Rick awoke to see Andrea sitting in the chair beside his bed. When she saw his eyes open, she smiled and leaned forward. She gently grabbed his hand and lifted it to her lips.

"Do you ever sleep?" Rick mumbled, smiling at her.

"Yes... No." She smiled back.

"I can tell." Rick said, seeing black, smudged circles under her bright blue eyes. Her face had tired written all over it.

"Yea, yea. How are you feeling?" Andrea asked, leaning closer to kiss his cheek.

"Like shit." Rick chuckled. "Sore, but the pain is more dull now. Not as sharp."

"I can get Glenn to get more pain medicine." Andrea offered.

"No, I don't need it." Rick said trying to shift in the bed. He winced.

"Here," Andrea got up and helped him get comfortable.

"Will you lay down beside me?" Rick asked her. She gave him a hesitant look. "Oh, come on. I'm sure they'd have to be blind not to know about us." Rick pushed.

"You're right. And who cares if they do." Andrea smiled weakly, and climbed carefully onto the bed.

"What did Hershel say about the wound?" Rick asked, as if he was talking about someone else entirely.

"That it looks good. No infection, pretty clean. He said that you should heal up okay, just a scar." Andrea explained.

"Well, nothing new. Just an addition to my collection," He said nodding down at himself. Andrea laughed.

"I can't believe you got shot." Andrea said looking up at him.

"Neither can I. I just... I saw your arm, and the blood. I hesitated." Rick admitted.

"It was stupid." Andrea said.

"What? Worrying about you bleeding?" Rick asked, a slight anger in his voice.

"No. Letting your guard down, Rick. What the fuck would I have done if you would have died out there? I love Carl, I really do. But I don't know how to take care of him like you do." She scolded, now her voice was angry.

"Look... I don't want to fight... I didn't mean to do that. I didn't mean to, but God Andrea. I couldn't help it. The thought of you hurt... It kills me." Rick said. "And to make things worse, you were right there. I could see you, saying my name, after I got shot. Then you were torn away. And I relived everything that happened to me since I got shot the first time."

"You were stuck in a nightmare, huh." Andrea frowned.

"Until the end. I saw you and me. Everything we've done." Rick explained.

"And what have we done, Rick?" Andrea asked.

"Loved. Love." He responded.

"I love you." Andrea said, putting her hand to his face.

"I love you." He said back, putting his hand over hers, and pressing it against his face. Her hand was cool, and felt good against his skin.

"I know." Andrea smiled.

"Oh, do you?" Rick asked, closing his eyes.

"I do." Andrea kept the smile on her face. She layed there, talking to Rick, until his eyes became droopy, and he couldn't stay awake any longer. He fell asleep, and for the first time in days, Andrea fell asleep too.

The next day, Hershel came in, shooing Andrea off the bed. He unwrapped Rick's bandages, showing the ugly, but healing wound. Hershel cleaned the wound, then rewrapped it to keep out infection.

"Today is your lucky day." Hershel joked at Rick.

"Lucky day, huh? Why's that?" Rick asked, grinning.

"You get to walk around today." Hershel said. Rick's grin widened. He turned to Andrea. "Not long, now. No letting him reach, or bend down. He can walk around for a little while, but take it slow with him."

"I will." Andrea looked at Rick with a grin. "Come on, Sheriff. Let's go for a walk." Andrea walked over to the bedside, and helped Rick to his feet. He felt weak, and tired, but still wanted to walk. He was going crazy being stuck in bed.

He was slow, but Andrea didn't mind. She was just happy to see him up. Alive. Smiling. She had an arm around his back, helping him walk down the hall. When they entered the big room, Rick saw smiling faces of the group looking at him.

"Look at that." Daryl teased. Rick shot him a grin, but also the look said 'thank you'. Daryl understood and nodded his head.

"How are you feeling? You look a lot like you did when I saved you from those walkers in the city." Glenn joked.

"I'm about that happy to be up walking around. I'll stay this happy too, as long as Andrea, here, doesn't go putting her gun in my face." Rick joked back. Glenn just smiled, content that Rick was really going to be okay.

"Well I panicked." Andrea laughed.

"I think we all did." Glenn laughed too.

Rick just shook his head, smiling at them. He was so close to everyone here, and he didn't even realize it. He didn't want to lose anyone else from this group. He couldn't handle the loss that this hellish world threw at him.

"Dad, you're up !" Carl raced up to him.

"Whoa buddy, remember you gotta be gentle with him." Andrea softly reminded. Carl smiled before gently hugging his dad. Rick did his best to hug him back.

"I haven't slept so good in over a week until last night." Andrea commented as they walked outside slowly.

"Yea?" Rick asked, with a smile.

"Yea." Andrea smiled back. "I've missed you. I haven't prayed in a long time. But I did the past few days like hell."

"I'm not going anywhere." Rick commented.

"Remember what you told me? Just because you say it, doesn't mean it's true." Andrea said, looking at the ground.

"Well I'm not." Rick said again. "Andrea, I'm getting tired." He sighed.

"Okay, let's get you back to bed." She said, turning him around. He winced. The pain was coming back in throbs. He also winced at the thought of getting back in that damn bed. He didn't want to.

"You okay?" Andrea asked, when she saw his face.

"Yea, just throbbing a little, and I don't want to go back to that bed." He nearly snorted.

"Well, you don't have much of a choice, baby." She chuckled.

"I know." He tried to smile as they made their way inside. They got back to the room, and Andrea helped him lay back down. She was about to walk over to the chair, when Rick's voice stopped her.

"Will you lay with me again?" He asked quietly.

"Yes." She responded, walking back over to the bed. She layed down next to him, and they talked until Rick drifted off to sleep.