She gets up, feeling like something is about to come. Pee, probably. But what really got her out of her three am stupor was this abrupt stabbing pain in the lower part of her stomach. It was so intense, Michonne swore it knocked the air out of her lungs for a bit.
She slowly tries to untangle herself out of Rick's arms, afraid to wake him, but the man is dead as a log anyway. On the edge of her bed, she experiences it deeper. Something wet. Quickly turning on the lights. The sight before Michonne both freezes her and makes her heart race. It was faint, and she didn't know if it was just her eyesight bein tainted by the haze of sleep, but the red tinge was enough for her to know.
"Rick…" Her call was overpowered by his snore.
"Rick!" She now had to resort to rousing him physically.
"Whaaa.. What's up?" Rick was up but his eyes were still glued shut.
"We need to go…" There it was again, that stabbing feeling but this time, it was washing all over her.
"Go where?" Rick sounded clearer now but she couldn't see, the pain making her dizzy. She had half the consciousness to shut her eyes, to tune in and hope that it'll help make sense of whatever it is that's happening.
Rick is now on his feet, making his way to her side and he sees it. It's hardly noticeable, watered down, but he could easily smell it before he could see.
"JUDITH! RJ! COME HERE!" Rick roared like he hadn't been passed out mere minutes ago.
"Don't… don't wake the kids." Michonne, short of breath, could barely get words out,.
"I need their help. I don't think you can walk."
"Oooh, okay... Okay. But I think it's done now." It felt like a reprieve.
"Michonne, you're bleeding."
"No, it's fine. It's okay now, Rick."
Michonne started breathing deeply, making up for the palpitations that the agony put her through.
"DAD, WHAT'S WRONG?!" RJ stumbles into the room, the picture of energy.
Rick sees the alert in his eyes.
"Junior, were you still up?!"
"Um…"
"Young man, I thought you were asleep."
"Yeah, but I couldn't so I thought of working on my project. I think I'm onto something with a new prototype for your arm, Dad."
RJ had been recommended for an Advanced Placement in Engineering - it was a high school level subject despite him being in grade school. He said it was boring as it was cruder than expected. Nonetheless, the boy could spend hours working on these gadgets.
"That's great baby, it's nothing. Go back to sleep." Michonne imposed, wanting this all to be over.
"What's up?" Now it's Judith, who just like her father, was deep in her slumber.
"Nothing, just a false - " Before she could finish, Michonne crouches down.
"Junior, I need you to start the car, okay? we're going to Tomi."
"Can I drive too?"
"No not yet but, Judith is going to. Go, do it now. Judith, start waking up!" Rick had started to teach Judith the ways of the engine when he'd gotten back and she voiced an interest, reasoning out that Mom being the only one who can drive isn't practical. His girl was too young, but in this world, growing up can never happen too soon. The way she would think about practicality meant she's halfway there. He hates their compromised childhoods but when it's him relaxin on the passenger's seat, RJ sometimes laughing at the back, and Judith as a panicky but quick-learning driver, it helps to think that it's a way for them to spend time together - never mind the circumstance.
Without missing a beat, RJ runs down to get things started.
It's now clear to Judith, the blood on her mother's nightgown.
"Mom…"
"Baby, don't worry okay. It's alrigh – " Once again she's overwrought with everything – how her body feels, the emotions. Her chest rising and falling, she felt like she had to shit. To shit a football or something.
Judith ran to her mom, helping hoist her up. Michonne thought her legs were jelly. The ache goes but it's like she's left with something lingering until it starts again.
"Rick… I just want you to know – "
"Shh… None of that, you're getting better tonight, and by morning we're bringing the kids to school, okay?"
"Dad, really?" Judith protested.
Michonne could swear she let out a chuckle but that was once again drowned by the discomfort radiating within her.
The rest was a blur. Between getting into the car and getting to the clinic, it felt like ages when all in all, it was less than five minutes.
When they approached the clinic, she audibly sighed in some relief. On another night, Rick lifting her up with all his might would have definitely made her feel a certain type of way. But for this particular, he's lifting her up to lay on a hospital bed and the ability to joke was thrown out the window. His adrenaline still rushing as he proceeds to wheel her in with no time for a break.
"Kids, stay here, it'll be fine!" Michonne manages to yell out.
"Mom, we want to come with you!" her daughter pleads.
"Judith…" She could barely say it. She didn't want her children to see her this way.
Judith understood, holding onto RJ.
Michonne wanted to say I love you but the words sounded like a goodbye in her head. So she withheld it, hoping that she'll be able to say it tomorrow. That's if this torture won't kill her. Like Rick said to her, she wanted them to be up by daybreak to bring her babies to school, have dinner together, to sleep at night embraced by her man. She wanted him to be right.
Little by little, the figures of Judith and RJ became smaller. The water at the edge of her eyes clouded them more. Michonne wasn't sure if the welling tears came from the pain or the fear.
Writhing on the bed, she could hear Tomi put on the gloves and start to examine her abdomen, right where the sensation was the deepest.
"You said your mom had cervical cancer?"
"Yes," she groaned out.
"Hmm... I have to examine you further." Tomi proceeds to press on parts of her stomach, every time he does, this pressure mounts within her.
"Please make this stop. Please." Michonne was just gripping on the rail of the bed when this mighty compulsion to bear down came crashing on her. Her brain was denying it, but her body just wanted to give in. She reaches for Rick with an outstretched hand.
"I'm here baby," he tries to soothe her, wiping the film of perspiration that has formed on her forehead.
"Michonne, wait a sec. Let me get something."
The doctor paced across the room to get a hand-sized machine.
"You say it hurts but if you can describe how it feels?"
"Like… I have to push?! Am I shitting out organs?!" Michonne snapped.
"I'm gonna have to," Tomi motions for Michonne's gown to be lifted, asking for permission.
"Go, I don't care." Michonne groaned.
He glides the flat surface of a small wand across her slightly bloated abdomen and…
LUB DUB. LUB DUB. LUB DUB.
"Michonne, um no, it's not an organ coming out alright. But it is a baby."