Everyone! It has absolutely been forever since I last posted! Lots of good things going on. Don't think I forget about the story though! I handwrite bits and pieces of the story but it's nice to finally get it going for you guys again! Thanks for sticking with me! Thank you for the follows, faves and reviews! I'll do my best for all of you :) I do not own any of The Walking Dead

Chapter 26

"Stay with me, brother," the voice echoed. His brain was so thick, his body fueling with so many emotions and pains he's never experienced. The vein in his arm was throbbing as his blood left his body, being used to save the life of his little boy.

"You're good for now, Rick," another voice sounded, snapping Rick's attention to the elderly doctor looking at him from above.

"Take more for him if you need it, I'm feeling fine," Rick tried to persuade, feeling he could provide so much more.

"Not for a little bit. We have to do this slowly; yer' going to increase your risk of stroke or heart attack," Hershel spoke softly but sternly.

Rick dropped his eyes back down to his little boy; paler than a ghost, his breathing very slow. Rick's eyes began to well up again. It looked like his little boy was one breath from slipping away. The tear rolled down Rick's cheek as he placed his chin and mouth in his hand, with his arm resting on his knee. He continued to stare at Carl, counting the seconds between every breath his son took.

"C'mon, Rick. Let Hershel stay with Carl and let's step outside and wait for Lori," Shane spoke, placing a soothing hand onto the shoulder of his grieving friend. "You should be here when she arrives".

Rick nodded, keeping his mouth shut. His hand shook as he ran bloodied fingers through his brown hair. "Les go, brother," Shane spoke softly, leading Rick to the door so they could make their way to the porch. Patricia came in, her bright blue eyes chiseled with light cornrows and gave the father a glass of fresh orange juice. With a now raspy voice, his lungs beyond sore from carrying Carl, he gave the kind woman a thank you. As he continued to the front porch he could hear Shane making sure someone got them if something….anything happened. Rick could also hear the mention of Blake's condition. She lost a lot of blood.

We have to find out her blood type and Rick can only give up so much.

She's stable for now and Herschel will give a more thorough examination.

His chest constricted tightly at the whole situation as he slowly opened the screen door to the porch. Stepping out into the fresh air, Rick immediately felt his lungs open up. All the other muscles in his body were tense but at least he felt like he could breathe a little. He placed his glass on the ground, coming back up too fast and getting extremely dizzy. He immediately gripped the railing of the porch, squeezing until his knuckles turned white.

Shane followed Rick onto the porch moments later, his heart breaking at the sight of his friends thousand yard stare; for sure trying to wrap his head around the fact that his son was…..

Shane shook his head at the thought. Carl wasn't going anywhere. Not while Shane was around to keep him safe. He was starting to berate himself for letting Carl walk with Blake when he noticed Rick's shoulders begin to shake. With his chin tucked to his chest, rigid arms gripping the railing Rick Grimes cried.

"He's going to be fine. He's strong like his father," Shane spoke, his voice cracking at the pain rippling through his own chest.

Rick lifted his head and stared into the field, "I shouldn't have let him come".

"Don't do that to yourself, Rick. You're living a father's worst nightmare. Ya don't need to throw guilt into the mix," Shane spoke turning Rick to face him as he wiped blood off his friend's face with a rag, knowing he was thinking the exact same thing just moments before. The two men stood there for twenty minutes before the Shane heard the galloping of horseshoes in the distance, turning to see the brown horse the farmer's daughter rode off in. Shane looked at Rick and cringed internally, wishing he wiped more blood off Rick's face and took off his stained uniform before his wife saw him. On the back of the horse with her head tilted to the side to see ahead of the young farmers daughter was Lori, her brown hair flickering in the wind. Shane could feel her panic from his spot rooted to the wooden floorboards. He saw Rick's muscles relax at the sight of his wife; something Shane hadn't seen happen to Rick in the past six months since things started getting tense in their marriage before the turn.

The horse halted twenty feet from the house, Lori jumping off haphazardly catching herself with her feet and a hand. Rick walked dejectedly down the stairs, opening his arms for his wife who crashed into his chest. Her fingers gripping the back of his shirt and his hair. Shane's blood tingled at the sight, looking away feeling as if he was invading a personal moment that he couldn't share with Lori. He opened the door as Lori hastily moved past him and Rick and ran into the home where her son lay.

Before…..

As the older man and Rick brought Carl into a bedroom closer to the front door, Shane was carrying a now unconscious Blake further into the stranger's home. The woman, who introduced herself as Patricia, was giving orders to other residents as she led Shane to a separate bedroom in the back of the house.

"Lay her down on the bed on the left, Beth get me some towels," the older blonde spoke. Her frizzy hair complimenting the frenzy going on within the farmhouse. Shane carefully laid an unconscious Blake down on the soon-to-be ruined blue comforter. Shane's heart was racing, his lungs burning from the long run. His green shirt was soaked through with sweat and blood. He looked down at his body and his hands and back at the twin bed. Blake's breathing was slow and her skin was the palest he'd ever seen it.

"What's your name, young man," Patricia asked as she cut Blake's shirt, leaving her clad in a black bra.

"Shane," he said, his head starting to feel a little fuzzy.

"Sit down. You look like you're gonna drop, hon," the woman said, her blue eyes focused strictly on Blake's stomach.

"Is…Is she gonna be alright?" he asked.

"The wounds pretty bad, but I don't think it hit any major organs. Herschel would be better at diagnosing," the older woman said as she stood over Blake's body, holding towels on to her wound. "All I can tell is that she has bled out a lot…. based off her skin and your clothes. She'll need blood," the woman said.

"Her brothers on the highway," Shane said, remembering in that moment that Lori was back there too. She had no idea that her son was shot. Shane immediately left the room, leaving Patricia and a doe-eyed Beth Greene the responsibility of keeping Blake alive.

Shane hurried back down the hall toward where Rick brought Carl. As Shane rounded the corner through a small living area his shoulders dropped; his mouth dry and his lungs seemingly worse now that he saw the ghastly pale Carl unconscious on the bed. Rick was sitting down in a chair next to the boy, a tube running from his arm.

"Is his mother near by," a young brunette said from beside him, her big brown eyes stunned Shane for a moment before his chest gripped tight again. Lori.

"No, she's out on the highway. God, she doesn't even know yet," Shane said as he ran his hands through his thick locks.

The brunette didn't respond immediately, passing along towels to a young man, "Jimmy, help my father with anything he needs. I'll be there in a moment," she said as she placed clean towels and a basket of meds to him. He didn't even respond as he grabbed the supplies and immediately went to Hershel's side.

"How many of you are there? Are you guys stuck?"

"Only for a lil' while back on the pike. We ran into a herd and had to hide, one of the kids ran off and we can't find her," he said, the weight of the situations their group was in hitting him even harder. Things were just falling a part. First the CDC, Sophia and the herd, and now Carl and Blake were shot? He shook his head in disbelief.

"Shane", Rick's voice cracked from the bedroom, his eyes scared. Shane knew the man felt helpless. "Lori, doesn't even know," he said. His jaw beginning to tremble as he looked at his little boy. Rick kept it together before trying to speak again. "Lori doesn't know. I need to go get her. I'll be fa-"

"No, Rick," Shane said as he stepped away from the doorway into the bedroom. Making it clear the Rick was to stay rooted in that chair.

"Where on the highway are they," the brunette said. "I'll get your wife," she said.

"Tanyon, Blake's brother, is up there as well. He'll need to be here," Shane said.

"Maggie," Hershel spoke warningly.

"No, Daddy. This boy needs his mother and I know the land better than they do. I'll be quick," she said, not taking no for an answer in this situation.

"I couldn't ask you to do that. She's my wife, she needs to hear from me her son got shot," Rick said as he tried to make eye contact with Maggie. She ignored him as Shane told her exactly where the group was. Shane then turn to speak to him.

"You're not going anywhere, Rick," Shane said. "God forbid," Shane said, not wanting the words to leave his mouth but knowing Rick needed to hear them. Shane dropped to a knee next to the chair, "God forbid you leave and he slips away," Shane said reluctantly. "You won't forgive yourself, man. Neither will Lori. This is where you belong".

Rick nodded dejectedly and watched the blood flow to his boy. When Rick looked up the young brunette was already gone. Together Shane and Rick watched the young boy's breathing. Each in their own mind but going through some of the same memories of a care-free Carl…of normal life. Rick's emotions started overwhelming him, the draw of blood causing him to sway back and forth. His body feeling numb at the situation his family was in.

"Stay with me, brother"