xxxxxx Flashback xxxxxx

"Sarah Walsh, Dr. Robertson please report to Trauma One," announced the voice over the loud speaker in the break room.

"Well, shit…there goes dinner!" Dr. Robertson said, tossing the rest of his sandwich to the trashcan as Sarah took the last bite of her apple, tossing the core after his trash.

"All I had was that apple anyway. Some great and wise emergency surgeon once told me that the ER never sleeps and to never count on meals at work," she said as they rushed out of the door.

"Well, my wife insisted on packing me that sandwich…I know I told her the same thing I tell my students and colleagues. Must be why she's my soon to be third ex-wife…" Sarah chuckled, shaking her head as she thought about her own impending divorce.

"What's coming in?" Dr. Robertson asked as they rounded the corner to the nurses station.

"GSW to the abdomen, young male, early-30s - a cop that was in a high speed chase and standoff. They're 2 mins out."

Sarah's heart clenched with worry - she always got that way when a police officer was being brought in with an injury. Having a best friend and a soon to be ex-husband that were law enforcement officers would do that to a person.

"Here we go, kiddo," Dr. Robertson said to her as they hit the sink. Her best friend Christy walked into the room to help prep for the incoming GSW.

"I am so over the ER," she griped to Sarah. "I'm going on about 4 hours of sleep, I haven't seen my husband and child in two days...and I'm starving. It's no wonder I'm a size two. Who has time to eat when people come to the ER for a stomach ache and a splinter?!" Sarah laughed as she got scrubbed up. "Dude, you're laughing. But I'm serious - That job in L and D is sounding better and better!"

"But what fiery redhead will I flirt with when you're gone?" Dr. Robertson asked her as another nurse handed him a pair of gloves.

"I know I'll be hard to replace…but you can always flirt with Sarah! She's hot and recently single!"

Sarah laughed as she dried her hands and rolled her eyes. "Y'all are too much," she joked.

Dr Robertson laughed. "Nah, I've seen that cop that comes by to visit her - he'd surely shoot me in the nuts if I made a move!" Christy barked a laugh as she prepped the ER bay and winked at Sarah. Sarah blushed, knowing he was referring to Rick.

"Plus," he continued, "I try not to sleep with my PAs! They get all clingy - learned my lesson long ago!" Christy and Sarah laughed and shook their heads.

"Bus is here!" the nurse announced as the doors slid open. Sarah could see the EMTs opening the back door, one on the gurney doing chest compressions.

"What do we have fellas?" Dr Robertson asked as they ran to help wheel the patient in. Christy grabbed the IV bag from one EMT as Sarah started to evaluate the wound as they walked.

"GSW to the right lower quadrant of the abdomen, bullet went through and through. Coded a few times - used the paddles twice. Doing chest compressions to keep heart rate stable…"

Sarah looked up at the patients face and felt like she was thrown into a wind tunnel - "RICK?!"

Christy's head snapped up. "Your Rick?" Dr Robertson asked as they got to the room. Sarah nodded as they started to transfer him to the bed.

"Do you need to leave?" he asked her seriously. She shook her head. "Sarah. I need you to focus. Can you do this?"

"Yes," she replied. "Let's save him." He nodded.

"We'll do our best."

A few hours later, Sarah got to the locker room to change and sat on the bench, placing her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. 'Coma,' she thought to herself. 'We got him out of the woods, but now he's in a coma...and for how long?' The door opened behind her. She lifted her head to see Dr Robertson.

"Hey kiddo. You okay?" he asked as he sat next to her.

"Yeah...I'm just going to change and head to the ICU."

"You need sleep."

"I'll sleep. I have to check on him first." He nodded again.

"Sure you do, I understand. He's going to be fine." She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "You love him, don't you?" he asked, putting his hand on her knee.

She looked at him. "He's my best friend. We've been through a lot. Of course I love him…as a best friend."

He gave her a look. "Sure…But you love him, love him. Any fool can see it." She shook her head in protest, but her friend laughed. "Don't deny it. Life is short. Sometimes you just have to grab the bull by the balls and go for it…even if his balls are massively huge…and I've seen some big cajones!" he joked, making a gesture with his hands as he nudged her shoulder with his.

She laughed and pushed his shoulder away from her. "You're crazy, you know that?"

"So I've been told. Remember? I'm on my third ex-wife…something is definitely wrong with me!" They laughed as she stood up. "Now go upstairs, check on him...and for the love of all things holy, get some damn sleep!"

She was still smiling as she made her way to the ICU. She showed her badge as she got to the desk and made her way to Rick's room.

He looked awful - his handsome face was a pasty white, cheeks shallow and sunken. His lips were dry and cracked, and he had dried blood next to his mouth. She walked around his bed and sat on the edge, grabbing his hand tightly in hers, rubbing the soft skin, her vision clouding with tears. She looked up at his face again as tears ran down her cheeks. She let go of his hand and grabbed an IV prep pad off the table next to his bed and rubbed the blood off. She then took her tube of Chapstick from her pocket and applied it to his lips. Once she felt he was taken care of as much as she could, she sat down on the edge of his bed again and quietly held his hand. A nurse came by to take stats, but she didn't speak to her; she just watched the subtle rise and fall of his chest and listened to the machines hum in the room.

An hour or so passed by before she heard footsteps and looked up as Lori appeared at the door with John.

"Hey," she whispered to them.

Lori ran around the bed and Sarah stood as Lori grabbed her in a tight, tearful hug.

"Christy told us you were down in the ER when he came in. Sarah, that must have been the worst!" she whispered loudly as she stepped back to look at her. John leaned in and hugged her as well, squeezing her tightly.

Sarah teared up as John released her. "Yeah, it wasn't easy. Hardest thing I've done so far. He - it was touch and go, but he's a fighter." She half-smiled at them, tears falling down her face. "But now I'm starting to think I need to transfer out of the ER and into Orthopedics like I planned!" she tried to joke.

"Well then...what beautiful, sweet girl would be there to save a man like me?" a hoarse voice asked.

Lori gasped as Sarah whirled around and saw Rick's beautiful blue eyes open and gazing at her, a slight smile on his tired face.

"Rick?" she said as she wiped her tears. He reached his hand up as she grabbed it and moved closer to him. John ran to the nurses station while Lori moved to the other side of the bed.

"I felt you holding my hand when you came in…" he croaked out. "And you put Chapstick on my...lips..."

"Shhh...rest your voice. We had to intubate you in the ER and I'm sure your throat is sore," Sarah said as he squeezed her hand.

"I'm fine," he whispered as he winced. "And I saw you in the ER when they brought me in...you helped save me...you were like an angel...my angel..." he said as his eyes closed for a minute and he swallowed hard. Lori grinned at her, tears in her eyes.

Sarah blushed. "Rick seriously...rest your voice," she said as she stroked his hand. He opened his eyes and smiled.

"I just had to tell you...thank you sweet girl...I love you..." he faded off, his eyes closing.

"Of course," she whispered. "I love you too..."

He squeezed her hand and she gave a light squeeze back...and she knew everything would be fine.

xxxxxxxxxx End Flashback xxxxxxxxxx

"Let's move!" Christy yelled from several feet behind Sarah.

Sarah glanced over her shoulder to see Rick carrying Carl in his arms like a baby and Christy pushing the idiot named Otis along behind them. They reached the edge of the woods and started to run across open fields toward a large white farm house.

'Wow, this place looks incredible,' she thought as she ran, 'its like it's own little world.' She ran faster, again thankful for marathon training. She could see a brunette woman on the front porch looking through a pair of binoculars and started to wave her arms around wildly.

"Daddy?" She could hear the woman scream and she saw more people pour onto the front porch.

Sarah made it to the steps in record time. "Hershel?!" she asked as the white haired man looked down at her from the top step. Two blondes, one young and one older, a teenage boy, and the brunette stood with him.

"Yes. I'm Hershel. What's going on?"

"Your man shot my boy!" Rick said as he ran up next to Sarah.

"We have an 11 year old boy, GSW to the abdomen - buckshot - so we're looking at 9 pellets if I remember correctly. I'm not sure how many were lodged in the deer and without X-ray, there's no way to tell how many are in the boy."

Hershel looked impressed and stepped aside, gesturing for them to follow him inside the house.

"We need a space to operate, supplies," Sarah commanded as they walked through the front door. "Otis says you're a vet. I need IV drips, antibiotics, a sedative, lots of gauze, tweezers or forceps, intubation materials, and oxygen. Do you have any of that?"

They reached a bedroom on the first floor and the brunette pulled the duvet down, as Rick gently laid Carl down on his back.

"You a doctor?" Hershel asked as he pulled a stethoscope out of the drawer of the bedside table and started to listen to Carl's heart rate.

"Physicians Assistant, but I did ER/trauma for a few years. I have experience with GSWs." She glanced over her shoulder at Rick, who looked to be in shock. "Rick, you're O negative. What is Carl?" she asked.

"Same as me," he said as he ran his hands through his hair. " Lori and John...we have to get them..."

"We will," Christi said as she finally joined them. "Sit right here, Rick," she said she guided him to a chair in the corner.

"Patricia! Get some blood from him," Hershel said to the older blonde in his group. "We're gonna need it."

They jumped into action, the younger blonde bringing in all the supplies Sarah asked for from another part of the house. Christy started the IV for Carl while Patricia worked on the blood transfusion from Rick. Sarah and Hershel worked together to sedate and intubate Carl, then started on the surgery itself.

"Look," Sarah said as Hershel removed the first superficial pellet. "We just need to make sure he has no internal bleeding. Any pellets left inside will eventually work their way out over time."

Hershel nodded as he put his fingers further into the wound. "We have a nicked blood vessel here. I have to get it stitched up and then we can close him up." Sarah nodded.

"We have to save him," Sarah told Hershel as she looked over at a still shocked Rick. Her heart was hammering out of her chest, but she prayed it didn't show. She needed to save Carl - for Rick, Lori, John, their whole group.

"We'll definitely try hard."

They worked another hour to get him stabilized and stitched up and when it was done, Sarah breathed a sigh of relief, even though Carl had yet to wake up. In the meantime Maggie, the brunette, had gone to gather Lori and John. Sarah could see through the window that it was dark outside. She started to worry, remembering Noah was still out there. Alone.

She and Hershel sat next to Carl on the bed when their family arrived and Lori flew into the room, panic clear on her face.

"Is he okay?" she asked as she ran to the bed and slid to the floor, grabbing Carl's hand. John went to Rick and sat down on the arm of his chair next to the bed. Rick had a glass of untouched orange juice on the table next to him that Patricia was trying to get him to drink and he was refusing, his eyes on Carl. Lori reached out and pushed Carl's bangs off his forehead.

"He should be fine. We just have to wait for him to wake up." Sarah told her, reaching over to stroke her back.

Lori looked back at her. "You saved another important man in my life," she said, tears filling her pretty brown eyes. "There is no way in a million years I can ever repay you."

"We're family. You don't have to."

"Yes we do," Rick said as he tried to stand up. "We have to find Noah. Tonight." Hershel and Patricia started to protest as Lori broke out in a wide grin.

"What?" Sarah asked her, her stomach flipping.

"In all the panic over Carl, I forgot to tell you!"

"What?!" Sarah asked, her heart skipping a beat again.

"Mama!" she heard Olivia's voice behind her. "Look!"

Sarah jumped off the bed and turned to the doorway to see Olivia...with Noah standing next to her.

Her heart beat wildly and she got lightheaded as she jumped off the bed and ran to her children, dropping to her knees and she enveloped them into her arms.

She sobbed and held her children tight.

"How?" she asked as she pulled her head back. "What happened?" She grabbed her son's face as she checked him over for bites and scratches. Olivia ran over and sat in Rick's lap.

"Daryl and Glenn found me. I climbed a tree, just like Daryl told me to do if I got lost or if a walker was chasing me. Then they found me! Daryl killed the three walkers that were after me," Sarah shuddered at the picture in her head, "and I climbed down. Then Maggie came and found us, so we all came here. This farm is pretty cool. Do you think I can ride a horse?"

"Oooh me too," said Olivia.

Sarah laughed and cried at the same time as she pulled him in for another hug. She looked at Rick across the room, who was holding Olivia and now drinking his orange juice at her insistence. He smiled at Sarah, the color slowly returning to his cheeks.

Her world was right again...but she couldn't help but wonder...for how long?

Authors note:

Sorry - I just don't have it in me yet to kill off one of the Jenkins kids!