Chapter Twenty-One – Recovery

Back at the Sanctuary Carlson had tended to Amelia's injuries, luckily, they were not as severe as they had first seemed, the cuts to her face were cleaned although they weren't too deep they had left significant swelling and bruising. Amelia hadn't spoken to Negan since she'd seen him in Alexandria, the last time she heard his voice was when she was in the car with Dwight and they were talking over the radio.

Carlson wanted to keep Amelia in the clinic so he could keep her under observation, he had placed her on a drip to combat the dehydration and fatigue, but most importantly he wanted to keep an eye on the babies. By some miracle Carlson could see no damage and no signs of distress in either of them, their heartbeats strong and fierce. The sound of their life filling the clinic was a huge emotional relief for Amelia. Sitting up in one of the beds inside of the clinic Amelia was nervous, she was anxiously waiting for Negan's return, Dwight sensing that she was on edge had tried several times to try and calm her nerves but to no avail.

"Thank you for trying Dwight, I just need to know he's okay…that herd was unlike anything I had seen before."

Dwight nodded in agreement before looking up at Amelia with reassuring eyes.

"It's going to take a lot more than that herd to stop him coming back to Amelia, he was a man possessed when he found out what happened to you."

Amelia smiled, she could only imagine the thoughts running through Negan's mind when he saw the inside of their room, Fat Joey's body bleeding out on the floor and she nowhere to be seen. Her heart hurt at the thought of Fat Joey's death, he had been a good friend to her.

"Joey…what happened to Joey?"

Dwight looked away from Amelia, he too had been friends with Fat Joey and had taken his death hard. Unlike a lot of the other Saviours, Fat Joey was a gentle soul, Amelia always joked with him that he was a gentle giant.

"I'm not sure, I do know that he was killed by a headshot so he didn't reanimate…I'm not sure what happened to his body."

That hurt Amelia more, she wanted to know what happened to him, she wanted to make sure he was taken care of even in death…she wanted to give him a gracious burial. The thought that some of the Saviours who didn't care for him or know him the way she did disposed of his body made her wince.

"I need to make sure he was taken care of Dwight, I need to know it was dignified…he deserved that after everything he did for me…"

"It was dignified, I can promise you that."

Just as Dwight was about to reply someone else did, turning her head towards the direction of the voice she saw Negan standing in the doorway of the clinic. Amelia's eyes filled with tears, before she had chance to jump out of the bed Negan was by her side, his arms enveloping her in his pulling her as close as he could.

"I was so worried, I didn't think I was ever going to see you again."

Amelia was sobbing into Negan's chest, the pure relief in seeing him in front of her and being in his arms was heavenly, she hadn't felt safe since the night she had been taken from the Sanctuary and held in Alexandria.

"Never sweet, not going to fucking happen on my watch."

Amelia remained in Negan's arms for what seemed like an eternity, quietly sobbing as he stroked her hair, when she had finally stopped she looked up at him before she spoke.

"What happened to everyone at Alexandria?"

Negan stayed silent for a few moments, this told Amelia that he was quietly contemplating his answer.

"You don't need to concern yourself with any of that sweet."

Sitting up, she continued to look at Negan, concentrating on his face trying to read between the lines. She shook her head, he could tell her it was none of her concern until he was blue in the face and she would always have a different opinion.

"Negan…there were children there."

Negan cradled her face in his hands and brought her head back to his chest and continued to stroke her hair soothingly.

"None of the kids were hurt, I'm not a complete animal."

Amelia nodded and smiled into his chest, one hand gently rubbing her stomach and the other one holding onto his chest.

"I love you."

"I love you too Amelia, I've always got you, no matter what."

Amelia nodded against his chest, as Negan placed a tender kiss on the top of her head and placed his free hand on top of the one she had on her stomach. Slowly she felt sleep overcome her once more and she drifted off again in Negan's arms. She was safe, he saved her and most of all he came back to her. Although she was uncertain of their future she knew that as long as they were together they would make it through anything as she truly believed that they were stronger together than they were apart.