Negan hobbled into the medic station trying not to let any of his men see him limping. He had been fortunate not to have suffered series injury in his time after the world went to hell. This time he was feeling it - shooting pain in his right leg and another in his chest.
"Negan." A woman's eyes lit up when she took in his appearance. From her perspective and experience in the medical field it wasn't hard to witness the pain in his eyes.
"I need a medic," he said quietly and calmly.
"I'll get you a bed setup in back."
"No," he insisted roughly, and then cleared his throat and softened his voice. "No, I'm not doing this shit here." Negan breathed in heavily once. "Send someone to my room. I'll tell the guards."
Before she could respond he turned and hobbled away, attempting to straighten up with a groan as he crossed back into public space.
The walk up into the compound felt like miles. Each step felt like a thousand knives were penetrating the lower half of his leg. It left him less time to focus on the pain that ached just above his pectoral muscles.
I really got fucked up this time, he thought.
Negan almost didn't make it down the home stretch to his room. The fighter in him scolded the part of his subconscious that was telling him to quit and it made him press on at a faster pace.
When he finally crossed into his living quarters he made his way into the bedroom and laid down flat on his back on the bed and removed his red scarf. He winced as he tossed it to the side and laid motionless in the silence until there was a knock on the door.
"It's open!" He shouted, attempting to regain the mirage that he wasn't hurt as badly as he knew he was.
Negan lifted his head as he heard the door click open and shut. "Lock it," he ordered. He leaned his head back down.
When the woman he spoke to downstairs appeared in his room he squinted his eyes. "Where's the damn medic?"
She placed a bag down in a chair beside his bed. "I graduated from medical school. I'm better."
Negan was intrigued and slightly impressed by her confidence. "I'll make the call on that," he challenged.
"Randy never got his degree." She took in his appearance and squatted down next to right leg. "It's this one?"
He nodded, unable to argue. "What's your name?" Negan didn't even have it in him to throw in his typical terms of endearment at the end of the sentence.
She looked up at him. "Alexandra... Ali is fine." As she tried to roll up his pant leg he cursed.
"Fuckin'..." His voice trailed off and she rose to her feet. "Don't take this the wrong way Negan but I'm going to have to take your jeans off."
He chuckled in the midst of the pain, never losing his humor.
"Do your worst to me."
Alexandra remained professional. Despite being so strong she wanted to impress Negan with her medical capabilities. She knew he was in charge and the main reason why she was still alive.
"Can you undo the buckle?" She asked.
He laughed again and struggled with the pain in his chest.
"Is it your shoulder too?"
"I don't fucking know," he huffed, aggravated from the pain more than her questions.
She remained calm and swiftly undid the buckle on his pants before he could make a dirty comment. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had another injury."
Negan took a deep breath as she shimmied his pants down, careful around the base of his right leg. "Fuck lady..." he clenched his jaw when a pain rose in his ankle.
Alexandra looked at him. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "I'm going to gently squeeze your foot through your boot, okay? Tell me if anything hurts?" He gave a simple nod and she began at his toes, making her way down along the outer edge before he grunted and closed his eyes for a moment. "Right there?"
Negan nodded again. "Boy this medical stuff is hard huh?" His sarcasm made her smile and he managed a chuckle just after.
"I'm going to take your shoe off. It's going to hurt," she warned, beginning to unlace his right boot.
"Got any pain killers in that bag?"
Alexandra stopped what she was doing and reached in. She knew he would need them regardless and if Negan was asking then the pain must have been be great. "Take one for now. I'll leave the bottle when I go." She rose, eyeing a pitcher in the main room and quickly poured him a glass of water before returning.
Negan managed to push himself up to get the pill down before settling flat on his back again, breathing heavy.
"This isn't going to kick in right away," Alexandra informed him.
"You think I don't fucking know that?" he asked, not lifting his head. "I'm not a fucking idiot." Negan cleared his throat. "And thanks."
She didn't know whether to shake her head, smile or scold him for his choice of words. This was the most interaction the two of them had had since the day he found her struggling to survive in the woods. Alexandra knew of his blunt personality but now she was experiencing him first hand.
She untied his boot, loosening the laces as much as she could before slipping it off.
Negan held back a grimace but she could see the movement pained him. She peeled off his sock next and her eyes widened at the deep bruising and swollen exterior half of his foot. "This is broken," she knew right away, touching the area as tenderly as possible before attempting to slide his pant leg off the rest of the way.
"Easy..." he ordered, impress by how she maneuvered the clothing away without hurting him much.
The swelling continued up the back of his calf, as did the bruising. She pushed her fingers up the back of his leg causing him to lace out a string of profanity.
"I apologize, Negan." She shook her head, continuing to examine the area before deciding on a verdict with her limited supplies. "I believe your foot and the fibula bone back here are broken."
"Well that's just fucking amazing." Negan shook his head at the thought of him having to rule from a hospital bed.
"I'll have to secure it and you'll need to stay off it."
"The fuck I am-" he began but her tone grew more series.
"Negan in this world a broken leg can be a death sentence if you don't treat it properly." Alexandra shook her head. "You can't just get up walking around on it."
He stared at her for a moment, frustration plaguing his features. "You have to fix me up."
"I will," she vowed with a nod, "But I'm not a miracle worker."
He loosened his jacket to the best of his ability. "I can't fucking move much up here."
Alexandra began helping him remove his jacket but he cried out in pain as she began to remove his left arm. "Where does it hurt?" She laid him back down and Negan reached his opposite hand up, resting it along the very top of his chest.
She peeled back the top of his shirt and noticed the swelling immediate, drawing a hand across his collar bone that shifted under her touch.
"Fuck!" he hollered. "Stop!"
Alexandra drew her hands back and tried not to show worry in her eyes. "Your clavicle is broken in half."
"Collarbone right?" Negan breathed in heavy, keeping his eyes pressed shut.
"Right." She put a hand on her forehead. "What happened to you out there?"
"Some fucking guy hit me with a crow bar. Got ambushed by a second." He laughed, almost madly and kept his eyes shut. "Go take a look at Lucille in there and tell me who won that fucking fight." Negan laughed again.
"You got all the way back here like this?"
"I had my men with me," he reminded her.
"They didn't help you?"
"They didn't need to know." He let his eyes flicker open. "The fuck do you care?"
Alexandra raised her eyebrows. "I just... you're hurt pretty bad to just have walked it off like that."
"Honey." Negan grinned. "Don't you know who the fuck I am?" He managed a wink. "Now let's get this motherfucker off before I go ape-shit."
It took her a moment for her to realize he meant the jacket and then looked back down at his left shoulder.
"There's a wooden spoon in the other room," he told her. "Go get it."
"Why?" When Negan flashed her a look she hurried away, returning momentarily and he placed it between his teeth to bite down on while they got the jacket off. Alexandra sighed and looked at him. "I don't-"
"Just do it." His eyes burned into hers and Alexandra was a gentle as possible, maneuvering his arm at every possible angle she could to get him out of the piece of clothing.
Negan bit down hard, feeling the corners of his eyes weld up with unwilling tears as he shouted curse words in mumbled fashion against the spoon.
"Okay..." Alexandra breathed as his arm became free. "Okay... I'm sorry."
Negan breathed in and out heavily, grabbing the spoon from his mouth with his right hand and tossing it hard against the wall. "That was a bitch."
"Yeah... the worst part is over," she reminded him, not realizing she had begun to run her hand softly over his hair.
He didn't fight it, like he typically would. After all the pain it felt good and so he laid there for a minute, decompressing.
"Negan," Alexandra sighed. "I'm going to run down and get a sling for your arm to keep the collarbone stable."
"Is it that bad?"
She hesitated and then nodded. "Both injuries are bad. Not life threatening but bad. They need to be treated. You need rest."
Negan didn't argue. "What about for the leg?"
"I've got things for that too." Alexandra nodded. "I'll send Randy back."
"No," he said, shaking his head. "No, I'd rather you."
She almost smiled but simply nodded.
"And Alexandra," he said, "Don't let anyone know about my injuries."
"Your secret's safe with me." The two of them stared at one another for a moment and then she turned, "I'll be right back."