dromomania |carl grimes|

17

COMPROMISE

I woke up in a bed that was stained with what I hope is my blood. I let out a harsh breath as I try to sit up, in an instant Sainte is by my side.

She gives me a friendly smile, she brushes back my bangs out of my face. Her touch is so kind, she is the epidemy of kindness. Rowan jumps up from the chair he was in, "Alora! I missed you! How are you feeling?" The door opens and more people come in. Rick and Michonne stood near the doorway.

"I'm okay, Rowan."

Suddenly this was feeling a lot like the alcohol intervention I had at the high school camp. That was an interesting time, too many vodka jokes and everyone lost their mind and thinks you are as bad as your father.

Rick looked remorseful, and Michonne honestly looked happy to see me. Carl was nowhere to be found, he was the first person I looked for but I will never say that, not after he treated me so poorly.

"How are you feeling, Alora?" Michonne asks.

"Like I just got stabbed and have a broken ankle."

"Alora, I'm sorry..." Rick started to say. I cut him off, "I don't want to hear it, you didn't trust me and as a result, I was almost killed."

Sainte puts her hand on my shoulder as if to tell me to calm down. I glance over at her, she remained stoic. She witnessed what I did but she didn't speak about it, maybe Emma never saw her as a threat because she doesn't speak.

"You don't have to forgive me, just let me say my piece, please."

I frown, looking over all my wrapped cuts, my cheek feels stiff, and there are stitches almost everywhere.

"You said your piece when you said I was just like my father!" I snap, this tension hurt my chest.

Michonne looked at Rick with obvious irritation in her eyes. Her dark eyes bounced between the two of us, she knew there was something off with my family, I'm not sure if Rick ever told her or she just figured it out.

"You said that?!"

Rick shamefully blushes, he knows he's in the wrong. It doesn't take an idiot to figure that out.

I can feel the discomfort in the air, and so can my friends as they both get anxious to move, to leave.

"Sainte and I are gonna be outside if you need anything. We just wanna give you a little space."

Rowan and Sainte leave after Sainte gives me a hug careful of any stitching. It was nice, I like the small things now. I will never tell anyone about my secret craving for kind touch, how much it mean when Carl held me that night, Sainte's gentle touch to my face, Carol's hug.

"I shouldn't have said that, if you want to leave Alexandria I wouldn't blame you," Rick tells me.

The idea sounded so nice, I could go back to doing what I wanted, freedom and all. I wouldn't have to deal with Carl and his bipolar moods. Waking up alone, deciding how I want to spend my day. Alone. I don't want to be alone.

"I'm gonna stay. Under one condition, I don't want to live with you guys anymore. I need personal space and when your son is constantly violating my boundaries it doesn't happen."

Rick nods softly, "Carl would want you to stay."

I glare at Rick, "I frankly don't give a fuck what Carl would want."

Michonne puts her hand on Rick's shoulder, "Do you have anyone else you'd want to live with?"

"Probably alone or maybe with Sainte."

She nods with a soft smile, "Sainte has been staying with some old folks, I think she'd rather live with you."

That makes me feel better, a house away from Carl is a house I want to be in. He betrayed me, it hurt me so badly, I would never tell him that. He tried to care about me but I know I'll only hurt him, I already have. He fell for me and of course, he ended up getting hurt because he believed something that wasn't true.

Denise walks into the room carrying a notebook.

"Those cuts were a lot deeper than they looked, your right ankle is broken and a tendon tore when you went down. The cut on your collarbone is the only one that may pose an issue later," Denise tells me.

I nod, looking over my cuts.

"You lost a lot of blood, like a lot so we were able to do a transfusion. Not before you went into hypovolemic shock," Denise tells me.

Michonne and Rick were listening to Denise, maybe they were understanding what she was saying, maybe not.

"Hypovolemic?" I ask, what the God hell does that mean?

Denise frowns, "You lost 35% of your blood. We didn't know your blood type so we had to be careful and use O-."

Well, that answers my other question, sorta. I'm pretty sure my blood type is AB+ but that's not something I would take as a solidified fact.

"So I almost died?" I question, Michonne puts her hand on my shoulder.

Denise nods, I don't need to hear anymore. Half an hour later, Denise releases me.

"Alora, I want you to stay with us just until you're well enough to be on your own. I know you'll have Sainte but you're injured," Rick tells me.

I accept his help this time, and I won't next time but for now, he is right. Michonne and Rick help me walk to their house, Carl was sitting on the porch. He stood up when he saw me but I saw Rick shake his head and sit back down.

Rick and Michonne help me to the bed I slept in 4 days ago, I wouldn't even call it home. You don't get dragged out of bed from your home for a crime you didn't commit.

"Can you handle the ankle?" Rick asks Michonne, trying to be quiet about it.

She nods and he walks off. Michonne sits down on the edge of my bed, motioning for my broken ankle.

"Keep this elevated, and iced, and stay off of your ankle," She says while propping up my ankle on some pillows.

Rick opens the door and tosses her something wrapped in a towel, it was an ice pack. Michonne rested the ice pack against my swollen ankle.

"How do you know all of this?" I question her knowledge.

She chuckles and shakes her head, "Before I met Rick a few years ago I was beaten and got a broken ankle as a result so I know how to keep things from growing back wrong. I was also a mom, I had a little boy."

I frown, "I'm sorry."

She smiles, "Don't be. I have Rick, Carl, and Judith. Of course, I still miss my life before but it's been so long that I can't dwell on it."

It's been 12 years since the apocalypse started, 7 years that I've been around others, and two weeks that I've been here in Alexandria.

"I'm gonna tell Carl to stay out of here until you want to see him, get some rest, Alora."

There are so many things I can't tell people; how much I want to stay here, how much a crave kind touch, how much I love having friends, how much I love having a purpose, and how much I want to see Carl right now.