"He's doing much better, Doctor, you did an excellent job."
"Please, Mr. Greene, call me Kagome."
"Alright, Kagome, call me Hershel."
"I want to thank you, Hershel, for letting us on your farm," Kagome said.
"You're welcome, Kagome. If you'll excuse me a moment." Hershel said abruptly and left the bedroom.
Kagome's brow furrowed as she watched Hershel leave the room. She sat with Carl a while to make sure he was doing alright. Kagome decided to check the wound to make sure there were no infection sets in. When she was satisfied, she changed Carl's bandage. While Kagome was changing the dressing, Carl woke up. Kagome smiled at the little boy, "Hey Carl, how are you feeling?"
"Hi Kagome, I feel okay."
"Does it hurt?"
"A little bit."
"Well, we can't have that," Kagome said with a smile.
She reached into her bag and pulled out a vial of morphine and a syringe. Kagome gave Carl a small amount of morphine into his IV, "Now this is going to feel warm, and you may fall back to sleep, but don't worry. You should get some rest so your body can heal."
Carl nodded then yawned, "Kagome?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you for saving my life."
"Oh, Carl, you don't have to thank me, I would do anything to keep you safe."
Carl smiled then fell asleep.
Kagome covered Carl then left the room. When she made her way back towards their camp, Kagome caught the tail end of Shane and Lori's conversation, "Did you mean it?" Shane asked Lori
"What?"
"You said, stay. Did you mean it? Look, if you didn't just say so. But do it now. I need to know."
"I meant it," Lori said.
"Alright, then."
Kagome rolled her eyes, "Excuse me, I didn't mean to break up this touching scene, but I need to get my tent."
"Kagome, This wasn't what it looked like," Lori said.
"And what does it look like? Look, I only want to get my tent. You and your lover can continue your love fest later. By the way, your son, you know the one that got shot, was awake earlier. But I gave him some morphine for the pain, and he went back to sleep." Kagome said.
Shane glared at Kagome, "Hey, who do you think you are?" He said and grabbed her arm.
"Shane, don't."
"I think I'm someone who won't hesitate to hurt you if you don't let go."
"Oh, you think you could," Shane said in a cocky voice.
Kagome grabbed his hand and twisted then pushed down, nearly breaking his wrist, "I know I can, Officer Walsh."
At that moment, Dale comes around the RV, "Is everything alright here?"
Kagome smiles at Dale, "Of course, Dale, Shane was only showing me a wrist lock maneuver. Isn't that right, Shane?"
"Yeah, that's right, Kagome, and you did it right."
"Thank you," Kagome said brightly. She let go of Shane's wrist then walked into the RV to get her tent. Kagome decided to set the tent up out by Daryl's. It would be better for her to be as far away from Shane as possible.
Kagome grabbed her tent from the RV and went towards where Daryl had set his up. Daryl had finished setting it up when he looked and saw that Kagome was making her way towards him, "You lost?"
"No, I thought that I would enjoy your company a bit longer."
"And what if I don't want yours?"
"Shut up, Daryl, you know you like having my company."
Daryl grunted, "What's the Sheriff going to say that you're over here with me?"
"Which Sheriff?"
Daryl deadpanned, "You know which one I'm talking about."
"I don't think it's any of his business who I spend time with."
"Well, I think you better tell him that 'cause he's heading this way right now," Daryl said, motioning with his head towards Rick.
Rick had come around the house and had seen Kagome with her tent walking towards where Daryl was. He couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy as she stood there talking to Daryl. Ever since the CDC, Rick had noticed how close Kagome and Daryl had become, and it made his heart tighten every time Rick saw them together. He knew he shouldn't be feeling that way since he was a married man, but Rick couldn't help it.
Rick decided that he would talk to Kagome and see if he could convince her to put up her tent closer to him instead of Daryl. He made his way out towards where Kagome and Daryl were talking when he noticed that Daryl had seen him and said something to Kagome. She turned around and smiled at him.
"Hi, Rick," Kagome said but then frowned when she saw that Rick gave her a strained smile, "Is there something wrong with Carl?"
"What? Oh, no. Can I talk to you a minute?"
"Sure," Kagome said, then Rick took her by the arm and led her away from Daryl.
"I was wondering why you're setting up this far out from the rest of the group?"
"No reason, I thought I could use a little space from everyone else."
Rick glanced at Daryl, "Are you sure that you'll be safe out here so far from everyone else?"
"I'm not alone, Rick, Daryl, and I will be fine."
"Oh," Rick said, he sounded a little disappointed.
"You don't mind, do you?"
"No, of course not, I was hoping you'd be closer to me, I mean us, just in case Carl needed you."
"I'm not that much farther, Rick; I'm still close enough to hear if Carl needs me."
Rick furrowed his brow; he knew there was something more that led Kagome to decide to move further away from the others, "Has someone said something to you, Kagome, that's made you uncomfortable?"
"No, not, nothing I can't handle, anyway. Don't worry about it."
Rick stared deeply into Kagome's sapphire eyes, "Are you sure I can't help in any way?"
"No, Rick, it's fine. Go back to your wife and best friend."
Rick didn't miss the tone that Kagome used when addressing Lori and Shane. It made him wonder what had happened between them, but Rick knew that Kagome wasn't going to tell him anything.
"Okay, Kagome, I only wanted to make sure you'd be okay out here."
"We'll be fine, Rick," Kagome said then noticed that Hershel was standing a little ways away, looking at Rick.
"I think Hershel wants to speak to you, Rick."
Rick turned around and saw Hershel then nodded. He said goodbye to Kagome and Daryl and walked towards Hershel. As Rick made his way towards Hershel, Rick noticed that Amy was heading out towards Kagome and Daryl with her equipment as well. He smiled at the thought that Kagome and Daryl weren't going to be completely alone.
Rick greeted Hershel when he reached him, "Is there a problem, Rick?"
"No, only checking on the group; I want to thank you for everything you've done for us. You have no idea how much we appreciate it."
Hershel nodded, "I don't say this easily, Rick. We don't normally take in strangers. I can't have your people thinking this is permanent. Once your boy's fit for travel, I expect you'll move on. We need to be clear on that. I'd also prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp."
Rick nodded, "I'll have the weapons collected, but I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience; our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun."
Hershel thought for a moment then nodded. After that, Hershel walked away. Rick turned and went back to camp to let the others know about the guns; he wasn't going to mention the other thing that he and Hershel had talked about just yet. Rick was going to see if he could change Hershel's mind.
Rick walked back to camp and told Shane to collect the guns. There was an uproar with the camp about not being armed, "Look, we're guests here, this is Hershel's property. And we will respect that." Rick said, "But I did get Dale to be our lookout, so we at least have that."
Shane let out a frustrated sigh, "I'll gather and secure all the weapons. Make sure no one's carrying till we're at a practice range off-site."
"Thank you," Rick told his best friend; Shane only nodded and left to collect to collect the weapons, "What about Kagome and Daryl's bow and crossbow?"
"Hershel didn't say anything about that, leave them be," Rick said.
Meanwhile, Dale and T-Dog went to get water from one of the wells and discovered a Walker in the well and went to tell the others so that they could figure out a way to get it out, but as they went looking for Shane to tell him. Shane and the others arrived and, upon seeing the bloated Walker in the well, decided to try to pull it out and use Glenn as bait. Glenn was able to rope the Walker, and they began to pull it out with a truck, but it ended up ripping in half and falling back into the well.
They all let out a frustrated sigh, "Well, we need to seal off this well," Dale said and looked at Maggie, who was in shock at seeing what happened to the Walker.
After that, as Glenn was getting ready to head to town with Maggie to pick up some supplies from the local pharmacy, Lori approached him, "Hi. Here's your list. And, um, there's one other item. I wrote it down separately. It's personal. If we could be real discreet about that, okay?"
"Sure," Glenn said, then looked at the paper, "What is it?"
"Kind of missing the point of the whole discreet thing, Glenn."
"Oh, right. Um...I just need to know where to find it."
"Try the feminine hygiene section."
Glenn blushed and nodded, "Oh. Enough said. Consider it done."
At that moment, Maggie showed up on a horse leading another for Glenn. He got on the other horse, and they headed out. It took them a while to get back, but when they got back and handed Lori what she had requested. He looked at her, concerned, but Lori didn't say anything; she only took the pregnancy test from Glenn and left. Lori returned later visibly shaken after taking the pregnancy test, it had come out positive, and she had no idea who's baby it was, but she had to figure out a way to deal with this problem by herself.
After making sure that his people were set up, Rick went looking for Hershel again; he needed to talk to the man also. He saw Hershel walking back to his house. Rick walked in silence with Hershel towards his house. Rick turned and looked at his camp and saw them getting settled. His eyes flashed to where Kagome was and saw that she wasn't there, and he knew she was with his son.
Rick took a deep breath, "You need to reconsider."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Asking us to leave. You need to reconsider. If you saw how it is out there, you wouldn't ask. You're a man of belief. If you believe anything, believe that."
"You're putting me on the spot."
"Well, I mean to, those people look to me for answers. I wish they didn't, but they do. But I'm not asking for them or myself. I'm asking for my boy. After the price your friend Otis paid, the least you can do is give it some thought."
"You're a plainspoken man."
"I'm a father. He's the one thing I don't want to fail. I feel like I do every day. And I can't fail him anymore. I need to keep him and the people I love safe."
"My father was not a comforting man. He used his fist. He was a loveless, violent drunk and no good to anybody. He drove me from home when I was fifteen, didn't lay eyes on this place again for many years. I was not at his deathbed, Rick. I would not grant him that, and to this day, do not regret it. Some men do not earn the love of their sons. I don't see you having that problem."
"Will you consider my request?"
"There are aspects to this, things that I can't and won't discuss. But if you and your people respect my rules, no promises, but I will consider it. You have my word."
"You have mine," Rick said.
Hershel and Rick shook hands, and Rick walked into the house to see Carl. Rick was right when he assumed Kagome would be with his son; she was sitting by his bed, checking his pulse and blood pressure. Rick smiled at her when Kagome noticed that he had come into the room.
"How's he doing?"
"He was awake earlier when you were gone. He asked for you," Kagome told Rick.
Rick smiled, "I'll sit with him for a while."
Kagome nodded and made her way out towards the camp. She walked out of the house and past Lori as she was going inside. Kagome suddenly stiffens, "Congratulations, Lori, on your pregnancy. Do you know who the father is?" Kagome said as she continued to walk back to her camp.
Lori's eyes widen, and she turned towards Kagome, but Kagome had already left and was almost at her camp. How did Kagome know she was pregnant? Lori's hand started trembling as she reached for the screen door and walked into the house to see her firstborn son.
Lori stood in the doorway, as she heard her husband and son talking, "Hey, I'm like you now. We've both been shot. Isn't that weird?"
Rick snorts, "Yeah, I think your mom would rather hear we got the same eyes. So let's keep that between us. Since you're in the club now, you get to wear the hat. Didn't you know? We'll pad the rim tomorrow, so it sits better." Rick said as he put his hat on Carl's head.
"Won't you miss it?"
"Maybe you'll let me borrow it from time to time."
"We can share it."
"Okay, try to get some sleep," Rick told his son.
"Do you think I could see Sophia later?"
"I don't see why not, I'll ask Carol."
"Thanks, Dad," And with that, Carl settled down to go to sleep
As Lori stood there listening to her son talking to Rick, doubt about whether or not she should keep this child started creeping into her heart. Maybe it would be better for everyone if she got rid of it without anyone knowing about it.