Michonne

I sat in the middle chair in the principal's office of Carl's school, Carl sitting next to me and Ron and his parents on the other side of me. When I'd gotten a call around noon telling me that Carl had been in a fight, I immediately called my mother hoping that she would be able to come and watch Andre and the girls, but she wasn't free. I then called Rick's mom, who was more than happy to watch them for me.

"Hello, Ms. Grimes. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. I'm sorry I had to drag you from your homes on this Monday afternoon, but you guys' sons got into a bit of a physical dispute.

I looked over to Carl, whose knuckles were purple. He had scratches and cuts on his face and his left eye was slightly swollen. His injuries didn't compare to Ron's, though. His right eye was black and his lip was busted, and he had purple bruises on his cheek. I sighed as Mrs. Vitti continued speaking.

"I have heard from anonymous sources that it was Carl who threw the first punch at Ron. But Ron was provoking Carl. Even still, it is no excuse for either of the boys. They will both have 3 days of in and out of school suspension. These consequences can and will be expunged from their records if they show and extensive change in their behavior over the course of the school year."

I shook my head. "Well I know my son, and I know he isn't the type to just go around punching people in their face. So do they get a chance to tell their sides of the story?"

She scoffed. "For what, ma'am? The point is that they fought. Their altercation caused a disruption in their class."

I shook my head. "It's fine. He'll talk to me about it when we get home."

She stood up, now looking over me with sinister eyes.

"Ma'am, please don't cause a scene. There's no need."

I chuckled to myself before standing and turning to Carl.

"Come on," I said, "Let's get you cleaned up."

We began making our way out of her office, and then out of the building. When we got into the car, I just looked at him.

"What really happened?"

He sighed. "It started with Sophia. He started off talking about her in bad ways, so I told him to knock it off. And then he started talking about you. And my sisters, and what happened with Dad and Lori.. Then he said something about Dad being in a coma, and I just lost it. I didn't even know what I was doing. All I saw was red, Michonne."

I nodded. "It's okay, love. We're gonna get this taken off of your record. Colleges won't even know it's there."

He smiled at me. "Thanks for understanding."

"Of course I would. Now let's go see your siblings and your Grandma."

—

When we arrived at the house, Andre was the first to arrive at the door, which was opened with the screen door locked. He had a wide grin on his face that didn't leave when Carl and I entered the house.

"Mommy! Mommy!" he jumped up on me, and I picked him up and smothered him with kisses.

"Hey, baby boy! I missed you while I was gone!"

He kissed my cheek. "I missed you, too, Mommy. And Judy did and Jada, too. And Grandma Louise, too."

I smiled when he called Rick's mother "Grandma" because it showed that he was really taking a liking to her and I couldn't be happier with it. Just as I was thinking of how much they'd gotten to love each other, Louise emerged from behind a corner with a sleeping Jada nestled in her arms.

"Hey, Michonne," she whispered, approaching me to give me a kiss on my cheek. I put Andre down and smiled.

"Hey, mom," I kissed her cheek. "How were they for you?"

She smiled. "They were amazing. I love spending time with them, Michonne. Judy's upstairs sleeping.. You guys gotta call me over more often."

I nodded. "If you were closer, I would call you to see them more often. But I never really wanna bother you, or anything like that."

"Rick should've told you that it means everything to me to come here and spend time with you guys and the kids. And by the way, when I went to visit him the last time they said that he was in a semi-vegetative state. His eyes were opened and he floated in and out of consciousness a lot."

I sighed. "I miss him so much," I looked down at my shoes and shifted in place.

"I know you do. Daryl, Carol, Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, Abe, Aaron, Noah, and your mom went up to see him a week and a half ago, and they even left him flowers. I'm sure more of you guys' friends went to visit, but I feel like the more we go see him, the closer he is to breaking out of the coma. Have you been reading his favorite books to him when you went?"

I nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Hopefully he can hear me when I read them."

She smiled. "I'm sure he does, Michonne," she paused for a slight second, maybe in thought, before continuing. "Thank you for being here for Rick in ways that Lori wasn't...In ways that she couldn't. I've seen more from you in these last 10 months than I'd ever seen from her in the 21 years they'd known each other and the 19 they'd spent together. Rick loves you so much, 'Chonne. He has for awhile now and frankly I've never seen Rick more happy than he is now and I've known him for a little over three decades. I love being able to take solace in the fact that when I'm long gone, he'll still have someone that'll take care of him and love him as much as I do."

She embraced me in a hug, being careful not to wake Jada. "I'm very, very proud to call you my daughter."

I smiled at her. "Thank you.. I'm proud to have the privilege of being your daughter."
-
Today was the day that marked Rick being in a coma for a month. The doctors told me that most comas don't normally last that long, and it discouraged me. What if he never made it out of the coma? What if he couldn't? It gave me a lot to think about, and honestly I cursed myself in silence for even thinking about things like that. But who didn't? I know I can't be the only one.

I sighed as we all made our way to Rick's room. I brought a book that I'd read to him each time I visited. When I finished one book, I'd move on to the next. It was a cycle. This time around, I'd brought him Divergent, because I remembered how he told me he loved the series. But today I wouldn't be reading to him. Not with everyone else around. That was something so enjoyed while we were alone.

We entered his room and saw him laying there; his TV was on, but he wasn't watching. He just stared blankly into space. I sighed as I grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to his bed. I grabbed Jada out of her carrier and sat her up on my lap. Carl did the same on Rick's opposite side and Andre took the chair that sat at the foot of his bed. Glenn, Maggie, Daryl, Carol, and Sophia all came along with us; no specific reason. It was just because they missed Rick.

We all sat there speaking to him in turns for awhile, but slowly and surely the room's atmosphere got less and less tense as everyone slowly trickled out of the room. We all said our goodbyes to each other, and soon it was only Louise, Andre, Carl, Judy, Jada and I left.

"I think I wanna stay here with him," I sighed. I knew Carl could take care of the house for the few hours I was gone, but Louise volunteered anyways.

"I can take them home and put them to bed. I'll stay until you get home," she gave me a small smile and kissed my forehead. I kissed Jada on her cheek, then had Carl bring me Judith so I could do the same to her. Andre came to me and gave me a hug after Louise grabbed Jada from me and put her in her carrier. I gave him a big hug.

"Mommy loves you, okay? Be good for Grandma. I'll see you when I get home."
He nodded and kissed my cheek. "I love you, too, Mommy. See you soon!"

Carl was the last to come over to me. I have him a hug and kissed his forehead as well.

"You'll probably be awake when I get home, so I'll see you in a few hours."

He smiled. "See you soon."

Everyone said their see you laters to Rick and exited the room. It was just us now. I picked up the book, readying myself to read it to him, but instead, I put it back down and sighed.

"Sometimes when I come here and talk to you, I wonder if you ever get tired of listening. There's just so much going on, you know? Carl got suspended for fighting," I chuckled, "You should've saw the other kid's face. And I love your mom so much. She's been helping out a great deal. I just .." I paused and sighed. "I know I'm rambling.. I just wish I could hear you talk to me, Rick. I know I say the same thing every single time I come in here..But it still stands true. I miss you and I can't wait until you're back home with us."

I looked at the time and noticed that forty five minutes had already passed us by. I shook my head and sighed.

"It's getting late, baby. I'll see you tomorrow," I stood up and kissed his cheek as I felt a tear roll down my face. "I love you."

I grabbed my purse and began making my way toward the door.

"Michonne?"

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ooh sooo that's a wrap guys. so this book was literally one of the best things i've ever worked on and i'm proud to say that it's finally finished. and the sequel will be published pretty soon; just as soon as I get some time to stay consistent. (be looking out for a prologue. i'm so glad that you guys joined me on this journey and i cannot wait for the next book(s) to come out. 🖤

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