Hello! So I know what you're thinking.. "When are we going to get more Lori in this story?!" Don't you worry I brought back everyone's favorite neglectful wife and mother for this chapter. But seriously she's in this one.
Carl's physical therapy was long, and grueling, and expensive.
Lori Grimes would be the first to tell you this; And because Lori was the parent who wasn't working she was the one sitting with him through this appointments.
It had only been a month since Carl awoke and although he had improved immensely from where he was when he first woke up, he still struggled with his speech and his movements still sometimes were jerky, and unnatural. Dr. Denise was having to help Carl retrain his brain to do what it once knew.
The school provided a tutor that helped him every Tuesday and Thursday and therapy fell on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
God, she was tired. Between caring for Carl and what felt like the longest pregnancy in the world- she was tired.
But she couldn't tell anyone that.
She wouldn't dare tell Rick who was still so deliriously happy to have his son back.
She would never tell Shane who seem disengaged from everything- including her and their baby.
So that left her no one.
Most nights she spent alone now. She would sit watching some trashy reality show, or when she was feeling particularly pitiful she would flip through her and Rick's old wedding album that she had stolen from the house (although she was sure Rick wasn't missing it).
For Carl, the choice to stay with his father and leave Lori alone was easy. After some careful and heavily redacted conversations Carl knew most of what had happened between Lori and Rick while he was in the coma.
He cried so hard at his mother's and "uncle's" betrayal that his wound began to bleed and Rick asked Lori to leave. She did so without a fight.
And since then her interactions with Carl were limited. She would pick him up on the days Rick couldn't for therapy and drop him off at Rick's apartment after.
Today Lori waited down in the hospital cafeteria for Carl's appointment to end. She picked at the remnants of her tuna sandwich cringing as she took another sip of her strawberry milk. Her baby sure did have some cruel cravings. She kept her head down and hoped that no one from town recognized her. She had spent the last few months in hiding due to her and Shane's actions. Lori was just fine staying in the shadows.
"Mrs. Grimes?" She heard a voice call out and she bowed her head down as she began to collect the remainder of her lunch and her trash.
"Mrs. Grimes, how are you doing?" Sasha asked as she approached Lori's table. Lori gave her a brief smile while still picking up her stuff.
"Just on my way to- to see about Carl." She said as she struggled to pick up everything. She dropped her cellphone and both her and Sasha dropped to the ground to pick it up. Sasha reached it first and handed it to Lori with a gentle smile.
"You look well." Sasha commented quietly and Lori let out a light laugh. She knew this was a lie but she nodded in appreciation.
"I'm doing better now that Carl is awake I guess." Lori answered honestly and Sasha stared at her for a moment before her face lit up with recognition.
"I have a friend, she's actually the school psychologist at King County High and-."
"No- no thank you we're doing fine." Lori mumbled as she moved around the petite nurse.
Sasha grabbed her arm gently and produced a paper from her scrub pocket.
"In case you change your mind. She really is the best at what she does. I think you guys should check her out." Sasha said earnestly and Lori gave her a tight lipped smile.
Lori hurried into the hallway and quickly pressed the button to Dr. Denise's floor. She wasn't sure she could take another well meaning hospital staff trying to tell her what she and her family needed to do.
When the elevator open she slipped behind and few people and placed a hand on her belly. The baby was kicking wildly and she cringed. She still wasn't used to being pregnant again nad knew that she felt some sort of detachment from this pregnancy.
Maybe she could use the therapy.
Carl groaned as Dr. Denise held up another picture. As much as Carl knew this was important for his healing, this exercise was getting tedious.
"Flower." He deadpanned and Dr. Denise nodded her head yes as she shuffled the cards.
He felt like a child having to recite simple words back to the doctor. But Dr. Denise insitied this was important for his healing and made him do the exercises everyday. Dr. Denise didn't like to call it physical therapy as much as, "brain retraining". She explained to Carl that after the accident he had experienced some long term memory loss. Because of this Carl needed therapy three times a week for three hours. Three hours of throwing and catching a ball in the air. Three hours of walking from one side of the room to the other. Three hours of identifying a cat or a dog in the picture. Three hours of bullshit.
Carl huffed and fell back into the chair, his long brown hair falling over his face. He wanted to be normal again. He wanted to go back to school and to talk crap about Mrs. Wilson in the back of the classroom with Enid. He wanted to go over to Duane's house and play video games until the sun went down. He wanted to be able to have a full conversation without stumbling over or mixing up his words.
"Almost done Carl." Dr. Denise promised as she reached into her desk to retrieve the bright red ball they would toss around throughout his appointment. "Catch this." She instructed tossing the ball into his direction. Miscalculating where the ball would be Carl reached out far left and the ball fell down onto the right side of him. Carl felt his frustration boiling over and he slammed his hand down onto her desk.
Dr. Denise jumped and moved around the desk to sit next to Carl. She bent down the retrieve the ball and placed it firmly into Carl's hand.
"It will be okay." She said with conviction and he clutched the ball so tightly his knuckles turned white. Noticing this, Denise placed a hand over his and smiled.
"It will." She repeated and Carl nodded before tossing the ball into the air. This time he caught it.
"Alright a couple more, and then you're free." Denise said as she sat back behind her desk and picked up a card.
There was a knock at the door and Denise stood up to open the door when Lori walked in with a pensive smile. Carl glanced to the side to see who it was momentarily forgetting his blindspot. he sighed and shifted his whole body to see . Once seeing it was his mother he sighed and turned back ahead.
"We're almost done mom." Carl said and Lori nodded as she took a seat next to Carl.
"You mind if I sit here?" Lori asked and Carl shrugged. She sat down and placed a hand on top of Carl's. "How's it going?" She questioned and Denise gave her a genuine smile.
"Good. Better than before, and it will be even better next time." She promised and Lori nodded her head. Carl removed his hand and moved to the other side of the room facing the door. Lori's heart clenched at her son's rejection but stayed still.
"Alright let's focus. What's this one?" Dr. Denise asked as she held up a picture of a brown labrador.
"D-dw." He stammered and he furrowed his brow and he screamed at his brain to be better. "Dar." He said a little bit more confidently and by the looks he was given he knew he had made a mistake. He shook his head and his fists clenching open and shut.
"Try again." Lori encouraged and Carl rolled his one good eye.
"Bullshit- t-this is bullshit." Carl grumbled and Lori sighed while looking to Dr. Denise for help. "C-can't do- thi-this." Carl yelled and Denise stood up immediately. She held the picture closer to Carl and pulled off her glasses.
"You can. This is the last one, just give me this Carl." Dr. Denise pleaded and Carl pulled at his hair while staring at the door. He pursed his lips together and took a breath. He felt stupid having to work so hard just to say a word , but realized that Dr. Denise would not let this go until he said it.
The door opened and this time Rick stepped in, pulling off his brown sheriff hat with a small smile.
"Dad." Carl grinned and Lori turned to face Rick before quickly turning back and sitting up straighter in the chair. "Y-yo," He took a breath before continuing, "Y-you're here."
Rick nodded and took the seat next to Lori.
"Finish your therapy." Rick encouraged and Carl pouted which made Rick smile even harder.
"You heard the man. Now, what is this?" Denise asked again and Carl stared at his father for a moment longer before closing his eyes.
"Dog. A-a dog." Carl said and he blushed fiercely at his father's loud clapping and hooping. Somehow his dork of a father made even physical therapy an embarrassingly show. But what wasn't there to celebrate. Carl was alive, and here- getting better everyday. Rick wanted Carl to know how big this was.
"Carl I think that deserves a milkshake, don't you think so Dr. Denise?" Rick said as he stood up from the chair clapping his hands and Carl couldn't help but chuckle at his father's upbeat mood.
"At least two milkshakes." She agreed with a wink and Carl blushed even harder.
"Y-you guys, A-are dorks." Carl grinned, shaking his head and letting his hair fall into his face.
In a strange turn of events Rick asked Lori to come with them to celebrate Carl's recent strides in therapy. In an even stranger turn of events Carl was okay with her coming too and even seem excited to spend time with his estranged mother.
They decided to carpool in Rick's car and for a moment as they drove through their hometown they felt like a family again.
Rick smiled and turned to look at Carl in the backseat when one of their favorite songs came on the radio. Although the two would never admit it, they both had a soft spot for the poppy melody and lyrics of One Direction's, What Makes You Beautiful; And anytime the song would come on the radio they would turn it up and would sing along with no judgement.
Lori grinned at this newfound information and began teasing both Carl and Rick over their odd song choice. She stared at Rick for a moment, bouncing his head to the song and drumming his fingers along the steering wheel and she wondered why she ever did anything to get rid of this life to get rid of him.
She swallowed her tears and began to sing along with her boys. She closed her eyes and pretend, if only for a moment, that everything was the way it used to be.
Okay so next chapter there will defiantly be some Rick, Michonne, and Carl interaction! It's only fair that for every Lori chapter there's like ten Rick and Michonne chapters!