Midnight Wake Up Call (Milton, Phillip and Willow)

Willow was having a very good nights sleep, when she was unhappily woken up by Milton knocking on the door to her bedroom, it really wasn't great to be woken up at midnight, and to be honest she really didn't care whether they had new people coming into Woodbury, couldn't they just wait until the morning to be processed, they probably wanted their sleep too!?

Sighing a little bit she wandered through the town and into the medical halls where they were currently being kept, she had been told to head there by Milton and she was reluctant to do anything too complicated in the night, she was tired and she was definately not focused. Give her a strong cup of coffee and half an hour and then she would be with you.

Of course she wouldn't have much of a choice, if the Governor told her to do something she would have to do it, partly because it was probably a matter of life and death, and because she respected what he told her to do as he was her friend after all, he had looked after her when she had first come to the town a few months ago. In this time she had earnt his respect too, and his friendship which she didn't regard lightly, the Governor didn't actually have many friends.

Entering the building she was directed into the first medical room, where an American soldier lay on the gurney, he was badly burnt and clearly wasn't the picture of health, raising an eyebrow at Martinez she asked;

"What happened to him?" her voice was full of concern as she stepped closer to the gurney donned her latex gloves and began to look him over "He wasn't bitten was he?"

"No, we found them at a Military helicopter crash, there should be a convoy somewhere not far off, we're going to see if we can find it tomorrow, until then, the Governor want's you to take care of this guy." Martinez replied "You need anything?" he asked.

Willow and Martinez were friends as well, they were closer to each other in age, but not interests and at some points she had thought he had a crush on her, but, she was just hoping someone might. Obviously as the geeky medical girl, nobody did. Especially when the other women were so ready to sleep around, like that one who was with the Governor right now, she forgot her name.

"A cup of coffee would be good, if you have the time." Willow smiled softly "Are there any other new additions?"

"Yeah, two women, they're in the second medical room, the Governor is welcoming them now. I'll come back with your coffee as soon as." he grinned, loping out of the room.

Turning her attention to the soldier, she smiled lightly at him, he was conscious but probably not very aware, unzipping his heavy jacket, she sighed, he was too heavy for her to get it off him on her own, so she left it for now, instead she turned her attention to diagnosing what was wrong with him.

Milton was yawning when he knocked on Willow's door to wake her up. It was to be expected considering it was midnight and most people in Woodbury went to bed around 6 when the sun went down. He was a little bit put out however when she just snarled past him without a word towards the medical centre. Sighing a little bit, his shoulders sagged and he adjusted his glasses a little bit. She might not have been nice when woken but she had apparently never heard the saying "don't shoot the messenger".

He made his way to the medical centre as well, having been called in by the Governor as well. Of course he was supposed to work on the Walker Projects more than anything else but he liked to help out on the more practical side of the medical team. Sometimes working on the Walker Project just made him feel incredibly sad so it wasn't something to do all the time. He was in the room when Martinez came in to try and make some coffee for Willow. He could tell it was for Willow because Martinez was trying to fill her mug.

Even from across the room, sterilising some needles and thread, he could tell that he was making it all wrong but was trying to impress her by knowing what she liked. The thing was that Willow was just too polite to tell him that she didn't have five sugars with black coffee but two with white coffee. When Martinez was called off to guard someone, Milton emptied the cup and filled it correctly this time. Entering the little treatment room she was in, he placed her coffee down,

"Here... Martinez was going to give you toothache again." he joked shyly as he examined the burnt soldier, "Second and... third degree burns. Want any help?"

Willow turned around when she heard Milton talking to her and she smiled softly at him, taking the cup of coffee and sipping it softly, it felt so good and almost immediately made her feel more awake. Sighing softly she hugged the cup to her chest, it did a good job of making her warm as well she had left the lovely bedwarm she had created, and had to walk through the town, so she was more than a little bit chilled.

Laughing gently she shook her head, Martinez was sweet, and she didn't have the heart to tell him that she all but despised the coffee that he made her, because it just tasted like bitter earth to her if she was honest with herself.

"Thanks Milton, I just don't have the heart to tell him that I don't like it the way he makes it, I tried once but, it's nice of him to try anyway." she stated with a small smile "I would offer you some but, you don't really like coffee do you?"

One of the Governors main reasons for hanging out with Milton was apparently his tea, and therefore, she had often thought that he was more of a tea man than a coffee, even so, everyone needed a little caffiene boost sometimes. Now was definately one of those times. When he offered to help her she smiled widely at him, that would be nice, maybe he could help her take off that heavy padded jacket?

"Sure, I'd love some. I needed to unstrap his jacket to treat him, I'm just applying a salve and some bandages, there's not a lot we can do apart from that...but it should help with the pain and heal the skin." she hummed, gently spreading on the cream with her fingers, even though they were covered with a glove she still felt that horrible texture "The poor man...this must have hurt so much."

Biting her lip she turned to Milton with a sad smile; "Could you get some bandages and painkillers from that cupboard for me?"

Milton blushed a little bit when she smiled at him for handing her a coffee. Even simple things like that got him blushing if it was Willow who had done them. Any of the other women and he'd just smile back and move on but Willow made him blush over the oddest, the tiniest, of things. One of the things that didn't make him blush around her was when Martinez tried to get closer to her due to his obvious crush on her.

Honestly, he was never going to be that obvious. He smiled a little bit even as he adjust the glasses he always wore,

"It's not a problem Willow." he told her happily before shaking his head slightly, "No, none of the devil's juice for me. I much prefer the civilised drink of tea, much smoother but with the same caffiene. Unfortunately there's not a lot around here..."

Shaking his head a little bit, he thought back to his project of growing tea plants on the roof of the medical building. Thankfully no one had asked to use the potts on the roof for vegetables so they were all given over for his tea addiction. Nodding in understanding, Milton was careful, but quick, to ease the heavy padded jacket off of the man,

"Alright I've got the jacket off... would have helped against Walkers but not fire I guess." He sighed a little bit, helping to apply some salve to some of the heavily burnt areas. The man spluttered with pain when he rubbed it gently onto a particularly nasty burn, cause Milton to wince, "Looks like it's not stopped hurting..."

Nodding to her, he moved over and collected the requested supplies. He handed her the bandages as he lined up a shot of painkiller. Injecting it into the man, he listened as he whimpers of pain subsided slightly, "Poor guy... come on then. We can paint some iodine on some of the bad ones before we bandage yeah? Let's hope the poor guy makes it through the night..."

Willow liked some of the odd expressions that Milton came out with sometimes, such as the one that he just used for coffee. Although she didn't really understand it, she was just glad that she was able to be around him, he was such a great person, so sweet and understanding she really didn't know what he was doing working on things like the Walkers, she didn't know what he was doing with them but...still. They were dangerous and creepy!

"Well then I guess I must be a pretty bad girl." she joked with a grin on her lips "The amount of coffee I drink, although it's not my fault, people keep tempting me by offering to make me some, what's a girl to do?" Willow asked with a little laugh.

When the man spluttered in pain she felt so bad for him, he had managed to survive this long and now he was going to have to contend with these disfiguring burns, at least they weren't on his face or anything like that, heat like that would have destroyed his eyes, and maybe even burst his eardrums. It was manageable on the bottom half of his body.

"Well it wouldn't would it?" she asked softly "I am just glad that the scouts managed to find him when they did, he should be alright now if we keep tending to him, as long as these don't get infected. What about the other two, have you met them yet?"

Nodding her head, and once she had waited a few moments to allow the painkiller to start working she brushed the burns with iodine to keep them from getting infected and to clean them out of any infection already in there. Blowing on the skin lightly to dry the iodine quicker, Willow began to wrap the bandage around his torso.

"Will you get his leg for me?" Willow asked "After that I suppose we'll go and check in on the other new arrivals, is the Governor still in there?"

Milton could have hit his head repeatedly with the palm of his hand when he saw the look on her face. Damn it! He was blushing and making one of those faces again wasn't he? Just the thought of her seeing him blushing and looking rather stupid made him blush more and he pushed his glasses up again to try and not draw attention to himself. He blushed bright red and had to clean some steam off his glasses when she said that she was a bad girl. Oh what a loaded statement to him! He swallowed thickly,

"O-only a little bit." he tried to play along before chuckling a little bit, "Well you could always ask for tea instead. I know people say it's only for me and Phillip but still, you can have some."

Sighing a little bit, Milton laid out a wet cloth on the man's forehead where they was a first degree burn. It wasn't enough for salve or bandage but the wet cloth might help ease his pain. He wouldn't even have the mark if he lived through the night,

"Yeah the scouts keep finding people but a lot of them are in bad shape. It's a real pity." he agreed, secretly hating himself. He knew of at least some cases where it was the scouts who killed the people, just to take their supplies. He shook his head, "No I've not met them yet. I'm sure we'll see them around though."

Nodding to her, he began to iodine the burns on the legs before bandaging them up too. When she suggested that they check on the new arrivals he remembered something,

"Ah!" he shook his head, "Just remembered, Phillip said that we should stay and help this guy until the Doctor comes in the morning. Something about him being very important and knowing where some national guard troops were."

Willow tilted her head to one side when she saw that Milton was blushing a little bit, she didn't know why, maybe he was thinking about something blushworthy? It was hardly her place to pry though and so she didn't ask about it, even though it was a little strange, he was blushing more and more around her recently. By nature though he was very shy, she was often nervous around the Governor, and they had known each other since before Woodbury.

"Ah no I'm fine thanks, I like coffee more than tea, so I guess I'll stick to being bad for now." she teased with a little wink "Although, I best be careful in case the Governor thinks I'm causing trouble, then I really will be in for it." Willow laughed softly, of course, Philip would never do something like that to her, they were friends, no matter what she did, she liked to think they'd talk it through.

Watching Milton lay the towel on the man's head made Willow smile lightly to herself, he was so sweet sometimes, she really did like being around him, even though he would never admit it, he had a very large and caring heart, which was probably why they had made friends so fast if she was honest. That, and the fact they had worked closely together when she was first here.

"Its not surprising though, being out there without large numbers or great protection, one biter herd and that's that. Although, I do wonder about the helicopter crash...I wonder why it happened they must have been trained to fly it, maybe it just ran out of fuel." Willow mused aloud, throwing the dirtied cloths in the nearest bin and taking off her gloves.

When they had finished with the man she picked up her coffee and took another sip, making a happy little noise of contentment as she did so, moving over to the other bed in the room she sat down on it and patted the space next to her for Milton to sit on. On some occasions they had conversations like this, just the two of them, and Willow enjoyed them immensely.

"Alright then, it looks like we're going to just have to sit here, make sure his pain medication is topped up every four hours or so, and when he comes around give him some water, maybe try some crackers." she stated with a small sigh

"Maaaaan, I am so tired." Willow complained, with a small pout "I was up really early yesterday and I spent all day in the clinic trying out that new idea Philp has got going on, where people come and ask me all sorts of health questions...?" she asked, wondering if Milton had been told about this, he probably had been, the Governor told him everything!

Milton was getting really annoyed with himself because he had yet to stop blushing and he really didn't want to be blushing right now. Blushing wasn't smooth! He thought that he would have to be smooth otherwise she wouldn't look at him that way. He coughed a little bit when he realised that he had zoned out completely. He tried to avoid doing that if possible,

"A-ah well if you keep being bad... w-won't someone punish you?" he tried to tease back. It might have failed due to the fact that his blush had reached new heights over this. He chuckled a little bit and shook his head, "No Phillip thinks the sun shines whenever you wake up, you're his number one. I might do his Walker research but you're the one he likes the most, by far."

He nodded in agreement on the outside while on the inside he was more than a little bit frustrated. To be honest it was perfectly feasable that the scouts with the Governor had shot the thing out of the sky. He really wouldn't put it past Phillip sometimes,

"Must have run out of fuel..." he agreed before shrugging slightly, "I mean how hard is it to find aviation fuel around here nowadays? Can't just use any regular fuel..."

Sitting down on the bed next to her, Milton blushed so much that his glasses steamed up once again and he had to take them off to wipe them down again. When he put them back on he was actively trying to keep himself calm,

"Yeah sounds about right." He agreed with a little chuckle before he smiled faintly, "Yeah sorry about having to wake you up. You know how insistant Phillip can be. Yeah he told me about the clinic idea actually. I think it'll be a good idea but you'd need some help otherwise you'd be there all day and here all night... it's not good for you."

Getting up from the bed, he moved over to a cupboard. He brought out a small tin and blushed a little bit as he handed it to her, revealing a tin full of chocolate bourbons,

"Here... I er... I heard that you liked chocolate bourbon biscuits so I..." he blushed a little bit as he sat back down, "So I found you some."

Willow blushed softly and she shyly shifted her gaze from Milton to her legs, she had just pulled on some jeans and a strap tshirt, but she had been in her rather scampy underwear while she had been sleeping before she had been glad she had locked her door otherwise he might have seen her in them! She made sure that she always washed her own, she'd always been private about things like that, she didn't want strangers seeing them.

Although...she didn't want Milton to see for another reason.

"Aren't you being a little bold today?" she smiled softly, a faint pink blush on her cheeks "You think so?" Willow asked happily "Well, I'm glad, me and Philip are good friends, or so I like to think, although I do worry a little bit about how...how loose he can be with his affections, I feel so bad for the ladies sometimes, especially when they ask me about it."

Nodding her head she smiled softly; "Yeah, I mean, that's why everyone didn't just jump on a plane and go somewhere more remote isn't it? It would have been a great idea I think, but the fuel would have all run out by now, or, wouldn't be able to be used."

It was so nice to have Milton looking out for her, and Philip to, to an extent, even though he liked her to get things done when he asked her to, when he was in the right mood he could be equally as nice and caring. IT was a little sad that these moods were getting further and further apart now, and she didn't understand why.

"I know that it's hard, and I really don't mind helping out the towns people making sure they're all healthy, but...it's hard doing it on my own."

Taking another sip of her coffee she tilted her head to one side when Milton moved towards the medical cupboard and took out a tin, she had been wondering what was in it but left it alone, hearng it was bourbons she grinned and gave Milton a large hug, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest;

"Awwww Milton!" she grinned "That's so sweet you really didn't have to, I can't believe that you found a packet still in date."

As she took a bite of one of the bourbons, she hummed in pleasure and before you knew it, the whole bourbon was gone.

Milton had to admit that she had gotten dressed casually but the clothes did little to hide how amazing her body was. Although thinking that seemed to get his blush going again and he blushed brightly as he usually did. He chuckled a little bit when she questioned him about feeling bold. Yeah that was him, textbook idea of boldness. He smiled faintly,

"Well I guess it must be the tiredness... getting me all impulsive. Y-yeah I think so..." he suggested, blushing even as she was blushing at him. His blush was still stronger but still, "Yes Phillip can be a bit loose like that sometimes... but he told me he's just waiting for the right woman. I don't see why he can't do that without all the one night stands though."

He nodded in agreement and smiled a little bit, "Yeah... fly away to some tropical island somewhere and just forget the world. I used to do that during the summer... Jamaca, I used to go to Jamaca before all this happened."

He agreed that it was going to be getting harder on her and he really didn't want it to be like that. After all, he wanted her to be happy and happiness didn't often come from being worked to the bone night and day,

"Well how about I help you out?" he suggested with a smile, "The Walker Project doesn't take too much time to poke along so it would be a much better use of my time I think."

Her reaction to the biscuits was positive; as he had expected. However, he had not expected to be glomped by her to such a degree. Feeling her body pressed against his own, his blush built up and his glasses steamed up a little bit again. He blushed darkly,

"I-I just wanted to... to... well to give you something nice..." he told her with a bright blush before smiling a little bit, "I actually... I actually found three packets in date. And in date for a few weeks longer actually... I'm keeping them for later though."

Willow clicked onto something that Milton said and she blinked a little bit, did he have a crush on her? No way, if he did that would just be too perfect! She had feelings for him for a while now, although she did her best to conceal them and to be honest she thought that everyone had no idea, when she needed to she kept her cards close to her chest. It was just too cute when he kept blushing though, it was definately a sign she might be right.

"Getting you all impulsive huh?" she asked teasingly sliding to sit closer to him, giving Milton a sly wink Willow asked "What else do feel the impulse to do?"

A few seconds later she giggled and waved her hand; "I'm sorry I just couldn't help myself, you just left yourself wide open for that one Milton. I guess it's really hard to find a new love, after the loss of his wife it will take time, eventually it'll come back to bite him, when he gets someone pregnant." Willow sighed softly.

Hearing that Milton used to go to Jamaica during the summer, Willow's ears pricked up and she finished her coffee before taking another bourbon and eating it slowly, savouring her favourite biscuit; "Really? What was it like there? I've never been that interested in the tropics, I'm more a European type of girl, I loved visiting England and France."

The offer of help was one that she couldn't turn down and she nodded her head excitedly;

"Oh yes please Milton, that would be great if you could cover me for a few hours while I get a break, have something to eat and maybe have a little nap. If you ever need help with...whatever it is you do, I'll be glad to lend a hand."

Sitting back down on the bed, she leant her head against his arm when Milton sat back down as well, stifling a yawn she merely smiled up at him, he was so sweet, wanting to give her something nice. It had been a while since she had a treat for herself, and she was glad that someone had gotten her something, something so simple could cheer her up immensely.

"Well thank you anyway Milton, it really does mean a lot." she smiled, moving her gaze to the floor, she could feel herself getting more sleepy despite the coffee, it was warm in here, and she felt at ease with Milton by her. That and it was about 2 in the morning.

And just like that he was back to being the one being teased and being the one blushing up a storm! He blushed brightly, trying not to let it get too bad. But when she slid closer to him his blush reached levels it never had before and he could barely speak for the blush and the embarassment of potentially making a fool out of himself. When she gave him a sly wink though his blush became so high that his glasses steamed up again but he couldn't bring himself to clean them right now,

"Y-y-yes.... I mean... not... not ALL impulsive but... I mean... if the mood strikes me I might be... well you know... impulsive..." he spluttered out in embarassment, his blush now reaching nuclear level when she asked him what else he felt the impulse to do, "W-w-well... I... lots... lots of things you know..."

When she giggled his shoulders sagged in relief. So she had just been teasing him. He could deal with that because he was unsure how much longer he could have remained conscious with a blush of that level, "It's fine, just... just remember I need blood in other places of my body, not just my cheeks yes? I doubt he'll get anyone pregnant and even if he does... well people around here see that as a good thing for some reason."

Seeing that she was interested in his old holidays he smiled a little bit and nodded, "It was really good. Especially if you got a villa on your own like I used to. The days were hot, the nights cool and the local culture facinating and really inclusive. Never been to Europe... lots of culture around there though right?"

When she leant her head against his arm he blushed brightly again. He wanted to stroke her hair out of her face so very much right now, to gently touch her cheek, but it was all too much too fast. It would not do to be too forward,

"A-ah it's nothing..." he blushed a little bit with a small smile. Seeing that she was getting comfortable he smiled a little wider and gently stroked her hair, blushing brightly as he did so, "How about you take a little nap Willow? I can handle the first two lots of painkillers before I wake you up. What do you say to eight hours more sleep eh?"

Willow couldn't help but giggle, Milton was so red, it was now kind of obvious that he must have at least found her pretty, because, she was managing to make him blush so much. When she thought about it, she actually hadn't seen Milton with another woman before, she had kind of thought that he might be the other way inclined and so her feelings wouldn't be returned but, it seemed like they just might be.

Pouting a little bit she moved closer so her body was pressing against his at the side; "Awwww you aren't going to tell me what those things are?" she asked with a small pout.

Unable to stop herself from giggling again she nodded her head, he had turned rather more red than she had expected when she had teased him, it was really rather sweet, and like she had thought, if he did like girls, he was the painfully shy and sweet type, rather than the rather sexual and blatant other men in the group like Merle and Philip to a lesser extent.

"Sorry Milton, you just look so sweet when you blush like that. I wouldn't think it was a good thing at all!" she gasped "I like...never wanted kids, I was too scared of all the complications in birth, and now...we don't even have a midwife, it's not a great idea to get pregnant in a world like this." Willow sighed softly.

Thinking back to her time in Europe, Willow got a thoughtful serene look on her face, she loved Europe it was so rich in history, so beautiful, unlike America, her country didn't have a lot of history like England and the rest of Europe. Although the warmth of the Carribean sounded great when she thought about it.

"It sounds wonderful Milton, if we had known each other beforehand we could have gone together." she grinned "I could have showed you Europe and you could have shown me Jamaica, but yes, Europe is full of wonderful culture, it has such beautiful buildings and scenery too."

Murmuring softly when Milton stroked her hair, she blushed lightly as he did so, but she allowed her eyes to close and she smiled softly as he suggested taking a small nap;

"I was already beginning to nod off for a minute there, as long as you don't mind, sure, I'll take a nap." Willow smiled softly, although laying on the bed would have been more practical as Milton would have to eventually get up, she didn't want to move from his touch, he was just so shy, when else was she going to get to be this close to him? Letting her eyes close, she leant her head against his arm and sighed softly while she fell asleep.

Milton wasn't stupid and he knew that she was just teasing him when she asked to know what things he would do impulsively. Well even if she wasn't just teasing, telling her would be enough to make him pass out because all the blood was in his cheeks and nowhere else. When she moved so that her body was pressing against his side he had to pinch his nose to keep the blood from coming out,

"Um... y-yeah I'm not going to tell you..." he told her with the mother of all blushes, "I don't want to... to embarass myself..."

When she commented him on looking sweet when he was blushing, Milton couldn't help but blush. Of course he had to clean his glasses from the steam again. Being this close to her was already making him blush entirely too much. He chuckled lightly,

"Well I'm glad that I do... I don't seem to be able to control it...." he told her before nodding in agreement, "I had kinda resigned myself to never being a dad before all this... but I wanted kids. But now... now I wouldn't risk the person I love for anything... not even the chance to have a little girl or boy calling me dada..."

He agreed with that statement whole heartedly. He wished he had known her before all this, he might have had a chance of getting together with her back when the world was whole. He nodded in agreement, "I would have loved to go to those places with you. As if is I think a vacation for us now involves heading up to my little roof garden..."

His blush was still there but when she began to nodd off he just smiled happily. He gently stroked her hair as she fell asleep. Although there was no evidence, he liked to think that him brushing her hair with his hands was soothing her into a deeper, happier, sleep. The evidence that she was fully asleep came when she actually murmured his name in her sleep as she shifted against him slightly to get more comfortable. He blushed when she mentioned him.

Did that mean she dreamt of him like he dreamt of her?

Seeing as she was fully asleep by now, Milton felt that he had the courage to speak his mind now. Gently stroking her cheek, he spoke in hushed tones so as not to wake her,

"I know you're asleep and you can't hear me... in fact that's why I'm saying this all now. You see Willow... I'm a coward." he confessed to her quietly, still playing with her hair, "You are a beautiful, intelligent, thougtful, considerate, helpful and generally lovely person all around. And I can't even pluck up the courage to speak to you when you're awake... I'm a coward because I don't have the confidence to speak to you like I am now, while you're awake."

He paused, his fingers lightly touching her cheek as he looked down at her forlornly,

"I'm a coward because I can't tell you that I love you when you're awake." he told her as he gently laid her down on the bed properly, careful not to disturb her. He gently kissed her on the forehead, "And I always will, Willow Evans."