"I'm so sorry! Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" I heard a familiar voice yelling. I looked up, and chills went down my spine. My blood ran cold. Tears started to form. It was my daddy. He looked at me with the same expression. Shane and Rick's screaming completely blocked out of my head. "Bellefaire?" daddy asked with tears in his eyes.
"DADDY!" I screamed and ran into his arms. I hugged him so tightly. "We need help, NOW!" Shane screamed, tearing me off of him. "I live on a farm, someone there can help your boy, come on!" Daddy said.
Rick picked up Carl's limp body and and started sprinting. My daddy was runnin' as fast as could, but he was a big man. Shane shoved him. "Hey, c'mon move, shithead!"
"Leave'm alone! He's doin' the best he can!" I yelled. Shane just looked at me pissed off.
Rick turned around. "HOW FAR? HOW FAR!?" he screamed. "Not far! That way!" Daddy anwsered through hard breaths. "Ask Hershel! Talk to Hershel! He'll help your boy!" he yelled.
Shane shoved my daddy again and my daddy fell on the ground. I slapped Shane in the face. "Touch'm again and I'll kill ya next time!" I said through gritted teeth. He stared at me. He didn't see that coming. We kept moving.
Finally we had reached the farm. Everything was just as it was, when I was a lil girl. I pretty much grew up here. It felt good to be back. Rick walked out the front door without Carl in his arms. His shirt was bloody.
"He's alive? Is he still alive?" daddy asked Rick, heartbroken.
Rick wiped his head, and smeared blood on his face. Shane walked up to him. "Hey… Okay...It's okay. You got blood Rick." Shane whispered, pulling out a cloth and wiping his face. "Hey… Okay...I'll take it from ya." He said, as Rick took the cloth and squeezed it. "Where is he"
Rick started to cry and walked inside with Rick. I hugged my daddy. "Momma?"
He nodded. "She's okay, she's here." he whispered, soothing me.
"I thought ya'll were dead. I looked back home and ya'll weren't there… So I checked Atlanta and everyone there had turned." I sobbed.
"It's okay honey, it's okay." he soothed. "Your mother and I were worried sick. We didn't know what to do."
After a few moments of crying and hugging, we went inside. We walked inside the room where Hershel was holding a cloth of Carl. Maggie was there holding up an IV, and my momma was standing there. "Oh my God, momma!" I cried and ran into her arms. Her mouth dropped and her eyes streamed. "BELLEFAIRE! OH MY GOD, MY BABY! My baby, my baby…." She cried so hard.
Everyone looked. Rick and Shane stared. Otis smiled, watching us reunited. And Hershel and Maggie's faces dropped. "We need to hurry!" Shane said finally.
"Do you know is' blood type?" Hershel said. "Same as mine." Rick said. "That's fortunate." Hershel said, looking at him. "Don't wonder far, I'm gonna need ya. What happend?" he asked, looking to daddy. Me and momma looked to daddy, holdin' onto one another.
"I was...Trackin' a buck...Bullet went through it...Went clean through…" daddy said, heartbroken.
"The deer slowed the bullet down… Which certainly saved his life. But it did not go through clean. It broke up into pieces. If I can get the bullet fragments out, I'm countin' six." Hershel explained.
Daddy came over to me and momma. "I never saw him...I..I...Until he was on the ground…." Daddy sobbed. Me and momma both hugged him. "Otis...We have our daughter back…." she said through tears.
Rick looked to Shane. "Lori dosen't know...My wife dosen't know...My wife dosen't know…" he broke down. I looked up at him as Shane shushed him. I cried.
"Shane, take him out to the living room. He needs rest." I said. Shane nodded. "Yeah, c'mon man." he said, taking him out there. I closed the door. Momma took over the IV and Maggie came over to me and hugged me. "Bellefaire…" she sobbed. "Oh, Maggie...I haven't seen you in so long…" I sobbed.
"Yes… It's good to have you back, Belle. Your mother hasn't been right since you left." Hershel said smiling.
I sat on the bed beside Carl. "What happened to you, baby?" momma asked. I looked to Carl and rubbed his head. "Iunno what happend to Alex momma. He left me… He got bit I think… I met a man and his family took me in. Then I met Rick, Carls dad…. He said he was going to Atlanta to find his family. So I went with him to look for you guys… But you weren't there… I looked back home, I mean, I looked everywhere for you!" I started to raise my voice. "You didn't leave me a note at home anythin'!"
"Honey you should've known we packed up and headed to Hershel's place… Don't yell at your mother like that." Daddy said calmly as momma cried. "I'm so sorry, Bellefaire. Things happened so quickly."
Just then, Carl woke up and started screaming. "Oh, Carl." I said, rubbing him. "Maggie, get Rick, now!" Hershel said, interuppting us. Maggie opened up the door. "Rick! He needs blood."
Rick came inside. "You! Hold'm down." Hershel commanded Shane, as momma couldn't.
"DAD!" Carl screamed in agony, as Hershel was digging into his flesh. "Almost there…." he soothed.
Momma took a side beside Rick as she waited to take blood.
Carl screamed in agony. "STOP! YOUR KILLING"M!" Rick screamed. I jumped and started crying.
"RICK! Do you want'm to live!?" Hershel asked.
"He needs blood!" Maggie said again. "DO IT NOW!" Shane screamed. I jumped again and so did my momma. She started taking blood from Rick. Rick rubbed my moms neck as she took it.
Just then, Carls cries went faint. "Wait wait wait wait." Shane said. I looked up. "Oh my God…" I said in horror.
Hershel looked at me. "He just passed out." he said, soothing us. And then he took a fragment out. "One down… Five to go."
After awhile, Hershel took Carls blood pressure. "Precious stable." he said.
Momma started to give Carl blood.
"Lori needs to be here. She don't even know what's going on. I gotta, I gotta go find her, bring her back." Rick said.
"You can't do that." Hershel said.
"She's his mother! She needs to know what happend, her son's lying here, shot." he tempted.
"And he's going to need more blood. He can't go more than fifty feet from this bed." Hershel said to Shane.
Rick got up and started to stumble. Momma took ahold of him, I got up and helped her. "Rick, you can't leave." I said. But he didn't listen so I looked to Shane for help. Shane came over and put his hand on his shoulder. "Hey. Hey. C'mon." he said.
Rick patted Shane's chest. "I'm alright. I'm alright."
Shane looked to us. "I got'm." he reasured us, walking out with Rick. I walked out with them. Maggie and daddy were sitting in the living room. Rick sat down. Shane looked to Maggie and daddy who were waiting on an anwser. "He's stable for now." Shane said.
I went over and sat with Maggie. She cuddled me.
"Lori has to be here, Shane, she has to know." Rick said.
"Okay. I get that. Imma handle it. Butchu gotta handle your end."
"My end?"
"Your end is being here. For your son." Shane said, getting on his knees. "Even if he didn't need your blood to survive. There's no way I'd ever let you walk out that door man. I'd break your legs if you tried man, you know that. If something happend to'm and you weren't here. If he slipped away, while you were gone, you would never forgive yourself for that. And neither would Lori, man."
I sat there on that chair, cuddling Maggie. Listening to Shane. I haven't seen this side of him since I first came to camp… This was the side I fell for.
Rick nodded, finally. "You're right."
"Was I ever wrong?" Shane grinned and chuckled. "You know uh...When you were in that hospital… The one nurse said you were supposed to leave man…. You should'a seen Lori…. Just like…. The strength of that woman… Man, you can't imagine it… That's what you gotta have now…. I mean Carl. He needs that from you." Shane said, his voice breaking. It was then, I knew something must have happened between Lori and Shane.
"So you wire yourself tight my friend. Hm? You hear me? You got the hard part." Shane continued. They were now forehead to forehead, clinging one another. "You just… Leave the rest to me okay?"
"Alright…Alright…." Rick whispered.
Just then Hershel came out the door. We all stood up. "He's out of danger for the moment. But I needa' remove those remaining fragments."
"How?" Rick asked. "You saw how he was."
"I Know. And that was the shallowest one. I need to go deeper to get the others." Hershel said. "There's more."
"Tell me." Rick said, ready.
"His bellie's disending, his pressure's dropping. Which mean's there's internal bleedin'. A fragment must've nicked one of the blood vessels."
I dropped my head. Maggie grabbed me and held me.
"I have to open'm up, find the bleeder… and stitch it. And he can't move while I'm in there I mean at all. If he reacts the same as before? I'll sever an artery and he'll be dead in minutes. To even try this, I have to put him under. But if I do, he won't be able to breathe on his own. Same bad results."
"What'll take?" Rick asked.
Daddy stood up and came over. "You need a respirater. What else?"
"A tube that goes with it? Extra surgical supplies? Drapes, sutchers?" Hershel went on.
"If you had all that you could save'm?" Rick asked.
"If I had all that I could TRY." Hershel stated.
"Nearest hospital went up in flames a month ago…" daddy said. And then Hershel gave him a look.
"The high school…" daddy whispered.
"That's what I was thinking. They set up a fever shelter there. They would have everything we need…" Hershel said.
"Place was overun last time I saw it, you couldn't get near it… Maybe it's better now…" Daddy assumed.
"I said leave the rest to me. Is it to late to take that back?" Shane said, funnily.
"I hate'chu goin' alone…" Rick gritted.
"I'll go?" I said, bravely.
Everyone looked at me. "Do you think that's the best idea, Bellefaire? Your mother just got you back." Hershel said.
"C'mon...Doc? Why don'tcha give me a list, draw me a map." Shane said.
"You won't need a map." Daddy said. "I'll take ya there. It ain't but five miles." Daddy said. It was then momma was standin' behind Hershel. "Otis, no." she said, firmly.
"Honey, we don't have time to make this an arguement, and I'M responsible. I ain't gonna sit here while this fella takes this on alone." Daddy said, firmly. Momma looked at him in horrify.
"I'll be alright. And Bellefaire? You stay with your mother." he said smiling.
"Are you sure bout' this?" Shane asked.
"You even know what any of this stuff looks like?"
"Come to think, no." Shane chuckled.
"I've been a volunteer EMT. I do. Now, we can talk about this till next Sunday or we can just go do it real quick." Daddy said.
"I think right quick." Shane said.
"I should thank you." Rick said to daddy.
"Do that when that boy of yours is up and around. Then we'll talk. I'll gather some things. " Daddy said lookin' down.
"Where is she? Your wife?" Maggie said, walking up to Rick.
"I'll show her?" I volunteered.
"Bellefaire, no!" Momma protested.
"Momma, I'll take care of Maggie, and Maggie'll take care of me. We can ride the horses." I said. I gave her a hug quick and me and Maggie were out the door. I took Nervous Nelly. "I can't believe you still have her!" I exclaimed.
We took off. It felt just like old times whenever me and Maggie took off on the horses looking for Beth. I wondered where Beth was. "Where's Beth?" I asked, as we took off.
"At the house. I dint' think of it while all this was goin' on. She'll be so glad to see you." She said smilin'.
Just then me and Maggie heard screaming. It sounded like Andrea. "YAH!" I kicked Nelly and galloped towards the sound. I seen Andrea on the ground, a walker attacking her. Maggie galloped towards her with a baseball bat and hit the walker in the head. "Lori? Lori Grimes?" Maggie asked, thinkin' Andrea was Lori. "Not her, Mag." I said looking around. Lori came up running.
"I'm Lori!" she said.
"Rick sent me, you gotta come now!"
"What?"
"There's been an accident. Carls been shot. He's still alive. But you gotta come now. Rick needs you just come!"
"Woah woah woah. We don't know this girl! You can't get on that horse!" Daryl said. I walked my horse beside Lori so they could see me.
"Rick said you had others on the highway? That big traffic snarl?!" Maggie said to Glenn. "uh huh?" Glenn said.
"Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox, names' Greene."
Just then Daryl came up beside Lori and looked at me. "I've been worried sick about you! Where've you been!" he hollered. "I gotta go Daryl. I found my family. Were holdin' up at the Greene ranch up the inner'state." I informed him and we took off.
We galloped home as fast as we could. Lori jumped off the horse and ran into Rick's arms. She screamed in horror and and Rick and I took her inside to Carl.
She cried into Carl.
About an hour later, momma went in and gave Carl more blood, and took more from Rick. Rick went to stand up, but got light headed and sat back down. "Slow." Lori informed. "Slow. How many transfusions?"
"Two...Only two…" Rick said. "I remember he wanted to do the same for you when you were in the hospital. I had to talk him out of it." Lori said, reminincing. I smiled.
Lori and I helped Rick out to the living room. Hershel gave Rick a large glass of cold orange juice. "Thank you." Rick whispered, and drank it.
My mouth watered watching his guzzle it down. I haven't tasted orange juice in so long. After Rick took a sip, Hershel motioned him to keep guzzeling it. Lori sniffed. "Okay. So I understand, when Shane gets back, with this other man…?"
"Otis." Hershel said.
"Otis. The idiot who shot my son." Lori said, rolling her eyes.
"Ma'am, it was an accident." Hershel said calmly.
"And that idiot happens to be my daddy." I cautioned her.
She looked at me. "Honey I'm so glad you found your family. But I'll take that under advisement later. Right now, he's the idiot that shot our son."
I left it go because I felt for her so much, and loved her.
"Lori, their doing everything they can to make it right." Rick said.
"Alright, as soon as they get back you can preform this surgery?"
"I'll certainly do my best." Hershel stated.
"Okay. And you've done this procedure before?"
"Well yes, in a sense." Hershel replied.
"In a sense?" Lori grimaced.
"Honey, we don't have the luxery of shopping for surgions." Rick said calmly.
Lori chuckled and sniffed. "No, I understand that but. I mean your a doctor right?"
"Yes ma'am, of course. A vet."
"A veteran! A combat medic!" Lori said, happily.
Hershel grinned… "A veterinarion."
"Uh….. And you've done this surgery before on what. Cows? Pigs?" Lori said, unamused.
Rick started going faint. "I-I-I-I have to sit down." he said before falling.
"Rick!" I said, going to him.
"Completely over your head aren't you." Lori said, with doubt.
"Ma'am… Aren't we all?" Hershel said with humor.
About another hour later, we sat in Carls room. It was now dark. Hershel took Carls blood pressure. "Pressure's dropping again. We can't wait much longer."
"Take some more! Whatever he needs, and then I'm gonna go." Rick stated.
"Go? Go where?" Lori questioned.
"They said five miles, they should be long back by now, somethin's gone wrong." Rick said.
"Are you insane your not going after them!" Lori protested.
"Rick, listen to your wife." Hershel commanded.
"If they got into trouble…" Rick started.
"Your in no condition to do anything about it. You've given to much blood, your barely on your feet. You wouldn't make it across the yard." Hershel said.
"If something happend, I have to go." Rick said.
"NO! Your place is here. If Shane says he'll be back, he'll be back. He's like you, that way." Lori said.
"I can't just sit here!" Rick hollered.
"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU DO! If you need to pray, or cry, or tell God he's cruel, you go right ahead! But'chur not leaving, Rick. Carl needs you. And I can't do this by myself. Not this one. I cant...I can't…" Lori stated.