A figure moved in to the doorway and I turned my body to see who it was.
"Hey, Rick..."
I quickly sat up and stood to my feet, staring between him and Carl.
Rick looked like shit. He was drenched in sweat and blood littered his hands, arms, and face.
He opened his mouth to speak, also pointing towards Carl and taking a step towards him, but he never said anything.
Michonne appeared behind him, pushing him gently in to the room. She juggled a sleeping Judith, a bottle of water, and a clean cloth in her arms, so I rushed over to help her.
Judith stirred a little when I took her, but then she rested her head against my shoulder, falling back to sleep.
Michonne guided Rick over to Carl's bed, pulling up a chair and pushing him down in to it, "Let's get you cleaned up."
She tipped the water bottle over the cloth, and then began wiping the blood away, starting at his hands and working her way up. Eventually, Rick took the cloth and began cleaning himself.
I gently cradled Judith in my arms, taking a few steps to join them by Carl's side, "He'll wake up."
Rick looked up at me, still unable to speak. He blinked a few times before shaking his head and returning his eyes to his son, "I don't know-"
"He will." Michonne nodded her head, sending me a small smile and resting a hand on Rick's shoulder, "We all know he will."
I felt like I had overstayed my welcome and that it was about time to give Rick some alone time with Carl. So, I pressed a soft kiss on to Carl's left cheek and quickly left the room, joining the group that had formed on Denise's front porch.
When I walked out, Eugene stood up from his seat in the rocking chair, allowing me to sit down in his place.
I readjusted my hold on Judith and then finally looked up, taking in the looks on everyone's faces.
A voice spoke out over the crowd, and if I'm being honest, I didn't catch who it belonged to, "How's he doing?"
"He still hasn't woken up. But Denise sewed him up, and stopped the bleeding..." I watched as everyone's faces remained the same, grave and confused.
"He'll be okay," I reassured, repeating it again and again in my head to try and convince myself that it was true.
Even if things didn't feel okay, we needed to pretend that they were or that they would be.
Michonne shuffled through the door moments later and I waved her over, "W-What happened?"
She exhaled deeply and crouched down beside me, "We were trapped in the Anderson's house, Deanna had been bit and the house was surrounded. Ron and Carl, they were locked in the garage for a bit. I-I don't know what went on in there but they broke through the glass door, which attracted more walkers. We had no other options so we took a few of the walkers upstairs, chopped them up and covered ourselves with their insides."
I made a face and she smiled slightly, "Disgusting, I know. But it masked our smell, helped us walk through the herd. We had to leave Deanna behind and we had Judith. It was Rick, Carl, Ron, Sam, Jessie, Father Gabriel, Judith, and I. We took it slow but they caught on to us somehow... Sam went down first, then Jessie. She was holding on to Carl's hand, dragging him down with her, so Rick..." She lowered her head and a shiver took over her body as she remembered the events that happened only hours before, "H-He chopped it. And Ron had a gun, pointed it at Rick so I did what I had to do."
I was crying at this point, my entire body shaking with every sob.
It was moments like this where it really hit me; how messed up this world had become. I was angry at Ron for being such a shit, and I was sad that his actions led to his death, because I cared for him and he was a good friend.
I was sad that Carl got hurt and I was scared of what his injury will do to him mentally and emotionally. He was just a kid, forced to grow up too soon, and I felt bad for him.
The day he and I went over the wall together, after Noah's death. When we were out in the woods and it was pouring rain, he asked me, "It never stops, does it?"
I was sure of my answer then, but I'm even more sure of it now.
This group never gets a break.
Rick shuffled through the front door, the bloody cloth still in his hand and a small smile on his lips. He closed the door behind him and turned to face everyone else, and when I caught his attention, I looked at him expectantly, "Well?"
"He's awake."
I hopped out of the rocking chair and practically sprinted for the front door, holding Judith tight against my chest, but Rick stopped me before I could even reach for the handle, "I'll take her."
"I think he'll want to see his little sister."
"I think he just wants to see you."
I blinked a few times and then turned away to hide the blush that quickly rushed to my cheeks, resulting in a roar of laughter from the entire group.
Judith was awake now and reaching for Rick, so I passed her over to him.
He lifted her up so that she was eye level with him and then planted a tender kiss to the top of her head, "Hey, sweetheart. Hey..."
Rick looked at me and then at the front door, "Aren't you going to go in?"
I nodded, "Yeah, it's just- I told you he'd be okay."
He breathed a laugh but nodded his head, wrapping his arm loosely around my waist and bringing me in to a side hug, "You did, and you were right. Now go."
I let myself in to Denise's home and walked past her and in to the spare bedroom.
Carl laid exactly the way I had left him but now, his good eye was wide open.
"Look who it is."
"What?" I giggled, tiptoeing over to him and climbing in to the bed.
"You disappeared right before shit happened, it's like you have a sixth sense."
I slipped under the covers and turned on my side, resting my head on my arm so that I could get a good look at him, "I found Glenn."
He smiled slightly, "Y-You did?"
"Mhm, brought him back, just in time to see the shit go down."
We laughed together and then things grew quiet, except for the low voices coming from the group outside.
"I was worried about you."
"You didn't have to be. I can take care of myself."
"I thought I'd never see you again."
"I'm here now."
Carl sighed and nodded his head, also craning his neck to look at me, "I'm glad you're here."