After her time in Woodbury, Alice had learned that a lot could be learned about a community —or in this case, about a group— just from looking at their elderly and young. The girl that sought her help, Beth, was nervous but didn’t strike her as afraid to speak- she definitely wasn’t afraid to speak when she told her father that he absolutely had to “see the doctor”, and the man, Hershel, he was well fed and like his daughter, unafraid to take up space. That was more than Alice could say about people in Woodbury.
She let Hershel remove his own prosthetics before she carefully checked the stump. Whoever had cut it off was a butcher, but Alice figured that in such desperate times one couldn’t be picky about who removed a limb to prevent someone from dying. Her gaze went to Shane when the man explained who’d taken care of it, and that that person didn’t have much medical experience either.
“He’s alive and it isn’t infected, I’d say she did more than an okay job,” Alice hummed. She reached for the prosthetic. “But I seriously recommend adding some padding inside this, so that you don’t risk the bone piercing through the skin cause of the weight. Muscle tissue will eventually start forming, but it’ll take a while. For now, keep the stitches clean, keep an eye on it for any decoloration or oddly colored tissue, and sleep with it elevated.”
“What part of Georgia are you from?” Hershel asked.
Alice smiled. “Born and raised in Atlanta, I was living and studying in Athens when… all of this happened.” she looked at all three of them. “How did you all end up together?”
Shane listened to them get more acquainted with one another, learning what he could from eavesdropping on the very conversation. He could learn a lot from someone by listening and observing. He was certain that she knew exactly what he was doing, but he didn’t care. The safety and well-being of everyone here was more important that not bothering someone or hurting their feelings.
He had just finished sharpening the last of the knives when he heard some of the others coming in from outside. Glenn was the first one that he seen when he stepped inside. He winced at how puffed his face was still. He pointed at Alice’s makeshift infirmary. “Might wanna have her check you out. Might have a broken orbital socket.” There wasn’t much that she could do about it if it was broken, but she might have some suggestions on how to care for it until the swelling went down at least.
Glenn frowned and instantly winced as the frown tugged at every swollen and bruised muscle on his face. “Probably wouldn’t hurt,” he admitted, but he didn’t want to get ahead of any of the others that might take priority.
Shane stood up then, packing away the sharpening stone and the weapon cleaning gear and put it away. He then moved to lean against the cell door. “If you want, I could rig up a cloth or something so that when you’re with a patient, there’s some privacy,” he offered.