Chapter 10

I somehow managed to endure the medicine and the last blood drawing.

But afterwards I was curled up on the bed, hugging the pillow and trying not to pout like a baby.

Henry was looking down at me in amusement.

“You're still the same.” He laughed looking please.

I had no idea what he meant and I let out a huff of annoyance.

“I'm going to be upping the dosage a little soon if the blood work seems ok, I assume it will be fine though.”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“See the virus basically kills your immune system, it kills all your white blood cells and then does their job instead...a lot better but worse at the same time. They don't let any other bacteria in but….damages your body more than anything you COULD catch, by blocking and harming parts of your brain. It stops you from acting like you and keeps only the basic you need to eat instinct, even making you not care as much about death. Basically with an increase in dosage hopefully we will be able to kick start your immune system into producing white blood cells. I will also have to do some blood transfusions to get some in your system. Basically the lighter dose was to weaken the virus enough to start letting your immune system try and fix itself.”

Sarah turned to Henry.

“You will have to go through decontamination showers and use a lot of hand sanitizers whenever you come here once I change dosage. His immune system is going to be trash and given how he's already weak if he catches even a cold it could be fatal.”

Henry nodded and I noticed his eyes hardened.

“If you end up sick at ALL you can’t come, a sore throat? No. Sniffles? No. Get it?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

He nodded and I noticed his Adam's apple bob, appearing nervous.

...I hoped he wouldn't get sick...I really did want him to come back.

Sarah and the rest left, leaving us alone and I was suddenly hyper aware of him.

I sat up, hugging the pillow firmly as I tried to be calm.

Henry went to the table where he had placed all my supposed items.

Honestly I really didn't recognize any of it.

“Did you want to read?” Henry asked and lifted up a book.

I knew it would be impossible but I wanted to try later, after he went to sleep.

Just so I wouldn't be embarrassed when I couldn't do it.

I shook my head no.

He blinked looking confused.

“What would you like to do then?”

I stared at the sketch book and puzzle box, eventually pointing to the sketch book.

He handed it over along with the pencil.

I gingerly opened it up.

Pages were filled with Henry’s face, making me blush a bit.

Some pages had pictures of weird shapes and machinery?

A couple animals...cows?

A field of corn crops.

Weird.

Henry came and sat by me.

I hesitantly pointed to the field of corn crops with the pencil, giving him a questioning look.

“Don't remember?”

I shook my head no.

“You liked to study crop rotation and agriculture work. You were into working with farm animals as well….you helped develop farms here actually...you taught basic field rotations...helped get seeds planted and taught about birthing animals. How to raise them as well to enough people we were able to scrap by and eventually build enough resources to sustain a decent supply of food. Of course we do still have to go out and bring in stuff….without it we would have probably starved.” He gave me a lopsided grin.

I did?

I honestly couldn't remember much.

I stared down at the picture curiously.

I turned another page and it was all lines in weird directions.

I raised an eyebrow at Henry again, hoping for an explanation.

He chuckled.

“You had a dream you know? To get a house and do all the electrical work in it. You wanted a house on a farm and build machinery for it all. I thought you were crazy and would tease you about how would you be able to do all that heavy lifting….you would point at me and with such a sassy tone say then what are you gonna do huh? That's your job hon, and then stick your tongue out at me…” Henry trailed off his eyes going misty.

I swallowed.

A house with the two of us on a farm….that sounded really nice.

I had dreamed about that?

I was a bit at a loss.

I turned back and looked at a picture of a weird mass of shapes, pointing at it and looking back at him.

He slowly shook his head.

“I'm not fully sure what that is…. I think? It had something to do with the water pump you designed…”

I blinked at him in confusion.

“After you……...disappeared.” Henry's voice was strained.

“I found some blueprints you drew up to make a water pump for a large water pocket you and some people found under the town here….”

I stared at him, completely lost.

Water pump?

He shook his head.

“I'll have to show you it, it got built after….” Henry’s voice was soft as he trailed off.

He looked away and I noticed him shaking a little.

I slowly put the book down and carefully placed my hand over his.

His hand turned and clasped mine.

He placed his head on my shoulder, letting out a breath.

“It's...insane how you're here you know that?”

I stared up at the ceiling.

It's insane to me too, I wished I could reply.

I wasn't fully here yet...still very broken but I was trying to come back.

Henry and I spent a few days together.

He seemed to realize after a little bit that I couldn't read and ended up reading some of the books he brought to me.

Several of them turned out to be manuels about machinery and a few about farming,

He really didn't seem interested in them and would fall asleep after reading some to me.

I was a bit upset cause I found them beyond interesting but eventually we met a middle ground and he started reading some fantasy novels.

We would alternate between reading and doing puzzles.

Sarah said I needed to be doing stimulating activities to help my brain work and heal.

But after a few days of this I started to get sleepy earlier and earlier.

I was nodding off even though I had been awake for about 5 hours when Sarah and crew came for my next meal.

I blinked at them lazily with my head turned in Henry’s lap.

He was stroking my hair, which definitely was not helping me to stay awake.

“Tired?” Sarah asked, looking at me with a grin.

I slowly nodded.

“Is...is this normal?” Henry asked, his voice full of worry.

“His body is healing and so is his brain, there's a lot of damage from the virus and from starvation...he was sick for a really long time. He's going to need to recover for a long time. I started upping the dose as well so his immune system is trying to make a comeback and it's going to tire him out during the process.”

She looked down at me.

“Think you can eat? It's a good idea before you pass out.”

I was hungry but I was beyond tired.

I slowly sat up, swaying a bit but nodded.

I ate as much as I could before being remuzzled and falling back into Henry’s lap, curling up like a kid.

If I had not been so exhausted I would have been embarrassed like this but Henry didn't seem to mind.

He carefully hugged me to his body as I blinked up at him lazily.

I was given my medicine and flinched slightly from the pain but otherwise didn't make a fuss.

I rested my head on Henry's shoulder and before I knew it I had passed out.

My fingers traced along the cow's spine.

“Max? Is it going to be painful for her?” One of the kids asked, looking at the pregnant cow warily.

“Yes of course it will be painful, giving birth is not easy kids, remember that when you make your moms angry.” I said with a grin.

The cow was on the verge of giving birth and the kids seemed worried.

“Is there anything we can do to help her?”

“Actually yes, if the mom is agitated you want to calm her down, it's a lot of pain remember that. Being there and stroking her can help but if she's too agitated she would have to be restrained just to keep her from injuring you or herself.”

The kids hesitantly nodded.

“If the birth goes smoothly we won't have to do much but if it does we might have to help her pull the calf out with a rope, alright?”

The kids paled and I tried not to snicker at their faces.

The mother cow had been in labor for a while and I could tell she was on the verge of giving birth.

Within minutes her agitation grew and I was carefully stroking her and cooing gently.

She was halfway through giving birth when I noticed the calf got stuck.

I sighed but knew this would be a good lesson for the kids.

I called them over and they shuffled inside the pen.

They helped me pull the baby out and stared at me with wide eyes as I used some tubes to suck out the fluid from its nose and mouth, helping it breathe.

“Remember kids, a baby just born will have a lot of fluid inside its mouth and nose so you will have to try and get as much of it out so it can start breathing. A calf has to have its mothers milk within hours of being born or it will die ok?”

They nodded and were still staring at the slightly panting calf.

I went over and stroked the mom cow.

“You did good girl now come meet your baby.” I cooed and pulled on her collar.

She walked over, giving the calf a sniff.

I waited as the calf eventually started trying to stand up and wobbled over to be cared for by its mom.

“Ok kids head on home.” I said, giving them a nod.

I patted the mom cow and watched the pair to make sure nothing was going wrong.

“Well looky here, you're turning into a real rancher now Maxy.”

I looked over to a smirking Henry.

I rolled my eyes but grinned at him.

“Whats up?” I said and walked over to him.

“Mhmmm do I need a reason to come see you?” He grinned.

“Mhmm no, but I was going to head home in a minute anyways.”

“Well then I'll walk you back.”

I rolled my eyes.

“It's not walking back, it's walking home with me doofus, we live together.”

“Yes and don't you forget it.” Henry grinned at me.

I pouted.

“And you call ME the sassy one.”

“That's cause you are!” He laughed and pulled me over to kiss me.

“You're lucky you're hot.” I huffed as he let me go.

“Yes and don't you forget it.” He smirked.

I rolled my eyes and we walked out of the barn.

“You are doing a lot of work here lately.” Henry remarked, looking at the fields that had been recently planted

I nodded.

“It was hard to get cattle that wasn't all related or eaten by zombies yet, but we managed to find some with records of their births and get enough to start producing milk and beef….in a bit… it will take awhile to get it all set up.” I said with a shrug.

“You're doing important work Maxy, and I'm happy it's safe work…”

I blinked at him in confusion.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“....They want me to go out and help guard on missions.”

I stopped walking.

“What!?”

Henry turned towards me and pulled me close to him.

“....They dont have alot of men for them and….they know I have actual training in combat before all this mess…”

Henry had learned self defense and taken judo when he was younger, along with shooting guns with his dad.

His father wanted him to join the army.

“.........” I wrapped my arms around him, putting my head on his chest.

If it hadn't been for him I would have died outside long ago.

He had been able to defend us during this whole mess while I helped keep electricity going and fix things we needed on the road.

I had known it would be only a matter of time before one of us was needed to go out and help but….

I just wished it had been me and not him.