Didn't See That Coming | The Walking Dead(1)

Part 73 (The Clock Tower Collapse)

"It's okay, I can walk," CJ mumbled.

"Let us help you." Maggie came over and helped Michonne to hoist CJ off the ground. "Rick, you need to come too. Your hand is hurt," she added, noticing the blood all over his left hand.

Rick didn't say anything but looked down at the ground and nodded. He spared one last glance at the masses of walkers reaching through the gaps in the gate before following the others to the infirmary.

When they got to the infirmary, Denise, Alexandria's new doctor after Pete, got CJ to lie back on the bed so that she could stich up the wound. Michonne got CJ a bottle of water and made sure she was taken care of before heading over to talk to Rick in the corner of the room.

Denise gave CJ some medication to help with the pain and the drowsiness whilst she removed the shirt tied around CJ's shoulder and her vest, seeing that she was barely bleeding anymore. She used thick gauze pads to hold over the wound as she applied pressure to make the bleeding stop altogether.

Denise cleaned the wound and started to do the stiches, taking her time. She was a med student in the old world but had very little first-hand experience. She had a textbook open on the table beside her, which she kept checking to make sure she was doing everything correctly.

She had done her best to numb the area, but the skin around it had started to bruise. So, as Denise worked, CJ winced in pain a few times.

"Sorry," Denise kept repeating every time CJ reacted.

"Stop apologising, it's okay," CJ smiled softly. "It was a lot worse when it first happened, trust me."

Denise finished with the stiches and checked over her work before nodding to herself. "Okay. Now if you sit up, I'll look at the exit wound."

CJ's eyes squinted shut and a quiet groan escaped her as she sat up and turned so, she had her back to Denise. Now she was a bit more confident, Denise fixed up the wound on CJ's back fairly easily.

As Denise finished dressing both of the wounds, CJ's eyes landed on Rick. Michonne had cleaned up his hand and left to speak to the others. CJ noticed the look on his face when he glanced up at her for a second before looking down at the ground. He had this sheepish look in his eyes, almost like guilt.

"Okay, so just come back tomorrow and I'll change the dressing for you," Denise broke CJ from her thoughts. "Try not to move around too much, or the stiches may tear. If that does happen, or it starts hurting a lot, come straight over and I'll check it."

"Got it," CJ replied. "Thanks, Doc."

Denise smiled and took the tray of medical tools away to sterilise. CJ climbed of the bed, stumbling slightly as she stood up. Pretty much every muscle in her body ached from all the running she'd done that day. She picked up the plastic bag that held her blood-covered shirt and vest, planning on cleaning them later.

She headed over to the corner by the door and sat down across from Rick, whilst he kept his gaze on the floor in front of him as though he was avoiding her. "Rick," she began softly, reaching out to hold his hand. "Rick, will you look at me?"

After a moment of no response, Rick slowly looked up to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let you go out there by yourself."

CJ's eyebrows furrowed. "Nobody let me go, I just did it," she countered.

"You got hurt," he said. "None of us could reach you. Daryl wanted to circle back but I told him not to. From what I heard from Sasha and Abraham; he drove off for a while but went back to 'em."

"That's good," CJ replied, which left Rick slightly confused. "Half of the herd is outside that wall right now. If Daryl abandoned his job, the other half coulda' ended up here too."