Scraping By, Chapter 11: Floating
Title: Scraping By
Fandom: The Walking Dead
Rating: M
Disclaimer: All rights for The Walking Dead go to Robert Kirkman and AMC. This story takes place strictly in the TV show 'verse.
Chapter 11: Floating
Whitney didn't know exactly what she'd been given. The room spun and her head felt like it weighed nothing. On the bright side, she didn't care about her knee hurting.
"Hey?" she called. Through the haze of drugs, she could see a several blurry figures start hovering in front of her. Blonde and brunette.
"Lori? Andrea?"
Their faces came into focus and Lori helped her sit up enough to take a drink. Andrea checked beneath the cold cloth that was plastered over Whitney's swollen knee and made a satisfied noise in the back of her throat.
"Looks better than it did," she said. "How did it happen? All we know is that Daryl saw your knee pop out of joint."
Whitney gave Lori an absent nod of thanks and adjusted the pillow behind her back. "He's the one I asked to pop it back," she slurred her words and tried to recall the man's face when she told him what he needed to do. "Scared the shit outta him and Glenn."
Lori smoothed the hair out of Whitney's eyes. "So what happened?" she asked.
"I turned on my foot all stupid-like. My ACL is already weak so it just popped right out."
Andrea had her drink more water and frowned at Whitney. "How did you hurt your knee in the first place?"
Satisfied that the injured woman was feeling more put-together, Lori and Andrea sat beside her and waited for her to start talking. Whitney had told the story so many times that she'd developed a script-like way of delivering the information.
"I was a freshman in high school when it happened. This girl I'd know since grade school was having a shitty day because of some stupid thing my mom-the school counselor-had her suspended for, so she went looking for me before she left school. She caught up to me outside when I was at the top of the staircase that lead down to the football field. She shoved me and I went ass over teakettle down to the first landing.
"A couple of girls on the cheer squad found me. The fall broke my collar bone, tore my ACL, put me in the hospital for about a month. Then I had scar tissue build up in the time I spent immobile and just lived with it for years."
The RV hit a pothole and jostled everyone inside. Whitney stopped, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes to stop the sudden spinning. "Man, what did y'all give me?"
Lori checked the bottle she'd shoved in her pocket. "Well, Carol gave me a bottle of Vicodin. I gave you one, broke another in half, and gave you half about fifteen minutes ago."
Whitney started to nod, thought better of it, and held her thumb up instead. "Well, it's workin'."
"Is there anything else we should do to help?" Andrea asked.
Whitney glanced down and noticed the two used chemical ice packs discarded by her feet. "It's not as bad as it could have been. I've got a brace I'll need and some ibuprofen in my duffle bag. I need to keep it immobile."
As Lori dug through the bag to find both items, she asked, "Aren't knee dislocations really serious? How's this not 'as bad as it could have been?'"
"Could've torn my tendon again, for one. I remember what that felt like, and while this was bad, it wasn't nearly as bad as the first time," she paused to take the ibuprofen and loosely fasten the brace around her knee. "Remind me to tighten it before I get out of this cot."
Andrea promised to do just that and helped her lie back. She shooed Lori back to the front of the RV. "We should be stopping soon. Dale thinks this next place might have some beds."
With the thought of recuperating somewhere less open on her mind, Whitney closed her eyes and let the Vicodin take her away.
Chapter 10: Speed Bump | Chapter 12: Take What Amusement You Can
Fandom: The Walking Dead
Rating: M
Disclaimer: All rights for The Walking Dead go to Robert Kirkman and AMC. This story takes place strictly in the TV show 'verse.
Chapter 11: Floating
Whitney didn't know exactly what she'd been given. The room spun and her head felt like it weighed nothing. On the bright side, she didn't care about her knee hurting.
"Hey?" she called. Through the haze of drugs, she could see a several blurry figures start hovering in front of her. Blonde and brunette.
"Lori? Andrea?"
Their faces came into focus and Lori helped her sit up enough to take a drink. Andrea checked beneath the cold cloth that was plastered over Whitney's swollen knee and made a satisfied noise in the back of her throat.
"Looks better than it did," she said. "How did it happen? All we know is that Daryl saw your knee pop out of joint."
Whitney gave Lori an absent nod of thanks and adjusted the pillow behind her back. "He's the one I asked to pop it back," she slurred her words and tried to recall the man's face when she told him what he needed to do. "Scared the shit outta him and Glenn."
Lori smoothed the hair out of Whitney's eyes. "So what happened?" she asked.
"I turned on my foot all stupid-like. My ACL is already weak so it just popped right out."
Andrea had her drink more water and frowned at Whitney. "How did you hurt your knee in the first place?"
Satisfied that the injured woman was feeling more put-together, Lori and Andrea sat beside her and waited for her to start talking. Whitney had told the story so many times that she'd developed a script-like way of delivering the information.
"I was a freshman in high school when it happened. This girl I'd know since grade school was having a shitty day because of some stupid thing my mom-the school counselor-had her suspended for, so she went looking for me before she left school. She caught up to me outside when I was at the top of the staircase that lead down to the football field. She shoved me and I went ass over teakettle down to the first landing.
"A couple of girls on the cheer squad found me. The fall broke my collar bone, tore my ACL, put me in the hospital for about a month. Then I had scar tissue build up in the time I spent immobile and just lived with it for years."
The RV hit a pothole and jostled everyone inside. Whitney stopped, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes to stop the sudden spinning. "Man, what did y'all give me?"
Lori checked the bottle she'd shoved in her pocket. "Well, Carol gave me a bottle of Vicodin. I gave you one, broke another in half, and gave you half about fifteen minutes ago."
Whitney started to nod, thought better of it, and held her thumb up instead. "Well, it's workin'."
"Is there anything else we should do to help?" Andrea asked.
Whitney glanced down and noticed the two used chemical ice packs discarded by her feet. "It's not as bad as it could have been. I've got a brace I'll need and some ibuprofen in my duffle bag. I need to keep it immobile."
As Lori dug through the bag to find both items, she asked, "Aren't knee dislocations really serious? How's this not 'as bad as it could have been?'"
"Could've torn my tendon again, for one. I remember what that felt like, and while this was bad, it wasn't nearly as bad as the first time," she paused to take the ibuprofen and loosely fasten the brace around her knee. "Remind me to tighten it before I get out of this cot."
Andrea promised to do just that and helped her lie back. She shooed Lori back to the front of the RV. "We should be stopping soon. Dale thinks this next place might have some beds."
With the thought of recuperating somewhere less open on her mind, Whitney closed her eyes and let the Vicodin take her away.
Chapter 10: Speed Bump | Chapter 12: Take What Amusement You Can