Fight, Love, Live.

XLI

A/N: Sorry to keep hounding you guys, but pretty pretty pretty please go back a couple chapters and comment on who you want to play the main character in the next book I'm going to work on! Thank you!!

"You got here right in time. This couldn't go untreated much longer." Patricia was saying as Daryl and I walked in to join everyone else (except for Glenn who was on the porch, and Rick and Lori who were in Carl's room) in the kitchen where she was stitching up T's arm. 

"'Merle Dixon.' Is that your friend with the antibiotics?" Patricia said, gesturing to Glenn who had been the one holding the bag, but T shook his head and threw his thumb over his shoulder at Merle who was leaning up against the wall. 

"No, ma'am. That one's Merle."

"Well Merle, this doxycycline might have just saved his life. What were you taking it for?" She asked, looking over T's shoulder at Merle, who had the decency to look a little embarrassed, and I elbowed Daryl in the stomach when he started gigglin'. 

"The clap. Um... venereal disease." I had to hold in my own laugh at Merle's blush, and the faintly surprised look on Patricia's face. 

"Well T-Dog... I'd say Merle's clap was the best thing to ever happen to you." Merle let loose a round of laughter, and I couldn't help but chuckle along at the disgust on T's face. 

"I'm really trying not to think about that." 

"Well think on it! I'm saving your life son! She said so!" Merle said with a shit-eating grin. T and I just rolled our eyes, remembering his words from up on that roof, when he said it was only okay to work together when they both benefited, well I don't see much benefit for Merle right now. Maybe he's growing. 

It was an hour or two later when Rick gestured for me to come into the room, Hershel apparently wanted to talk about this 'choice' they had to make, and lucky for Rick, he came to get me because I would have raised hell if I had found out this decision was made without me. 

"Now, I need to know right now if you want me to do this, because I think your boy is out of time." Hershel was saying, arms crossed and staring down at Lori and Rick seriously, I was behind them, standing, but I didn't mind. Left me easy access to their heads if they said no. 

"You have to make a choice." Hershel continued, after it was silent for too long. 

"A choice?" Lori whispered, and Hershel nodded back. 

"A choice."

"You have to tell me what it is." Rick said, looking over at Lori with bleary eyes, and then up at me. 

"You have to tell me what it is." He said again. Lori didn't speak. 

"We do it. This isn't a fucking choice." I growled out, and when Lori didn't argue, Rick turned his head to Hershel and nodded. 

"Okay, get the corner of that bed. Let's get the sheets down." Hershel was saying, and it suddenly became very crowded in the room, Maggie, Patricia, and Beth all stepping in, like they had been waiting for a signal. 

"Get the I.V. bag on the sheet. Okay, on three. One, two, three." The four of them lifted Carl onto a table that they had pulled in, and it was like they had done this a million times before. 

"Rick, Lori, Riley, you may want to step out." Hershel said as he began preparing for the surgery, but before he could say anything else, or we could move, the rumble of a truck engine sounded and I felt relief fill me. 

"Oh God." Rick whimpered, rushing out the door, and I could hear Hershel telling Patricia to stay with Carl but I was too busy trying to see if they had brought what Carl needed. When I got outside, Rick was already by the truck, and Shane had already come out, looking like a wreck, but holding a very large bag of stuff. 

"Carl?" Shane asked. 

"There's still a chance." Rick said, and I could see Shane deflate in relief, I'm assuming anyway. 

"Otis?" Hershel asked, when no one else got out of the car. 

"No." Shane said quietly, and I couldn't help but notice that he had a lot more guns than was necessary. He had three, his shotgun, Rick's gun, and then another. Why would he need three? He only has two arms. 

"We say nothing to Patricia. Not till after. I need her." Hershel said to Maggie and Beth, who both nodded as Maggie yanked the bag of stuff away from Shane and they all marched in to start the surgery. 

"They kept blocking us at every turn. We had nothing left. We were down to ten rounds. Then he said... he said he'd cover me and that I should keep going. So that's what I did. I just... I kept going. But I... I looked back and he... I tried. He wanted to make it right." Shane dissolved into tears in Rick's arms, but I couldn't help but notice that Shane somehow had three guns, and the third was probably Otis' since Shane didn't even own a handgun. And if Otis' went down behind him then his gun would have been with him. 

Fuck. 

Shane killed Otis. 

It had been about an hour since the surgery started, ten minutes since Hershel finished and decided Carl was stable, and five since I had convinced Riley to lay down and sleep for the first time in about twenty-four hours. We were in the room that Glenn and T-Dog had stayed in earlier, Merle had set up a sleeping bag on the floor, but Riley and I got the bed. 

It was the first real bed we had slept in together, all our others were thrown together for one night, maybe two, or had been that couch bed back at the C.D.C. 

It was fantastic. I wasn't having to wake up every hour 'cuz I was working myself up into a panic, thinking there were walkers in my sleep, I could just lay there, hold my girl, and not have to worry about anything, well, anything but trying not to act on the ragin' boner I was sporting since my fuckin' brother was in the room with us. 

At least, for the four hours I had until everyone would be showin' up, maybe we could sneak away then.