'𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺. - 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘭 "𝘫𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴" 𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘢.

'𝘵𝘦𝘯.

vi leaned herself against her boyfriend who looked down at her in disbelief. she was shot? she went beyond the walls? she lied?

-

getting the bullet out of genevieve was painful. there was nothing they could use to sedate her. her screams were deafening, and paul did his very best to hold her down. he was beneath her, her face burried into his chest as he held her. genevieve lay be. enid was shaky, but she was doing her best with how much genevieve was wriggling around.

carl had taken the liberty to watch over clementine while her parents were busy. 

after a while of digging around in her meaty flesh, the redhead passed out from pain. it made it so much easier for enid to get the bullet out, as well as it's fragments.

it didn't take her too long, until her forceps clamped down on the final piece of the metal bullet.

paul let out a breath of relief, and rubbed gently at her upper back. his head leaned back against the wall. 

enid began sewing up the wound, being as quick and careful as possible incase she woke up soon.

"she'll be fine." the brunette broke the silence. paul ran his fingers through vi's long, thick, fiery hair as he stared out into space.

"i know." he muttered, sucking his bottom lip in between his teeth. "she didn't tell me she was going out there." 

"jesus-"

"no, enid. she lied to me. clem could have gotten hurt." he interrupted, his eyebrows knitted tightly together.

"you don't get it, do you?" she set the bloodied gauze into the trash bin, and rested her hands on her hips. "she's traumatized. what she had to go through is something you will never understand. you're not the one who can't get sleep. this is her way of coping, and you have to respect that, as her boyfriend. nobody could have known she was going to get shot." she seethed, taking up for the unconscious female on the rickety hospital bed. "you do not get to tell her how to handle her feelings."

paul stayed silent, his eyes wandering everywhere in the small trailer. they failed to land on enid.

"get me if she wakes up." she angrily stated, before exiting the infirmary.

-

it'd been a few hours since the removal of the bullet. paul had gotten out from underneath his girlfriend, and currently resided in the chair beside the bed, their baby in his arms. clem had his hair in her tight grip, playing with it. he didn't seemed to mind too much though, his eyes boring into the almost lifeless face of his lover.

he only came out of his trance when her pale face started to scrunch, and a small grunt came from her throat as she tried to push herself up. she was resting on her stomach, as precaution. once paul realized she was awake, he jolted up, cradling clementine in one arm.

"vi.. hey, calm down." he whispered, his free hand carefully wrapping around her to help up sit up. she let out a few shaky breaths, random parts of her body aching, and some being numb.

"stay right here, okay? i just need to get enid-" he looked at her one more time, before heading over and ripping the front door open. he screamed out for the doctor, which made genevieve's head ache.

the teen quickly dashed into the infirmary, and gave the young adult a huge smile. she grabbed a bottle from the shelf, and dumped a few pain killers into her hand. 

"good morning, sunshine. these should help with pain." enid boasted, pouring some water into a small cup, before handing them both off to the ginger, who eagerly took the pills then chugged the water with fervor. 

genevieve handed the cup back to her doctor, who got up to clean it out.

"i wanna keep her here until the morning," enid turned to face the couple, as paul strode back over to sit in his seat, adjusting clementine in his grip. "just to make sure. she lost a lot of blood. i'll periodically check back in- but if anything happens, come and get me." paul nodded, and just as quick as she came, enid was off.

genevieve lay on her side this time, pulling the blanket over her aching body. she adjusted her head on the flat pillow, her eyes boring onto her boyfriend's still body.

paul was quiet. unusually quiet. he always had something to say, so it made her curious.

"come lay with me," she muttered, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "please?"

without a word, the man with his baby moved into the bed beside his lover. she was immediately cuddled into his side, her pale, cold face burying itself into his neck. his arm slowly draped across genevieve, still angry at her about earlier.

"talk to me." vi asserted, her fingers rubbing at the opposite side of which she lay.

"about what?" he asked, a tone to his voice that the ginger couldn't quite figure out.

"why're you so quiet?" 

"why did you lie?" he fired back, clearly agitated.

genevieve's heart sunk. she didn't really lie. she planned on being in the library today. she just left the part out where she would travel beyond hilltop's safety.

"i'm sorry.. i just-" she gripped at his shirt, her throat tightening.

"you just what, genevieve?"paul sat up, moving to sit in the chair again. that made genevieve's heart burst. 

"that's the only way i can get it out, paul." she croaked, thick tears seeping from her red eyes. he temples tightened, the feeling she probably hated most in the world- the feeling before a breakdown. "it eat away at me from the inside-  it burns." she whined, sucking in a deep breath as more of the hot, alligator tears fell from her eyes.

"clementine could have gotten hurt, even worse- killed. you were selfish." he seethed, his words breaking his own heart. "you could have died, and then she wouldn't have a mother."

"i'm trying my best!" her words flooded desperately from her mouth, in an attempt to reason with him. "i can still feel his touch, i can feel him. he's always there- watching, taunting- i can hear him at night. i'm terrified, paul.. please." she pleaded, her brown, puffy eyes meeting his blue ones.

he realized; genevieve wasn't being selfish. he was.

he took a moment, watching as her body trembled with each gasp she took. his grip on their baby tightened, and he let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding onto.

"i'm sorry.." he whispered, his heart aching. he was so rude. "genevieve, i'm so sorry-"

"it's fine, i just- i need you to understand." she spoke, her fingers running over the scars around her wrists, from the rope that bound her to the uncomfortable bed.

"i know, my love. i'm trying." he tucked some of her hair behind her ear, before leaning in to press a chaste kiss to her temple.

"i love you." the ginger whispered, laying her head over onto his shoulder.

"i love you too, vi." he muttered back, a smile on his face.

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i wasn't gonna post until tomorrow, but here