Author's Note:Hello Hello to my one reader lol. Thanks for hanging in there.

Carl had only woken up one other time that day.

He mumbled something in his broken speech about his eye before quickly falling back asleep much to Rick and Lori's dismay. They knew that they were working on his time but they were both feeling selfish in wanting him with them now.

Lori had left to go get her and Rick something to eat a while ago, and right as Rick was falling back asleep his mother, Delilah, and younger brother, Aaron, stepped into the room quietly.

All three Grimes looked a little worse for the wear; Delilah and Aaron having been driving for the last five hours, and Rick having been staring at Carl, willing him to wake up again.

"Hey..." Rick greeted gruffly as he stood to embrace his family. His mom held him close and he relaxed in her familiar embrace. Aaron patted his back gently and the Grimes family unit was together once again.

"Where's Gracie and Eric?" Rick questioned as he pulled away and wiped at his eyes, swiping away a few stray tears.

"Gracie fell asleep a while ago, so Eric took her to the house." Aaron replied with a warm smile and Rick nodded.

Delilah walked over to Carl's bedside and pressed a kiss on his forehead. She whispered something in his ear before pulling away to regard Rick.

"Well you look like shit." Delilah stated bluntly in her heavy drawl and Aaron snorted. Of the two parent's Rick had taken on Delilah's heavy southern accent and Aaron got Gene's more Midwest accent.

"Thank you ma.." Rick mumbled as he ran his fingers through his hair. He was sure her words were true but he felt the heat rise on his neck when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

He did look like shit .

"He's been here all day mom, give him a break." Aaron laughed as he settled onto the couch.

"Have you eaten?" Delilah asked as she rummaged in her purse for a snack. She was sure she had a granola bar or something…

"Lori uh- she left to go get us somethang." Rick replied and Delilah did not hold back her disgusted response at the mention of her soon to be ex-daughter in law.

"Of course she's left…"

"To go get us something to eat- come on ma..." Rick defended Lori weakly and Delilah huffed as she crossed her arms. After finding out how Lori had wronged her son she couldn't get rid of her soon enough- the only reason she had any inkling of respect left for her was because she was Carl's mother.

"Did the doctor say anything about his speech?" Aaron inquired and Rick let out a long, deep breath.

"She said that the bullet seems to have caused some damage to his-," Rick dug into his pocket for the paper explaining exactly what the CT scan found, "To his frontal lobe. Also there is some decreased activity to his Wernicke's- his Wernicke's area." Rick explained with a sigh and he felt tired all over again thinking about what Dr. Denise had said.

Delilah and Aaron fell silent as they looked at Carl sadly. "What does that mean?" Aaron asked after a moment and Rick shrugged, defeated. He fell back onto the couch and pinched the space between his eyes.

"It could mean a lot of things, or nothing. There's not a lot that can be said until he wakes up and we see all that has changed." Rick felt so exhausted thinking about everything. The physical therapy, the hospital bills, the tutoring Carl would need to catch up on his school work, the inevitable therapy he's going to need.

Rick's spiraling thoughts were cut short when there was a light knock on the door. He looked up in time to see a woman he did not recognize stick her head into the room. He did not recognize her as someone on the hospital staff, and for that he was grateful. He didn't think he could deal with another overly sweet hospital accountant inquiring about their next payment.

He realized right away that she was quite beautiful and nothing like any other woman he had seen at King County. She had deep brown skin that was showcased beautifully in a wrap yellow dress that fell just above the ground. He squinted trying to make it not so obvious that he was ogling at the woman. Her hair was tightly coiled into curly locs that were piled on top of her head, and wooden hoops hung from her ears. Everything about her was quite different than anything he had ever seen.

He took a breath and stood to great her in the doorway. "Uh, Hello." He greeted and even in his drowsy mind he knew that was a lame thing to say.

She smiled bashfully and Rick felt his cheeks grow warm when he thought she had become even more beautiful in that moment.

"Hello, my name is Michonne Gavins. I'm the school psychologist at King County High and I just came by to see how you were doing." She said and Rick felt his body relax considerably. It had been a while how someone asked how he had been. He tried to give her a smile which he was sure was much more like a grimace. Her smile somehow grew even softer and he didn't know how it was possible for her to look even more beautiful.

"I won't keep you- i just wanted to extend an invitation to my parent support group." Michonne said softly as she reached into her cross bag and pulled out a white piece of paper.

Rick took it from her hands and unfolded it. He stared at her a moment longer before looking down at the paper.

King County Parent & Student Support Group

Every Wednesday 6pm at Michonne Gavin's House 2461 Ironwood Dr

Dinner to be served

Rick looked up at her confused .

"You have this at your house?" Rick asked and Michonne nodded earnestly.

"It helps… feels like you're visiting a friend instead of having group therapy." She said with a slight laugh and he gave her a small smile.

"He will be there." Delilah said suddenly and Rick was embarrassed to say he forgot his mother and brother were in the room with them.

Michonne nodded and began to back out of the room.

"I hope you do- and please," she reached into her purse one more time and this time produced a card, "Call me if you need help with anything." She places the card gently into Rick's palm before bidding everyone in the room a good night.

Delilah smiled in her wake and turned towards her eldest son.

"She was lovely." Delilah commented with a sly grin and both Rick and Aaron rolled their eyes at their mother's shamelessness.

"Okay mom let's Rick's divorce papers dry before we go hooking him up with other woman." Aaron said with a slight laugh and Rick laughed along side his bother.

Delilah Grimes smiles at her sons before turning to regard her sleeping grandson.

Michonne Gavins huh?

She couldn't be for sure but if she had a guess the Grime's were going to be need Ms. Gavins.