A/N: I know this story is moving kind of slowly. I promise that things will speed up soon. I always tell people who have never watched the show that it's not really all about zombies and blood and guts; it's about the characters and their development over time. Also, yes, I changed my username.

"Carol?" The older woman looked up from the revolver she was cleaning.

"Hi, Beth."

"Got a second?" Beth stepped into Carol's living room, her hands clasped behind her.

"Of course." Carol set the gun aside and gestured for the younger girl to take a seat. "What's troubling you?"

"Nothing, really, I was just thinking…as self-sufficient as we are here, I thought it was a bit strange that we don't really have a set place to take people when they get hurt."

"Like a hospital?" Carol leaned forward, resting her chin on her palms.

"Yes, but obviously much, much smaller. We have some first-aid supplies scattered around in the houses, but if an arrow went astray, or somebody got shot like Carl did, we'd have to move fast and wouldn't have time to hunt around for the right equipment." She bit her lip. "Dad's not around anymore, and we don't have Dr. S. either…" They both took a second to remember how wonderful it had been to have two doctors in their group. "But you have some first-aid experience, don't you? You had to, to be a teacher, right?"

Carol nodded. "Yes, I had your basic first-aid training, CPR and all that. It's much harder when we don't always have the necessary supplies available to us. Remember how Shane and Otis had to go to the school, for Carl..?" She trailed off, again remembering those they had lost. She shook her head, as if to clear it of old memories. "Anyway, Beth, I think that's a great idea. It's something I've been thinking about too. Now that we have the food situation pretty much sorted out, the area's mostly clear, and we're about as settled as we can be, a clinic is the logical next step. Good thinking." She smiled and stood up. "Want some tea? Maybe elderberry?" Beth nodded and smiled back. She felt useful again.

Carol was back in a matter of minutes, holding two mugs of steaming tea. It was small comforts like this that made Beth feel like they really could stay here…cautious as she was, never forgetting her misguided confidence that they'd be able to stay at the prison forever. No such luck. "Thank you," she said softly. "Carol…"

"Was there something else you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes, well…on behalf of my sister, I guess." Beth shifted uneasily. Maggie, feeling uncharacteristically shy about her and Glenn's potential problem, handed over the duty of asking about it to Beth. She'd give her life for her sister, though, so she drew in a deep breath and sorted her thoughts. "Maggie and Glenn are trying to have a baby," she said, deciding to leave out the fact that she and Daryl were trying too. Carol probably already knew, anyway. "They've been…working on it for a while," she continued delicately, "and Maggie's very concerned that there might be something the matter with one of them."

"I see." Carol frowned, thinking. "Well, age isn't the culprit. They're both definitely still young enough to have a child. Unlike me, anymore." She chuckled ruefully, and Beth felt a pang, knowing she had to be thinking about Sophia. Even though Beth had never known her, Daryl had told her all about the little girl and how hard he'd tried to find her. She knew he blamed himself for too many things that hadn't been his fault. "It could be something internal," Carol went on. "Do you know if Maggie's been having periods regularly?"

The old Beth would have blushed at the merest suggestion of sexuality and the phenomena that came with it. As it was, she simply replied, "She said she was." Carol nodded and went to the bookcase in the corner.

"Well, here's something we'll definitely add to that clinic we were talking about…we were lucky to find this." She pulled out a hefty tome and blew the dust off the top of it. Beth read the title to herself: Complete Home Medical Guide. "Let's see here…infertility and problems in pregnancy, here we go…this book's got everything." She smiled briefly at the younger girl and sat down next to her so she could look too. They puzzled over it together and made a list of the possible problems Maggie or Glenn could have, deciding that the best course of action was just to keep trying. It couldn't hurt.

Beth started back towards the home she shared with Daryl, humming to herself again. She could swear she'd had a dream about the song the night before. She'd woken with it in her head. Maggie might know the missing lyrics, but Beth didn't want to bother her with something so trivial when her sister had bigger things on her mind. She bit her lip, remembering the first time she'd ever heard Tom Waits.

"Now, you might not like this too much at first," her father chuckled, sitting little Beth down on the sofa next to the record player. "It takes some getting used to, like…like a fine wine. Or, uh, coffee," he quickly amended, looking abashed for some reason Beth couldn't decipher. She blinked up at her dad, never having tasted wine or coffee, but trusting that she was going to like whatever they were about to listen to. He carefully placed a record, which seemed comically large compared to the CDs her big sister and stepbrother were obsessed with, on the player, switched it on, and set the needle in one of the grooves.

"They hung a sign up in our town. 'If you live it up, you won't live it down.' So she left Monte Rio, son, just like a bullet leaves a gun…"

Beth listened carefully until the song ended, unconsciously patting her hands on her knees to follow the rhythm. "Daddy, why's his voice so scratchy? Is he sick?" She scrunched up her face in confusion as Hershel laughed.

"No, he's not sick. That's just his voice."

"What's his name?"

"That, my dear, is Tom Waits."

"That's a funny name. Can we listen again?"

A few tears escaped down Beth's cheeks before she angrily wiped them away. She couldn't be the crying girl, not anymore. She couldn't afford to have that weakness. "We all got jobs to do," she whispered to herself, pushing open the door.