༘ ⊹ ࣪ ˖𐙚❙ 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓. the walking dead₁

𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢. 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝

"You're losing to a five-year-old!" Mason called out, his hands cupped around his mouth.

"He's fast!" She shouted back, making the three adults laugh as she and the kid ran in a circle around them. Carl laughed like he was having the time of his life and Charlie smiled at the sound, her greatest joy in life was making that kid laugh. "Okay." She panted. "You win. You win." She doubled over, her hands on her knees as she tried to caught her breath and Carl cheered before running to his mom to tell her that he had beat Charlie and that he was the fastest kid in the world.

Charlie gasped as she sat up, her eyes wide as she looked around the room. She pushed herself up, winching in pain, she was confused. She wasn't sure where she was or what really happened. She jumped when the door opened, she pushed herself to the far side of the bed.

"You're awake." She sighed a little when she saw Shane, he let out a breath as he neared the bed. "How you feelin'?"

"Where-Where are we? Where's Carl? How's Carl?"

"Charlie, you where shot-"

"I don't give a damn. Where's Ca-" She pushed herself up, letting out a yelp when she put too much weight on her arm – her shoulder throbbed and she stumbled back onto the mattress.

"Hey, slow up." He made her sit on the bed again. "You got shot. You're gonna be in a lot of pain for a few days. You need to take it easy."

"Not until I know he's okay." She shoved him back, keeping her left arm pressed to her chest so she didn't move her shoulder too much. "I need to see him. I need to know that Carl's fine."

"He's okay."

"Why are you lying?"

"Charlie-"

"Tell me the truth." Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at him, fearing the worst. Her hands shook as she chewed in her bottom lip. "Is he-"

"He's alive." He nodded. "He's stable, for now."

"He has to be okay." She sobbed. "He has to be." She moved her hand up to her mouth – she noticed a slight pinch but she didn't pay much attention to it as she pushed herself up, looking up at her brother. "Can I see him? Please?"

"Yeah." He nodded, wrapping his arm around her waist and leading her down a short hall until they got to a room and she let out a soft whimper when she saw the kid laying in the bed – the sheet pulled up to his stomach. He looked pale, too pale. She pulled away from Shane and rounded the bed, she leaned over and kissed his forehead.

"You gotta be okay, kid." She mumbled. "You just gotta be okay." Shane watched the way her hand shook and her lip quivered, it was similar to the reaction she'd had when he had told her that Rick had been shot. He knew that they were more than just friends to her, they were family. They were the only family she ever really knew.

"Hey, Charlie." Shane got her attention as she sat in the chair next to the boy's bed. "I gotta head out, need to get a few things so they can do the surgery on Carl – get the rest of the bullet fragments out. You gonna be okay without me for a little bit?"

"Yeah." She nodded, her voice weak. "Yeah, I'll be alright." She told him as she stood up and made her way over to him. "I'm still mad at you, what you did at the C.D.C is unforgivable, but be careful. I can't lose you."

"I promise." He nodded, holding out his pinkie and she smiled a little as she wrapped her pinkie around his. "Take it easy, okay?"

"Sure thing, Bubba." She nodded and he pulled his pinkie from hers before pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her, he kissed the top of her head as she smiled a little, but she winced when he squeezed too hard.