A/N: I'm back bitches! (and so is Clementine) Sooo it's been like 10 months but I'm finally getting back into writing again. I told y'all I wouldn't abandon this story! I didn't forget I swear. Also, I recently published a new twdg modern AU story called Runaway if any of you would like to check that out.
17. After all these years
Luke taps his foot anxiously on the ground, the repeated sound practically echoing throughout the vast empty hallway of the hospital. Nick and Sarah are seated on either side of him, the three of them all waiting anxiously right outside the room where Clementine is currently being held.
Sarah's hands are fidgeting in her lap, and the way Luke keeps aggressively rubbing his hands through his own hair next to her does little to ease her anxiety.
They'd rushed here as soon as they were called back inside and told to wait for someone to come out of the room. No one out of the three of them has said anything since they started waiting five minutes ago. They're all too caught up in their own thoughts of what it is they're about to hear, terrified of what it may be.
Finally, after what feels like forever, their heads snap up at the sound of the door opening. Luke is the first to leap out his chair and approach the man, with Nick and Sarah following suit. "Is she awake?" he presses.
Sarah is ready to burst into the room but the Doctor gently closes the door behind him before she can even get a peek inside.
"Can we see her?" Nick rushes.
Sarah's eyes are practically piercing the man with her anticipation for an answer. He's holding a clipboard in his hands with a full page of scribbles on it, presumably notes about Clementine. He has dark skin, black-framed glasses and dark hair that is graying at the ends. He's wearing casual clothing just as Elizabeth was. Sarah assumes he was also a doctor before the walkers came.
"Yes, Clementine is awake," answers the older man, his voice clearly more calm than theirs. "And yes, you may see her, but… there's just a few things you need to know before you do."
"Like what?" bursts Sarah, her words coming out louder than she'd intended.
"You must be Sarah," he smiles softly at the girl. "She was asking about you."
"She was?" Sarah perks up, both fear and happiness jolting her heart awake at the same time. She can only imagine what all of this must be like for Clementine. She must've been so confused. She probably didn't know where Sarah was. What if she was scared? No, Clementine wouldn't be scared. She's always been the braver one out of the two of them.
"Are you two sisters?" the Doctor questions.
"Huh?" Sarah stares blankly at him, not even fully registering his question at first. "N-no. No, we're… not. She's… she's just my—"
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to pry," the man interjects up realizing how much he's clearly flustered the girl. "It's just… from the amount of times she said the name 'Sarah', I just assumed you were a family member of some sorts."
A part of Sarah is grateful he interrupted her before she had to explain what Clementine was to her.
"Clem is my family," defends Sarah, her irritation returning.
The two of them being sisters is definitely never something that has crossed her mind. They don't look at all alike, in her opinion. But maybe that's just because she sees Clementine as someone that is so different from her. She wonders what else people see them as.
"Well, it's a good thing you brought her here when you did, Sarah. Another day and… well, she may not have made it," the Doctor's voice falters, his eyes suddenly holding a hint of shame. "It… turns out her injuries are worse than we'd have hoped."
"What do you mean?" Sarah is really starting to lose patience with this man.
"Clementine has undergone a case of sepsis, which is a condition caused by an immune response triggered by a bacterial infection to her leg," he states.
"What? What does that mean?" Sarah knows what he's telling her is probably not that hard to understand, but she's just so frustrated at the fact that they still aren't letting her see Clementine that it makes her want to tell him to just get to the point.
Briefly, he glances to Nick and Luke with uncertainty. "She has three broken ribs, which is what had caused her to cough up blood as well as have trouble breathing," he lifts up the page on his clipboard with a sigh, reading off of it. "There isn't much we can do to treat them, but it's expected for her to have reoccurring chest pain and shortness of breath, which can take approximately one or two months for them to entirely heal on it's own."
Sarah's eyes gaze into nothing, her cluttered mind attempting to register everything he's saying.
"Going three weeks without professional medical attention, she'd been exposed to dehydration, high fever, and low blood pressure, which often causes fatigue and light-headedness. She'd been experiencing blurry vision for quite a while, as well as a lack of concentration, meaning she wasn't able to process anything around her, because her body was too weak to focus on anything for more than a few seconds."
Sarah begins to panic. "Does she know we're here? Does she know what's happening?"
"Yes," he assures the bothered girl. "We've already told her everything we just told you, so there's no need to explain her condition to her again. In fact, it may be best to try to avoid the subject as much as possible. From what I've been told, that girl has gone through too much for one day."
Thinking back over the past few weeks, Sarah clearly recalls the way Clementine would have wandering eyes sometimes. She didn't know why she was doing that back then. Sarah would be talking to her but Clementine just looked really confused the whole time. It frightened her more than ever.
"You told Elizabeth that you had pushed her bone back in?" inquired the Doctor, referring back to his clipboard.
Reminded of that awful day, Sarah swallows her nerves. "Yes," she mumbles, fearing he might just tell her that she made the wrong decision. She wouldn't be able to live with herself knowing that she ended up making things worse for Clementine.
"As I said, without medical attention, it wouldn't have helped her if you'd left it that way. You made the right call in pushing it back, but unfortunately, by doing that, the injury had also become more prone to infection."
A part of her believes he may be implying that this is her fault. "Then how could I have made the right call?" she jabs, not even trying to remain patient anymore.
"We would have had to do it for her anyway, had you found us sooner," the Doctor informs. "She's under quite a bit of drugs right now, so she's feeling a bit drowsy. But it should wear off in only a couple hours."
Nick, Sarah and Luke all return worried glances with each other, none of them knowing what to say.
"She's… unfortunately going to have to be hospitalized for a while longer."
"How long?" Sarah almost interrupts.
"It depends on the circumstances. At best, two weeks. But if her infection requires more drastic measures such as… amputation," Sarah's eyes widen at that. "It could be twice as long. It's hard to say as we don't know how well she's going to heal as of now. But… she's already proven to be quite tough after today. I wouldn't worry too much about it right now."
When Sarah, Luke and Nick are finally let into the room, Sarah is the first one to enter. However, she doesn't get very far before she freezes in her tracks upon noticing Clementine laying on the bed in front of her.
She's dressed in a white hospital gown that makes her entire figure glow without the dirty and bloody clothes she usually wears. Her filthy hat is still on though, and that makes Sarah want to smile. The splint that Sarah had made has been replaced by a proper cast, and her leg is elevated by multiple cushions. She's laying on her back and had practically caught eyes with Sarah as soon as she entered. The room is dim, emanating a sense of serenity within the environment.
Luke and Nick follow after Sarah, but slow a ways behind her once they notice how the bewildered girl has stopped in the center of the room. Sarah feels like she hasn't seen her friend is forever. She looks so different as she lays there, and she can't exactly figure out why. She looks… peaceful; something that Sarah has rarely seen her as since the accident.
Sarah struggles to decipher what exactly it is Clementine is thinking right now as they stare at one another. After swallowing the lump in her throat, she slowly approaches the girl. "Clem?" she cautions, nearly whispering. Nick and Luke hesitantly follow her inward. "Clem… it's me," she says. "It's Sarah. And… and Luke—and Nick."
Clementine's broken smile makes her appear as if she might cry.
The three of them approach the bed and Sarah grabs hold of the drowsy girl's hand. "We're all here," she smiles.
"Hey, kiddo," Luke beams softly as he peers down at her.
"Luke?" asks Clem, appearing relieved. She blinks a few times, her eyes becoming livelier.
"Yeah, it's… it's us," he sighs, exchanging a glance with the other man.
As Sarah sits herself on the edge of the bed, she can't force herself to stop smiling at the girl in front of her.
"Still wearin' this old thing, huh?" Nick lightly tugs on the brim of her hat in an attempt to lighten to situation.
The young girl chuckles at that, her heart warming at the gesture. She'd noticed they had removed it once she awakened after the procedures but had begged the doctors to let her continue wearing it afterwards.
"I don't think I would've recognized you if it weren't for the hat," he teases, referring to how much older she is since the last time they saw each other.
"We thought you were dead," mumbles Clementine.
"Yeah, we… thought the same about you too. Guess we were all wrong about that," infers Luke, exchanging glances with the other two.
"How are you feeling?" asks Sarah in a delicate voice.
Clementine winces, suddenly aware of the pinching she feels every time she inhales. "My chest hurts. And my leg is burning."
"I'm sorry," apologizes Sarah. "I wish there was more we could do but the Doctor told us they did everything they could. All we need now is a little bit of time for you to get better, that's all."
"Yeah, I just… wish it didn't hurt so much." She shifts on the bed in discomfort, her face grimacing.
"Do you remember what happened?" asks Luke.
"I think so. I remember hearing your voice," she looks to Nick. "I thought maybe I was dreaming at first. I didn't think hospitals like this existed anymore."
Sarah leans further into the girl's hand, latching onto it as guilt washes over her. "I wanted to be with you. I would've been with you but I just—"
"It's okay… really," she interjects. It's obvious how much pain Clementine is in right now. "I know you did your best, Sarah. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you, so thank you."
A breath of laughter escapes the older girl's lips. Even though she appreciates hearing her say that, Sarah quickly turns to the man standing behind her. "Well, Nick is the one who saved us," she reveals. "I found him back at the city. Well, he found me actually. Neither of us would be here right now if it wasn't for him."
"Well, what can I say? That's just the kinda guy I am," he boasts, proudly planting his hands on his hips.
Luke chuckles sarcastically at that, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Oh yeah, sure you are."
After that, the two men explain to Clementine where they've been this whole time since that night at Howe's, as well as what the three of them have been up to while Clementine was asleep. They tell her about the hospital and how things are usually run around here. Sarah lets her know that Luke and Nick have offered that they stay at the hospital, then apologizes once more for leaving her alone. It's no doubt that the younger girl is more understanding than Sarah could hope, and she's internally thankful for how gracious Clementine is.
They don't know how much time passes as the four of them all catch up with each other. Even though so many things have changed, it still somehow feels like everything is just the same as it was before. For the time being, they forget about the reason why they're here in the first place.
It isn't until Luke notices how often Clementine is yawning that he decides it's time to let her sleep after such an overwhelming day. It's only early evening, but he remembers being told that she was put on a lot of drugs earlier.
"You should get some rest, kiddo. We can talk more in the mornin'," he considers before briefly rubbing a playful hand on top of her hat, causing a sleepy Clementine to smile. "We're glad you're here, Clem."
When the two of them head for the door, Nick turns over his shoulder toward Sarah who is still planted on the edge of Clementine's bed, their intertwining fingers never parting for a second.
"I'm gonna stay here with her," she says.
The two men exchange glances and shoot the girls a tender grin. Luke subtly nods in acceptance, preparing to pull the door closed behind him. "We'll see y'all in the mornin'."
A/N: Okay so I am not a doctor whatsoever so I apologize if I got any of the facts wrong, however I did do my research and tried my best to be as accurate as possible.
