Chapter 22- Aftermath

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This chapter was hugely rushed! Its kinda short, but it explains a bit! I won't be so long this time with posting the chapter. I didn't have time to upload a banner tonight so I'll do it tomorrow! Enjoy!

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The bright fluorescent lighting seemed to shine through my eyelids. I snapped my eyes open and I took a deep breath before taking in my surroundings.

I laid in a white room, everything looked sterile and perfect. The new doctor, Caleb stood in the doorway speaking to Rick in a very muffled tone. Daryl sat beside me in a chair as he hastily made arrows out of some wood.

"Daryl." I coughed, making him shoot up out of his chair and towards me.

"Mariah." Daryl said, his eyes watching me closely. "Hey, doctor S." He called.

Rick rushed past the doctor who stood still in the doorway. He went beside Daryl and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Glad to see you're awake." He said.

I wanted to say something, thank him for carrying my ass all throughout the Prison. But my mouth was too dry, I needed something to clear my throat or I'd never be able to speak. "Water." I choked out.

Rick grabbed a pitcher of water sitting behind him on the counter and quickly poured it into a cup for me. He offered it to me slowly and I snatched it out of his hands before chugging it back happily.

"So much better." I smiled, and set the cup down on the table beside the bed. "What happened?"

I heard a deep sigh come from the doorway and the doctor strolled further into the room before stopping at the foot of my bed. "How much do you remember?" He asked.

I thought for a moment, clearly remembering everything from slipping on the floor to Rick carrying me. "Everything." I simply responded.

Caleb nodded slowly and looked at me carefully. "I do have some idea on what this could be, but I'll need you to answer some questions."

"Shoot." I mumbled.

Caleb nodded and pulled a note pad from his pocket and began to scribble away. "Alright, let's get started."

Caleb started with small questions like if I was eating regular, getting all the water I needed, ect. Then he started getting into the important stuff.

Without looking up from his notebook he asked. "So when did the pains begin?"

"Couple weeks." I said thinking about my first experience with the pain.

"And did you have any other symptoms?" He continued.

I shook my head, not being able to really put two and two together. "I see. Now these questions are going to get rather personal, please answer them to the best of your knowledge." He explained.

Then he continued on to ask how my bodily functions were. Like my bathroom time, bodily functions. I didn't really mind until he got really deep into my personal life.

"When was your last period?"

"Uh two months?" I awkwardly mumbled.

"Intimate?"

"Yeah."

He sighed and looked at me from above his note pad. "How long have you been intimate?"

"Um I wasn't very active when I was younger but I've gotten more um intimate I suppose. About a month ago." I murmured.

Caleb stopped asking questions for a moment and continued to scribble away on his notepad. I sat anxiously as he slowly looked up at me and then to Daryl. "We'll never know for sure what the true cause of your pain was. But from my knowledge I've looked at all possibilities and I truly believe this was the cause of your pain."

I nibbled on my lip slowly as Caleb looked back down at his notepad and back up to Daryl and I. "Well what is it?" Daryl grumbled, obviously getting impatient of the doctors pause.

Caleb sighed again before staring at me sadly. "A miscarriage."

I froze, staring a the doctor like he was crazy. "A miscarriage?" Rick echoed, sounding lost.

"Yes. It all makes sense when you add the symptoms together. The bleeding, the pain. Have you had any injuries to your abdomen or stomach?" He continued.

I thought hard for a moment, trying to think of any time I was seriously injured. I began to shake my head. "No, nothing. I can't remember-" I stopped mid sentence when I glanced at Rick.

Memories flooded back of that awful trip and I stared at Rick in horror.

"Hurry it up." Sidekick-1 snarled behind us as he kicked the back of my heel, making me topple over.

I usually would have held my balance and made some stupid, snide comment, but I was so exhausted that I actually tripped and fell.

I stuck my hands out to prevent my face from smashing against the pavement. I crumpled to the ground and rolled onto my back when a boot collided with my side. A burst of pain exploded on my side and I brought my hands to my hip.

"I was kicked in the side." I whispered, still looking at Rick.

"Could you show me where?" He asked slowly.

I nodded and pushed the white sheet back a little bit, and lifted my loose top a bit, exposing my side. I circled the area with my finger, tracing from my hip to my stomach.

Caleb nodded and sighed. "There is a possibility that your incident could have been the cause of the miscarriage. But there are many other factors we haven't looked at. Actually, ten to twenty percent of pregnancies tend to be miscarriages. It's not necessarily the injury that caused it. But we'll never know for sure. I'm sorry."

I looked down at the white sheet surrounding me and felt the sadness well up inside of me. "I'll leave you be." Caleb murmured before slowly walking to the door.

"Wait." I called out, making him stop in his tracks. "What now?" I whispered, my lower lip trembling.

"You should rest. Your body has to get back to normal so it will begin to get rid of the products of conception. You might have some more pain and bleeding, but when the tissue passes you can begin to get into a daily routine again. Just make sure to take it easy." He said.

I nodded slowly, feeling a tear slip down my face. Calebs eyes lit up with pity and I turned to look down at my hands on the bed.

His footsteps slowly exited the room and I felt like breaking down, right then and there.

I was pregnant. I was going to have a child. Now it was all gone. I won't know my first baby.

I quietly began to cry when I saw Rick make his way slowly towards me. "We can keep this between us." He stated quietly.

"No." I choked out. "I don't care if everyone in this damn Prison knows." I snapped.

Rick slightly nodded and walked towards the exit. "We'll talk later." And then he was gone.

I looked up from the blanket to Daryl and started crying harder.

His face was empty. He stared at the ground in silence with no movements. "Daryl." I whispered, before wiping a tear drop away from under my eye.

He slowly looked at me and licked his lips before standing up and sitting on the edge of my bed. He lifted his hand and gently wiped a stray tear away from my cheek with his thumb. "We're goin' to get through this." He said firmly while staring blankly into my eyes. "Together."

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