For my sister | Negan |

18 - Walter

'What the hell?' Ella cries out, disrupting my sleep.

'What?' I ask groggily.

'Chris, someone's at the door!'

'What?' I ask again, a little more alert now. Ella's right, it's the middle of the night, but someone's definitely at the door, trying to come in.

'Is something wrong?' Ella asks, sounding scared.

'Shit, I don't know. Did you do something?'

'No!'

I reach out to my nightstand to turn on a light, and just as it flicks on, the door bursts open. I quickly get up from the bed and brace myself for whatever's happening here. To my dismay, it's Simon that enters the room. That can't be good.

'Sorry to disturb your beauty sleep, doc', he says, turning on the big light in the room as well. Both Ella and me blink against the sudden brightness. 'You're needed.'

'Needed? Needed for what?' I ask confused, my brain still trying to adjust to this sudden madness.

'What's a doctor usually needed for?' he asks in a condescending tone. 'We've got a medical situation. Now come on, it's time-sensitive.'

'Can I get changed?' I ask, frantically looking around for some clothes. I'm dressed in nothing more than shorts and a t-shirt now, I'd like to at least put on a bra and some shoes before I go to work. But Simon seems set on dragging me to wherever he wants me to go barefoot once again.

'No time', he says, stepping up to grab my arm and pull me towards the door.

'Fine', I say irritatedly, tugging myself loose from his grasp. I lock eyes with Ella shortly before we leave the room and catch the scared expression in her eyes.

'Just go back to bed, El, I'm sure I'll be back soon.'

I try to give her a reassuring smile, but Simon pushes me out and I don't want him to grab me again, so I follow him down the hallway. Seems like they brought the patient to the doctor's office. It must be serious because even when we're still half a hallway away, I can already hear howls and cries echoing towards us.

'What happened?' I ask Simon, my mind finally starting to switch into doctor mode at the sound of obvious distress. I decide to pick up pace to get there faster while Simon gets me up to speed.

'Biter got one of my guys. I'm gonna need you to take off his leg.'

'Shit', I curse, preparing myself by tying my hair back with a hair tie I always keep wrapped around my wrist. I'd never amputated anything before the outbreak, but I've had to do it a few times now to save people from walker bites. It's the absolute worst. Without anesthesia it's obviously hell for the patient, but besides that it's really fucking difficult to cut through bone. This is going to be exhausting.

The doctor's office is more crowded than usual when I enter. The moaning man on the operating table is the first to draw attention, but there are two more men in the room, keeping the first down on the operating table. He's clearly not taking everything too well.

'I thought I told you to shut him up', Simon barks when we enter. Since everything's going to get real messy, I take a few seconds to put on my doctor's coat before I get closer to the patient.

'He won't shut up', one of the guys holding the injured man down complains.

'Okay, move', I order when I've put on my coat. The guys don't move. Instead, they look uncertainly at Simon. Meanwhile, the patient continues to cry out.

'You can't take my leg! Oh, please, God, you can't take my leg. I don't want to die, I don't want to die!

He's struggling against the grip of the other guys, clearly half out of his mind. When I see his leg, I can see why. His foot is practically mangled and something gnawed his lower leg down to the bone. He must be in excruciating pain.