CHAPTER 4

Kenny awakened about an hour after Clementine's surgery. His good eye fluttered open and he groaned, disoriented. He noticed Clementine by his side, slowly nodding off. The pain in his abdomen was duller than before, but it was still throbbing relentlessly. He pushed himself up to a sitting position, managing to ignore the pain.

What the fuck, the man thought as his eyes flowed down to his torso. His shirt was pushed up and his wound was all stitched up. Kenny couldn't believe that his injury was laced up with stitches. He wondered when they were put in, and how long he was out. Clem couldn't have put them in, could she? She mentioned it earlier, but he never thought she could actually do it.

"Hey, Clem," he whispered.

The young girl's head shot up. Her head bobbed around the room, startled. Finally, her golden eyes settled on Kenny.

"Kenny!" she exclaimed. "How does it feel? I never did stitches on someone else before."

Kenny shook his head in a combination of amusement, awe, and pride. He couldn't believe that girl was able to stitch him up. He looked down again, admiring her handiwork. I couldn't have done 'em that neatly, that's for sure, he thought.

"How'd ya know how to do that, Clem?" he questioned.

Kenny noticed her brow furrow as she thought of a response. She opened her mouth and closed it, reconsidering her words.

"Well, um you know the cabin group?"

"Uh, yeah," he responded simply. He wondered why she seemed so hesitant to answer his question.

"Before I met them I was bit by a dog. They found me and locked me in a shed. They uh thought it was a walker bite. I sneaked around their house to find supplies and had to stitch myself up in a shed. Christa gave me lessons before, and I just followed her advice." explained Clementine. She shrugged, trying to remain casual.

Kenny was left speechless for a moment. Those shitheads, he thought. They locked a little fucking girl in a shed! Who the hell does that? He grimaced, and shook his head angrily. He was about to say something, but when he saw Clementine's expression, he stopped himself in his tracks. He knew that she saw the rage on his face, and that she was hesitant to talk because she realized he would become upset. Kenny inhaled shakily, and tried to control himself. The girl doesn't need to tip-toe around a grown man, he said internally. He squeezed his hands into fists, and carefully monitored his next few words.

"Well, they turned out to be okay, huh?" he asked, forcing a smile. You just have to get through the day without exploding, he mused. For some reason Clem decided to stick around, and there's nothing you can do to change that. Try to not fuck up for once, okay?

They young girl smiled faintly. Her eyes garnered a far away, dreamy haze.

"Yes. They did," she stated sadly.

"You did a damn fine job, Clem." the man complimented, changing the subject. Of course I had to go upset her, he thought regretfully.

Clementine still seemed distant, but she replied nonetheless. "I didn't though. It wouldn't have gotten so bad if I didn't make you run like that."

Kenny frowned. He had began noticing that Clementine was blaming herself for everything bad that had happened. He felt ashamed knowing that he had contributed to this. He had yelled at her when Sarita died and had made it explicitly clear that he thought it was her fault. In reality, he knew Sarita was a goner either way. Yeah, if the kid hadn't gone chopping her arm off, they would've had a few more hours together. But Kenny knew that he'd probably yell at her for something else. He just loses himself sometimes. In fact, it's been happening more and more often as of late. Kenny just wished she would have entered Wellington without him. He wouldn't know what to do if his stubbornness or rage caused the girl any more harm.

The man took his hat off and ran his hands through his thick graying hair and sighed. "This ain't your fault. If you wouldn't have stitched me up like this, I would still be bleedin' out right now. You did a good job, alright?" he said intensely. Clementine didn't respond. Kenny continued, hoping he could convince her. "You always do a good job, alright Clem?"

A sigh escaped from the young girl's lips. "Yeah. I know."

Kenny could tell the girl wasn't convinced. He plopped his hat back on his head and sighed once more.

Kenny forced himself to stand and held back his groans for Clementine's sake. However, he couldn't remove the wince from his face. He pushed forward towards the entrance room to get the supply bags. Every step burned, but he was determined.

"You need to sit down! You'll pop your stitches!" he heard Clementine yell from behind him.

He continued despite her pleas. "Nah, I'm fine. It doesn't hurt at all." he lied.

Clementine heaved herself up and walked over to Kenny, still holding AJ. She slid the baby into her left arm, and lifted one of the bags with her right arm.

"I didn't ask if it hurt. I said that you'll undo your stitches, and you will" she stated bluntly.

The one eyed man sighed. It was obvious that he was just putting on a show, and that he wasn't capable of carrying that sack. That girl could see right through him.

"You shouldn't be doing things like this." he remarked.

Clementine smirked, somewhat humored. All of the horrible things she had done and seen flashed before her eyes. What was carrying a heavy bag in comparison to causing the death of countless friends? What was straining a muscle compared to constantly losing loved ones? She remembered how he told her not to drink and that it wasn't good for "a kid her age." She had listened to him, but found it to be rather funny. Kenny always got caught up on the little things.

Clementine forced AJ into Kenny's arms. Kenny wasn't winning this battle, that's for sure. She knew the man would do whatever it took to keep her safe, and was very stubborn. Still, she thought, he should look after himself too. She grabbed the other bag with her newly freed hand.

"Yeah? Well neither should you." she retorted. She looked up at Kenny and found him dumbfounded. The girl then turned around and headed to the cabin's upstairs, ignoring the protests of her new guardian. Finally, she said to herself. I'm finally doing something good for once, even if it is small.