04 • meet the wife

THE WALKING DEAD- a rick grimes fanfic story - EDITED: 4/7/24

GREENE FARM 📍

season 2, episode 2part 3

   I sat on a wooden chair with a book in my hand. I would say that I've been sitting here next to Carl reading for a few hours, a few hours, and still no sight of Otis or Shane.

No one had really checked on me since I stormed out of the room and in here. Of course, they checked up on Carl, but no one said a word to me, knowing I was upset.

Maggie came in here a few minutes after to let me know she'd be heading out on a horse to track down Rick's wife, I didn't reply, only staring at Carl. She sighed and left without another word.

I felt bad that I was upset with everyone, I shouldn't be upset with them wanting to protect me from the outside, they all knew the way I'd react. But I don't want to seem weak anymore, after what I saw I deserve to be the one who handles those creatures outside.

I continue to read the book in my hands, that is until I hear a small grunt from the bed beside me. The book quickly drops from my view as I snap my head towards the noise. I watch as Carl moves slowly, his eyes fluttering open.

"Dad? Dad?" Carl cries out, his voice cracking due to the screaming and crying he did earlier and probably because his throat was dry from no water. I quickly move, grabbing a glass of water I had just in case.

"Hey, Hey, Hey," I whispered, trying to comfort the young boy. He tilts his head over to look at me, his face only filled with confusion as he takes a long look at me.

"Who—Who are you?" Carl asks, I slowly hand him the glass of water which he greatly takes and steals a few sips from it.

"I'm Nola, me and my uncle Hershel have been helpin' you. Do you remember what happened?" I ask him softly, I place my hand on his wrist, feeling for his pulse which was steady and strong. I then take the back of my hand feeling for a fever, which at this time I don't feel.

"I was in the forest, looking for my friend, Sophia," He explains, I furrow my eyebrows as I listen to him, I never really heard of what they were doing while in the woods but I continue to listen carefully. "I was with my dad, and Shane, then there was a deer. Then... I remember feeling pain and falling, and then now I'm here." Carl explains, I nod my head.

"You were shot, but thankfully you're going to be okay," I whisper to the boy, I know it isn't my place to tell him he's going to be okay, to give false hope, but he is a child. The longer Shane and Otis are out looking for the supplies, the longer Carl is at risk.

"Do you know where my dad is? My mom? Shane?" Carl asks with sad eyes, I sigh and lean back in my seat.

"Well, your dad is resting right now, he just gave you a lot of blood, Shane is out... helping to find stuff, and uh your momma should be here any moment now." I carefully say, Carl stares at me for a moment before nodding. We both sit in comfortable silence, he stares at the ceiling in thought while I stare at him.

"So uh, tell me about your friend, Sophia," I say, Carl turns and looks over at me, a smile on his face.

"She's my best friend, I've only known her for a month maybe two, but we hang out all the time, we kinda live together," Carl explains, "She's really nice, she's smart.  She- she ran off after a walker tried to attack her, my dad chased after her but he lost her and we've all been out looking for her. I miss her." His smile falters as he explains what happened, and I frown in understanding. Although I do notice how he calls the dead, "walkers" finding it way better than calling them "creatures".

"I understand how you feel," I whisper to him, Carl scoffs, obviously letting his emotions get the best of him, as well as his physical pain.

 "How do you understand how I feel?" He murmured out rudely, my body relaxed as I sat back in my seat. I pursed my lips and sighed, I looked up to see Carl's confused face.

"Well," I sighed, "I grew up with an older brother, he was a few years older than me. He was my best friend," I smile as I talk, remembering all the good memories between me and my brother. "We'd do everything together, we went huntin' together, drove together, everythin'. We were inseparable until he moved out, then I moved out... He met a girl and fell in love, got married."

Carl watched me with soft eyes as I talked about my sweet older brother, the smile on my face never faltering.  "What's his name?" Carl asks me, I clench my jaw and blink my tears away. I quietly clear my throat, looking up into Carl's curious blue eyes, the same eyes as his father's.

"His name was Myles," I tell him quietly, I watch as Carl's eyes soften in pity, pity I've seen for a year straight. The same pity I got when I came back from Atlanta a few weeks ago, the same pity when I told my parents the reason I was moving back to Alexander City, the same pity that I have in my eyes when I look in the mirror at myself.

"Was? What happened to him?" Carl questions me, I breathe out deeply shaking my head before replying, "That's a conversation for another day," I replied, "But, my point is that I also lost someone, and it may be different but you aren't alone, and we will find Sophia."

Carl smiles at me, an appreciative smile. I return the smile, softly patting his arm before standing to my feet. "You should get more sleep, your mom will be here soon," I tell Carl affirmatively, knowing that Maggie and Lori would be here any moment. Carl nods at me, slowly closing his eyes to get more rest. I turn around towards the door, slowly walking out.

"Nola?"

I turn around, looking back at young Carl, his tired eyes looking at me. I let out a small hum, letting him know I heard him, he softly sighs out, licking his lips.

"Do sometimes feel like you lost a part of yourself? When you lost Myles?" Carl asks carefully, and I feel my heart drop at the question, does Carl feel like he's lost without Sophia? I process his words, staring down at the floor as I think of a proper response without breaking down.

"Yeah, he was my other half. I'm not the same anymore, not without him." I admitted with a whisper,  I didn't think today would be the day I opened up to someone, especially to a 12-year-old kid. Carl nods, sighs, licking his lips again, and blinking his eyes slowly, obviously very tired.

"Do you miss him?"

My eyes sprinkle with hot tears, I force a smile as I force myself to hold my tears in. With this question he asks I don't even have to think. I already know the answer and it's on the tip of my tongue, but I know as soon as I open my mouth to reply it'll only be cries that escape.

"All the time." The words sputter out quickly, almost unheard. Tears escape my eyes, flowing nonstop as memories of Myles flash through my mind.

"I bet he misses you too, wherever he is," Carl whispers, his eyes drooping as he's close to sleep. I let out a stiffened laugh, wiping away my tears. 

I don't have the energy to reply, having no words to say, and I don't have to say anything when Carl is in a deep sleep again. I let out another shaky breath, a few tears leaking from my eyes, I turned away from him, walking out the door and softly closing it behind me.

As the door closes I tightly close my eyes, feeling a few tears drop before I crumble into soft sobs. I quickly walk away from the door, my legs carry me to the room across, I shakily sit in a chair, leaning my elbows on my knees and placing my hands over my eyes, softly crying into them.

It had been so long since I last talked about Myles, that I had mostly forced myself to heal from it, to forget about it, I had never truly had a real conversation about him or talked about him. 

But deep down I knew I needed to start trying to talk about it, even if it's painful, even if it's hard, it's something I need to do to make me stronger, to help me move on.

I removed my hands from my eyes, leaning back in the chair and breathing deeply, letting out small sniffles and letting a few more tears fall. 

Suddenly, I hear the screen door slam open and multiple footsteps quickly walking through the house, I swiftly wipe my tears away but I already know my cheeks and eyes were red from the aggressive crying I just did. I stand to my feet, shaking out my arms and letting out a deep breath.

Rick is the first person I see walk in the room, followed by a woman who was unfamiliar to me, but she was beautiful. 

The woman had long brown wavy hair, her bangs overgrown and swooped to the side, she had soft hazel eyes, a crease in between her eyebrows, giving me the strong impression that she was worried. Due to her facial expression, I know that this is Carl's mom— Rick's wife.

Both of them halted their steps when they saw me, both looking at each other. Rick takes a step forward, his eyebrows lightly furrowed as he searches my face.

"Lia? What-What's wrong? Carl? Is Carl okay?" Rick asked, obviously distressed by my saddened look. I shake my head as Rick rambles on, his voice cracking.

"Rick—Rick," I repeat, my voice cracks and Rick's own eyes prick with tears at my tone. I place my hands on his shoulders, looking deeply into his eyes.

"Rick," I breathe out, "Carl— he is fine. I'm sorry if I worried you, it's just—" I look in between the couple, Lori staring at me like I was crazy— which I can't truly blame her, I continue, "— It's not important. What's important is that Carl is okay, I was just in there and he was awake for a few minutes, he talked, he drank water—"

"Wait— Carl, he's awake?" Rick breathed, his eyes rapidly moving searching my face more for answers. Lori grabs Rick's arm, wrapping her arm around his. I watch the action being done, lowering my gaze to the floor.

"Was. He just fell back asleep, I'm sorry." I tell him, Rick shakes his head, bringing his hand to his forehead and rubbing it.

"It's fine, uh, Lori and I are gonna go see him," Rick mumbled out, walking past me in a flash. I quickly turned to walk with them, ignoring the fact I was a little hurt by him brushing past me so quickly.

I pause my thoughts, I have no reason to be upset that he doesn't want to talk to me, I don't know him, he doesn't know me, and nothing about our relationship (if it can even be called that) is personal or deep, we had just met a few hours ago and I feel like he owes me something? I shake my head, angry with myself for thinking this way.

Although I had known Rick for only a couple of hours, my brain had known him for two months due to the nonstop dreams. 

I hated the fact that I felt so connected to him, that my mind was forcing me to grow more connected the more we spoke, the more he looked at me, even if I stood in the same room as him.

I forced myself to snap out of my thoughts, I continued to follow the distraught couple into the room Carl was in. They slowly open the door, and Lori stands in the door frame. She brought her hand to her chest, her face crumbled into tears as she laid her eyes on her son. 

Lori moved quickly to Carl, her hands shaking as she ran her hand through his hair. Lori slowly crouches down, leaning her head next to Carl's, staring at his pale, clammy face.

"My baby boy, My baby boy," Lori cries out in a whisper, "It's okay, Mama's here. Mama's here. You're gonna be okay, You're gonna be okay. We're gonna make you okay." 

I watched as Rick moved away from the foot of the bed, making his way towards Lori and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder as she cried. I take this as my queue to walk out, turning to look at the beautiful, reunited family before stepping out of the room.

•••

     For the last 25 minutes I had been laid up in my room, I was sat on the floor, my back against my bed as I held my book in my hands.

My reading falters once I hear a knock on my door, I place my book down, "Come in." I yell out, I hear my door open, and I come face to face with Maggie.

I let out a sigh running my hand through my black hair, my tired blue eyes land on her green ones. She leans against the door frame, looking down at me with a small smile.

"Carl needs more blood, and Lori wants to meet you, again." Maggie jokes, I let out a chuckle, slowly standing to my feet with a groan. 

"I needa wash my hands first, get everything laid out for me, won't ya?" I ask Maggie politely with a playful pout, Maggie lets out a scoff while jokingly rolling her eyes. 

"Yesss." Maggie drags out, turning and grinning brightly.

I watch Maggie as she runs down the stairs, I stretch my body, making my way to the bathroom. As I walk into the bathroom I shut the door behind me, I let out a long sigh, I put my hands on the sink and lean against it, I stare at myself in the mirror. 

I think to myself, did Lori say she wants to meet me? I know the last time I saw her she was in pure shock from the news of her only child, and I wasn't exactly the best host.

I turn the sink on, watching the water drain.  I place my hands underneath the warm water, washing my hands roughly to make sure the germs are gone. I grab a block of soap, rubbing it on my hands and forearms. 

I washed my hands for about 2-3 minutes, finishing up and wiping them dry. I look up in the mirror once more, looking at my face, I practice a few smiles to myself before opening the bathroom door and making my way downstairs.

Once I make it to the bedroom I walk and see both Lori, who is sitting on the bed next to Carl, Rick who is sitting in the left chair next to Carl, Hershel who is sitting to the right of Carl while listening to his heartbeat and then Patricia and Maggie who are both grabbing equipment for another blood transfusion.

Rick glanced up, both our blue eyes looking at each other. I offer Rick a friendly smile, taking the blue plastic gloves from Maggie's hands.

Maggie softly nudges me, I look up at her confused, only to see her smirk and quirk her eyebrows again. I scoff, "Quit." I harshly whisper in her direction before making my way towards Rick.

I grab onto Rick's upper arm, slowly inserting the needle, watching as his blood trickles down the plastic tube and flows into Carl. I double-check to make sure everything is correct before I slowly step away from Rick and remove the gloves.

I notice Rick looking in my direction as I throw my gloves away, my eyes quickly look over in his direction and my thoughts are confirmed when I see him looking at me. I move my eyes and turn my body around, walking over to where Hershel sits.

"How's his heartbeat?" I ask him quietly, he turns his head to take notice of me, then quickly turns back.

"Strong, Steady. Not gonna last long if Otis and Shane don't arrive soon, I'll have to perform without the respirator, I'm not sure if it'll go well." Hershel mumbled in my direction, I ran my hand over my head in anxiety. 

"But," Hershel begins again, I look down, leaning against the wall as Hershel speaks to me, "I want you by my side the whole time, no matter what happens." Hershel offered, I sent Hershel an appreciative smile nodding my head and mouthing a small "Thank You".

"Um, I'm sorry," My head turns as I hear a voice, I look to my left to see Lori standing in front of me, Her hands fidgeting as she has them loosely clasped together. 

"We haven't formally met, but my name is Lori, I'm Rick's wife— Carl's Mom— and— I heard how you've also been helping my boy... And I just wanna thank you. Really, thank you." I look into Lori's deep hazel eyes, seeing as tears prick up in them. I send Lori a smile, I bring my hand to hers and squeeze it.

"It's nothing, I love to help," I assured, "And my name is Magnolia, but you can call me Nola, Mags, Lia, whichever you prefer." I offer Lori a big grin, and she returns it. 

As I continue to hold Lori's hand and look into her eyes, all I feel is guilt. I feel guilty due to the fact that I've been having random dreams about her husband, that I've been giving him certain looks, blushing and smiling like a middle school girl whenever he looks or talks to me. 

I feel guilty about everything, especially since I just met them all today. Hopefully, once Carl is healed up and they leave I'll forget all about the Sheriff.

•••

I was sitting in the kitchen with Maggie once again, both sitting in comfortable silence with each other even as Lori and Rick walked in, Lori was helping Rick walk, her arm wrapped around his. Hershel walks into the room, quickly pouring out a glass of orange juice before handing it to Rick who gladly takes it.

Maggie stands up, excusing herself from the table. Hershel, Lori, and Rick all sit down at the table beside me. I lean back in my chair, making sure to be able to see all three of them.

"Okay," Lori starts carefully, looking at everyone, "So I understand when Shane gets back with this other man—"

"Otis." I disclosed, Lori rolled her eyes and scoffed before continuing, "Otis. The idiot who shot my son."

I look up at her, clenching my jaw and letting out a false laugh. Everyone looks over at me, Hershel sighing, Lori glares at me, Rick sipping on his orange juice as he glances between me and Lori.

"You're acting as if he did it on purpose," I murmured under my breath, knowing Lori was still able to hear me. She sits up straight in her seat, facing her body towards me and leaning in to reply but Hershel's loud voices distract her.

"Ma'am, it was an accident," Hershel assures her, Lori is quick to reply while sending me a look.

 "I'll take that under advisement later. For now," Lori looks over at me, leaning towards me and I purposely lean forward as well, looking into her eyes as she continues to talk, "he's the idiot that shot our son."

Rick swiftly grabs his wife's hand, distracting her from the growing tension. I slowly lean back in my chair again, unclenching my jaw and taking deep even breaths. 

I understand that Lori is hurting, I mean for God's sake her son was shot, but that doesn't give her the right to call Otis an idiot when she doesn't know anything about Otis— hasn't even met him. I was pissed off, deeply, I don't take it lightly when someone talks badly about my family. But it also wasn't just the fact that Lori was being rude about Otis in general, it was the way she very clearly mocked me, purposely trying to get me riled up.

"Lori," I look up as I hear Rick's soft voice, his eyes on his wife, "they're doing everything they can to make it right," Rick explains, Lori shakes her head, moving her eyes from her husband's and looking back at Hershel.

"Okay, as soon as they get back you can perform this surgery?" Lori asks, looking between both of me and Hershel. Hershel nods his head in agreement.

"I—" He stops, and looks over at me, "We'll do our best," Hershel says, I smile in gratitude.

"Okay... I-I mean you've both done this procedure before?" Lori asks us, her eyes looking between the both of us, as well as Rick's. Hershel and I looked at each other, I knew they would ask this question, and I was fearing it.

"Well, yes... In a sense." Hershel replied, I cleared my throat as anxiety began to fill my body. I look down at my hands, they fidget around, my fingers plucking skin around my nails.

"Lia?" I look up at Rick, hearing him call my name. I feel my chest ache as I look at him, his eyes soft, "Have you done this procedure before?" He asks me, I look over at Hershel and Hershel only lowers his head.

"Y-Yes. Uh, kind of." I stuttered out, I brought my hand to scratch the back of my neck. Lori and Rick look at each other worriedly, both of them lean towards me and Hershel in confusion.

"What—What do you mean in a sense? or kind of?" Lori asks with a scoff, Hershel and I continue to sit in silence.

"Lori, c'mon we don't have the luxury of shopping for a surgeon." Rick spits out angrily, he is obviously frustrated and tired.

"I understand that. But, I mean... You guys are doctors... Right?" Lori asks us, I sigh out, making another glace as Hershel sees his head perked up.

"Yes. ma'am. Of course, a vet." Hershel quietly says, I take a deep breath, looking at Lori and Rick, seeing their faces contort in confusion.

"A veteran— A combat medic?" Lori asks, trying to grasp onto anything to make sure we aren't what she thinks. I shake my head before replying deciding to be clear, "A veterinarian."

I watch as both of their jaws drop, Rick looks like he's close to passing out, and Lori probably trying to hold herself back from ripping my head off.

"Both of you are?" Rick asks to confirm, I only nod my head, watching as he blinks his eyes quickly, leaning back in his chair.

"And— And you've done this procedure before on what? On Cows, Pigs?" Lori laughs out, I harshly bite my tongue as I hold in the urge to scream my head off. Rick takes another long sip of his orange juice, bringing his hands to his head.

"Completely in over your head, aren't y'all?" Lori mumbled into her hands, I finally stood to my feet, getting tired of talking.

"Ma'am, aren't we all?" Hershel asks calmly, Lori shakes her head, also standing up and walking past me.

I look over at Rick to see his head still in his hands, I walk over to him, "Rick," My voice comes out hoarse, he looks up at me, and I can tell his eyes are filled with worry. 

"I promise you I'll do everything I can to make sure Carl is safe. Really, I promise." I whispered loudly to Rick, his eyes softened, and he nodded. I lightly pat his shoulder, giving him one last glance before walking out.

As I walk out of the kitchen I look to my left, making direct eye contact with Lori, her eyes glaring at my every move. I roll my eyes, clenching my jaw and cursing her out in my head.

Well. I met the wife.

—

WORD COUNT: 4100+

wowwww another long one

probably 1-2 more and then we can finally move on from the surgery and with carls injury, i know im writing a lot about it but i want to make sure i get as much information in as possible.

please comment any advice or issues you have

tpwk

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