Been busy the last couple of days so I didn't get a chance to post this chapter until now. Thank you to all of those who favorited and followed the story recently! Can't believe how many more readers there have been in the last few days! And thank you to galwidanatitud, Katarzyna88gb, Lady-Finwe, and capncaycay for all of your reviews! Despite my busy schedule, all of the positive feedback on the story has been motivating me to get the next post out quicker for you all!
The sun had fully set about twenty minutes before we managed to pull up to the farmhouse with the mailbox labeled 'Greene'. My palms were sweating and I felt nauseous as I sat staring at the large, two story house. I remembered this house. I remembered that front porch. I didn't know why or how, but I remembered it like I'd been here before. Which I suppose would make sense because I probably had, before the accident that had hospitalized me.
Glenn was eyeing the house nervously. The front porch light was on and so were some lights in some of the rooms on the first floor. It was strange seeing electricity for once.
"Let's get T-Dog out," Glenn said finally breaking the silence. He paused when he glanced over at me. "You alright? You look a little pale…"
I shook my head roughly. "I'll be fine. T-Dog needs help. That's more important."
The two of us got out of the car and I made my way over to Glenn's side as he opened the backdoor of the Jeep. T-Dog sat up, apparently not having been asleep like I'd thought. He reached out and threw an arm over Glenn before sliding out. Glenn nearly buckled under the man's weight. I quickly threw T-Dog's other arm over my shoulder and tried to take some of the weight off of him, shutting the Jeep door once I had a good grip on T-Dog.
"Ready?" Glenn asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be," I muttered in reply.
It took a lot of effort for us to get T-Dog up the front steps to the porch. With each step I took I noticed the dried blood on the red brick stairs. Carl's blood most likely. My stomach churned.
We were standing in front of the door, struggling under T-Dog's weight, when Glenn glanced at me.
"So…do we ring the bell or something? Looks like somebody lives here."
I tried to shrug but couldn't under the man's weight.
"You close the gate when you drove in?"
My heart leapt in my chest at the young woman sitting on a chair. How had we not noticed her on the porch? I looked closer and noticed it was the same young woman who had ridden the horse through the woods and taken Lori with her. She was smiling at me.
"Uh…yes," Glenn told her nervously. "Yeah, we did. The latch and everything."
She kept staring at me with the smile on her face when she stood up. I still couldn't remember her though and I was getting uncomfortable under her stare.
"Nice to see you again," I blurted out awkwardly.
Her smile fell at my words. "You don't know who I am, do you?"
I cleared my throat awkwardly, trying to shift T-Dog's weight around. He was starting to get heavier by the minute if that were possible.
"No, sorry. I don't really remember anything," I told her.
"Look, we came to help," T-Dog said, speaking up for the first time since I'd seen him after our search in the woods. "There anything we can do?"
The young woman glanced down and saw the bloodied bandage on his arm. A look of concern crossed her face.
"It's not a bite," I spoke up immediately, guessing what she'd been thinking. "He had an accident when a herd of walkers caught us off guard on the highway. He cut it on a broken car window. He cut it pretty bad though."
The young woman nodded. "We'll have it looked at. I'll tell him you're here," she said to T-Dog.
"We uh, have some painkillers and antibiotics," Glenn spoke up nervously, his head gesturing towards his bag on his shoulder. "I already gave him some, if Carl needs any."
"Come on inside, I'll make you all something to eat," the young woman told us before opening up the door and leading us inside.
"Can we see Carl?"
The request had shocked me when it came from T-Dog, but the young woman nodded her head and directed us to the stairs.
They weren't wide enough for us to carry T-Dog up, so he had to cling to the banister. Eventually he made it, and the young woman who had followed us up pointed out which room to enter.
My heart dropped when I saw Carl lying there in the bed. He looked so small; definitely not like the little boy who'd volunteered to search for Sophia earlier today. His eyes were closed and there was a large bandage on his right side. His stomach looked swollen. Rick and Lori were sitting next to him on some chairs beside the bed while an older gentleman was monitoring his condition. A middle aged blonde woman was sat in the corner of the room, offering a friendly smile to our group as we entered.
"Hey," I said softly to Rick and Lori.
"Hey," Rick answered, his voice weak.
"We're here, okay?" Glenn told the pair.
"Whatever you need," I added.
"Thank you," Lori said with a small smile.
The older gentleman on the bed turned around and stared at me for a moment, his eyes taking in my appearance. He offered me a smile before turning back to Carl. I didn't know what to make of that exchange so I said nothing and followed the young girl out of the room.
She led us down to the kitchen and started putting together some sandwiches for the three of us. We had been directed to sit at the table so I sat down, aware that she kept eyeing me as she made the food. No one said anything.
I tore into my sandwich the moment she had given it to me. I hadn't eaten anything all day and that trek through the forest searching for Sophia had me worn out and starving.
"I'm Maggie," the young woman finally introduced herself as she took a seat at the table.
"Glenn," Glenn told her before taking a big bite of sandwich. "Thank you, by the way."
She nodded her head and glanced over at T-Dog who was slowly eating his sandwich.
"That's T-Dog," Glenn told her. "And…you already seem to know Isabell."
I finished chewing my bite of sandwich as Maggie caught my eye.
"Sarah told us that you had a serious concussion from that car accident," Maggie started to say. "Said the doctors told her it was possible you might not wake up from your coma. Or that if you did it was possible the damage to your head might cause some memory loss. They weren't sure whether it'd be long term or not." A sad smile crossed her lips. "Guess that's why you don't remember me."
I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. I felt bad for not remembering her, but there wasn't much I could do about that.
"Who are you?" I asked awkwardly.
I noticed the blonde woman who'd been helping the older gentleman with Carl enter the room. She was carrying medical supplies in her gloved hands, including the prescription pill bottles we had brought. She sat down next to T-Dog and he laid his arm on a shirt she had spread out onto the table. She got to work unbandaging the wound and T-Dog closed his eyes.
My attention turned back to Maggie, awaiting her response.
The sad smile was still on her face when she answered me. "I'm your cousin. That man up there fixing up Carl, he's my daddy—your uncle. Guessin' you didn't recognize him either?"
The pain on her face at my lack of memory was obvious. I shook my head in response.
A tear slipped down her cheek as she continued. "His name is Hershel. I have a sister, Beth. She's upstairs sleeping. So is Sarah. Your sister."
I felt all color drain from my face. I had family here. An uncle, two cousins, and a sister. I had a sister.
Have. I have a sister.
My head was spinning at this newfound information. Sarah. She was S. She had to have been the one who left me those flowers and that duffle bag. She was the one who'd written those notes.
Sarah. Sarah. Sarah.
Her name ran through my mind on repeat, trying to remember. Nothing came to me. No strange, tugging feeling had overtaken me like it did back at the church. Not even a face came to mind. Nothing.
"You don't remember her."
It wasn't a question. And I hated to admit that Maggie was right.
I could feel my chest tightening as the name 'Sarah' raced through my mind. My lungs felt as if they had somehow shrunk and could no longer hold as much air as before. Suddenly I was hyperventilating. I couldn't seem to just breathe normal. Tears were running down my face and my chest was on fire.
"What's wrong?" Glenn's panicked voice shouted out. "What's wrong with her?"
I couldn't see anything past the tears in my eyes. The pain in my chest felt like it was growing.
"She's having a panic attack," a female voice answered evenly, one I didn't recognize.
"What do I do?" Maggie's concerned voice asked.
"Take her outside. Let her breathe some fresh air, cool off. She needs to calm down and take deep breaths," the same unfamiliar female tone answered.
I felt hands pulling me up from my chair. Moments later cool air was hitting my face.
"Sit here," Maggie's voice directed me.
I felt myself being sat onto a chair.
"Take some deep breaths," Maggie's voice ordered.
I wiped at my eyes, trying to push away the tears. I took in a deep breath, held it as I felt the pain burning in my chest, and then let it out. I repeated that several times until the tears had stopped flowing and my chest had lost the burning, tight sensation.
Maggie and Glenn were standing in front of me, worried looks on their faces.
"Better?" Maggie asked me.
Slowly, I nodded my head.
"I'm sorry, this must be a lot to take in," Maggie apologized. "I didn't mean to overwhelm you."
I shook my head. "It's fine. I'll be fine," I said, more to myself than to her.
"I told Sarah I'd wake her when you got here if she was asleep…but maybe that should just wait til the morning?" Maggie suggested. "When you've had some sleep and time to process things?"
"Yes," I said slowly. "I think that'd be the best thing."
Maggie nodded. "You must be tired, I can get some spare blankets out. Unfortunately we don't have any more spare beds, but you can use the couches in the living room. Though one of you might have to sleep on the floor."
"I'll take the floor," Glenn offered immediately. "T-Dog should get a couch. And you've been through enough today."
"You sure?" I asked him. "I don't mind the floor. Not much different from the ground outside."
Glenn nodded his head firmly in response. "The floor is fine."
Maggie led the way back into the house and showed us to the living room. T-Dog was already fast asleep on the longer of the two couches.
"Patricia must have put him to sleep," Maggie said more to herself than to us. When she noticed our blank stares Maggie said, "The blonde who had been fixing his bandage up and checking his injury. Her husband Otis was a farmhand for my dad and Patricia helped my dad with the animals."
"Where is he?" Glenn suddenly asked before his eyes darted around the house. "And Shane?"
I glanced around the house as if I would suddenly spot Shane and the other man named Otis. I had completely forgotten about Shane having been with Rick and Carl when we'd split up.
Maggie's mouth went into a straight, hard line. "They volunteered to get supplies from the high school for Carl."
"How long have they been gone?" Glenn asked her.
Maggie wouldn't meet either of our eyes. Instead, she changed the subject. "I'm going to grab you both those blankets I was talking about so you can get some sleep."
Glenn and I watched Maggie's retreating back as she left the room.
"If they've been gone awhile, maybe we should do something?" I asked, turning to Glenn.
Glenn seemed to consider this for a moment. "There's only two of us though. Are you sure you're even up for it?"
I was about to answer him when Maggie entered the room carrying a few blankets. "Up for what?"
"Seeing what the hold up is with Shane and Otis," I told her.
"No." Maggie's voice was firm. "There were a lot of sick people up at the high school the last time I was near there. It's not safe."
"Sick people? You mean walkers?" Glenn asked her.
"If that's what you call them," Maggie said. "Neither of you are going anywhere tonight. It's not safe and it's dark out. You both look exhausted. I'm sure they'll both be back soon. In the meantime, you should just concern yourself with resting up."
I shot Glenn a look only to see his shoulders fall at her words.
"If they're not back soon, you wake us. If Carl needs whatever they're getting, we have to get it," I told Maggie sternly.
Maggie smiled softly. "You always were stubborn." She handed me a blanket before handing Glenn the other. "I'll wake you if they're not back in an hour. I promise."
I eyed her for a moment before I decided she was telling the truth. I made my way over to the couch and tried to get comfortable on the stiff cushions. Glenn laid down on the floor, a pillow from the couch resting behind his head.
I sincerely doubted I'd fall asleep anytime soon with everything that had happened today. My mind was still reeling with the thought of meeting my sister tomorrow.