Nina

Denise kept pressing on my ribs until she found the broken one, but it was easier when a scream left my mouth the moment she pressed.

“Sorry!” She gently placed her hand in the area, trying to make the pain go away.

“Don’t worry, it’s just that it hurts more than I thought it would… Jesus…” I put my hand over my head. 

“Do you think it’s broken, or is it just a crack?” Rick leaned against the stretcher, coming closer to me.

“I don’t know, we don’t have an X-ray here, so the danger is not knowing if the broken rib will puncture, or if it is already puncturing an organ.” Denise looked at me with concern.

“Do you know if there was any hospital near here? We can try to go there and turn on the machines…” Rick crossed his arms.

“There is no need for this, I’m not leaving Alexandria for an X-Ray machine, Rick. I’m hurt, I can’t protect myself now.” I cut him.

“You don’t have to protect yourself, I can do this. We will take you and Denise to the hospital, I will organize a group. Maybe Daryl, Michonne and Glenn. We did this before and it worked.”

“Rick, we are not going anywhere.” I looked at him seriously.

“You’re not… Denise, tell her about the risks of a broken rib!”

Denise looked at me, not knowing if saying something would make it better or worse for me.

“Ahn… It…” She took a deep breath and Rick kept looking at her “It can cause you difficulties to breathe properly, an infection may occur, fracture can damage nearby organs, such as the liver or spleen...” 

“I know, Denise! Thank you…” I said a little too loud. I turned my head to the side to look at Rick’s overreaction. “I know it’s dangerous, but I will slow down and do the recovery, okay? No need for an X-ray.” 

“I will need to ask you to stay here tonight, so I can keep you under observation. Just in case you have any reaction I will be near to help quickly.”

“Oh no, Denise…” I cried a little. “Please, let me go home, rest in my bed and tomorrow I will do anything you want.”

“You don’t want the X-Ray, you don’t want to stay here. You really don’t wanna help yourself, do you?” Rick put his hands on his hips.

“You can’t be alone for a couple of days. I need to keep an eye on you.”

“I can go home with her!” Rick shot, breathing out hard.

“Would you keep an eye on her tonight? The first hours are the most critical.” Denise wanted to make sure. “Call me if anything weird shows up, okay? Puking blood, headaches, shortness of breath.. Anything, okay?”

“Okay, Doctor!” I placed my hand side to side with my body trying to get up. 

Rick whispered “easy” helping me to get up. 

He sat me down in a wheelchair and took me home. The night made everything quieter in Alexandria, the moon was closer to us. I took a deep breath to manage the pain I felt when the wheelchair crossed paths with a street bump.

Rick opened the kitchen door and turned on the lights, taking a good look at me. 

“Are you hungry? I can make something for you to eat.” He pointed to the fridge.

“No, I’m fine.” I stood up “I just really need to sleep, Rick.”

He took my hand and led me to the stairs. 

“Ladies first…” He placed me in front of him, making me go first.

“The gentleman you are, Sheriff…” My right hand reached the handrail.

Rick placed one of his hands on my waist, escorting my balance. The soft touch made me sure he was trying his best to look respectful, in answer to that I put my left hand over his.

We walk like that until we find my bed, not so far from the stairs. 

“Home sweet home, thank God!” 

He helped me to sit down. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked to make sure I wasn't dying.

“In a hell of a pain, actually...” 

“Yeah, it’s gonna hurt like this for a couple of days.” He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. “But, you’ll be fine!”

I smiled shyly. His hand was warm, like I never felt before. The brief times we touched each other, I felt them so cold like there was nothing there for me to search for.

“Thank you for coming home with me!” I leaned my head a little to catch more of his touch.

“Go rest, I will be here if you need anything, okay?”

He led his way to lay down on the floor, but that would be disrespectful to him after he came to take care of me asking for nothing in exchange. 

“Hey, lay down here. The bed is big.”  

His look was skeptical and I realized my words sounded just like a teenager. What a shame. 

He made his way to sit by the side I layed down, still wary about. Letting his back rest against the headboard of the bed, he took his shoes out and tried to seem relaxed. The look in his eyes couldn’t lie to me. 

“What? I’m not gonna kill you, Rick. Relax, for Christ’s sake.” I laughed a little.

“Oh, do you think the only danger in sleeping on the same bed with you is you killing me?” He laughed harder.

“Come again?” I asked in disbelief, smiling like a kid.

He kept the smile on his face as a way to push my curiosity away.

“Nothing… Go sleep, you’re tired!” He rubbed his eyes.

To his misfortune, I had perfectly understood the sentence he had said.

“Yeah, Rick Grimes… If you think that way, then we are both in fucking danger…” 

My smirk followed his laugh rhyme and I was well aware of the situation that I just put myself in it. We couldn’t lie to each other anymore, yet we actually never lied in words, but the truth was that even our actions weren’t handling the proximity anymore. I didn’t want to be distant from him, I wanted him closer and closer to me in a way that the only thing separating each other was the air between us.

His eyes met mine and his hands ruffled my hair, we both smiled like two silly kids.

“Don’t give me a chance if you’re not sure about it, because I won’t waste any of it anymore.”

I raised my hand searching for any part of his skin, so I could feel the warmth again.

“We wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t sure…”

He let his hand go of my hair and took it mine over his, kissing the back of it softly. 

“Come here…” He opened his legs and helped me to lay down between them. Me back resting against his chest and my head fitting perfectly in the space between his neck and shoulder. 

Rick kissed the top of my head and intertwined our fingers together, all the coldness I ever felt in his body one day wasn’t there anymore. Sleeping in his arms felt like home, like I always fit there and that man was made for me. Just God’s know for how long I’ve been trying to move forward from that, afraid of letting myself feel that way for a man, for him. 

But in the end, having both of us in that way, I realized I was just waiting for him all this time. He lit a little flame inside me that had faded for so long.