Quinn and Carol, Alexandria
I woke up and was looking for Carol immediately.
"Carol?"
She hurried to my side from the kitchen.
"Yeah? How are you feeling?" she asked.
"My head still hurts, but slightly better," I said as I slowly sat up. I wiped my eyes and looked through the window.
"It's afternoon," explained Carol, she figured I was struggling to tell time.
"Thanks. And thank you for staying," I said. Carol smiled at me. "I'll just go and get myself together," I said as I gathered myself because I wanted to go to the bathroom, but I was so dizzy I almost fell. Carol grabbed my elbow.
"Everything good?" she asked concerned.
"Yeah, I'm just dizzy. Hold on," I said and I left leaning against the wall the whole time. When I got back Carol was still frowning her eyebrows.
"It's okay, don't look so worried," I said.
"You don't look okay," she said as she sat next to me on the couch. She handed me a glass of water which I gladly took and drank it all.
As I was coming back to life we heard a soft knock on the door. Carol opened it and let Henry and Lydia in.
"Look who's here," said Carol smiling at me.
"Hey," I greeted them.
"Hi, Quinn! How are you feeling?" asked Henry as he sat next to me on the couch. Lydia sat in the armchair.
"My head wants to split in half, but other than that I'm fine."
"Glad to hear," smiled Henry.
"How are you doing?" I asked glancing at Henry and then at Lydia.
"Nothing much to do nowadays. We're helping in fixing stuff around Alexandria," said Henry.
"At least I don't have to study," said Lydia grumpily.
"You hate that, huh?" I chuckled. Lydia smiled slightly and nodded.
"You have to learn all that stuff anyway because it can be useful," said Carol scolding her.
"She will, just fixing things is more urgent now," said Henry, scolding Carol. I smiled at the sight of them.
"Is there anything you enjoy doing, Lydia?" I asked genuinely.
"I don't know… I like training with Henry. That's really useful," she said thinking out loud.
"And she's getting better. She almost beat me the other day," said Henry proudly.
"You must be a good teacher, Henry," I smiled at him. "But you could also ask Jesus if he would teach you. He knows some really good moves."
"That's not a bad idea," said Carol, thinking. "It's better if you learn more ways to protect yourselves."
"What could he teach us?" asked Lydia.
"He does some kind of martial art, you know, kicking and hitting, without weapons," I explained.
"Would you want to do that?" asked Henry glancing at Lydia.
"Yeah, I guess, we could try," said Lydia.
"I'll ask Jesus next time I see him," said Carol.
"Mom, we can ask him too," said Henry offended. He was so ready to behave like a man, but he was still just a kid. Carol exhaled sharply, I chuckled. Then Henry turned back to me.
"What was it like? To be high?" he asked.
"Uh… it's nothing like being drunk, it was completely different. And it was terrible for me," I said. Henry nodded understandingly, then I felt something bad going on in my stomach. "I don't mean to be rude, but I still feel a little nauseous…"
"Alright now we should leave Quinn to rest a little more," said Carol cutting the discussion. She didn't like that Henry was curious about getting high and she knew I was about to throw up. She indicated with her hands gently for the kids to leave. They stood up and headed to the front door.
"Thank you for checking on me," I said.
"Sure thing," smiled Henry. Lydia smiled shyly too. They left and Carol closed the door.
"They are adorable," I said, still smiling, holding my stomach.
"Yeah… I just wish Henry wouldn't be so harsh on me."
"He's growing up and wants to be taken seriously. Sometimes, you treat him like he was a toddler."
"That's not true! Well, probably a little bit…" Carol said thinking out loud. Then a moment later she glanced back at me. "Do you want to eat something?"
"No, not yet. I feel like I might throw up," I said, frowning my eyebrows while resting my hand on my stomach.
"Let it go if it wants to go," she said. I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, it wants to go…" I said and I hurried outside to the back porch and threw up. Carol waited for a little while, then followed me outside with a glass of water.
"Here," she said as I walked back to the porch and sat on the stairs.
"Uh, god…" I said and drank the glass of water.
"You threw up last night too," she said.
"No way…" I said as my face went pale. "Negan saw me throw up?" I asked disappointed in myself.
"Yeah, but I'm sure he saw worse than that before," she said.
"I didn't want him to see me ugly…" I said quietly. "I'm disgusting."
"No, it's your natural cleaning system, don't worry about it. It's not a shame."
"I'm not happy about it anyway," I said deeply disappointed in myself.
Carol stroked my back and escorted me inside. I sat back on the couch and covered myself with a blanket. I let out a sigh and closed my eyes to rest a bit more.
…
Author's notes:
Sorry it's so short this time, but I have to split up the chapters, because I'm studying for a brutal exam. Please be patient with me in May and June. Thank You for understanding!
Listen to "Breathin'" by Ariana Grande.
Thank You for reading! ❤