"Just make sure you clean the wound everyday to prevent infection, thats all. You're good to go."
"Thank you." She tried to summon a smile but she it looked more like she was wincing.
"Good luck Miss Brunet, you've been given a second chance at life, I hope you live it to the fullest."
"Thank you nurse Greene."
"You're welcome. And if you ever see me outside the hospital, call me Beth."
"Beth... sure thing. Thanks for everything. Goodbye."
Michonne breathed in the fresh air as soon as she stepped out of the door, It has been so long since she felt the beaming sun on her skin- And the Cool Wind through her hair. The first thing she did was call herself an uber.
It took no more than 10 minutes for her ride to arrive and she was relieved to be in the real world again. She thought about dialing Rick but was skeptical because of the whole thing that happened the day before. She knew she shouldn't feel responsible for Andrea's outburst but she couldn't help it. It was the first time Andrea had ever spoken to her in such a manner, she felt like Andrea really screwed up this time. Their friendship was probably unable to be saved after that.
She got into the car and told the Uber driver to take her to Grimes Construction.
She looked outside the window as the Uber made his way to our destination, it was the perfect day to be discharged, the birds were singing loudly and the Sun was shining brightly. Michonne smiled to herself as she took in the surroundings of the perfect sunny day.
When the Uber arrived to her destination she thanked him then got out of the car. She took a deep breath before walking up to the front entrance of the building. Immediately she walked to the front desk and ask the receptionist if she could speak to Rick.
" Hello, is it possible to speak to Rick Grimes?"
" Oh I'm sorry, Mr. Grimes doesn't meet with just anyone besides he's not in right now. Have a nice day." The lady said practically asking her to leave without saying those exact words.
Michonne stared at the blonde lady with disdain.
"I'm not just anybody and I will not be leaving so no need to wish me a good day. If you don't mind I'll be waiting until he returns, where is the lobby?"
The woman sighed before responding, "he should be here within the hour. The lobby is down the hall to the right take a seat and make yourself comfortable if you are willing to wait. I can't guarantee he'll speak with you."
" Thank you. And believe me, he'll be thrilled to see me, now you, have a good day."
Michonne walk towards the direction of the lobby, the lady's directions weren't accurate, but she managed to find her way.
She didn't know why, but for some reason, she was quite nervous. Seeing him outside of the hospital would be weird. She tapped her fingers against her thighs and she waited for him to arrive. She saw some man his greeting him at the door. She stood briskly and rubbed her sweaty palms against her jean clad thighs.
When he looked up to see her waiting there for him, the surprise was written all over his face. His eyebrows rose a fraction and a small smile graced his face. She waved awkwardly over to him and she stuffed her hands into her front pockets. It was a nervous twitch that she had since she could remember.
"Michonne, hey." He said gently hugging her as to not discomfort her.
"Hey." She smiled.
"When did you get here?"
"I've been here for about half an hour."
He hugged her again and said, "wow, I'm, just happy to see you outside of that hospital get up. I thought you were mad at me."
"Why would I be mad? You didn't do anything."
When she noticed the coffee in his hand she asked, "was Andrea there?"
"Oh... yeah, she was..."
"How was she doing?" She asked.
"Pissed. Look I don't care about that."
"Oh... ok."
"Did you need something or you just couldn't wait to see me?" Rick asked with a smirk.
"I was wondering if..." she looked behind him, seeing all the people who were standing behind him in perfect formation and cleared her throat. "Can... we have some privacy?" She asked softly so that only he could hear.
"Oh, yeah. Give us some privacy." He said and they all scattered. "You were saying?"
"Do you think... I could crash at your place? Just until I get a new place... I was supposed to crash with Andrea but I don't think thats an option anymore."
Andrea was even kind enough to pack all of Michonne's things and transfer them to her house. All of her clothes and even her car was there.
It seemed convenient at the time but now that Andrea had ruined their friendship, it was just a big hassle.
She looked up to see him smiling lovingly at her and she looked away.
"What?"
"You wanna stay with me already? You move fast." He teased.
She slapped his arm playfully. "Can I stay?"
"The hotel is an option..."
"Its like that?" She asked with an amused smile. Ok cool, I'll do that."
"Wait, I'm just being an ass." He laughed "you can stay with me, I would really like that."
He handed his coffee to Glenn then took a pen and one of his business cards out of his pockets and scribbled the address on the back.
"Here you go. The code to get in the front door is written there too. Make yourself at home, I'll see you when I get off." He smirked.
She smiled then nodded. Rick leaned in to kiss her lips briefly as he caressed her chin- then walked away with his entourage following, leaving her there stunned. Her hand went to her lips where he kissed her and she lowered her head smiling.
"Dude, you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend." Glenn whispered as he tried to look back at Michonne and keep up with Rick at the same time. " Rick smiled to himself as he kept Glenn wondering about his relationship status.
Now was the hard part. Retrieving her things from Andrea's house. Michonne silently thanked god that Andrea was at work. She wanted to avoid a run in with her at all costs.
She took another uber to Andrea's house to and she lifted the gnome where Andrea kept her spare key. She was happy Andrea wasnt petty enough to switch her spot for the key.
Michonne sighed before entering the house. She pushed the door opened and was immediately greeted by all of her suitcases full of her things. They were neatly organized by the door. It seems Andrea was expecting her to stop by.
Michonne opened the door to the garage and saw her car parked there untouched. Thank god.
Her keys were onto of the deep freezer with a note underneath.
"Here's all of your shit." It read.
Michonne frowned at the note. Either way, she was glad she could get in and get right out.
She packed her things into her truck and whatever was left over went into the backseat.
Michonne looked at the address written on the business card and entered it into her GPS. She pressed the button to open the garage door and drove off following the directions the GPS told her.
...
"Andrea, are you sure you're ok?" Sasha asked.
Andrea smiled sadly and shook her head.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"The two people I care about most hate me." She shrugged. "I always get so out of control when I'm angry. I can't believe I said those awful things to her." Andrea laughed humorlessly.
"What did you say? And to who?"
"I said anything I could to hurt her..."
"Who?"
"Michonne..." Andrea sighed. "If she would have never pointed out the fact that I had feelings for Rick then everything would be going great. I'm so mad at her for even bringing it to my attention.
"She was trying to be a good friend."
"She opens my eyes to what was in front of me then she snatched him right back. That sounds like an excellent friend to me!" She said sarcastically.
Sasha sighed shaking her head. "Michonne isn't the one who hurt you, Rick is and he didn't do so intentionally. You shouldn't take your anger out on either of them."
"You're wrong, they both hurt me."
"Maybe... but they aren't doing anything wrong. Michonne had her eyes on him first... remember the dibs?"
"Who cares about a dibs? That was five years ago."
"Do you like him that much? That you just destroyed your friendship with her? Can you image how that makes her feel? She must feel like you didn't value the bond you two had."
"But doesn't it just piss you off? We've been here for nearly a decade. A fucking coffeeshop and she just keeps moving up, leaving us behind."
"Why would that piss me off? It makes me proud, I'm happy for her. She deserves it Andrea."
"So do we."
"I love working here, I'm happy in my life. You need to do some soul searching. Maybe this anger you're feeling about Michonne, is more about yourself than her."
"Get back to work." Sasha rested her hand on Andrea's shoulder until she was out of her reach.
...
She pulled up in front of the large house. She stared at the landscaping in awe. It was beautifully done, she would have to remember to ask him who did such a fine job. His house was in Buckhead- It was the located near the house she and Victor were planning to move once they were married.
Michonne walked to the door slowly as she was taking in the beauty of his yard. She reached the door and put the code in.
She entered the house and she was awestruck by the beauty.
Everything piece of furniture in the living room was pure white. The huge sparkling Chandler dangling from the ceiling served as the perfect centerpiece of the room. Michonne sat her purse down on the couch as she walked over to admire the brickwork on his fireplace. It was majestic and precise. Her fingers trailed across the exquisite brickwork slowly. She noticed the pictures were faced down. She found that very odd- as she picked one up then realized why it was faced down. It was his wedding photo with Lori.
Michonne laughed as she observed the photo. "That is the ugliest wedding dress I've ever seen." She muttered then placed the photo as it was.
Michonne walked into the kitchen admiring the marble counters. She opened the fridge which was fully stocked.
Should she cook him dinner? That would be appropriate after he gave her a place to stay right?
Michonne looked around at the contents in the fridge and a saw that there was a lamb roast defrosting. She'd never prepared and cooked one before as she usually didn't do much cooking but she wanted to cook him a nice dinner.
She pulled out a small bag of baby potatoes from the fridge and sat them on the counter.
Lamb and potatoes, that sounds appetizing enough.
She went to the sink and thoroughly washed her hands.
'Ok let's get this started'. Michonne opened the pantry and was pleasantly surprised that there was such a variety of seasonings that she had to work with. She constantly had to get on Victor for only keeping two seasonings, salt and pepper.
She preheated the oven to 350° F, she found a roasting dish and began seasoning the lamb. Admittedly, she had to go to Google for some assistance, but once she had the lamb prepared, she was positive that it would turn out great.
She washed her hands again before popping the lamb into the preheated oven.
Setting her phone timer to and hour and fifteen minutes. She wasn't sure how long to cook it for because ahe wasn't sure how he liked his meat. Usually, the people she'd met when she was with Victor liked their meat either rare or medium rare. It was the one thing she couldn't get used to. Where she was from, bloody meat was considered raw, this whole rare, medium rare crap shook her every time.
Looking at the time on her phone, she was surprised by how much time had gone by.
Michonne decided to continue her self tour of the house as the food cooked. She would have to remember to add the potatoes before the roast was done so she would give herself a quick tour.
After admiring room after room, she found herself in what was obviously Rick's bedroom.
Her mouth formed a small 'o' as she took in the beauty of it. It was decorated with expertise, the walls were adorned with earthy tones and all she kept thinking was how him, it was.
She plopped down onto his bed with her arms outstretched. It was a huge upgrade from the thin, uncomfortable bed provided at the hospital. The king sized bed was covered with the most delightfully soft comforter she'd ever had the pleasure of laying on.
She closed her eyes taking a slow relaxed breath. She turned on her side lifting the pillow to adjust it- laying on her still caused her slight discomfort so she turned back on her back.
Between the uncomfortable hospital bed and the nightmares keeping her up at night, Michonne was more sleep deprived than she had realized. She originally planned to just rest briefly but she let the comfort of of Rick's s bed take her away- within mere minutes she had dozed off into a peaceful sleep. The first since the incident.
After a while she squirmed a bit, her nose scrunched up and she sniffed smelling something unpleasant 'What was that smell?'
She sniffed ... then again- the smell infiltrated her nostrils.
It smelled like something was burning.
She froze, eyes popping wide opened and she hopped out the bed grabbing her phone to check the time.
Her mouth fell opened. How had she been sleep for three hours!?
Michonne hastily ran down the stairs heading to the kitchen. It was engulfed in smoke. She fanned infront of her face and coughed wildly at the unexpected inhalation of smoke.
"Shit, shit, shit!"
She turned on the ceiling fan and panicked at the mess she'd made.
She ran to the stove to turn the oven off before opening it.
A gust of smoke flew in her face causing her to cough some more.
She was too busy too busy trying to rid the kitchen of smoke that she hasn't heard the front door open.
"Michonne? What the hell happened? Why are you here?"
She whisked around to see Lori clutching her purse tightly with a confused look on her face.
"I was trying to... I fell asleep... Wait, why are you here?" She returned the question Lori had asked her.
"I'm here to see Rick but I find you burning down our house instead.
'Our?' She asked to herself before asking the out loud. "Our house?"
"Yes our house. No time to explain, move." She said shoving Michonne to the side to open the widows and the kitchen door.
"Unbelievable." Lori sighed with her hand on her hip. "Don't just turn on the ceiling fan, you'll just blow the smoke around the house genius."
"Thanks Einstein. Look, I panicked."
Lori gestured for Michonne to follow her and they went to a room where the smoke wasn't as prominent.
"What are you doing here Michonne?"
Lori rolled her neck as to ask "well?" when Michonne didn't answer.
"Why are you here?" Michonne asked again.
"I already told you, I'm looking for Rick."
"Well he isn't here."
Lori looked around. "Yeah, I've noticed. I'll wait for him."
"Lori I don't think Rick is very interested in anything you have to say."
"I'll let him be the judge of that." Lori paused, he hard expression softened and she placed a gentle hand on Michonne's arm. "I am so sorry about what happened to you. I would have visited you in the hospital but, I didn't think you would want to see me..."
Michonne's expression softened too, "I wouldn't have minded Lori. Thank you for offering your condolences."
"Have you spoken to Christine? Jasmine's mother?"
Michonne opened her mouth to answer but settle for a simple shake of the head instead.
"I would image she's feeling awful right about now, it may not be a bad idea to call her..."
"Thanks for the advice." Michonne said cutting that conversation short.
"Are you not going to tell me why you're here?"
"Lori-"
"-Michonne!" They faintly heard Rick call from the other room.
Michonne ignored Lori and her persistent question to greet Rick.
She saw him standing at the front door with his eyes wide opened taking in the current smoke filled state of his house.
"Oh..." She said as she clasped her hands together nervously.
"Are you ok?" He asked as he let his briefcase fall to the floor.
"I'm fine... I was cooking you dinner." She smiled.
"Cooking... or charing?"
Michonne looked at him unamused.
"Its not that bad it's still edible. See look?" She tugged on his shirt leading him to the kitchen to examine the absolutely inedible lamb roast. On the counter were the potatoes that she had forgotten about.
"Fuck, I forgot the potatoes." She cursed.
Lori watched them from the other room with a frown before revealing herself.
"Hello Rick."
He looked to her then to Michonne.
"What is she doing here?" He asked Michonne, refusing to speak directly to Lori.
"We need to talk, you wouldn't answer my calls."
"Uh yeah, that was intentional. I don't have anything to say to you."
"I'm not leaving until you speak to me." She folded her arms defiantly. And what is Michonne doing here?"
Rick threw his arm over Michonne's shoulder pulling her to him and asked,"You didn't tell her?"
Lori's brows furrowed as she observed them. "Tell me what?"
"Michonne and I, are seeing each other." Rick said confidently
"E-excuse me?"
"Thanks to you actually, if you hadn't stormed out on me all those years ago, I would have never set foot into the coffeeshop looking for you and I would've never met Michonne."
"I don't believe my ears, this isn't making an ounce of sense! Our divorce was finalized a month ago! You couldn't have moved on in that short time. I know you Rick."
"Lori, I'd like to enjoy some alone time with my girlfriend."
Lori scoffed before biting her bottom lip and storming away.
When Michonne was sure Lori was out the door she lifted Ricks arm from around her shoulder.
"I'm not your girlfriend." She said with a smirk.
"Not yet, but you will be." He said matter-of-factly
Michonne rolled her eyes playfully.
She looked at him and said, "since I took the time to cook, shall we eat?"
Rick looked at the lamb roast that resembled a pile of charcoal and shook his head numerous times.
"I'm not... I'm not eating that." He refused.
Michonne shrugged nonchalantly...
"That's too bad." She pouted. "I was going to give you dessert if you finished your dinner. "
She walked over to the burnt food and disposed of it. All the while, his eyes watched her like a hawk.
"What were you serving for dessert?"
She smirked as she leaned into him to whisper. "Me."
She walked towards the stairs switching harder than usual.
Rick watched her until she disappeared up the stairs and away from his view.
"Wait!" He called out to her, I'll finish my dinner!" He said jogging to catch up to her.
"Too late!" She answered. The smile she was wearing could be heard in her voice.
"Maybe next time."
...