You heard Carl yelling from down the prison while helping Hershel with one of his patients who had a high fever. You glanced at Hershel, who nodded at you to go see what the commotion was about. You ran out, seeing Carl and Michonne drag an almost unconscious Rick toward you.
"Put him on the bed," you instructed, trying to get a look at all of his wounds as you stepped into an empty cell. He looked pretty beaten up, but he's been through worse, you knew he was tough as nails. "What happened?" you asked, leaning Rick's head back slowly onto a pillow, grabbing a flashlight.
"There was a group of guys out there while he was on a run," Michonne explained, stepping away with Carl to give you more space. "Must've gotten him pretty bad."
"Is he gonna be okay?" Carl questioned in a panic, but you turned to him with a reassuring gaze.
"He'll be fine. But I need you to take Michonne out of here, okay? He needs some room to breathe. Can you do that?"
Carl glanced up at Michonne and then nodded, pulling her out of the cell. You looked back to Rick, who's eyes were slits. His face was covered in blood. You lifted off his shirt, noticing bruises and a deep gash around his ribcage.
"Follow my light," you said softly, and he did as he was told as you passed your flashlight back and forth across his eyes. "What's your name?" you asked.
"Rick Grimes," he muttered, holding in a cough.
"What's my name?" He smiled.
"As if I could forget you," he replied, swallowing the blood that was in his mouth.
"Think you can handle this, Y/N?" you turned to Hershel, who was standing on his crutches in the doorway. You nodded, telling him to go lay down. You knew he wouldn't, but he limped off, anyway, leaving you to stitch up Rick.
"Just when I began to think you were indestructible," you laughed, bringing out, first a wet wash cloth to gently remove the blood, and than a needle, thread, and bandages. He chuckled with you, ignoring the pain that had to be radiating from his sides.
"Well, everyone has to learn, sometime,"
You started with the cut on his ribs, knowing that would be the worst of all the wounds. He took it like a champ, as he usually did. You quickly covered it up and moved onto the cuts on his knuckles and face, before rubbing a soothing cream on his bruises and covering those, too.
"Done," you said quietly, noticing that Rick was starting to dose off.
"Thanks," he mumbled, a small grin spread on his lips. You got up slowly, watching him with admiration. You've always known how handsome he was, how brave. You thought fondly of him- actually, you were in love with him. But he didn't need to know that just yet.
Staring at him, the feelings rushed over you, and you made the decision to lean down and place a kiss on his hot forehead, smiling as you pulled away. Your lips instantly fell downward as you noticed his half opened eyes staring up at you, both amused and surprised.
"What was that for?" he whispered, smug little grin on his face. You cleared your throat, placing a piece of hair behind your red ear.
"Well, I just... I mean, I- I'm sorry-"
Before you could finish, Rick pulled you back down to him, pressing his lips against yours passionately. You were surprised he was able to move this much without showing the pain he must be feeling, but you loved this moment. You never wanted it to end.
You pulled away first, catching the look of bliss on his face as he watched yours intently.
"You should rest," you suggested, kissing the palm of his hand and laying it down on his chest. "I'll check in on you later."
"I'm looking forward to it," he replied, winking once before laying his head down to the pillow and closing his eyes. You exited the cell with a huge smile on your face, knowing you'd be thinking about this for the rest of the day.
