Disclaimer: I own nothing.

––

Carol returned from lunch to find Daryl and Sophia in the back room, groaning from eating too much. She wasn't even a bit surprised. Sophia's eyes always were bigger than her stomach, and Daryl seemed like the type to eat a little more than he stomach could handle. It was good thing Sophia ran wild on the farm and that she liked vegetables. Sophia was healthy, and Carol always made sure. If anything happened to her, Carol wouldn't know what to do.

She stopped her thoughts there and saw to the mess they were too sick to clean. It was a good thing Daryl appeared to work out. She didn't want to start worrying about his health. She had enough to worry about, and she didn't need him adding to the list, even though he might already be on it. She put the leftovers in the fridge, washing the grease that seeped through the pizza box off her hands. She returned to work, telling Daryl he could stay until he had fully digested. He seemed grateful. She couldn't really tell. He only groaned a reply. She took it as a yes. She would talk to Sophia about the house later. Sophia would probably fall asleep and have nightmares. With Daryl there, hopefully she wouldn't. Carol wouldn't worry about her entirely at the moment. Right now, she had work to do.

When she finally walked out of the back room, Hershel called to her. She set the bag of trash down under a table out of sight. She would throw it away as soon as they were done speaking. "What? Do you need something? I was just about to throw out some trash."

"Well, I could use a hand." He met her eyes. "Would you like to learn something? I assure it will be useful, life skill."

She looked behind him at the dog and his owner. "Are you sure?"

"I know you can help me. I just need two extra hands."

She nodded. "All right. Yeah, I can help. I want to."

He smiled. "Good. Now, let's not keep them waiting."

––

"I never want pizza again," Sophia declared when they were home. "Seriously, never again."

"Until next week when you've forgotten how this feels."

"I mean it."

"Uh-huh, and I mean it when I say I'm dying my hair purple and getting a skull tattoo on my upper arm." She ruffled her hair. "Go wash up and get into bed."

"Your sarcasm isn't wanted." She stuck her tongue out before disappearing down the hall.

Carol tensed. Your sarcasm isn't wanted. Her tone was drowsy and playful, but there was another tone that spoke those exact words that caused chills to run down her spine. Ed used to say to her when she was pregnant. She always tried to lighten the mood, but it never worked. He would say that to her, and the look in his dark brown eyes confirmed her every fear about him. He was a godless man. He was a horrid man. He didn't care about anything, and he probably never loved her. Most likely he only loved the feeling of possession he got when he married her. She was nothing but a broken, scared dog to him, something he could beat and spit and shout at that was too scared to fight back.

Sophia had always been a soft-spoken girl with a smile that made Carol believe God was watching over them. She was the only reason Carol woke up in the morning. She was the entire reason Carol was born. A world without Sophia, without her sweet angel, was unimaginable. Sophia was the light and love of Carol's life, and that would never change. But what if...Sophia changed? What if... God, what if Ed's nature took over her baby girl and she became just like him? Oh, God she couldn't bear if any of Ed was inside her sweet angel...

Sophia returned in her nightclothes, her hair brushed, and she hugged her mom tightly. "Good night, Mom." She smiled up at her mom then saw the tears that were in her mother's eyes. "What is it?"

Carol bent down and cupped Sophia's cheeks. "It's nothing. It's nothing. Just dust in my eye, I promise." She kissed her forehead. "Did you brush your teeth?"

"Yes, and I washed my face. I closed the toothpaste too." She smiled a little. "I remember." She hugged her mom once more. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too." She squeezed Sophia tightly.

"Good night."

"Good night."

A beat.

"Are you gonna let me go?" Sophia asked, voice thin. "I can't really breathe."

Carol released her. "Sorry." She smiled and tucked hair behind Sophia's ear. "Sleep well."

"You too." She turned on her heel and ambled back to her bedroom, yawning.

Carol hugged herself. No. No, there wasn't a mean bone in her body. There never would be.

– – –

"Hey, Maggie!" Carol caught up to her halfway to the house. "I need a favor."

"Well, I have an exam I have to take in a hour, so I hope it doesn't involve me directly." She held out a basket of fruit. "I was gonna bring these to you before I got a shower. Daddy wanted me to, as a thank you for your help with Butch—that's the dog's name. You probably know that. Uh, Shane really appreciated you helpin' out. He can shoot a man point blank, but he worries and panics like a mother hen when Butch gets sick."

"I didn't do anything. It was Hershel. I just stood there and occasionally—"

"You helped Daddy save him," Maggie interrupted her. "You tended to him when he stayed the night and that next day. That was you, not Daddy. Learn to take a compliment and this fruit. There's also some jerky." She handed her the basket. "What did you want me to do? The favor?"

"Sophia. I need someone to watch her today after school."

"After school?" She thought for a second. "I can't. I have to take my car to the shop, but Beth will be home. She can watch her."

"Really? That would be great."

"Yeah. I'll go tell her and Mom."

"Thank you."

"And thank you. Have a good day." Maggie smiled before she walked up the stairs and into the house.

Carol almost smiled. She looked down at the basket of fruit in her arms. What the hell was she going to do with this much fruit? She shook her head. She had to take a shower herself and get to the clinic. She wanted to clean the back room and lobby before anyone arrived. It was time to wake Sophia up. Waking the dead seemed easier. She was used to sleeping in, and she and Carol had stayed up too late the previous night. This would be a job. Maybe she could bake a pie?

It took nearly half an hour to get Sophia dressed and to her bowl of cereal. She kept falling asleep, so Carol took her blankets. She then buried herself under her clothes so Carol made her brush her hair and then finally Sophia came to eat breakfast. It was a good thing Carol had woken up early. They still had twenty minutes to get her to school. Beth had left with Shawn thankfully. She would have felt terrible if Beth had been waiting this entire time for them. It was a chilly morning.

"You ready for school?"

"Sure." She didn't want to go back and deal with Molly and whatever crap she told their class. She didn't want to have to be mean. She didn't want to punch Molly again. She still felt bad about the last time. It wasn't her fault. She was trying to be nice, but Molly kept pushing her, and something just snapped inside her. She didn't like how it felt. She couldn't control the anger. She hoped it didn't happen again. She prayed it didn't happen again.

Carol drove her to school, Sophia lingered for a bit, but she eventually got out of the car, saying goodbye to her mom as always. She barely made it to class before the last bell rang. She could feel the tension in the room, and she saw her seat had already been taken. She avoided looking at anybody's eyes as she tried to look for a seat, and she felt someone touch her arm.

"Hey." A girl with curled brown hair and bright blue eyes smiled at her. "Come sit with me." She led her to the back where two desks were. "I saved you a seat."

Sophia let out the breath she had been holding since she entered and smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem." She sat down. "Iris Blake."

"Sophia Peletier."

"Oh, Sophia." She made a face. "The one who got into a fight with Molly."

"Yeah." She started to lose her smile.

"Well, it's nice to meet you. I hope we'll be friends, so I can tell Molly to shove her lies where the sun does not shine."

Sophia let out a short, soft laugh. "Really?"

"Really. She thinks too highly of herself, and when a girl who talks like she does but can't match her pants to her shirt, she needs to shut up." She nodded her chin to Molly.

She looked over and covered her mouth with her hand to keep the laughter back. "Wow."

"That was mean, but I won't take it back."

"Take what back? I heard nothing." She took out her notebook and pen.

"Not yet, but watch yourself at lunch," Iris warned her. "Molly was saying a lot of crap she would do to you when you got back. She might not do anything, but she also might. I don't know her, so be careful."

Sophia sighed. "I just want this over."

"It might be taco day," Iris said on the bright side.

"I hate school lunch."

"I'll buy you an ice cream then."

"You don't have to."

"I want to."

"I'll feel bad."

"Then help me with the work pages on history, because I suck at them. No cheating, just tutoring, please. The ice cream will be payment."

"We can work on them when we go to study hall."

"Great. Thank you so much!"

– – –

Carol wiped down the chairs, the tables and stacked the magazines. She swept and mopped and aired out the place while making sure the animals didn't get too cold. She took the dogs that were being boarded out to the pin and cleaned out their cages, exchanging blankets for clean blankets and bagging the old ones to be washed. She washed out their bowls and filled them with fresh cold water and food, and at the sight of them playing and having a good time, she decided to let them play for a bit longer. She played with some of them and made sure they didn't attack each other or get too friendly and after she replaced them gently in their cages.

She had one more room to clean. Her eyes drifted to the door with the lock on it. Hershel would be in in about an hour, so she had to do this now. She was just a dog. She had nothing to fear. Carol could take care of her. She was just a bit bigger and a touch meaner than the other dogs, but she was still a dog. She was probably very sweet, but someone made her mean. Hershel never told her the story of what happened to the dog, and so Carol had to fill in the blanks. She didn't like what her mind filled in.

She made sure she had a sedative just in case. She didn't care if the dog bit her, but if the dog got out or tried to hurt anybody, she would be in trouble. Hershel would be in trouble. She just needed to be easy and kind. The dog would surely respond to her kindness, and hand full of treats. If that didn't work, she had the sedative ready. She hoped it did, because she hated the idea of drugging a dog, even if the dog was mean. She probably wasn't like that before, and Carol felt sorry for her.

She unlocked the door and turned the light on, the dog lifted its head and her eyes burned into Carol's face, and she had to still her heart. "Hi, girl."

A low, menacing growl escape the dog's throat, and she stood up.

"I just thought you could use some clean blankets and some fresh food and water." She smiled, her hands shaking at the look in her dark brown eyes. "How does that sound?"

She lowered her head a bit to see Carol better, her teeth showing.

"Do you want a treat?" Carol held one up and lowered herself down onto her knees. "They're beef flavored. Here." She reached out to the dog, and she smiled, seeing the look slowly fade from those actually beautiful brown eyes.

She reached out slowly to grab the treat, and the front door opened, Hershel calling in to Carol. The dog's entire demeanor changed, her growl returned and she lunged forward, attempting to get either Carol or Hershel. She wasn't sure. Carol fell back out of her reach, the treat falling between them, and she scrambled back. Carol knew she didn't like men or children, but it would appear she liked women. Or beef treats. They might make progress one day, but that day sure as hell wasn't today.

"Easy, easy." Carol pushed herself up. "I'll be back, okay? Just me."

She growled, eyes scorching.

"Okay." Carol stepped out of the room, closing the door and locking it, and she shook her head. The third time was the charm, after all. She heard a thundering sound of metal many things falling to the floor from the next room. Hershel! She dropped the keys and ran to the noise, gasping at the sight of the room. The table turned on its side, Hershel's bag emptied out on the floor, along with the table that held all of his tools, and her eyes found him. Hershel was on the ground, groaning in pain and reaching for his side. "Oh, my God!" She grabbed her cell phone and called 911, going to his side, her heart in her throat. "Hold on. Just hold on."

She informed the operator of what happened, although she wasn't sure how he fell. It wasn't until he was being wheel out did she remember that she had mopped in the room just after bringing the dogs in. Hershel entered this room, slid in water that hadn't yet dried, because she forgot to take out the wet floor sign. This was her fault. She made this happen. Oh, God, no. If anything happened to Hershel, it would be on her. It was already on her that he fell, and only the doctors would tell her what else she had done inadvertently to this poor man.

––

At the hospital, Beth and Maggie held each others hands tightly, too upset to even speak, Annette filled out the forms, and Patricia and Otis seemed to be praying as Carol tried not to blurt out how it was her fault. They didn't need that right now. They needed to keep hoping Hershel would be fine, not yell at her for being so stupid. Honestly, how could she be so simple minded? What moron mops a floor and forgets to put up a sign? Or simply forgets tell him when he walks in the front door after he called to her? God, she was so, so stupid.

Hershel had told her time and time again to always bring out the wet floor sign or tell him. He didn't want anyone to get hurt on a wet floor. He cared about the people who brought their animals to him like family, and he would feel so badly if any of them got hurt because of something as simple as forgetting to put out a sign, warning them of a slippery floor. She had always made sure that she knew where it was just in case. How could she not have done it this time? Just because there wasn't anybody at the clinic didn't give her an excuse to not put it up, to let it slip her mind. She should have still put it out. She knew he came in early some days. She knew that. So the hell didn't she put the sign out? A child would have known to do that. God, all she wanted to pay back the kindness they were showing her, and all she managed to do was put a good man in the hospital. She put Hershel, an old man no matter how healthy, in the hospital.

"Carol." Beth set her hand on her shoulder, and Carol looked up. "Daddy's gonna be fine."

"Really?" Her voice broke.

"Yeah." She smiled through her tears of happiness. "He's lucid. Mom and Mag are already with him, and Patricia and Otis went to get him some things from home, but he wants to see us. You too."

"Oh, no. I couldn't possibly––"

"You can possibly." Beth took her hand and pulled her up. "Come and see, it'll make you feel better. It made us all feel better." Carol let the girl lead her through the hospital to where Hershel was, and she lost the breath in her lungs. Beth smiled, not realizing her tears weren't happy, and she squeezed her hand. "He'll be okay. He has healin' to do, healin' only time can provide, and he has some restrictions, but he'll be fine."

Carol could only nod, eyes fixated on the man who was lying on the hospital bed because of her stupidity.

––

Ed Peletier was visiting his mother, who had been sick for quite some time and was now being moved into a home where she would be taken care of. He stepped out of the room, wanting a smoke, but he would have to go outside. Hospital has rules about smoking in the building. He searched his jacket and realized he left the pack out in the fucking car. He huffed and started to turn when something caught his eyes.

Down the hall with a young blonde girl, who was smiling and holding the hand of a bitch he had been meaning to find. There she was, in a pink shirt that didn't flatter her and pants that were disgustingly tight on her. He was just about to go and find her. It appeared today was his lucky day, he smiled to himself. She looked ready to leave, and he needed a smoke break after all. Mother would understand. Yes, she would.

He smiled to himself as he followed her out of the hospital, far enough behind her that she couldn't tell he was there.