It Comes With The Name

Chapter 11: Bloodletting

Lauren was an anxious mess the entire car ride to the farm. When they finally approached, she hurried out of the car and helped T-dog out as well. They slowly approached the porch of a charming little farmhouse. Noticing a few drops of blood on the stairs, Lauren's heart rate spiked.

"So do we ring the bell?" Glenn asked hesitantly. "I mean it looks like people live here."

"What if he's not okay?" Lauren worried aloud. "What if something happened before we could get here, what if-"

"Are you Lauren?" A young woman's voice said. Emerging from the shadows on a rocking chair, sat the girl who had taken Lori earlier.

Lauren nodded nervously.

"First door on your left." She nodded her head towards the door.

"Thank you." Lauren said before hurrying inside, leaving Glenn and T-dog with the girl.

Lori's head shot up when she heard the door of the guest room open. She was anxiously waiting for Shane and Otis to return. Instead, she found her sister-in-law standing in the now open doorway, eyes wide with worry.

"He's okay?" She looked at Carl nervously.

Lori sighed "He's alive."

Lauren let out the breath she had been holding before hurrying over and giving Lori a tight hug. Lauren then glanced over to Rick who was currently asleep in a wooden chair beside Carl's bed.

"He's so pale." Lauren lamented, looking down at her nephew unconscious on the bed in front of her.

"He needs more blood."

Lauren jumped at the unfamiliar voice. An old man with thinning white hair stood at the doorway. She presumed this to be the homeowner.

"Lauren, I presume?"

Lori gestured to the man. "This is Hershel. He and his family are the ones that saved Carl."

"Well, we're trying." Hershel let out a sigh. "But He needs more blood if we're gonna wait for that respirator. And I can't take any more out of Rick, he's given too much."

Lauren glanced over at her brother slumped over in his chair and then once again at Carl.

"He's A positive right?" She asked. Lori nodded.

Rolling up her sleeve, Lauren stuck her arm out to the man. "Take mine."

Once Hershel finished drawing her blood, he instructed Lauren to head to the kitchen and ask Maggie, his daughter, for something to eat in order to keep her blood sugar up. Upon entering the kitchen, she found T-dog. He was sitting at the table with his eyes squeezed shut as an older blonde woman was fixing up his arm.

Lauren walked into the room and placed herself next to Glenn. Maggie noticed her walk in from the other side of the kitchen.

"Let me get you something to eat." She said and opened a few cupboards.

"I'd say you got here just in time. This couldn't have gone untreated much longer." The older woman said as she looked at T-dogs' wounds. "Whoever wrapped this did a damn good job though. Managed to keep it from getting infected yet."

"Thanks, Lauren." T-dog smiled weakly at her.

The woman turned to Lauren. "You did this?"

"Lauren is basically the closest thing we have to a doctor." Glenn said.

Lauren laughed awkwardly and shook her head. "I really am not that good. I was in veterinary school when the virus broke out." She explained. "I did what I could but these two have grossly overestimated my skills."

The woman nodded before returning her focus to T-dog's arm. "Well, I'd say you just about saved his life." She said, before picking up the pill bottle. "You and 'Merle Dixon.' Is that your friend with the antibiotics?"

"No, ma'am. Merle's no longer with us." Glenn explained. "Daryl gave us those -his brother."

"Wouldn't exactly call him a friend." T-dog winced as she worked the needle through his arm.

"He was today. This doxycycline might've just saved your life. Do me a favor and come hold his arm steady?" The woman requested as she focused on her work. Lauren obliged, moving around the table and holding T-dog's arm down. "You know what Merle was taking it for?"

"The clap." Glenn responded. Lauren shot him a look and he quickly tried to correct himself. "Uh- Venereal Disease... That's what Daryl said."

Lauren heard a stifled laugh come from Maggie, who was finishing up Lauren's food, and Lauren couldn't stop an amused smirk from appearing on her face. And it turned into a small laugh when she heard the older woman respond.

"I'd say Merle Dixon's clap was the best thing that ever happened to you."

The waiting felt like torture. After eating, Lauren returned to Carl's room where Rick filled her in on the whole situation. Shane had gone off to the nearby high school with Otis, the man who had accidentally shot Carl. They were looking for the respirator that was needed to perform the surgery on Carl.

"They left hours ago. They should be back by now." Lori paced the room worriedly.

"I'm sure they'll be back any minute." Lauren did her best to comfort her sister-in-law from the floor where she was sitting, but even Lauren was getting worried. If the men had left before she had gotten there then that means they had been gone for at least a few hours.

Rick nodded unconvincingly. "It's Shane. You know he'll get it done."

Lauren felt her stomach twist with guilt. She had barely spoken to Shane in the past two days, and when she had it had just been her berating him for wanting to leave. Yes, she was angry at him. But with him out risking his life for this respirator now, she was terrified that that may have been their last conversation.

Hershel snapped Lauren out of her thoughts when he came in to check Carl's vitals. Lori stopped her pacing and stood beside Rick, he held her tightly. Lauren stayed where she was on the floor, trying to read the old man's facial expressions.

"He's still losing blood faster than we can replace it." Hershel sighed.

Lauren quickly stood up, extending her arm. "So take more."

Hershel shook his head. "No. With the swelling in his abdomen, we can't wait any longer. Or he's just going to slip away."

"So what are you saying? You're saying we do it without the respirator, I thought that wouldn't work?" Lauren asked worriedly.

"It's highly unlikely. But it seems to be our only choice." Hershel then turned to Rick and Lori. "Now I need to know right now if you want me to do this because I think your boy is out of time." The room was silent as they all tried to process Hershel's words. "You have to make a choice."

"A choice? " Lori said angrily.

"A choice..." Rick said quietly, turning to his wife. "You have to tell me what it is."

Lori looked between Rick and her son. She looked terrified but finally nodded. "We do it."

They jumped into action. Patricia wheeled in a rolling metal table and Hershel began giving orders.

"Lift the sheet and get him on the table." They did as Hershel instructed and Patricia brought in a light, wet towels, and a tray of surgical tools.

Patricia looked at Lauren. "You know how to stick an IV?" Lauren nodded and the older woman handed her the IV bag.

"Lauren, stay here we'll need your help." Hershel picked up a scalpel and looked at Carl. "Rick, Lori, you may want to step out for this."

The sound of a vehicle approaching stopped everyone in their tracks. Lauren moved the curtain to see an old truck pulling up to the house. "It's Shane!"