Chapter 12

After what seemed like hours, Emma had finally fallen asleep in Jane's arms. Maura was lying next to them but she couldn't sleep. She knew Jane wasn't sleeping either. The doctor couldn't stop her mind from exploring every possible sickness she knew. It only made her worry even more.

One thing kept entering her mind. A possibility she didn't want to think about, but she couldn't help it. What if Emma was bitten and never told them? What if she got scratched? Or infected in another way? A walker could have easily harmed her when she was trying to save Noah. She didn't know the exact symptoms of a walker infection, but she did know it involved a high fever and losing control over your body. She had seen it happen to her biological mother.

"Maura," She heard Jane's husky voice. "I think the fever is dropping a little bit. Her heartbeat is slowing down."

Maura felt the girl's pulse and forehead, careful not to wake her. Emma was still too warm, but definitely less hot than before. "Thank god." Maura whispered.

She softly caressed Emma's cheek. The girl was still restless, but at least she was sleeping.

Maura felt her wife's hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. She looked at the detective who gave her a slight smile. "Get some sleep babe." Maura smiled, placed a soft kiss on Jane's hand and closed her eyes.

She woke up when she heard gagging sounds and the voice of her wife calling her. It was already getting light outside and she saw Emma sitting on the edge of the bed while Jane stroked her back and held her hair back. The girl was heavily vomiting into a bucket between her legs.

Maura got up and looked at her wife. "There's blood, Maur." Jane said softly as her eyes filled with tears.

This was getting too serious. Throwing up blood is a terribly bad sign.

When Emma was finally done she let her hurting body fall into Maura's inviting arms while Jane took the bucket away. Maura felt the girl's silent tears fall on her chest. "It's okay sweetheart, just calm down. I'm here." She tried to soothe the shaking girl. She felt skinny arms clinging to her as she fought to keep the tears away. Just the thought of losing Emma broke her heart.

"Honey, can you look at me?" Maura carefully broke the embrace and looked into Emma's eyes. She met with those clear blue eyes, bloodshot and filled with tears.

"When Noah was attacked, did you get hurt too?" Maura asked carefully.

"No, I don't think so." Emma said with a weak voice.

"Are you sure? Are you sure a walker didn't put its teeth on you or scratched you?"

"Yeah. I think. I-I fought them off after he got bit."

"Do you mind if I examine your body for possible scratches?"

"Do you think I'm infected?" Emma looked at the doctor with big, shocked eyes.

"No honey, I just want to exclude the possibility." Maura eased the girl down and carefully took off her clothes. She examined every part of Emma's body, but she didn't find anything.

"What are you doing?" Jane asked when she walked into the bedroom with a clean bucket.

"Checking for scratches or bites." Maura answered as she continued to re-check all the body parts.

"You think she's infected?" Jane whispered shocked.

"I don't know. It's possible. I just want to make sure." Maura felt Jane sitting down on the bed. "So far I haven't found anything."

She checked everything, wanting to be absolutely sure. The doctor found nothing. Nothing that indicated she got hurt in a walker attack. She saw Emma shivering, getting cold without her clothes on.

"I'm done sweetheart." Maura stroked Emma's still warm forehead.

Jane handed her a big sweater and a blanket. "Here, I found some warm clothes in the other bedroom."

Maura helped Emma put on her clothes and got her into the big sweater. She wrapped the blanket around her and guided her to lie down.

"Thanks for the pretty sweater Jane." Emma managed to show a small smile.

Jane smiled. "You're welcome. I figured too big, brown and itchy would be entirely your taste."

Emma laughed but flinched from the pain it caused. Maura pressed her lips against Emma's warm cheek. "Try to get some rest."

Emma closed her eyes but got right back up to vomit again. There was nothing left in her body. All she did was heave and throw up more blood.

"Make it stop, please, I want it to stop." The girl cried desperately. She collapsed in Maura's arms.

"I wish I could, honey." She softly rocked Emma back and forth. "I wish I could."

They stayed like that for a long time. Maura waited until the girl got back to sleep, holding her tight. When she was absolutely sure Emma was asleep, she slowly put her down on the bed. She motioned Jane to come with her to the hallway.

Maura leaned her back against the wall.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Jane asked.

Maura looked at her wife. "Yes."

Silence fell while the morning sun peaked through the windows. Maura thought about the endless possibilities again, trying to come up with a diagnosis.

Suddenly the doctor got up and straightened her back. "Entamoeba histolytica." She said.

Jane gave her a confused look. "What?"

"Amoebiasis. It's a kind of parasite." She grabbed the detective's arm. "Jane, has she been drinking water from the well lately?"

"Yeah, we all have."

"Yes but we boil it, to make sure we don't get bacterial infections from contaminated water. Yesterday I saw we were low on our water stock, I remembered thinking we needed to get some more and boil it today."

"I don't understand where you're going, Maur."

"What if she saw we didn't have much water left? What if she wanted to help and went out to get some? What if she drank the water directly from the well?" Maura started pacing through the hallway. "We never explained to her WHY we boil the water, Jane. We just always did."

"You think she got something bad from the water?"

"Yes. Her symptoms match, it all fits. She could have gotten a bacterial infection by drinking contaminated water."

"So, what does that mean?"

Maura stopped pacing. She slid down against the wall, sitting on the ground. "It means she needs antibiotics. Strong antibiotics. And she needs them fast. She could get abscesses in her liver, lounges, or even her brain. If she doesn't get treatment…" She paused and let her head rest against the wall. "If she doesn't get treatment she'll die."

Jane sat down next to her wife. "What do we do?" She whispered.

After a long pause, Maura said: "Atlanta."

Jane looked at the doctor.

"It's the only option, Jane. Do you remember the note we found? It said they had medical treatment."

"That's dangerous, Maura. We don't know if it's still there. We don't even know if it's true."

"If we keep her here and leave her untreated, she'll die for sure. It's the only choice we have." Maura looked at Jane with determination and tears in her eyes.

Jane wrapped her wife in her arms and kissed the top of her head. Maura let her body relax in her wife's embrace.

"Okay" Jane said softly. "Atlanta it is. We'll leave as soon as she wakes up."