Carl smiled at his friend, "I'm glad you're safe, Sophia."
"Thanks to Kagome. If it hadn't been for her, I'd be dead right now," Sophia told Carl, "And I appreciate you going out to search for me, Carl, I sorry that you got shot."
"It's not your fault."
"Yeah, but I still feel bad."
"Don't feel bad, Sophia. If I were lost, you would have gone looking for me too."
Sophia nodded, "Does it hurt a lot?"
"Not too bad, Kagome gives me medication for the pain."
Amy looked at Carl strangely. She thought it was odd that Kagome hadn't used her powers to heal Carl. Amy was going to have to ask Kagome about that. The girls continued to talk to Carl for a while longer until Rick came back into the room, freshly showered and changed. He smiled at the girls, "Hey, girls. How's our patient?"
Amy and Sophia smiled back at Rick, "He's doing good, right, Carl?"
"Yeah, Dad, I'm doing much better. Do you think I can get up soon?"
Rick sat down next to Carl and felt his forehead, "We'll talk to Kagome and see what she says. If she says it's okay, then you can get up."
Carl smiled and nodded. A little while later, Lori came into the room with a sandwich for Carl and some juice. Rick carefully propped him up, and they gave him the sandwich to eat. While Carl was eating, Amy slipped out to talk to Kagome. She saw Kagome helping Carol hanging up the laundry to dry, "Kagome, can I talk to you a second?"
Kagome looked at Carol, who nodded. Kagome wiped her hands on her jeans and walked towards Amy, "What's up?"
"I was only wondering about Carl?"
"What about him, is there something wrong with him?"
"No, he's fine. He's having lunch with his parents. I was only wondering why didn't you heal him as you did for Sophia and me?"
Kagome had finally had a chance to tell Daryl and Amy about her priestess powers and what her abilities were. Daryl and Amy had looked at her astonished, but after a while, Daryl only shrugged and said he kind of figured she had some sort of magic in her. "I don't matter, doesn't change who you are," Daryl said.
Amy had stared at Daryl for a moment then did the same thing, "Yeah, Daryl's right, I think it's pretty cool that you can do that."
Kagome smiled, "Maybe later, I'll tell you the rest of my story."
"Okay."
Now, Kagome was explaining to Amy that she didn't use her healing ability unless Kagome knew she couldn't help the patient medically, "Does that make sense? If Carl had an infection, I would have used my healing powers to get rid of it. But he's doing so well, and I'll let him heal on his own."
Amy nodded, "Yeah, I understand. Rick wanted to know if you could check on Carl; he wants to get up now."
Kagome smiled, "Yeah, I'll grab my bag and head up to the house."
"I'll get it for you, Kagome."
"Thanks, Amy."
"No problem."
Kagome turned and went towards the house. She knocked on the screen door and waited for someone to answer; Beth came to the door and opened it, "Kagome, you don't have to knock. Just come on in."
"I'm a guest here, Beth; it wouldn't be right to barge into your home."
Beth rolled her eyes and opened the screen door wider so that Kagome could come in. Kagome smiled at the younger girl and walked into the house. She walked to the bedroom where Carl was. She could hear Rick and Lori talking to Carl though she couldn't make out what they were saying. Kagome cleared her throat to get their attention.
Carl turned when he heard the noise, and his eyes lit up when he saw Kagome, "Kagome! It's great to see you."
"Hey, little man, I hear you're feeling much better today."
"Yeah, I was hoping I could go outside for a while."
Lori looked at her son, "I don't think that's a good idea."
"Mom, if Kagome says I can go outside, I want to go."
Lori looked at Rick for support, "I don't think there's anything wrong with Carl going outside if Kagome says he can."
Lori stared at her husband, then looked at Kagome with a hateful glare. She got up abruptly and left the room, almost colliding with Amy. Amy looked where Lori had gone, "Is something wrong with Lori?"
"No," Rick said.
Amy shrugged, "Here's your bag, Kagome."
"Thanks, Amy."
Kagome asked Rick to step aside so that she could assess Carl's injuries. She took his blood pressure and temperature. Kagome palpated his abdomen to see if Carl had any pain, "Does this hurt? Be honest, Carl."
"It hurts a little, Kagome."
Kagome nodded. She checked his gunshot wound to see if it was healing correctly. Kagome decided that she was going to cheat a bit and push a little bit of healing power into Carl. Kagome knew that she had just told Amy that she didn't do that unless it was an emergency, but the little boy wanted to go outside so badly. Kagome couldn't resist those beautiful blue eyes that were so much like his father's.
Kagome made eye contact with Amy then nodded towards Rick. Amy got the hint and asked Rick if she could talk to him outside. Once he left with Amy Kagome, put her hands over Carl's injury. Kagome's hands began to glow pink, causing Carl's eyes faintly to widen.
"What are you doing, Kagome?"
"I'm healing your injury a little, Carl, so that you can go outside."
"How?"
Kagome looked at Carl, "Healing magic., but I need you to promise not to tell anyone, please. Not even your parents."
Carl nodded his head, "I promise Kagome; I won't tell a soul. Does that mean you're going to heal me completely?"
"Nope, that'll look too suspicious."
"Oh, Okay."
Kagome finished just in time, because Rick came back into the room, "So what's the verdict, Dr. Higurashi?"
"I think Carl can go outside for a bit. Maybe sit on the front porch and get some fresh air and drink some iced tea." Kagome said and gave Carl a mischievous smile. Carl giggled and nodded, "That sounds great."
"Alright, then, come on, Kiddo, let's get you dressed, and I'll take you outside," Rick said.
"And I'll get you that iced tea," Amy said with a laugh.
Meanwhile, Lori was fuming outside, pacing back and forth. Carol saw her and walked over to her to find out what was wrong with her, "Is something wrong, Lori."
"It's Kagome."
Carol's brow furrowed, "What about Kagome?"
"She's endangering my son's life so that she can get on Carl and Rick's good side."
"What are you talking about?"
Lori explained to Carol what Carl wanted, and Kagome said that she was going to let Carl come outside if he was better. Lori began to rant and rave about how irresponsible Kagome was with her son's life, that Kagome didn't give a damn about Carl.
"Now, Lori, you can't believe that," Carol said.
"She's only interested in taking my husband."
Carol looked at Lori as if she had grown two heads, "Kagome isn't like that, Lori. She's a very caring person. Look what Kagome did for my Sophia, and how she rushed in to save Carl. If Kagome didn't care about Carl, she wouldn't have put so much effort into saving him," Carol tried to reason with Lori.
Lori shook her head and walked off. She went to find Shane to complain to him. Shane would be on her side. When Lori found Shane and told him her suspicions, he agreed with her, "Kagome's a bitch, I'll talk to Rick about kicking her out. We don't need her. We have Hershel now."
Lori hugged Shane, "Thank you, Shane; I knew I could count on you."
Shane hugged Lori back, and they lingered in each other's embrace. Then Lori cleared her throat and pulled away from him, "Whenever you get a chance, Shane, talk to Rick, okay?"
Shane cleared his throat, "Yeah, will do."
Lori walked away and headed back towards the house, where she saw Rick carrying Carl outside and set him down in the rocking chair. Kagome was behind them with a blanket in her arms. She draped the blanket over Carl, and he smiled up at her. A little while later, Amy came out with a glass of iced tea; Carl giggled and took a sip of the tea and thanked Amy.
When the group saw Carl on the porch, the headed over towards him to see how he was doing, "Hey, Carl, you look a lot better," Dale said.
"I feel better, Dale, thanks to Kagome," Carl said, then took Kagome's hand in his and squeezed it.
One by one, everyone in the group came up to the porch to greet Carl and to tell him how well he looked. When finally Lori had a chance to say something, she told Rick that she didn't feel comfortable with Carl being outside, "Maybe we should get a second opinion from Hershel?"
Hershel had just come up onto the porch, "I don't think that's necessary, Lori. Kagome is one of the best doctors I have ever seen, and I'm only a vet," Lori frowned but accepted that everyone was on Kagome's side, including her husband.
A few days later, Carl was finally allowed to walk around a bit and help feed the chickens with Sophia and his mother. Sophia and Carl were enjoying their time with the chickens, so Lori left them there while she went to work. As she was working, Carol walked over to Lori to talk to her, "Lori, I had an idea I wanted to run by you."
"What's that?"
"That big kitchen of theirs got me thinking. I wouldn't mind cooking in a real kitchen again. Maybe we all pitch in and cook dinner for Hershel and his family tonight."
"After everything they've done for us, it seems like the least we could do."
"You mind extending the invitation? Would just feel more right coming from you."
"How so?"
"You're Rick's wife. It sort of makes you our unofficial first lady."
"I'm sure someone would like to take my place," Lori muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing, I'd be happy to."
So later on that morning, Lori went back up to the house and asked Hershel if it was alright for the women to cook dinner for Hershel and his family, "You don't have to do that," Hershel said.
"I know, but we want to, we'd like to show our appreciation."
Hershel thought for a moment then nodded, "Alright, that would be fine."
Lori thanked Hershel and went out to tell Carol, Andrea, Sophia, and Amy. But Andrea said she didn't want to help; she would prefer to keep watch, "Why don't you ask Kagome," Amy asked.
"Oh, I'm sure she's busy."
"No, I'm not, I'd love to help make dinner for Hershel and his family," Kagome said as she appeared behind Lori, making the other woman jump.
Amy and Carol stifled their giggles.
"No offense, Kagome, but I'm sure that Hershel and his family don't want to have raw fish and rice."
Kagome didn't acknowledge Lori's insult, "It's a good thing I make a killer turkey. And there's just enough time in the day to have it ready before dinner. Oh, and Lori don't bother asking Hershel I'll do it myself, I'm sure he'd rather hear it from a colleague than-" Kagome looked Lori up and down, "Someone else," Kagome said then put her hair up in a bun and walked towards the house.
Kagome knocked on the door, and Beth answered the door. She asked for Beth's father, and Beth led her to the kitchen, "Good morning Hershel, how are you this morning?"
Hershel smiled at Kagome, "Good morning, Kagome. I'm doing well, how about yourself?"
"Good, Hershel, the other women and I were wondering if we could make dinner for you and your family as a way of showing our appreciation for everything you've done for us. If that's alright with you?"
Hershel thought about it for a moment, "I don't see why not. You can use whatever we have to make your dinner."
"Thank you so much, Hershel, I truly appreciate it." Kagome squeezed Hershel's hand and made her way outside to tell the other women. After that, the women went into the house and got started on dinner.
The women cooked all day and made a beautiful dinner for their hosts. They made turkey with stuffing and roasted potatoes, green bean casserole, and rolls. They decided to celebrate Thanksgiving early, giving thanks for finding Sophia, Carl's recovery, and Hershel's hospitality. Once dinner was ready, Lori called everyone into the house and they sat down to a nice meal with their new friends, not knowing that their stay there was only temporary.