Thought of this last night right after I shut down my computer...although delayed, it is now available for you to read :)
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Carol leaned against the cold stone wall outside the cell and placed her head in her hands with a heavy sigh. Herschel had finally fallen into a sleep of fevered dreams and he was tossing and turning on the mattress they'd placed on the floor to prevent him from falling off the bed from his flailing. But...at least he was getting some sort of rest.
Carol wiped her slightly bloody hands on the towel she'd taken in there with her and eyed the red stains in distaste and concern. The fever was getting worse, but he showed no signs of glass like bone feelings and pain other than that of his leg, so she was doing her best to cool him down with cold rags and air flow. Carl had volunteered to take a shift at fanning the wounded veterinarian and she thanked him tiredly as she left the cell for the first time since they'd brought Herschel back that afternoon.
She vaguely remembered the men discussing people whose names she did not recognize, something like Axel and Tiny, but she really didn't care at the moment. Her brain was tired from thinking and her hands were tired from holding and squeezing and wrapping and lifting...but it felt good to be of use, to actually be able to use the training Herschel had been giving her in medical emergencies.
She glanced at her cell door where Lori was laying on the bottom of the bunk, staring blankly at the slats above her and Carol decided that was the last place she wanted to be right now. Lori had been hit hard by Herschel's injury and she had retired to their cell earlier looking absolutely hopeless. Carol's eyes strayed up to the perch where she knew Daryl was probably sleeping at this time of night. But he wasn't, she saw, he was standing with his arms crossed over his chest in front of the large window at the head of his makeshift room, the moonlight making him only a silhouette. Sighing, Carol pushed herself off the wall and found her feet carrying her up the steps and to his side, she looked out the window down to the yard where he was looking. She didn't see anything of interest, just dead bodies littering the ground from their attack the previous day.
"Where'd you learn all that stuff?" Carol almost jumped when Daryl's voice broke the silence of the cell block.
"Stuff?" Carol asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah, that medical knowledge that ya been holdin' out on us," Daryl looked at her sideways, a teasing smile playing on the corner of his lips.
Carol sighed again and shook her head.
"Herschel's been teaching me a bit," she offered.
"Yeah, but not that much," Daryl reasoned, "You jumped right in like ya knew damn well what ya were doin'."
Carol let herself smile, there was no hiding anything from Daryl Dixon.
"I was a Nurse for a few years before I met Ed," she said truthfully, "He didn't like the idea of me having a career so he made me quit and stay home. I guess once you learn something like that, you don't forget. Like riding a bike."
"Psh, ridin' a bike don't take years of schoolin'," Daryl said, he sounded impressed. "So, you let that asshole pretty much keep ya locked in your own home?"
Carol bi her bottom lip and considered this question. Once, a while ago, she would have felt self pity or anger at Daryl for asking such a personal question with such little grace, but now she found she was willing to tell him anything and she knew he told her much more than anyone else. They had built a rapport over the winter, bonded strongly and hade even gotten to a point where they could interact in a happy way instead of all business. Carol wouldn't lie, she got a kick out of flirting with him and watching him get all kinds of flustered.
"I guess I did," she replied finally, "I didn't know back then that I could be my own person. I'd always been told I should submit to my husband and make him happy no matter what. I never had the nerve to look at what I wanted."
She felt Daryl's eyes on her, but she didn't meet them, she continued to stare out over the yard, lost in her own thoughts.
"Wouldn't know it t' look at ya now," Daryl commented genuinely.
Carol smiled and turned her head to find him smiling at her. She smiled back and laughed a little.
"Yeah, I guess I have gotten pretty kickass lately," she said with a wink, "But I think you have something to do with that."
"Me? What'd I do?"
"You taught me to shoot," Carol stated simply, "That was what made me realize that I don't have to be a burden. I have just as much capability as anyone else. I asked Herschel to refresh my medical memory because I wanted a place in this group that not everyone could fill."
Daryl was quiet for a long time, and he looked away for a while. When he finally spoke, it was barely above a whisper.
"You've always had a place no one else could fill."
Carol knew he had intended for her to hear that, but when she glanced over at him he looked terribly uncomfortable and he shifted his weight on his feet in a typical nervous little kid kind of way. She decided to only acknowledge his words with a sweet smile aimed at him and no words, knowing he was slightly embarrassed by that bold statement. Sometimes a simple look was all it took to convey a plethora of feelings and unspoken words between them, that was how much they had grown close to each other.
However, she couldn't help but get a little teasing in once the tension had faded.
"Pretty romantic here in this moonlight and all," she said nonchalantly, "My previous offer still stands."
Daryl just snorted like a bull and gave her a reproachful look before he turned from the window and plopped down on the pile of six mattresses he'd pulled from the unoccupied cells. Carol laughed lightly and made her way past him towards the stairs, but she felt something brush her calf as she passed and she stopped to look down at him.
"Ya know, ya don't have t' leave already," he said, sounding slightly nervous, "I mean, there's plenty of room up here if you want to hang around for a while. Ya can see Herschel from up her better than in yours and Lori's cage."
Carol laughed at his usage of the word cage instead of cell, he was so much like a frightened feral dog sometimes that it made her want to give him a big old hug. She would never dare do that though, not even in his best of moods did Daryl Dixon ever seem open enough to hug. So she settled with accepting his invitation to stay with him for a while and she sat down on his mattress pile with a smile.
"This would be a really good place to screw around," she commented teasingly, "You sure you want to turn me down again?"
"With the whole damn group technically in the same room?" Daryl teased back lightly, "You better believe it. Plus, T-Dog's on watch right by the door."
Sure enough, T-Dog was sitting in a chair by the cell block door with a shotgun on his lap. He looked up at the mention of his name and gave them a friendly two-fingered salute.
"Damn it, T-Dog, you cockblocker," Carol laughed. She felt Daryl wiggle uncomfortably behind her and T-Dog gave her a funny look and then a grin.
"Can't help it, it's what I do" he said, his voice carried up to her and she laughed.
"Stop it," Daryl growled lightly from behind her, but she could hear the amusement in his voice. She noticed that he and T-Dog had become much closer and gotten very friendly over the winter. Prejudice was a thing of the past these days and she was proud of him for making that step, one less way he was at all like Merle.
"Just kidding around, Daryl," Carol said right before she broke into a huge yawn. He vision got fuzzy on the edges and she felt her eyes begin to droop. "I'm about to fall asleep so I'm gonna head to my cell."
She went to stand when Daryl's hand closed on her wrist and prevented it.
"You ain't gonna get no sleep with Lori bawlin' in there," he said simply, "Ya can stay here. I don't bite, ya know."
"I wouldn't mind if you did," Carol giggled as she lay down on the mattress, a good foot of space was between them but she still felt the heat rolling off his body.
"Shut up," Daryl muttered, a smile in his tone. Carol grinned and pulled one of the blankets he had piled there over her, curling her arms into a self hug and closing her eyes, drifting off. She may have imagine it, but just before she faded into dreams she could have sworn Daryl moved just a little bit closer.
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So yep, I thought I'd share this little one shot with you. It is only a one-shot, sorry, but I don't know what's gonna happen Sunday! I'd like something like this to happen...we shall see.
Review and leave me love! Know that I send out much love to you all!