WHAT IT ALWAYS IS
BONDS

Me, Siddiq, Daryl, and Dog had arrived at Hilltop. When I took a look, God, this place has seen much better days. Connie waved at us. We waved back. Daryl then signed something to Connie. Ezekiel walked over to us

"No sign of Negan?" Negan asked

"Searched all day and night, but no sign of him" Siddiq said

"Keep thinkin' about what he took from us, what we didn't take from him. Alexandria deserved better" Ezekiel said before coughing

"Hey, you've had your trouble, too" Siddiq said

"Actually, we could use a hand in the infirmary. Much of the Kingdom's still in recovery from the tree fall" Ezekiel said. The three of us looked at each other

"We were planning on leaving tomorrow, but yeah, we can help out" I told Ezekiel

"Whatever you need" Siddiq said. Me and Siddiq were headed to the infirmary

"Ah, it feels like we were doing this just yesterday in Hilltop" I said

"Don't go down memory lane right now" Siddiq said with a smile

"I suppose I'll spare you" I said. When we got to the infirmary, I noticed a lack of supplies

"Hey, don't we have anymore?" I asked

"Ah, it's locked up, you'll have to ask Ezekiel about" JJ said

"Come on" I told Siddiq. As we went to walk out, we ran into Taylor

"Hey, haven't seen you in a while" I said

"Could say the same" She said

"How you holding up?" I asked

"Well, this place has seen better days, but we'll get through it" Taylor said

"Where's Hailey?" I asked

"Nabila is watching all the kids why we solve this" Taylor said. I nodded

"How long do you guys plan on staying?" Taylor asked

"We were planning on leaving tomorrow" Siddiq said

"Oh, I see.." Taylor said. Siddiq was antsy

"Hey! Taylor! We need help!" Someone yelled

"I won't take up anymore of your time. Duty calls" Taylor said with a smile before walking away. We were heading to find Ezekiel

"Are you good?" I asked

"Those people are suffering" Siddiq said. I worried for Siddiq and his mental state. We had found Ezekiel. He unlocked the door and we grabbed what we needed. When we were done, we exited and Ezekiel locked the door behind us

"We've had some thefts lately. Took a quarter of our medical supplies" Ezekiel said as he dropped something. Siddiq picked it up. It was a small tiger. Siddiq looked at it and then held it out for Ezekiel

"Sorry. I-" Siddiq cut himself off as Ezekiel took it

"No, no. It's, uh- Henry forged it during his apprenticeship. Found it wrapped among his things. A gift intended for me but never.." Ezekiel trailed off as he began coughing. But it was just coughing. No, most people they just cough, but he was like wheezing as he did it. He put his hands on his knees. Me and Siddiq looked at him worriedly

"You okay?" Siddiq asked. We moved Ezekiel to sit down

"Sit down. Sit down. Sit down" Siddiq said. Ezekiel did

"That doesn't sound good to me" I said

"Uh-huh, what she said" Siddiq said. Ezekiel chuckled

"It's nothing. Just the regular slings and arrows" Ezekiel said

"Uh-huh. Or smoke inhalation from the fire might've triggered it. Let me just-" Siddiq was cut off as he went to touch Ezekiel's neck. Ezekiel slapped Siddiq's hand away as his entire mood changed

"Woah, man what the fuck?" I asked

"I said I was fine" Ezekiel said

"Okay" Siddiq said not sure how to respond. Ezekiel felt guilty for his reaction. He was wearing a bandana around his neck. He untied it, though pain was present in his face as he did. Siddiq got a closer look. Ezekiel had a giant lump on his neck

"That's an abnormal growth of cells, you think it's cancer?" I asked Siddiq. Siddiq kneeled and moved Ezekiel's hair

"How long have you-" Siddiq was cut off

"A month. It's grown since then" Ezekiel said. Siddiq softly touched it

"Look. It could be a lot of things, yeah? Infection. You know, you might be injured yourself" Siddiq said

"I know what it is" Ezekiel said

"Listen, without tests, you can't be sure" Siddiq tried to reason but Ezekiel wasn't having it

"Siddiq, I know what it is" Ezekiel said as Siddiq got up and sat down in the other chair. I grabbed a chair and moved it so I was sitting in front of both of them. We all knew it was cancer. Though, Siddiq didn't want to admit it

"Growing up, my grandmother went through it, then my father. The pain, the coughing, the swelling. I watched them fight it and win. Did you know thyroid cancer had a 98% survival rate? Different times. Times of sorcery and witchcraft. Chemo, iodine radiation therapy, thyroidectomies. Now? Now we all know what it means" Ezekiel said

"No, you can manage it. Acupuncture, uh, hypnosis. There's- You-" Siddiq stopped as Ezekiel gave him an annoyed look. Ezekiel probably had thyroid cancer and there wasn't anything we could do

"You know, I've been struggling with my own condition.. ever since the barn. That's why I had to leave Alexandria. I just- I can't stand how everyone looks to me for some kinda.. So, you know, maybe we can't get away from it. But we can talk about it. I mean, what are we here for if not for each other?" Siddiq asked

"I'm here for you Ezekiel" I told him. He looked at me

—————

We made it back to Alexandria. I was relaxing on my back porch with Daryl. Both of us sitting chairs as Dog was laying down besides us. Daryl was smoke as usual

"You know you're gonna get lung cancer and die" I told him

"Ain't it worse to be second hand?" Daryl asked me

"Yeah, but we all die eventually, so" I said. He smirked. Though, something had caught his eye. He got up

"I'll be back" He said as he began walking away

"No goodbye kiss?" I asked. He sigedd as he turned around and walked over to me. He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss. The smell of cigarettes invaded my nose

"You smell like cigarettes" I told him

"No shit I've been smoking 'em" He said

"Cigarettes smell like shit" I said as he began walking away. He flipped me off as he continued on his way. I chuckled at him

—————

I was in the infirmary with Dante. He was taking care of a patient and flirting with her, despite her being older

"Come on. Admit it. There's a tiny part of you that's thrilled to be sick. Just so you could spend more time with me" Dante told Cheryl as he took her blood pressure. I had gotten Sylvia some water. There was a stomach bug going around and all we could do was keep them hydrated

"You think I'm pukin' because I got a little crush?" Cheryl asked

"Textbook case of butterflies in the stomach " Dante said

"I want a second opinion" Cheryl said

"Oh, it's simple science, darlin'. Bodies manifest emotion in all sorts of different ways. The heart wants what it wants. Right? Inhale for me. Good. And exhale. Alright" Dante said as the door to the infirmary opened and closed

"Seriously, though, don't you think we'd make a bitchin' couple?" Dante asked her. I struggled not to laugh

"Son, I would break you like a twig" Cheryl told him

"Yeah, she would break you like a twig" I said as Dante smiled. Siddiq walked in with Coco

"How's he doin', Cheryl?" Siddiq asked

"Jury's still out" Cheryl said

"Ouch. I thought we were havin' a moment here, Cheryl" Dante said as he went to go put the blood pressure shit down. I walked over as well

"Is she okay? Everything alright?" Siddiq asked as Coco cooed

"Yeah. Couple more cases of that stomach bug" Dante said

"So that makes it seven" Siddiq said

"Yeah" I said

"You know, maybe I should just put Coco down for a minute-" Siddiq was cut off

"Don't worry about it, man. Y/n and I got it" Dante said

"Sure?" Siddiq asked. Dante put his arm around my shoulder as he smiled

"Yeah. How's Rosita?" Dante asked. I slowly removed his arm from my shoulder

"Ah, same as everybody else, it seems" Siddiq said

"The most we can do is keep 'em hydrated and wait it out" Dante said as Coco cooed. God, she was just the cutest. I wanted to pick her up and squish her chubby cheeks

"Hey, lap up the daddy/daughter shit while you can, because they grow so damn fast" Dante said as he leaned in towards Coco and began cooing at her. Siddiq was clearly uncomfortable by this. No offense, but if Dante had done that to Lyra when she was little I would've ripped his hand off. He'd only been here four months. We didn't really know him

"Okay, a-alright, easy. Dude, easy. Have some boundaries" Siddiq said as he politely pushed Dante away. Dante nodded

"Okay. My bad. You two should go out, have some fun" Dante said. Siddiq pat Dante's shoulder as he turned around

"Alright, thanks" Siddiq said

"And if you need me to peek at Rosita later, just say the word. Happy to, you know, make sure she's on the mend" Dante said. Me and Siddiq just stared at him

"That's one of those boundaries again" Dante said

"Yep" Siddiq said as he walked out

"Noted" Dante said

"You know, if you had done that to my kid, I would've cut your hand off" I told him. He smiled at me

"That's what I like about you. You're very honest" He told me with a smile. Dante was just a flirt in general

"Thanks" I told him as I held up my ring

"Married, right" He said

—————

Unfortunately the infirmary had become swamped with people who had the stomach bug. I was giving Lisa some water when Siddiq walked in with Rosita. He was helping her walk with one hand while the other held a carrier with Coco in it

"Dante?" Siddiq asked

"Go ahead a grab a seat wherever. I'll be with you in a sec" Dante said as he was in the other room

"What the hell is goin' on?" Siddiq asked

"I-I-I think the illness is spreading faster than we thought. I-I didn't want to bother you" Dante said

"That is not a decision you get to make. Damn it, man, this is why I said I shouldn't leave" Siddiq lashed out

"Hey! Something is weird. I don't think it's contagious. We would've gotten sick already, too. I think they must've ate or drank something that's causing this" I said getting both of their attentions

"Start crushing herbs- ginger and mint for the nausea and oil of oregano and yarrow for the fever. This is only gonna get worse if we're not ahead of it" Siddiq said. Neither of them had listened to me

"God damn it" I muttered as I continued to give patients water

(1872 words)
07/13/22