This Night
Chapter 233
Author's Note: Yes I'm on vacation for a week, that means more chapters for you! These people need to get into one spot because them being all over the place isn't working for me at all. I mean seriously. Jicks need some alone time! Review please, it's like food to a hungry person. Thanks!
Jewel and Carl's POV:
Jewel put Hope down in her Moses basket as she glanced over at Carl sitting by the door. "Mika, Mitch can you two take turns rocking Hope if she gets fussy?"
"Yeah, no problem," Mitch answered
"Thanks," Jewel answered as she went over and slid down the wall to sit next to Carl. "You know I used to tell Summer I'd give her a penny for her thoughts, not that a penny was worth anything. Guess it's worth less now," she told him. "I know how to parent girls, had experience with Summer and of course I was a teenage girl. But you, that's a whole new ballgame. I don't want to try to replace Lori, because she was your mom. She will always be your mom no matter what. But I'm here to listen and you've obviously got something on your mind."
"Worried about Dad and the others, you know," Carl answered.
Jewel nodded. "Yeah, so am I," she told him. "I'm not going to tell you that they'll be fine, that everyone will come back, because we both know that may not happen. You know why I wanted Daryl and Rick to both go?"
Carl looked at her. "No," he answered.
"Because I knew that the two of them work better together, that they'll watch each other and the group. That they have a better chance of all coming back to us by being out there together. I would have loved to tell your dad to stay and let Michonne go, and I knew that he would have stayed. But, then I would have felt guilty if they didn't all come back," Jewel told him. "Your dad is always going to be torn by being a father and a husband and he will always try to put us first, as it should be. Your dad is a good man, and he's going to always fight to come back to us, and I trust Daryl to make sure he does," she told him.
"You'd feel better if you were with him, though," Carl said.
"Yeah, but right now, my place is with Hope, Judy, Mika, Mitch, and yes, even you and Lexi. When I say that you are becoming a good man, I'm not lying. What you tried to do with Gabriel, and the weapons, that was a good thing. Something better then what I would have done," Jewel admitted.
"You're a good person, Mom," Carl told her. "What happened with Merle, that's not your fault. You know that right?"
"I know, but I still feel guilty," Jewel admitted.
"That's how you know you're still good then," Carl told her. "You know that right?"
Jewel reached over and pulled him into a hug. "God you're growing up," she said as she took off the hat and kissed him on the top of his head.
Grady Rescue Team:
Joey stood by the door of the building they went in and kept an eye out for walkers and people alike as the others gathered around Rick as he drew a map in the ground.
"At sundown we fire a shot in the air, two of them out on patrol. Then once it's dark enough that the rooftop spotter won't see us, we go. We cut the locks on one of the stairways, take it to the fifth floor. I open the door, Daryl takes the guard out," Rick explained.
"How can we be so sure that only two of them will come out on patrol?" Mar asked.
"Dawn only sends two at a time," Noah told them.
"This will be the time that she decides she needs to send more," Summer said sarcastically. "Because that's how our luck goes," she added.
"Summer," Daryl told her.
"She's right, our luck has been bad," Sasha told him.
"So how is Daryl going to take out the guard?" Tyreese asked.
Rick looked at the group. He knew he would get some objections from people. "He slits his throat. This is all about us doing this quiet, keeping the upper hand. They're not expecting us. From there, we fan out. Knives and silenced weapons. We need to be fast," he told them.
"That also sounds like a good way to get one of us killed too," Ronnie pointed out. "Just one extra person on checkpoint, just one person who isn't supposed to be. Noah escaped, they're going to be looking for him," Ronnie said. "I'd rather do this without blood being spilled, Rick."
Rick sighed. "That may not be possible Ronnie," he told her as he drew a box in the dirt and drew crosses. "Summer, Ty and Sasha will take them, Daryl and Joey will take care of who ever is in the kitchen. Ronnie and Mar keep guard, anyone gets out you'll take care of them. I've got Dawn," he told them. "If they're smart, the rest of them will give up," he told them.
"The wards will help," Noah said.
"Patients, not wards. Wards make them sound like prisoners," Ronnie pointed out.
"Which we essentially are," Noah pointed out. "This stopped being a hospital at the beginning."
Ronnie sighed. "One of us needs to get to Carol. We don't know what shape she's in, if she can walk, or what. I'd rather risk my life by going inside the hospital to save Carol's then standing guard. If she is badly injured, I know what medicine to take, what supplies to get. I'm going in," she told them.
"I'll go with her," Mar said.
Ty looked at them. "You're talking about the best case Ty. Ronnie's right, just one person out of place, one of those cops walking down the hall at the wrong time. Then it's not quiet. All hands on deck. We're talking about a lot of bullets flying around," he pointed out.
"If that's what it takes," Sasha said.
"If we get a couple of her cops alive out here, we do an even trade. Theirs for ours, everybody goes home. You get to go home to Jewel, Carl and those babies," Ty said.
"Simple trade does sound better then risking the chance of a stray bullet finding one of us. We've already lost to many people, dad. How much more can mom take? How much more can any of us take?" Summer asked.
Rick squeezed Summer's shoulder. "Yeah, I get it. And it might work. This will work," he told them.
"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry," Joey pointed out. "It's good to weigh all our options, talk about all our plans."
Daryl nodded. "They're right, Rick. This will work too. You say this Dawn, she's just trying to keep it together right?" he asked.
"Trying and doing are two very different things," Noah said.
"You take two of her cops away, what choices does she have? Everybody goes home, like he says," Daryl said as he pointed at Ty.
"It's a good plan dad, you know it," Summer said.
Rick shook his head. "You're right it is," he said. "We're going to need a distraction."
Noah looked at them. "I'm the distraction."
"Noah, you're hurt, we can't ask you to do this," Ronnie told him.
"You aren't asking, I'm volunteering. Not only Beth and Carol are in there, my friend Riley is. She's only 15. They aren't making her be a slave yet, but they will. She wants to go, so I'm doing this for her too," Noah told them.
"You aren't doing it alone," Summer told him.
"Sum?" Daryl asked as he arched an eyebrow.
"He's one of us now. He isn't going out there alone," Summer said as she ripped the sleeve of her shirt. "Divide and conquer."
"I'm not putting you at risk like that," Rick told his daughter.
"Then I guess you better make sure that you're at the right spot at the right time, dad," Summer said.
"Damn it, she's to much of a Dixon for her own good," Daryl said.
"Alright, let's do this," Rick told the group.
Rick and Ronnie's POV:
Rick glanced at Ronnie as he got into position. "Why did you come? You knew there was a chance of blood being spilled. You could have stayed back at the church."
Ronnie looked at him. "I'm still a doctor, Rick, just like you're still a sheriff. We may not wear the uniforms anymore, or work where we used to work, but deep down inside of us, we are still those people with the same skills. We both still want to help people. You listened to us in there because deep down inside you don't want any more blood on your hands, Rick. You just want to go back to your wife and children. You want everyone of us to walk out of here alive but it's possible that Carol won't be able to walk. She was hit by a car, and in my brain when I heard that, I heard I may be needed. So here I am. Plus, depending how it goes, there's a maternity ward in this hospital that probably has been untouched. Plenty of new born mother medication, and diapers, and baby supplies. Things that we're going to need for a trip to Washington DC."
Rick shook his head and laughed. "I should have known you were cooking something up like that in your head," he said as he looked at her. "Look, Jewel told me about your conversation in the church. Do you still feel that way?"
"I don't know," Ronnie answered truthfully. "I'm needed, and that's what's keeping me going. I'm not promising that one of these days I'm not going to have a complete melt down when I get a second to process everything. I reserve that right in the future," she warned.
"Point taken," Rick told her.
"Sasha is processing it with anger, it's eating her up inside. It must be a Williams sibling thing, with the way Ty reacted at the prison," Ronnie told him.
"Ty forgave Carol, just like you said you did," Rick said as he looked her way.
"I did and I have," Ronnie answered. "My mother was a midwife and my father was a soldier, they met while being volunteers in Cambodia. Dad said it was love at first site. He said to fall in love in such a place under such hardships, you know you are going to last," she said. "That's how I see you and Jewel."
"She's kept me grounded," Rick told her.
"My parents moved to Cambodia after they got married. My two brothers and I were born there. Even after we came back to the states, my mother raised us as Buddhists. When I decided to join the Air Force, I had to weigh my faith with the Air Force ways. It was the only way I could afford medical school. It's been a struggle, even harder one now, but I'm managing. I'll do what needs to be done Rick, even if that means killing. I'm not letting any more of us die," Ronnie told him as she looked at him.
"I know," Rick told her. "You aren't alone."
"I know that too," Ronnie told him with a smile.