Airianna jumped into motion when she heard Beth sobbing and Rick yelling out, "Go, go, go, in there!"
"Get him on the bed!" The doctor shoved the crowd of people out of the way and joined Maggie in putting pressure on the wound.
Daryl called out, "He got bit."
Lori gasped, "Oh my god, he's gonna turn?"
Airi spared a glance at the gushing wound, "Did you cut the limb off?"
Rick nodded, "Yeah."
"Let's hope you got it in time," She reeled back when the towels against the wound started to become more drenched in Hershel's blood. "I need bandages, someone go get my bag now!" Glenn sprinted up the stairs to her cell while she turned to the others, "I need space, you all need to leave."
Lori shook her head, "He needs help."
"What he needs now is my help, and you are in my way," Lori took a step back the woman's harsh words. "Maggie can stay and help but the rest of you need to leave."
Beth sniffled, "Is he gonna die?"
Airi shrugged, "He'll be okay, someone go get me more towels."
"There's some in my room," Lori offered. "Carl go grab them."
Glenn came rushing back with the black duffle bag full of medical supplies and tossed it at the doctor's feet. She started to rifle through it.
"Can you stabilize him?" Rick asked.
"I need to get his leg elevated first," She muttered as Maggie started to prop up the limb with whatever pillows were in the room.
"He's bleeding through the sheets," Maggie hissed out.
"We can burn the wound to clot the blood," Glenn suggested. "I can start a fire."
"Cauterizing the limb now will only send him into shock," The doctor shot back. "We need to slow the blood flow before I can cauterize the blood vessels." She thanked Carl when he returned with more towels and motioned for him to step away, "Now leave Maggie and me to work on him."
She tossed away the bloody rags and added another pillow under Hershel's leg to fully elevate it above the heart. She then gave Maggie the fresh towels and the short-haired girl started to carefully redress the wound while the doctor pulled an IV out of her duffle bag.
"Last bit of penicillin we have," She muttered as she attached the drip to the bunk bed and then inserted the needle into her patient's arm. "Hopefully it's enough to fight off any infection."
Maggie gulped, "And if it's not?"
The redhead sighed, "Then we better find that infirmary soon," She grabbed the other woman's hands when they began to shake. "The wound's wrapped for now, and the drip is going. We'll just have to wait until we have to change the dressings again. It's already slowing down quite a bit." She gently led Maggie out of the cell and into Glenn's waiting arms. Glenn tightened his arms around her as she began to cry and Airianna stepped away to give them privacy.
She wandered over to the bars separating the cells from the common area when she heard yelling and paused at the sight of five men in prison jumpsuits.
One of the men pulled a gun from the waistband of his pants, "This is my house, I go where I damn well please!"
Airianna jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder, but relaxed when she caught Rick's eye, "Who are they?"
"Prisoners, survivors," The leader grunted as they both eyed the apparent leader of the prison group. "I'll take care of it, you and Glenn need to stay by his side."
"He and Maggie are watching him, don't worry," She replied.
"I need you both there, in case something happens and Glenn can't…" He rubbed his forehead. "I can't have our only doctor left getting mixed up with these people."
She nodded, "Don't worry Rick, I know."
He gave her a tight smile and slipped a pair of handcuffs into her hands before swinging open the barred door and running over to where Daryl and T-Dog were yelling at the intruders. Carl ran over to the door when Airi slammed it shut and he quickly relocked it.
She stepped back into Hershel's cell and leaned over his unconscious body as Glenn and Maggie watched her handcuff his free arm to the bed, "Just in case," Glenn nodded at her logic and offered her a weak smile. "I'll be back in a second."
Airi wandered out of the room and passed Lori and Beth sitting together in the teenager's cell. She stopped at the stairs where Sophia and Carl were sitting with Eren toddling around on the floor near the steps.
The blonde girl bit her lip, "Is Hershel going to die?"
"Hopefully not," Airi muttered. "But we are dangerously low on bandages and other supplies."
"You need to get to the infirmary, right?" Carl asked.
"Yes."
"But the Rick and the others are dealing with those prisoners right now," Sophia pointed out.
"We'll just have to wait then," The doctor added.
Carl stood up, "But Hershel may not have that much time."
"Carl, I have some of my supplies left. Hershel will be fine for the rest of the day at least," She explained as she tried to calm the boy.
"But what if you run out of bandages or medicine?"
She rubbed her face and groaned, "Just have to hope he'll pull through," She sighed and offered the children a small smile. "Good news is: I know what I'm doing and the blood is slowing down. I can fix his leg once I'm sure we won't have to worry about an infection."
Sophia breathed a sigh of relief, "So that's good, right Carl?"
He boy reluctantly nodded his head, "Yeah, I guess. Thanks for the update, Airi."
"Anytime Carl," She muttered before returning to the injured man's side.
She kept a close eye on Hershel as Maggie and Beth poked their heads in to check on their father's condition every now and then. Lori came to join her on watch and helped her keep a close eye on Hershel's breathing rate and pulse. Airianna started to unbind the now dirty bandages from his leg, furrowing her brows when she noticed the lack of bandages in her bag, instead, she decided to use the towels Carl brought in earlier.
The creaking of the door drew her from his side and she beamed at the amount of food Rick and the others brought back, "What did you find?" Carl asked.
T-Dog smiled, "Canned corn, canned beef, canned cans. There's a lot more where this came from."
She nodded to Rick as he passed her, "Any change?"
"The bleeding is under control and no fever," She paused. "But his breath is labored and his pulse is weaker than normal. I have him on some antibiotics, but I'm all out of them and fresh bandages."
"He hasn't opened his eyes yet," Lori added.
He eyed the two mothers, "Are my cuffs on him?" They both nodded their heads. "Good, I'm not taking any chances."
Lori stepped back into the cell and Airi nodded her head towards the common room, "So what about the prisoners?"
He sighed, "We're gonna help them clear out their own cell block, and then they'll be there and we'll be here."
"Do they have guns?'
He shook his head, "I only saw one."
"Alright, hope you can wrap that up quick cause I need the supplies from the infirmary. Herschel could change at any minute," Rick placed his hand on the doctor's shoulder.
"We will get to that as soon as this threat is taken care of," He promised. "Now I don't know if this will work…"
"But a good person has to try, I know, Rick," She assured him. The leader started to walk away when Airi muttered, "Keep an eye on Daryl for me."
"We both know he can take care of himself," He chuckled.
Airianna watched the man leave and wandered over to where Glenn was sitting with Eren. She paused at the cell when she noticed Maggie speaking privately with her father, but elected to give the woman her privacy. Glenn gestured to her son as she approached.
"He started following me around," He admitted. "I've never picked him up before so I don't really know what to do."
She chuckled and swept Eren into her arms, "Come on pizza boy, real simple now."
"Please stop calling me pizza boy," Glenn jokingly begged as she gently passed Eren into his shaking arms.
"Pizza!" Eren squealed as he tugged on Glenn's shirt.
The Korean man groaned, "God, you have him doing it too?"
She was about to respond when the squeaking of a door hinge was heard and she swung around to the door at the end of the cell block, frowning when she watched Carl and Sophia slip through the door with a large bag in their arms. The two walked straight to Hershel's cell and dropped the bag outside of it and Lori stepped out of the cell next door to investigate.
"What's all this?" She asked as she unzipped the bag.
"Thought you two were organizing the food," Glenn muttered.
"Even better," Sophia replied.
Carl nodded, "Check it out," Airianna and Lori both gasped at the sight of fresh bandages, hydrogen peroxide, and bottles of different medication.
"Where did you get all this?" Carl's mother demanded as the doctor swept the bag up and into the room to properly redress Hershel's wound.
"We found the infirmary," Carl said proudly. "Wasn't much left, but we cleared it out."
Lori frowned, "You two went by yourselves?"
"Yeah," They both said at the same time.
"Are you crazy?"
The smile fell from the boy's face, "No big deal, we killed two walkers. Easy with Sophia's great aim." The blonde girl lightly blushed at the compliment and Airi rolled her eyes at the pair.
Lori, however, glared at her son, "Alright, you see this? This was with the whole group."
"We needed the supplies so we got them," Carl argued.
"I appreciate that, but-"
"Then get off my back!" The boy snapped.
"Carl," He paused at Beth's words as she stood next to Glenn. "She's your mother. You can't talk to her like that."
He glared at the blonde teenager before storming out, Sophia hot on his heels. Airianna sighed at the unnecessary drama, "They did a good job," She pointed out.
"They went alone," Lori hissed.
"They went together," The doctor noted. "Better than Carl stubbornly going by himself, don't you think? Besides..." She tightened the wrapping around the injured limb. "They were only trying to help."
"I am aware of that fact," Lori conceded. "But he is my son and what he did was dangerous."
Airi rolled her eyes, and attempted to change the subject, "Well this fresh set of bandages will help prevent infection."
"That's good," Glenn muttered. "It's good that you know all this stuff."
She nodded, "Well medical school is a great way to learn."
She paused for a moment and glanced between Maggie and Glenn, "Need a favor from you two."
"With what?" Maggie asked.
Airi shook her head, "Not here."
"No," Glenn denied. "I can't leave Hershel."
"Glenn, please," She pleaded. "This is important."
"Go on," Lori cut in. "Beth and I can watch him for a little bit."
"No way."
Beth patted his arm, "We'll be fine."
"I doubt we'll be gone long," Maggie added.
The man gave in and stepped aside so Airianna and Maggie would walk out fo the cell. The redhead motioned for the keys and Carl tossed them over from where he was sitting and while she opened the door to the common room Glenn clumsily passed Eren back into the arms of Sophia. She waited for the couple before leading them out to the courtyard. Maggie eyed the doctor as they walked in silence to the fence separating the concrete from the grass.
"So what are we doin' exactly?" She asked.
"What Glenn said, made me think," She started as she led them onwards. "Hershel and I are the only ones who know medical stuff beyond basic first aid. Though I'm sure he's taught you a few things, Maggie."
"So?" Glenn pondered.
"Glenn today proved how vulnerable we all are," Airianna pointed out. "Anything can happen. So if something happens to me before Lori has her baby-"
Maggie shook her head, "Nothin' is going to happen to you."
"You can't promise that. No one can," The couple paused at her point and watched as she stopped at the gate leading to the outer fences. "So someone needs to know what to do if I'm not there."
Glenn caught on to what the doctor was getting at as they stopped in front of the final fence, keeping their distance from the few walkers growling near them, "Everything you're saying is completely sane."
Maggie quirked her brow, "You want to teach us? With a walker?"
"In med school, we practiced on cadavers," She explained. "We have plenty to practice with, and it's just so at least another person knows how to do a proper C-section."
"I'm just trying to wrap my mind around it," Glenn admitted. "And it would be a worst-case scenario, we learn just in case."
The short-haired woman sighed, "No, Lori had Carl by C-section so she'll probably be the same with this baby." She lifted the piece of pipe she brought and slammed it into the head of a female walker against the fence. Glenn sighed but moved to distract the other walkers so the two women could drag the dead one in. Once the female body was dragged into the fence and on the gravel, they retied the gap in the fence and waited for Glenn to return.
"If you don't want to be here for this, Glenn, you don't have to," Airianna offered the man an out.
He shrugged his shoulders, "No, it's a good skill to learn, I guess."
Maggie nodded, "So what's first?"
"First you need to learn how to cut through the abdomen and the uterus without cutting the baby," The couple listened as the doctor started her lesson. "But you have to do it on the left side, across and just above the pubic bone, to avoid cutting into the intestines." She carefully cut through the cold flesh of the corpse and Glenn gagged at the smell entering his nose. "Once the original incision has been made, you have to make a second incision on the left side of the uterus, and the muscle will pull back." She gently pulled back the flap of skin and the like layer of muscle underneath. "Then you must deliver the baby, which should only take about five minutes. Then you simply resew the uterus and the skin."
She turned to her friends once she was done explaining, pausing at their surprised looks, "How'd you make that look so easy?" Maggie muttered.
"Years of practice, here," She offered the woman the scalpel she brought with her. "You two can practice, or just you Maggie. I'll go check on Hershel."
The short-haired woman nodded in agreement and moved back to the fence to retrieve her own cadaver to practice on. Airianna snorted under her breath as Glenn's face turned slightly green at the thought of practicing the task given to him, but he stayed back with Maggie anyway. She quickly made her way back to the cell block and reentered the door.
She was partway through the common room when Beth screamed out. "He's not breathing! Help!"
Airianna broke into a run and jumped through the doorway, skidding to a stop when she reached the room. She shoved Beth out of the way and placed her hands on Hershel's neck, relaxing slightly when she felt a very weak pulse under her fingertips. She clasped her hands together and started compressions on his sternum to help increase his heart rate, pausing every twenty beats to breathe air into his mouth. She jumped when his hand flew up and tightly grasping her hair, freezing when Beth and Lori scrambled to pull her away from the gasping man. She let out a shaky breath when he locked eyes with her and passed back out.
"What just happened?" Sophia asked. Airi turned to see her tucked behind Carl who was aiming his gun at the older man.
She stood up on her weak legs and lowered his gun, "It's okay, he was just having trouble breathing."
As she and the other women recovered from the jump scare Glenn and Maggie returned, "What happened here?"
"Daddy couldn't breathe, so Airi saved his life," Beth muttered as she hugged her older sister. Glenn gave the doctor a thankful look, and she waved him off.
She sat by Hershel's bedside as the rest of the group returned from their time with the inmates and Carl turned to greet his father, "Hershel stopped breathing. Airi saved him."
"It's true," Glenn corroborated.
Rick entered the cell and gave the panting doctor a tight smile before he set his sights on Hershel. He crouched by the man and watched for any sign of him waking up. He stood up when the injured man started to move his lips slightly, but Airianna placed her hand over his own. They both watched as Hershel groaned and his eyelids fluttered open. His daughters rushed to his side as Rick moved to uncuff his wrist. Airianna stepped away from the girls but was stopped by Hershel's hand grabbing her own.
She beamed at him and gave him a small nod before she left the cell to stand next to Daryl. He wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned his head on top of hers, "You did good."
"Thanks, hon."