Chapter 2: You're My Reason To Live

Clementine walks towards the light that seems to brighten the dark world she is in. Each step she took felt like weighted chains holding her back, like some invisible force not letting her reach the light. Clementine tries to stand, but the force drags her down again to the ground. She shakes her head as she tries to push through the force. There was a soft voice ringing out through the light. Clementine stops fighting the force and listens to the voices through the light.

"You need to live, Clem. I will not let you die. Too many of us have died. So you got to pull through. We need you." The voice calls from a distance.

"I've done what I could. But she lost a lot of blood. I banged her leg the best I could and tried to get fluids into her system. Only time will tell now, and it is up to her to survive it."

"You think she will turn?"

"Honestly, I don't know. But we should keep her in her room and lock the door just in case."

"What about AJ? It is his room too."

"He will stay with either Tenn or Louis for the time being. But I can't have her locked up in this office. If she does die from the infection in a few days, we will know. I will keep checking on her to see if she does well, but the next day or two, we'll know."

"You should break the news to Louis and AJ. They need to know."

Clementine then felt the floor crumble, and she falls into a deep pocket of darkness. Her head crashes against something hard, causing her to slip back into blackness. And the light vanishes from her line of sight.

….

Louis and AJ waited outside on the steps of the admin building, waiting on the news of Clementine. Aj was fast asleep next to Louis as he kept him protected and waited for the news of his dear sweet Clementine. Louis's heart races with each passing minute that goes by. It took hours, and still no news. Ruby eventually had him fetch Aasim for assistance. He plays with the dirt by his feet as he sketches it with a stick he found.

Omar wobbles up next to him, "You okay, man?"

Louis shook his head, saying nothing. As he draws circles with the stick in the dirt. Omar tries to give Louis some encouragement, "Ruby is doing everything to save her."

Louis still says nothing as Omar knows he is not in the mood to talk, which is very unusual for Louis. He shakes his head as he half wobbles over to the cauldron to cook some food for them after the hell they all went through.

…

Ruby worked tirelessly on Clementine's leg to keep it, so she was not getting infected and found some fluid packs to put some fluids back into her. Ruby has very little knowledge on how to transfuse blood into someone. She is not a true MD doctor and doesn't know Clementine's blood type or anyone else to safely do it. There are, however, leftover fluid bags for emergencies that the nurses in the school used to keep handy.

Ruby looks over at Clementine as her face is still so very pale. But she is starting to see changes in her lips to go back to normal, which is good. Aasim looks up from her as he holds the lantern near Ruby as she finishes wrapping up Clementine's stump the best she can after applying a lot of stitches.

Ruby looks up at Aasim with exhaustion on her face, "I've done what I could. But she lost a lot of blood. I banged her leg the best I could and stitched up the open wound, and tried to get fluids into her system. Only time will tell now, and it is up to her to survive it."

"You think she will turn?" Aasim asks with worry.

"Honestly, I don't know. But we should keep her in her room and lock the door just in case." Ruby suggested.

"What about AJ? It is his room too." Aasim reminded her.

"He will stay with either Tenn or Louis for the time being. But I can't have her locked up in this office. If she does die from the infection in a few days, we will know. I will keep checking on her to see if she does well, but the next day or two, we'll know." Ruby said.

"You should break the news to Louis and AJ. They need to know." Aasim told her.

"I understand AJ because he is her kid, but why Louis," Ruby asks as she eyes him.

Aasim looks to her and then to the ground, then back up to her. "Can you keep this to yourself of what I am going to tell you?"

Ruby nods as her face softens as she eyes him. Aasim sighs as he looks at a pale Clementine and then back into Ruby's eyes, "Because I think Louis is in love with Clementine."

Ruby shifted her weight just then, "What? How do you know did he tell you?"

"He doesn't have to say it, it was written on his face when he tried to go out on his own to find her and AJ. If I hadn't come along with him, he could be lying next to her or dead. But the look in his eyes told me everything, and I didn't fight him on it. He really and genuinely loves her, which I have never seen Louis act this way ever." Aasim told her. "I can read into people's emotions pretty well, kind of a gift of being intuitive to people, and how Louis acted was something a man does when he is in love with someone."

Ruby looks at him, then at Clementine as she heaves a sigh, "Okay."

Aasim looked at her, and his eyes squinted a bit, "Okay?"

"I will break the news to both, and I will keep it to myself of what you told me," Ruby said.

"I don't think neither Clementine nor Louis admitted to themselves that they love each other," Aasim spoke. "You go tell him I will keep watch over her until you come back, and I will escort her to her room."

"Thanks, Aasim, you are a true friend," Ruby said.

Aasim smiled and said, "You're a good healer and doctor. We are all grateful for you learning from Ms. Martin."

Ruby blushes a bit to his compliment. Then she turns to leave and go find Louis and AJ and tell them about Clementine.

….

Ruby makes her way outside and finds Louis on the steps with little AJ asleep beside him. Ruby heaves a sigh as she walks to where Louis is. "Louis." Ruby softly spoke. Louis turns to look at her but not too much, so he doesn't disturb AJ.

Ruby understands this and goes to Louis's other side of him to tell him the news of Clementine. "I managed to close the wound up as best as I could and thoroughly clean it from any infection or bacteria. But she is still very weak and very pale. From the blood loss, I am guessing. I am not going to lie to you, hun, but she may not make it."

Louis looks past Ruby and out on the horizon of the setting sun. He cleared his dry throat and took a breath, trying not to break on hearing the news of his love. "Can…can I see her?" Louis looks up at Ruby.

"In a little while. Aasim is going to bring her to her room…We…ah…need to lock her in there and tie her to her bed…just…for precaution. And by no circumstance for you to remove the restraints. AJ will stay with you or Tenn until the worst is past, and she…." Ruby trails off as she sees Louis's tears start to fall. Aasim may be right. Louis definitely has it bad for Clementine. Ruby has never seen Louis act this way towards anyone, ever. Ruby felt compelled and reachings to put her hand on Louis's shoulder, "I hope it doesn't come down to it, and hope she fights with what strength she has in her. You can see her when she is in her room, ok? I will look in from time to time to see how she is doing and check her vitals." She pauses for a moment to let the information sink in. She looks over at Clementine's sleeping child, "You want me to tell him for you?"

Louis looked down at AJ, and he shook his head. "No, I will."

"You sure I don't mind if you want to be alone with her," Ruby spoke very softly to be empathic with him.

Louis closes his eyes and reopens them to look at AJ, "I'm sure. This little man, kind of grew on me in my heart. I should be the one to tell him." Then he eyes his good friend, "I guess I am AJ's next of kin and his guardian for the time being."

Ruby just smiles and eases up, "Ok. I will go see and help Aasim get her to her room. When we do this, tell AJ, okay." Louis nods, and Ruby walks back inside the admin building to get Aasim to take Clementine back to her room, where they will wait and see if she pulls through.

…..

Louis watches as Aasim and Ruby come out of the admin building with a still unconscious Clementine in Aasim's arms. From the looks of it, she is very pale, and it pains Louis to see her like that. Louis closes his eyes as the sight of Clementine being pale hurt him and made his stomach turn. Once he saw them walking into the dorms did, his heart stop aching some. He turns his gaze down onto AJ.

Louis takes a deep breath before waking him up. He gently shook him, "AJ, hey little dude wake up."

AJ grumbles a bit to the shaking of his body. Took a few shakes from Louis shaking him as AJ opened up his brown eyes to gaze up at Louis. AJ gets up from Louis's lap and looks around, "How long was I out?"

"About forty minutes or so," Louis replies. He closes his eyes as he has to tell him. "Listen bud. Ruby came out to give me the news of Clementine while you were asleep…and.."

"Did Ruby manage to heal Clem? Is she going to be okay? When can I see her? Is she awake? Did she ask…" AJ flooded Louis with a bunch of questions.

"Whoa slow down, dude." Louis held up his hands, "One question at a time."

AJ then started with his first question, much slower this time, "Did Ruby manage to heal and save Clem?"

Louis heaves a heavy sigh, "Yes, but we still don't know if she is going to be okay, bud. She may not turn from the bite but could possibly die from other things, like blood loss and infection. We don't know." Louis looks at him. "Aasim put her in your guy's room, and you are to be staying with Tenn or me for the time being."

"Why do I have to leave my room? Why can't I stay with her?" AJ looks at him.

"Because we don't want to risk anything, if she does….you know.." Louis looks down onto Clementine's adoptive son. "Do you understand AJ why?"

AJ nods and understands the gravity of the situation. He then looks up to Louis, "Can we go see her now? Please."

Louis nods as he sees Aasim exiting the dorms. He gets up with AJ and makes the heavy walk to the dorms to see Clementine.

…

Louis's heart races when he reaches Clementine's bedroom door. His hands felt like lead, and could feel his pulse quickening. He counted to three and braced himself to see the look on her face and the state she was in. He pushes through the door as Ruby finishes putting the first aid kit on the desk.

AJ ran up to Clementine's bed as Louis stayed by the doorway, hesitant to step in. Ruby meets him at the door and nods for him to go see her, "I'll be back in at the end of supper time to check on her. You and AJ can stay here until the morning if you want."

Louis nods and pulls Ruby close into a hug, "Thank you, Ruby, for everything and for trying."

Ruby nods her welcome to him and nudges him to see her, "Go to her, Lou. She needs you. I may not be an expert on coma things, but sometimes hearing a familiar voice can sometimes bring them out and wake up."

Louis gave a sad smile and gazed at Clementine. He takes a breath and forces his heavy legs to walk and keep walking until he is standing by her bedside. Ruby closes the door for Louis and AJ to have some private time with Clementine.

Louis sees Clementine's face still as pale as a ghost. He wishes he could trade places with her. He should be the one lying like this, not her. AJ was sitting on her bed, rubbing her free hand. "C'mon, Clem, we need you. Fight wherever you are. Don't give up on me…please. I didn't cut off your leg so that you die here. We need you to live. I still need you in my life. I love you." AJ cries.

Louis wanted to say something, but words will not form. Besides, he doesn't want AJ to hear what has been on his heart. He will talk to her when AJ is not aware of his words. Instead, he kneels down beside her, stroking a lover's touch on her pale face. Then he hears AJ singing to Clementine.

Just when you think

Hope is lost

And giving up is all you got.

Blue turns black, your confidence is cracked,

There seems no turning back from here.

Let's not let our anger get us lost.

And the need to be right comes at way too high a cost.

That's when you can build a bridge of light,

That's what turns all wrongs all right.

That's when you can't give up the fight.

That's when love turns nighttime into day,

That's when loneliness goes away then,

That's why you gotta be strong tonight.

Only love can build us a bridge of light.

AJ tries not to cry as he tries to bring Clementine back to him. Louis looks up at AJ, "Where did you learn that song?"

AJ looks to Louis and then back at an unconscious Clementine. "Clem sang it to me a few times or whenever I am upset. It calms me down."

Louis looks upon Clementine's sweet face and strokes it some more. He never knew she could sing. He would love to hear her sing. If she is pretty as she is, then he has no doubt that her voice will sound pretty and even captivating. AJ continued to sing to her until his drooping eyes got the best of him. AJ snuggles up by Clementine's right shoulder with his hands resting on her chest, making sure she is still breathing. The sound of her soft breathing put AJ to sleep and made him forget about the world.

Louis is still up watching AJ fall asleep. Louis still can't bring himself to sleep until he says what is on his mind. Louis waited until AJ was fast asleep before he spoke. He didn't want AJ to hear what he wanted to tell her. He looked at Clementine's sleeping face, then came near her and stroked her right hand and kissed it. He looked at her face and spoke the words he wanted to tell her, "Clem, I need you to come back to me. I want us to build that home together. You and me, AJ, and Tenn. Maybe not all the nine hundred and fourteen floors that you want, but I will try and make the tree house you always dream of as well as teach you to play the piano." Louis pauses as he feels Clem's grip on his hand as he speaks. He was hoping she would wake up, but it was just a muscle spasm in her hand that made her twitch a bit. "Since I can't build that dream house we talked about on the walk back here, I will try and do one thing for you, which is to find the perfect tree to build you the tree house. Will try and find a ramp or something to make it easy for you to climb because of your condition."

Louis closes his eyes as tears fall out of them. He didn't want to say those words to her just in case she died on him. Louis took in a deep breath and then leaned over and kissed her lips then, cupping her face, he softly spoke in a low whisper, "Clem, please come back to me, to us. We all need you. I need you. I…." fuck it just say it, dummy. "I think I'm in love with you."

….

Clementine's eyes slowly opened as a soft faint voice spoke out in the darkness of a hole she is in. She strained to listen, but it spoke to her heart.

"Clem, please come back to me, to us. We all need you. I need you."

Clementine slowly gets up but sinks back down in the blackness. She cries as she is growing tired and wearying to keep fighting through this invisible force that is trying to keep her here in the darkness. She pushes with all her might to break free of this dark hold. She manages to climb out and move a bit, and in the distance, she sees the white light again. Words become clearer now as it pushes her through.

With each step she makes, she feels the darkness lose its grip on her. And a familiar figure is waiting by the light. She blinks for a moment, and the soft words spoke out to her that she thought weren't real.

"It is okay sweet pea."

Lee? Lee! Clementine runs towards him and takes his hand as he guides her out of the dark world and into the light.

….

Louis stayed by Clementine's side all night long, along with AJ. He wants so much to remove the strains from her hand that Ruby will scold him if he even tries to remove them from her hand. Ruby came and checked on her vitals every now and then throughout the night. Louis slept on the floor, holding Clementine's free hand. It was the only thing that soothed him to sleep.

Ruby looks over Louis as he sleeps. Gosh darn, he really did fall in love with her. So sweet. She then looks at an unconscious Clementine. She notices some of her colors are coming back to her face. Her pulse was still a bit weak but stronger than when Louis brought her in yesterday afternoon. She touches Clementine's face and softly speaks, so the two sleeping boys do not hear her. "C'mon, Clem, you got to pull through. We all need you to lead." She casts a look over at Louis and looks at her, "Somebody here has it bad for you, you know. If you leave….or die on me, you will break his heart. So please…pull through. I don't think I can take burying anymore of us." Ruby turns and quietly exits the room.

The early hours of dawn were breaking through Clementine and AJ's room. AJ woke up first and noticed Louis sleeping beside her bedside. AJ carefully snuck away and exited the bed through the opposite side. When he moves to leave Clementine's side, he notices something. He paused and looked to see Clem's fingers linked with Louis's hand. AJ looks up from the linked fingers but sees Clementine still trying to regain consciousness. The dawn light illuminated their room, and he could see her face was regaining some color of life. He smiles as she starts to come back.

AJ leaves the two lovers alone and searches for the rest of the Ericson kids on what he plans to do to help with chores around the school. AJ doesn't want to leave Clementine's side, but he knows she is in good hands with Ruby and the rest of the Ericson kids. And AJ can tell Louis definitely has a liking for her.

…

Louis wakes open to see if there is any sign of her coming back. She looked less ghost-like as the complexion of her skin was turning back to normal, but she still was out cold. Louis gets up from the floor and moves to sit beside her, stroking her cheek with his thumb. Louis then pleads to Clementine to get her to come back to him, "Please, Clementine, come back to me." He heaves a sigh as the sound of silence is the only thing that answers his calls.

There was a knock on the door that broke the eerie silence. Ruby peaks in to check on Clementine, "Oh, your up?"

Louis turns to look at her, "Yeah, couldn't sleep anymore.

Ruby steps into Clementine and AJ's room and closes the door behind her. As she approaches the bedside, she looks at Louis as the sunlight highlights his face. "Any changes?"

Louis shook her head in silence, never taking his gaze off Clementine. He bowed his head in disappointment and heaved a sigh. "How long does this take, Ruby?"

Ruby looks up from the medical supplies she was laying out to attend to Clementine's wound. "I don't know. She is the first patient I ever had to deal with an amputation." Ruby looks onto Louis's freckle face as she stares at Clementine with so much love and agony on his face. "Why don't you go tend to do morning chores? Might take your mind off of her for a while. Vi can use a hand down at the greenhouse to clean it up. I sent AJ out with Aasim to do some hunting, and Willy is on watch."

Louis shook his head. Refusing to leave Clementine's side. Ruby was gentle about it. She knows there is more than just caring for Clementine here. She can see it on his face. Ruby comes by the bedside and places her hand on his shoulder, "Please, Louis. I promise I will get you if anything changes drastically. I know how you feel about her."

Louis took his gaze off Clementine at looked at Ruby. His face knitted with confusion and shock, "How do you..know."

"Your actions give it away, hun. Plus your face." Ruby smiles. "I promise I won't tease you about it or tell everyone else, but you are a bit of a walking book with your emotions towards her."

Louis smiles at Ruby for keeping his deep love feelings towards Clementine on the down low. "Thanks, Ruby."

Ruby returns Louis's smile, "any time, Louis. Now please, can you go help Violet out."

Louis heaves a sigh, "Why do I have to."

"Because I need to attend to Clementine's leg wound and put some medicine on it. I want to give her as much privacy and dignity I can, without other eyes looking. And besides, the school still needs to function with or without Clementine in charge." Ruby gently spoke.

Louis casts a look down on the floor and then agrees, "Okay." Louis looks one last glance at Clementine and reaches for her hand. He lifted up her free hand and kissed her small fingers as he looked at her face, "I'll be back as soon as I can." He then gets up from the bed and slowly makes his way to the door, so Ruby can attend to healing Clementine.

….

Louis makes his way to the greenhouse as Violet is already pulling out weeds and dead plants. Louis looks at her as she says nothing to him. Louis approaches her, "Need a hand, Vi?"

Violet looks up at him and shrugs, "Why are you here?"

"Ruby sent me away from Clementine's bedside, so she can be nurse Ruby for the time being," Louis said. Violet just turned away in annoyance. "Ruby told me to come to help you with the greenhouse."

Violet sighs, "Fine, whatever."

Louis looks at one of his best friends and notices a shift in her mood, "You okay, Vi?"

"Fine." Violet huffs out her frustration a bit more harshly than attends to

"You don't sound fine?" Louis says, trying to make conversation.

"Just let me work, okay." Violet snaps at him as her eyes a filled with anger. Louis doesn't know what he did to piss her off, but something was up. Louis bends down and picks up a trowel, and starts pulling up some old weeds in the garden. Louis looks over at his friend as she cuts the weeds and throws them outside.

After about ten minutes, Louis moves over and washes up the windows. As he is washing, he turns to her, "You know you can talk to me, right."

Violet turns to look at him, "Talk about what?"

"Whatever it is that is making you pissed off." Louis turns back to washing the windows.

Violet curses at the wall and kicks it hard. "Fuck!" Louis whips around to look at Violet. Violet looks at him, "There is nothing to talk about, Louis. I am just angry because I don't know why. At everything. You, Clem, Minnie."

"Angry?" Louis asks.

Violet doesn't say anything more as she pulls out the weeds, "I can't discuss it because you do not understand and probably don't understand what I had to go through." Violet says coolly at him.

Louis says nothing more as he can sense Violet is angry and deeply jealous of him. The rest of the late morning was hard to get through working alongside Violet. Once the afternoon hit, Louis and Violet headed back to the school in silence, not talking as they had already spoken too much. He can sense she is going through some turmoil in herself. Violet goes her separate ways as she goes to the watch tower, and Louis heads back in to be by Clementine's bedside.

Several days have come and gone, and little by little, Clementine regains the complexion of her skin and looks less and less ghost-like and more and more of her old self again. Louis sleeps by her side along with AJ close by. The late afternoon hits, and Louis is fast asleep as AJ is out gathering some medical supplies with Ruby to help Clementine get better.

…

Clementine sits with Lee beside a dock in the white abyss. Lee holds her as they stare into the flowing water of the river. "Nice to see you too, sweet pea."

Clementine smiles as she looks up at him, "What happened? Am I dead? I don't feel like it because I hear voices from the world, but I still can see you physically."

Lee looks at her and then out in the distance of the flowing river. "You are neither dead nor alive. You are in limbo." Clementine looks at him in confusement. Lee then tries to explain to her, "You are unconscious, sort of like being in a coma. Which is why you hear voices from your friends."

"Oh." Clementine stares at the water and then closes her eyes. She breathes a heavy sigh, not wanting to admit what is on her heart, but Lee knows.

"You want to go back, don't you," Lee spoke the words Clementine tries to voice to him.

Clementine opens her eyes as she looks at him. "How do you know?"

"I can see it on your face, sweet pea. You don't seem happy to be here." Lee said with a hint of sadness in his tone.

Clementine looks to her protector and father figure, then glances down at the water, "I guess I am not that great at hiding my true feelings." Clementine admitted. Then she looks back up at Lee. "I love you and always will, Lee. You have been like a second father to me, and I am so grateful to have known you. But…." Clementine couldn't say the words.

"But you have a life back at the school. Friends, and child who adores you, and a guy who will go to the end of the world for you." Lee smiles at Clementine. He knows she is in love with Louis, but the two teens haven't admitted it to themselves yet, so he keeps it on the down low until they admit it to each other.

Clementine looks up at Lee, "Are you disappointed that I want to go back?"

Lee shook his head, "A little, but I understand. Besides, if you wanted to stay, I would have told you it is not your time yet to come with me." Clementine looks out onto the water for a moment. Then she looked up into Lee's eyes as Lee spoke again. "You still have people who need you, Clementine. AJ, Louis, and the other kids at Ericson. They look to you as their leader."

"Then how do I go back," Clementine asked.

Lee smiled as he stood up and took a few paces back from the edge of the dock. Clementine does the same and follows Lee. Lee glances once more out over the water before taking Clementine back where she belongs until it is her time to come home with him and Kenny, Duck, and Katja. Lee sees a small figure by the river's edge on the rocks catching a fish. He smiles at the little figure. Clementine turns to see Lee's gaze as she too sees a little silhouette of a small child wearing her iconic hat. Clementine squinted to see, but the sunlight blocked her view of the small child. Clementine looks up at Lee, "Who is that?"

Lee smiles at the figure who he can see clear as day. Then he gazes down at Clementine, "You will know in your future, Clementine. Maybe not tomorrow or the next day or year, but you know in due time."

Lee turns to face Clementine, now outstretching his hands to take hold of Clementine's. "Grab my hand." Clementine was hesitant as she looked up at Lee.

Lee answers her questioning look, "It is a way for you to go back home. Back to live your life, sweet pea."

Clementine smiled and did what she was told and grabbed hold of Lee's hand. He then takes hold of Clementine's other hand. He looks into her soft golden eyes and says, "This is not a goodbye, sweet pea. I will be in your dreams whenever you need me. I love you."

Clementine's tears fall as she repeats the words back to Lee, "I love you too, Lee." Lee comes to her and kisses the top of her head. When he did that, Clementine closed her eyes as tears fell. Then the world around her faded into a soft black as her room at Ericson started to come into focus.

…..

Clementine slowly opened up her eyes, and things in her room became blurry and out of focus. She closes her eyes once more, then opens them again to have her eyes adjust to the bright light in her room. Pain shoots from where her left leg was, and she winces at the sudden pain. Fuck! This pain hurts like hell. What the fuck happened? She looks down under the covers and sees the stump of her left leg. So she didn't imagine it. AJ really did chop off her left leg back in the barn. She closes her eyes for a moment to grasp what was done to her. Then a figure beside her bed made a grumbling noise that made her open her eyes and looks down to see Louis by her bedside. She smiles a lovely smile at him as he watches over her.

Clementine undoes her hand that is tied to the bedpost. And she moves her once tied hand to caress Louis's cheek and push his dreadlocks from his handsome face. Her smile widened when he didn't stir from her gentle touch. He is here to watch over me? That is so sweet. He looks so damn cute too. Clementine gently shakes Louis awake. She giggles a little to his grumbles. She sees Louis slowly open up his eyes to shake from his dream world. Once he was fully looking at her, he was about to bust.

"Clem!" Louis exclaims out of shock.

"Hey, Lou." Clementine softly spoke.

Without another word, Louis rushed over to her and grabbed Clementine to bring her into his embrace. "Whoa, easy there," Clementine said. She held Louis for a moment in his embrace. The warmth of his skin made her feel safe and warm. He pulls back a little to look into those golden amber eyes he missed so much. Louis grazes her arm, and his other hand caresses Clementine's cheek. Clementine looks up into his eyes, her hand stroking his shoulder and moving to his strong chest, "You were worried, weren't you?"

Louis smiles at her, "You have no idea!" Then pulls her into a kiss. Clementine reacts to his kiss as she long to have her lips linked with his again. They kissed like that for a moment or two, then she pulled away when things were getting deep.

Louis bit his lip and said, "Sorry. I'm just so happy that you are okay. You gave us all a huge scare there for a minute." Louis grabbed hold of Clementine's soft little hands and held them up by his chest. He looked down with a worried face, and Clementine picked up on it.

She reaches up to stroke his cheek, "What's wrong?"

Louis still had his eyes closed, shook his head, then readjusted them to look at Clementine as she was close to his face and her hand still rested on his cheek. "I was so fucking scared of losing you. I am so sorry, Clem. It is my fault, if I had gone back for you or had you climbed the fence first, you wouldn't have gotten bitten."

"You didn't have much of choice, Lou. Neither did I. How did you know?" Clementine said.

"AJ told me when Ruby was working on you," Louis said.

"Oh," Clementine looks down at her stump and then back up to Louis.

Louis still had his tilted down. He then softly spoke, "I should have been the one to protect you." Louis said as tears were forming.

Clementine puts her forehead to his. "What are you talking about, Louis? You did protect me. You saved me from getting shot by Minerva. And thought about bringing me over the fence if we didn't get trapped by walkers."

"But you still got bit, which is a fear of mine. Losing someone, I have grown very close to die and turn…." Louis sobs.

Clementine closes her eyes, "I know." She then looks at him and pulls him close to her, "come here." Clementine pulls Louis into her embrace as she leans down onto the pillow. Louis follows after her and lays beside her with a gap between them. He looks into her soft golden eyes. She smiles back at him, and he reaches out to stroke her beautiful face. She smiles at his touch. She reaches out to place her hand on his beating heart. "You saved me, Louis. You brought me back home, which is more than I can ask for."

Louis let out a sad smile to her, "Well, I can't take all the credit. AJ wheeled you out wherever you guys were at. I carried you the rest of the way. You were out of it a good time there. Do you remember anything?"

Clementine looked at him and shook her head. "I only heard voices in fragments. But the world was black and dark. Like this unknown force was pushing me down. Then I heard Lee's voice that got me out of the darkness. But that is all I can recall before I thought I was going to die."

Clementine looks to Louis and then asks, "Where is AJ anyways?"

Louis looks over and shrugs. "I don't know I fell asleep. He was holding your hand when I passed out through. I can go find him if you want me to." Louis started to get up and roll away, but a touch on his arm stopped him.

Clementine shook her head, "In a minute. I want to rest a bit with you. Since we have a moment."

Louis smiles and settles himself back into his spot, and Clementine, for the first time, shifts her weight and moves her body close to Louis as she snuggles in his chest. He feels her arms wrap around his upper back as she leaves butterfly kisses on his chest, a bit just a bit below his collar bone. Louis plays with her hair a bit, then wraps his arms around her upper back, bringing her body next to his. He kisses her forehead and whispers to her, "Just, don't scare me like that again."

Clementine moves her head to look up at him, "I would love to make the promise, but we are living in dangerous times where I feel I will break that promise far too early. But I can promise to be more careful for now on and will not put myself in harm's way to hurt you or AJ or anyone else."

Louis looks at her and kisses her brow, "I love that." He smiles as she rests in his arms until they feel comfortable with joining the rest of the kids outside.