Walking Dead: Unexpected Return
Chapter 3 of my Walking Dead story.
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Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead or its characters.
Chapter 3
Carol looked confused but stepped back and let Rick in. Making his way to the living room Rick sighed, removing his hat as he sat down, Carol had followed him in and, after standing by the doorway, unsure for a moment, she walked over and sat on the opposite sofa.
"Rick, what are you…?"
Rick sighed. "I...I can't think of any easy way to say this, Carol."
Carol tilted her head, confused. "Say what?"
But before Rick could speak, a new voice cut in.
"Mom, what…?"
Both of them turned to the doorway, a boy of around eleven or twelve stood there, with medium length messy blonde hair, brown eyes and fair skin, he was rather skinny and currently wiping sleep from his eyes, still in his pyjamas.
"Henry, what are you doing up, it's still early?" Carol queried at once.
Henry bit his lip. "I...I heard you talking, I wondered what was going on?"
Carol sighed and looked over at Rick who shrugged.
"He might as well hear it." Rick admitted.
"Alright." Carol nodded before turning to Henry. "C'mon, sit down. Rick said he needed to talk, something important apparently."
Henry nodded, moving to sit down next to Carol.
Watching them Rick sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Like I said, there's no easy way to say this." He repeated. "Beth called me up from the hospital. A girl was brought in, in serious condition. She'd been hit by a car, while fleeing from something, something terrible based on her injuries."
Carol grimaced. "God, that's...but why come here, I mean-?"
Rick nodded. "I'm getting to that. The reason Beth called, was this girl...only sixteen, looked so familiar to her. I saw her too and realized what she meant. We've gathered evidence and we're hoping to identify her soon. But...I was hoping you could come down to the hospital and see her. To confirm our thoughts...We have reason to believe that, that this girl, is Sophia."
Carol froze, eyes wide, gasping, Henry was startled too as Carol had told him all about Sophia. He had seen pictures too and had learned what had happened to her before Carol had adopted him two years ago.
"Rick…" Carol finally got out, voice shaking. "It, it can't...surely-?"
Rick sighed. "I know it's hard to hear, to accept. But I've seen her, so has Beth, we're both, almost positive its her. I know it's been four years but...it's just impossible to explain how but please."
Carol fell silent, biting her lip, head bowed. Rick knew it was clearly a shock to her and for good reason. After all, to be told that a girl who fit the right age of your missing daughter, who vanished four year ago, has turned up in serious condition at the local hospital. It's almost too much to hope for.
He stood up and spoke gently.
"I know it's...it's a lot to take in Carol. I'm not just trying to get your hopes up. I really do want answers." He explained. "I was just hoping you'd be able to help. But if you'd rather wait until we get confirmation from our lab results…"
But Carol quickly shook her head. "No Rick, no. If...I want to see, please."
It was then Henry spoke up. "Mom, this...Should I come too?"
"Of course." Carol said at once. "Just give us a moment to get ready Rick."
He nodded and as they headed up to their rooms to get dressed Rick made his way out to his car and sat and waited. As he sat waiting he considered how Carol must be feeling. He couldn't begin to imagine what must be going through her head. He tried to wonder how he'd feel in such a situation, if it had been Carl or Judith.
'But I can't...can't just imagine. It's not something you can imagine.' He reminded himself. 'It's not something you can know without it actually happening to you...as it has to Carol.'
He straightened up as Carol and Henry emerged from the house, fully dressed and hurried to his car. Once they were in he drove towards the hospital.
As they drove silence reigned, Rick continued to focus on heading to the hospital, only occasionally glancing over at Carol or in his rear view mirror at Henry. They both sat quietly, with faraway looks in their eyes. Rick could only wonder just what they were thinking.
'It's not just Carol having this...slim hope that her daughter's back...It's affecting Henry too, he's heard so much about this girl...for her to be back, a sister he's never really met…'
He knew the whole thing was already a big mess, he just hoped it wouldn't get messier. For he knew that, given her condition, Sophia had clearly been through hell. The car hitting her had just been the most recent incident in whatever life she had lead for the past four years. How could she react to seeing her mother again, to finding out about Henry. How would she even adjust to the possibility of potentially leading a new life.
"If it is her Rick, what do I even say to her?" Carol asked suddenly. "It's been four years, she...what if she doesn't even know me anymore?"
Rick grimaced. "I wish I had an answer Carol. For now...we just need to see."
Carol nodded and took a deep breath, clearly trying to compose herself. Rick could only hope that things would indeed turn out alright as he finally reached the hospital and parked.
Entering the hospital Rick led the way as they hurried towards the ward, they briefly were stopped by one of the doctors who informed Rick that everything that had been marked for evidence had already been taken by the forensics team. It wasn't long before they stood outside the ward and Rick stepped back, to allowing Carol to see through the window unobstructed. Carol looked through the glass at the broken girl on the bed, still out cold, breathing through the oxygen tubes affixed to her nose. Tears filled her eyes and she fought back a sob, trying to contain herself.
"Carol?"
Raising a hand and wiping her eyes, blinking Carol just nodded, finally choking out.
"It's...it's her Rick. It's Sophia."
The moment she said it, Rick's phone buzzed and he checked, it was from the forensics team. They had compared the blood sample collected to Sophia's DNA on file. It was a perfect match.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.