120: In Sickness and Health

                                    

                                          
Nora's POV:
After Negan and James went missing, we sent search parties out to look for them. It's now been two days without any sort of lead as to where they could be. I'm afraid that Negan is gone, but with him I know that he can't come back and hurt us because he doesn't have anyone on his side. James on the other hand, if he finds his mother, Alpha, That's it. We kept him imprisoned for years after what he tried to do to Enid. If he goes back to Alpha and tells her that we kept him locked up, we could be facing the end of Alexandria, Hilltop, and Oceanside.
One problem that Alexandria is facing that is making the search for Negan and James even more difficult, is the lack of people who are able to search. Usually we would have great numbers to form search parties, but unfortunately life happens and at least once in everybody's lifetime, they get sick. 
Unfortunately for Alexandria almost half of our community is sick. There's this awful stomach bug going around. I'm thankful that none of the kids have it, but  the same can't be said for me. I'm very sick. I've even been put on bed rest by Seb, and the kids were moved out of my house and into Merles until I start feeling better.
I've been ignoring that bed rest demand. I'm still the leader of this community, even though we have the council. The council was made so that I didn't have to make big decisions alone, but most things are still up to me especially now that most of our council is gone. They're either helping Hilltop rebuild their wall or they are out in search parties looking for Negan and James. I'm actually the only council member who is currently in Alexandria, which means I have to do shit, even if I'm sick.
I was over by the horse stables feeding Al Capony when another wave of dizziness and Nausea came over me, so I ended up sitting on a haybale next to my steed and released my lunch into the bucket that I had just used to bring him some fresh water. Thankfully, I had put the water in his trough before spilling the contents of my stomach. 
When I finally felt like I was no longer about to spew chunks out of my mouth, I leaned back against the wall of the stable. Al Capony looked at me and snorted while staring at me in a way that told me he wasn't pleased about something. I shook my head and laughed at my horse. "You got something you wanna tell me, Capony?" All he did was snort at me again, so I finally got up and pet his face. "You know, I don't see anyone else coming over here to feed your ass. You might wanna be a little nicer."
"Well you really shouldn't be over here at all."
I stared at Al Capony in disbelief. Am I just that sick that I'm imagining my horse is talking to me? I mean, dead people did learn how to walk, maybe horses have finally learned how to talk? Nah, I'm just delirious. 
"Nora?"
Oh God, maybe I'm not hallucinating. He's talking again. I mean, his lips aren't moving, but in most animal movies where animals talk, their mouths don't move.
"Itty Bits?"
I jumped when I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I turned around to see Carl standing behind me with concern for my well-being written all over his face. "You scared me, Gremlin."
"How?" He questioned. "I made myself known when I walked over here. Who did you think was talking to you?" I fell silent while glancing at Al Capony. "Oh come on." He laughed at me. "I know we live in a strange and messed up world, but you should have known the horse wasn't talking."
"Yeah..." I groaned while crossing my arms. "That's my bad."
Carl grabbed the bucket that is filled with my puke and intensely stared at me.  "Go home. Get some rest."
"No." I shook my head while holding onto the wall to keep me elevated. "I'm fine. I've got shit to do-"
"Stop." Carl growled at me. "You're sick. All you're doing is making yourself worse. Let me handle everything you need to take care of. I'm your proxy for a reason, right? You said if anything happens to you, this is my show."