Poker Face

Chapter 2 - Burning Up

"Come on, sweetheart," Negan coaxed, lightly tapping the unconscious girl on the cheek as she sat leaning against a tree by the road. She stirred, opening her blood-shot eyes and looking around lazily from behind her matted hair before zoning out again. Negan could tell when he placed his ungloved hand on her face that she had a dangerously high fever, if the sweating and shivering didn't give it away first, not to mention the yellow bile she had vomited on his boots.

"Come on, wake up," he said a little more sternly, tapping her face more forcefully. She flinched slightly but was too weak to push him away. She felt she couldn't move her arms or legs to save her life and if this man's intentions weren't right, she'd be dead soon. Her eyes fluttered open as he jostled her awake relentlessly.

"M...Wh- I..." she slurred, still not fully conscious.

"Here, sweetheart. Can you drink?" Negan asked, placing a full canteen in her limp hands and wrapping her fingers around it himself. Even the tops of her hands were sunburned, as well as cut and scarred, and he was careful not to agitate her skin too much. She didn't seem to even notice the container in her hands. "Shit, you're not even here right now, are you?"

His eyes trailed up her arms and he noticed several more scars, as well as scars on her chest, visible beneath the torn flaps of her t-shirt. Negan felt his eyes lingering too long and slipped out of his leather jacket, draping it over her. The only reason he wore it in the summer heat was as armor against walker bites, but despite the heat and the extra layer of clothing the girl kept shivering.

"M...Miles?" she mumbled as her eyes fluttered open again, and Negan began to wonder who else was out here with her. The last thing she remembered was Miles' sad smile as she was yanked backwards away from him and thrown onto the forest floor. Her eyes fell heavily to the canteen in her hands and she opened her dry lips as though to try to take a sip without even lifting it to her mouth. The last time she'd taken water from a stranger she'd ended up in a cage in his basement, but she wasn't lucid enough to worry. Negan noticed a tremor in her hands before the canteen tipped slightly, spilling water onto her already soaked jeans.

"Oh, come on," he mumbled impatiently, quickly turning the canteen upright. He wrapped her fingers around it again but when they remained limp, he took the canteen in his gloved hand and used the other to tug at her chin and part her lips. He carefully tipped some water into her mouth and some of it dripped down her chin but he saw her swallow the rest, so he continued to administer small sips. He didn't realize he'd begun to brush his thumb back and forth across her cheek until she absent-mindedly leaned into his hand with an almost inaudible whimper. He froze for a moment, taken aback by the pang he felt in his heart for her.

"You gonna spoon-feed her too, boss?" Simon chucked. Negan turned ever so slightly, shooting him a death glare out of the corner of his eye. He didn't like acting so soft in front of his men, crouched on the ground with wide, worried eyes like he was nursing a baby animal back to health. And he was probably going to have to feed her too. After finding her the way he did, the option of having someone else tend to her didn't sit right. Simon looked down at the ground, knowing not to push the boss any further, and began backing away awkwardly before hesitating and turning back. "Uh, boss?"

"What?" Negan spoke through his teeth, not looking away from the girl, his tone a clear warning.

"I, uh," Simon began, unsure how to phrase his suggestion. "She's not gonna stop shaking in those wet clothes." Negan's face softened as he thought for a moment. She'd only get sicker in wet clothes, but what was he supposed to do? Strip her in the middle of the woods and hope she didn't wake up and start crying again? At the brief thought of her naked, he couldn't avoid the dirty quip that popped into his mind, but he quickly shook it away to focus on the situation. He turned to look at his men and called the first person he saw.