Red River Blue

Chapter 29

Wren hovered in the doorway of the cell, one hand lightly gripping the bars as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Carol and her mother were picking over her father's body, trying to remove all the little shards of glass that had gotten stuck in him. His back looked like it had been attacked by a flock of angry pecking birds. Most of the cuts were small and would heal up on their own as long as they were kept clean. Only one long gash on the back of his shoulder blade needed more than antiseptic. Wren heard her momma saying that one was going to need stitches.

River ran her hand gently over the skin of Merle's back, feeling carefully to make sure all the glass had been removed. She was sitting on the edge of the bed near his head, his one good arm draped across her lap. His hand was resting on the small of her back, his thumb slowly stroking her back and forth through the fabric of her shirt. Carol left to fetch Hershel, stopping for just a moment to plant a kiss on Wren's head as she passed through the doorway. River wiped at a few of the minor cuts with an alcohol swab. She dabbed at them one at a time. Wiping gently, she leaned down with her full lips pursed and blew on them to keep the cuts from stinging while the alcohol dried.

She felt Merle's hand resting against her back, then he moved it down. Gripping the hem of her shirt, he raked it up a few inches, exposing a sliver of flesh just above the waistband of her jeans. She was sitting close enough that he only had to tilt his head back slightly to get his mouth on her. River felt the press of a soft kiss followed quickly by the nibble of his teeth.

"Aren't you supposta be injured?," she asked, trying not to squeak even though he was tickling her. He bit down a little harder and she made a funny high pitched noise that was somewhere between a shriek and the yip of a small dog.

"Merle! This ain't funny," she insisted. "Hershel's gonna be here in a minute so straighten up and behave yerself." There was a time and a place for him to be biting at her hip and this was certainly not that time. His laughter was silent, but River could feel the movement of his body as it gently shook. He was driving her crazy but she knew if he felt well enough to joke with her, it meant he probably wasn't too badly hurt. Merle gave her one more kiss on the side before he rested his head back down on his pillow. She felt his hand on the hem of her shirt again, pulling it back down this time. River cleaned up the last few cuts before she tossed the used alcohol swabs on the floor near her feet.

As she looked over his back, River was glad that her husband wasn't hurt worse. The new cuts would heal into scars that would soon blend into the jagged map of marks that covered his back. They had been together so long she knew the stories that went with the worst of them. On the shoulder opposite the new slash mark that was about to be fixed by Hershel was the wound from the bullet he had taken in Iraq. The bullet that got him discharged from the service. River traced the outline of it with the tip of one slender finger. The strap mark across his lower back was from the time he got caught stealing the lunch money at school. He hadn't been punished for stealing, just for getting caught.

They both grew up poor. Living in the same dumpy little trailer park. The kind of place where there were so many stray cats that the manager of the trailer park started setting traps out to get rid of them. But River's mother had never been abusive towards her. She had been gone a lot. Working overtime to keep food on the table. But she had always done the best she could by her daughter. Just like River always tried to do right by her girls even though she felt like her best was never good enough.

River traced the old faded scar with her fingers, letting them trail away and twine into Merle's hair. The old sad memories combined with her fear of what might have happened at that store if Harley and Daryl hadn't been there mixed together inside her heart. She didn't feel the tears coming, they just spilled out and ran down her cheeks before she could wipe them away.

"Oh mama," Wren said, "Don't cry." The girl crossed the small space between them and used the sleeve of the shirt she had tied around her waist to wipe at her mother's face. From where Wren was standing she could see onto the top bunk. The mattresses were stacked up on the bottom bunk, leaving the top open to be used as a shelf. And on it was the cupcakes Carol had scratched together the ingredients to make while they were out fishing earlier.

"Can we still give Uncle Daryl his cupcakes?," Wren asked.

"Oh hell," River moaned, "I forgot all about dinner and everythin'."

Beth was keeping track of the days with an old calendar she had hanging in her room. It wasn't exact, but at least they had some idea what month it was. And this month was May. Daryl's birthday month. River had casually mentioned something about it to Carol a few days ago. When River got back from fishing and traumatizing her daughter for life by killing some random woman in the woods right in front of her, she found a tuperware container of cupcakes on the top bunk in her cell. Assuming the run was going to go well, River had been thinking when the guys got back they might have a fish fry and stuff themselves with cupcakes while she teased Daryl about being a whole year older than she was. Now that was all pretty much thrown out the window. Having a party after a run where someone died and more people were hurt just didn't feel right to her.

There was a tap on the bars of the cell and River straightened up, wiping at her face. She smiled at Hershel and got up quickly, moving away from the bed to make sure he had room to work. Hershel used medical grade superglue to close up the wound on Merle's shoudler, deciding no one needed to know that the glue was actually veterinary glue meant for dogs and cats. The cut wasn't really that bad, Hershel was more worried about the man's leg. Merle rolled over and sat up. Hershel managed to keep a straight face while the man's wife and daughter fussed over him, stuffing pillows in behind his back to make sure he was comfortable.

Merle's pantlegs were already rolled up, since Carol and River had been checking him for pieces of glass. At the very least, the man's left leg was very badly bruised. Hershel prodded as gently as he could, checking the bones to make sure they weren't broken. Hershel noticed that Merle kept complete control over his facial features during the examination. River was hovering around near the head of the bed, her face twisted up like she was the one with the hurt leg instead of her husband. She even sucked in her breath when Hershel's fingers prodded gently into the darkest part of the bruise. Finally the woman apologized and turned her back to what was going on, unable to watch.

"Sometimes it's worse seeing someone you care about in pain than it is being in pain yourself," Hershel mentioned quietly. Merle finally showed some emotion on his face, giving the older man a little half smile before he reached back and caught River by the hand.

"S'alright honey," he assured her, "looks worse than it is." He sounded confident, but after he spoke his eyes flicked to Hershel for confirmation that what he said was true. Hershel signaled for the man to wait and let him finish before he got his answer, but so far it didn't look like anything was broken. The ankle was swollen, but Merle was still able to move his foot and wiggle his toes. Hershel longed for an X-ray machine. Much like he longed for a dozen other medical machines. Since the outbreak, he had developed a newfound respect for all the doctors that came before the inventions of modern technology.

"I think you are the proud owner of a very badly sprained ankle," Hershel announced. River turned back around, her relief showing plainly on her face. "But just in case there's a hairline fracture in your leg, I want you to take it easy for a few weeks. We have some crutches. I want you to use them and try to keep the weight off the leg as much as possible until the bruising and the swelling go down."

Merle looked about as excited to be using a pair of crutches as he would have been to wear a dress. On the other hand, River was looking like someone had just given her a new pet kitten wearing a pink ribbon with a chocolate bar tied around its neck. She rushed Hershel, almost knocking the older man off balance. River hugged him and thanked him profusely for his help, then hugged him again.

"Oh daddy," Wren gushed, finally unable to keep back and out of the way. She elbowed in past her mother and threw her arms around Merle's neck. "I just knew you were going to be alright," she added, hugging him so hard she made him cringe.

Carol had been hovering in the doorway, watching. As much as she tried to dislike Merle, she had become rather fond of the man. She was glad to hear his leg wasn't broken. And watching Wren and River fawn all over him in front of Hershel had made for some pretty good entertainment.

Hershel headed out as Carol came in. She and River hugged. Then Wren was up, wriggling between them. She hugged Carol, glanced towards the cupcakes and then looked up at the woman with what could only be described as hopeful puppy dog eyes. Carol reached for the container and handed them to the girl with a smile. Daryl didn't even know she had made the treats for him, so it wouldn't hurt him any if the kids ate them instead.

"Here sweetie, why don't you go ahead and have them," Carol suggested. Wren looked so excited it made Carol laugh. Wren ripped the lid off the tuperware. Carol expected her to start devouring the treats right away. That was what Sophia would have done. Since the threat of her dad showing up and taking things away from her was always looming, if Sophia somehow managed to get anything she wanted for herself she packed it in the moment she got her hands on it. But that was not Wren's way.

"One for daddy," Wren announced, pulling the first little cake out and handing it to Merle. She tried to give one to River, but her mom refused, insisting she could share with Merle. River didn't know what was going on with her. Usually she loved sweets. Especially cake. But her stomach had been off lately. Cake just didn't sound good to her. Plus she wanted Wren to have some left to share with her friends.

"This one is for Uncle Daryl," Wren said, lifting another cake out and placing it carefully into Carol's custody. Then Wren went prancing out of the cell looking for Harley, leaving her parents smiling after her and Carol staring down at the cupcake in her hands that was meant for Daryl.