++++++ I do not own the Walking Dead or any affiliated characters apart from my OC. All rights belong to Kirkman and AMC ++++++
Fifty-One
I woke up to the sound of a crying baby coming right from beside me. When I opened my eyes I found myself staring at the bottom of the mattress on the bunk above me. I blinked several times and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes before I looked over.
Sitting beside my bed was Hayley holding a tiny wrapped bundle in her arms and Jason who was trying to check my pulse. "No wonder Hayley likes you…" I smirked. "You've got soft hands…a massage with those hands would be heaven."
Jason chuckled. "Nice to see you awake."
"I feel like I drank an entire body of scotch," I groaned, starting to sit up.
"Take it easy," Jason instructed. "From what Lucas told me, you hit the table pretty hard-you're gonna have a doozy of a bruise for a couple days." He rubbed my arm. "Two days you've been out. PJ," he frowned. "Lucas told me that you'd been giving your food up for Hayley…that and the lack of sleep could have made you very sick."
"Thank you," Hayley whispered. "I can never truly repay you for what you've done for us…you're a saint, PJ."
"You had the baby?" I grinned at Hayley, holding my hands out for the tiny woman's baby. "What did you call it?" I asked.
"It's a girl," Hayley smiled when she handed me the baby. "We wanted to name her Philomena, after you."
I snorted. "Philomena? Philomena is a boring name…you can't name her Philomena."
Jason raised an eyebrow. "Then what do you want to call her?"
"You're her parents," I retorted. "You guys name her."
"PJ, it would be an honour if you name her," Hayley smiled. "She wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. You gave us all hope."
I grinned. "Hope. That's it, Hope." I gently rubbed the baby's head and handed her back to Jason. "Call her Hope." I stretched out a little bit. "I need some fresh air Doc, do you mind if I go for a walk?"
Jason shook his head. "Not at all." He handed me my gun and by belt than ushered Hayley and Hope from the room. Before he left, he turned around in the open cell door and cleared his throat. "When that guy Rick brought you back unconscious, we almost had a riot on our hands. Everyone thought they did it. If you guys don't sort out whatever is your problem than this won't work. He looked so worried about you, PJ. There's love there."
"Where's Lucas?" I asked, getting to my feet.
"Found a cute girl," Jason chuckled. "Her name is Beth. She came around earlier to see if you were awake. Took Spirit and Lucas for a walk. Don't know who was more excited-Lucas or the dog. Your brother hooked up the water, so we've got running water for a shower if you wanna go have one. I would if I were you-you stink."
I laughed. "Be off with you daddy. I need some time to think."
Jason left me alone to sort through my clothes and look for something clean. Eventually I settled for a pair of jeans, my black knee high boots and a red plaid shirt and took them with me for a shower. Once I was scrubbed raw and pink like a newborn baby, I made my way out of the cell block to bask in the fresh air.
As soon as I came out of the cell block, the smell of food alerted me to how hungry I actually was. I scanned the busy yard and saw Daryl and Matthew cooking on a series of BBQ's under a hut. I licked my lips and pretty much started drooling over the smell of cooking meat. Stuff it, I thought, wondering off over towards the boys. I leant up against the pole and cleared my throat. "If you give me food, I will worship the ground which you walk on for the rest of your life."
Matthew laughed at me. "Grab a plate, we were just sorting lunch."
"My hero," I grinned. I pulled a chair up close and grabbed a plate. "Food, food, food…"
"You're five," Matthew chuckled putting meat on my plate. "Hope you like rabbit."
"Hell yes," I smirked. "Once upon a time I had cat."
"Poor kitty," Daryl frowned. "You feeling ok, PJ?"
I nodded whilst I stuffed my face full of food. "Other than losing a fight with the bastard table and being starved out of my mind, I am ok…thank you Daryl. You've done a good job at looking after Ebony. Thank you."
"Eb's took Jade in to see you whilst you were out," Daryl told me. "You should go see her, kids hasn't shut up about you being alive the whole time." He flipped some of the meat over and looked over at the budding farm behind him. "Rick's out there checking the crops are growing…you should go and see him. He's been worried about you."
I rolled my eyes. "Look who's giving me relationship advice-Daryl Dixon. You should start a relationship advice column."
"Don't be a bitch," Daryl grumbled. "I'm just telling you."
We grinned.
"Take him some food, he'll be hungry," Matthew advised.
I helped myself to some more food and headed on down to where the crops were growing. I could see the top of someone's head. "So on the way back home I should have grabbed you a straw hat and a back hoe, right?" I asked, trying to make some kind of levity of the situation.
Rick stuck his head up and stared at me. "Hello, PJ."
"Food?" I asked, sticking the plate out. "Daryl and Matt cook good rabbit."
"Thank you," he smiled, taking the plate from me after he had brushed his hands off.
"No drama," I replied. "You'll be interested to know that Hayley had her baby…girl called Hope. Thank you for letting them in, I appreciate it." I cleared my throat. "And for taking me back to the cell block. Sorry about anything the guys said, they're just worried you're gonna kick them out. Also-"
"You're babbling," Rick cut in. He was trying not to smile. "You babble when you're nervous, what are you nervous about?"
"This," I answered. "Ebony was right you know…I'm having trouble belonging…you wouldn't have been able to talk me out of it, Rick. I still would have gone."
"I know," he sighed. "You're kind of hard to talk out of things sometimes."
I smiled. "I love you Rick, and I understand if you need me to just go away and be with my people because when push comes to shove, I did leave you guys and replaced you with my own group. If you need anything, just come and grab any of us. We're all handy in a pinch." I turned and started walking back up the hill.
"PJ-do you wanna help?" Rick asked.
I snorted. "Really? Me? A farmer? I'm a walking, talking, murdering ball of sass. I don't do farming."
"Really?" Rick chuckled. "PJ-I hadn't noticed. I was joking."
"You have this whole face that I can't even tell," I sighed. "Tell me what I need to do?"
"Whilst I eat we can talk," he suggested pointing to the ground where he had been sitting. We sat down on the grass in front of the crops and waited in silence whilst Rick was eating the rabbit. It might not have been rolling around in the grass and making out but it was a start.
