"
Oliver squints his eyes at her, swaying slightly, and yells, "Who called the damn cops?! I don't need nobody telling me what to do! This is a party! Ain't you supposed to have fun at a party?! I ain't doing nothing!"
Michonne stands with her feet slightly apart, fingers in her belt loops, and states, "You're causing a commotion. People came out to enjoy themselves. Not listen to your drunken rantings, so I'm going to have to ask you to pipe down. If not, you'll be spending the night in a cell."
Oliver takes a step toward her and growls, "You threatening me?!"
"Jensen, calm down. Maybe you should call it a night. Go on home and sleep this off, ok?" Michonne suggests. She sees Rick approaching from behind Oliver and is momentarily distracted. Oliver takes this opportunity to move right upon her, pointing a finger in her face.
"You just get your high and mighty ass away from me!" Oliver seems to be growing more and more agitated.
Michonne opens her mouth to speak again and...SLAP! Oliver had raised his hand and slapped her before she knew it was coming. She staggers back slightly, grabbing her cheek. When she gathers her wits, she looks back at Oliver only to see Rick towering over him, landing punch after punch.
"Rick, no!" Michonne yells, moving to grab him. She can't hold on to him though. He is in a rage and she's going to need help to control him. She sees Daryl and Glenn rush in to pull Rick away.
"Let go of me! This son of a bitch hit Michonne! I'm gonna kill him!" Rick yells through clenched teeth.
The three of them surround Rick, trying to calm him down. Michonne grabs him by the shoulders, pushing him back as he is moving forward and says, "Rick, I'm ok. He's drunk. We'll lock him up for the night and he'll be fine in the morning. Let's just get... " She is cut off by the sound of a gun clicking and someone yelling, "Gun!"
All of them are in disbelief because no citizen is allowed to carry firearms within the community. Everything happens so quickly. Michonne turns to face Oliver, standing in front of Rick. The gun goes off and people start to scatter. Daryl, Rick, and Glenn race toward Oliver, the first tackling him to the ground.
Michonne starts to move forward but feels an awful ache in her side. She looks down to see a round spot of blood at her waist, staining her shirt. She shakes her head, placing her hand on the spot, slowly realizing that it is her blood. She whispers, "Rick" as everything goes black and she falls to the ground.
Rick, Daryl, and Glenn apprehend Oliver, taking the weapon quickly.
"Michonne, we need some zip ties," Rick rambles. When he doesn't get a response, he looks over to where she should be and sees her on the ground, a pool of blood at her side. Everything goes in slow motion around him and he can't seem to comprehend what he is seeing. There is a ringing in his head that he can't get away from. He rushes over to her, dropping to his knees, yelling her name. Glenn and Daryl both yell "Shit!" as a crowd starts to gather.
Tyreese and Abe arrive, the others trailing close behind. Noah grabs Carl and guides him away before he can see what has happened. Abe takes care of Jensen while Tyreese just scoops Michonne up and makes a mad dash for the infirmary. Rick is in a daze, but Glenn and Daryl grab him and propel him forward quickly.
Rick is pacing in the waiting room, his whole body shaking, when Carl arrives. He takes one look at his son and tries to hide the anguish in his eyes, but fails miserably.
Carl studies his dad, closely as he nervously plays with the tails of his shirt. "Is she..."he begins, but Rick rushes to him and embraces him tightly. The tears come for the both of them as they seek comfort from each other. The other family members arrive slowly, all prepared to wait for however long it takes.
More than an hour later, Dr. Stevens pulls Rick aside to assess him of Michonne's injury. "She's resting now. She'll be out for a day or so, heavily medicated for the pain. Luckily, the bullet went straight through, but she lost a lot of blood. We had some units of her type in supply. I just hope she won't need more. Look, she's a fighter, so I expect her to pull through this. We've never had to deal with a gunshot wound inside the community before, so I hope something is done about Oliver Jensen and soon. You can see her, but only for a few minutes."
Rick nods and slowly makes his way on stiff legs to Michonne's room. At first sight of her in the hospital bed, he has to close his eyes before he can take it all in. She looks so small and helpless. He has never seen Michonne look this way and it makes him feel like a hand has reached in and grabbed his heart painfully. He rubs his face as he takes a seat in the chair by her bedside. All at once, his emotions come crashing down on him and he takes a deep breath as the tears stream down his face. He never thought of losing Michonne. She was tough, she was capable, she was a fighter, so he never factored in that something could happen to her. Hell, he figured he'd be gone before her. She was just that resilient. This made him realize how afraid he was that he had lost her, how much he had come to need her in his life. He never wanted to confront what he was feeling for Michonne, but knowing that she could have been taken from him in a split second brought to light the most obvious realization. He loved her. Had loved her for a long time and to think that he could have lost her without telling her how he felt really terrified him. He slowly moved out of the chair, slipping helplessly to his knees in his despair, resting his head on the bed.
"I can't...I can't do this without you. Not without you. I need you, Michonne. I love you. You have to be ok. You have to be," Rick whispers with desperation in his voice.
For the next two days, Rick is at Michonne's side, just waiting for her to wake up. She goes in and out, but is never fully awake, so he just waits patiently. Carl and the others visit and pull their weight where it is needed. Douglas, the community leader, took it upon himself to pull Daryl in as part of the security team while Rick and Michonne were out.
Slowly, but surely, Michonne begins to wake up. She blinks several times, adjusting to the sunlight in the room, feeling detached because of the meds, and looks over at Rick who is slumped in his chair with his head down. She smiles and attempts to say something but her throat is dry, making it difficult to speak. Rick's head pops up as he senses her movement.
He smiles at her, moving to the bed to take her hand. "Hey," he whispers. He grabs the glass of water by her bedside and watches as she takes small sips.
Michonne clears her throat and says, "Hey. What happened?" Rick relays the story to her with a little difficulty, letting her know that Oliver Jensen was in a cell, awaiting a decision about his fate within the community.
"Where did he get a gun?" she asks.
Rick shakes his head and says, "Not sure about that. I've been here, so Daryl is handling all of that right now."
"You've been here the whole time?" Michonne inquires.
"The whole time. I thought….I had lost you. I don't think I have ever been more afraid in my life." He looks down, gently squeezing her hand in his, not sure if he can meet her eyes, but knowing he needs to tell her what he had failed to tell her before.
"I'm ok, Rick. I'll be ok," Michonne assures him.
"I know, but this whole incident made me realize something." He takes a deep breath as he looks into her eyes and states, "I love you, Michonne. I don't want to go another day without saying it, without you knowing how I feel."
Michonne searches his eyes, seeing his sincerity. It makes her nervous. "We could've saved a lot of time if I had gotten shot sooner, huh?" When she sees that Rick is anything but amused, she apologizes.
"I love you, too, Rick. I have for a while now," Michonne reveals to him.
He is visibly relieved and smiles genuinely for the first time in days. "Now that you're awake, I gotta take care of something."
"And what might that be?" Michonne prompts.
"Gotta kill Jensen," Rick states casually as he saunters out of the room.
Michonne quietly panics, watching him disappear from her sight, then yells, "Rick, no!"
He pops his head in from the door, smiling the whole time as he says, "Just kidding. I'll let you have the honors when you get out of here."
Michonne shakes her head, watching him closely, honestly not knowing if he is serious or not.
