Chapter 1
Carol watched from afar as her group walked through the gates of the kingdom, they were dirty and torn. Carol realized that someone was being carried on a stretcher, her breath was suspended, she wanted to get closer, she tried to decipher Rick's face. The former sheriff was crestfallen actually everyone was, she knew something very serious had happened.
They went to the infirmary, one of the kingdom's inhabitants went to Carol.
"Carol are you okay?" He asked worried "You look pale."
"I'm fine, don't worry." She answered without much encouragement "Can you tell me who was taken to the infirmary?"
"A man, he and the rest were found disoriented on the road, he is badly injured and lost a lot of blood, I don't know if he'll survive."
Carol felt as if the ground had gone from her feet, she did not know exactly who was in that situation, but something in her subconscious was shouting that was him. She could not support this pain, had to be a lie. She forced herself not to cry in front of the man she barely knew.
She pulled away leaving him there alone. Since coming to the kingdom about three days ago Carol quickly recovered. She still felt much pain in her leg and arm, but it was something she could support, after all she has faced much worse in life and she made the decision to not return Alexandria. Actually she intended not even continue in the kingdom, the people there were nice to her, but a new family was no longer part of her plans.
She ran to where were the stables. The night before she saw a horse from the infirmary window and she staid there admiring the animal, while she was still forbidden to leave. The horse was beautiful coated in black, shining in the sunlight. Carol remembered the imperial horses seen in movies and history books. It seemed to be a difficult creature to tame, but something in it make it clear that was not the case so she approached stroking the horse's face carefully. At first he pulled away and whinnied, and that made Carol got a bit scared and jumped back, but she frowned, giving up was not in her plans, so she tried again and smoothed his face one more time. To her amazement, he calmed down and seemed to enjoy her touch.
"You remind me of someone" she smiled "He is as stubborn as you, he seems rough, he may even scare people in their first contact, but he has a big heart. I miss him."
"Carol what are you doing here?" A male voice came form behind her. She didn't turn, she knew exactly who it was. "You should be resting."
"I'm fine Morgan. Have you seen them?"
"Yes, they fell into a trap, ended up in the hands of Negan. Most of them are still in shock. Something bad happened."
"What?"
"Glenn was killed by Negan."
Carol felt like she was received a blow in the stomach and began to cry. Glenn was someone important in her life, she was marveled by Glenn and Maggie's love, they were forming a family and now it was over. The world was cruel and took all those they loved, they could not have affection for nobody, love was increasingly painful nowadays.
"Carol, Daryl is in the infirmary. He is very hurt" Morgan caught her attention "You should go see him."
Carol wiped her tears with fury.
"I don't want to see him. I don't want to see anyone."
"They are your family, they care about you." Morgan held her by the shoulders "Listen to me, I know you are suffering, we all are. You need to go there, I know that's what you want and you are afraid to admit but they need you. Daryl needs you."
"Nobody needs me. Leave me alone Morgan, go find something to do."
Carol felt a mixture of emotions, she knew that Morgan was right and that infuriated her. She wanted to go there, stay with her family, stay with Daryl but…
He was not well and she was afraid of losing him.
When she entered the infirmary the first she saw was Rick, he ran to meet her and did not say a thing. Rich just hugged her and cried on her shoulder. Carol looked around, she hugged each of the and she hold Carl longer than the other, he was like a son to her.
"Where's Maggie?" She was surprised Maggie wans't there.
"Maggie's being examined." Michonne said "We were walking on the road for a couple of days. Negan and his men took our cars. Maggie was very ill and Daryl was shot in the shoulder, he lost a lot of blood, we stayed for a while in a house, we did our best to help but we didn't have any supplies."
Carol began to cry, she did not want to be weak, but it hurt to know that Daryl wasn't well.
"Carol..." She heard Rosita, the girl had tears in her eyes. "He was delirious, he called your name a few times. You need to go see him. The doctor doesn't know what going to happen. He may not survive." She came closer to Carol looking into her eyes. "Give him the opportunity to see you one last time."
Carol entered the room where Daryl was, he was inert in bed. She took a deep breath, tears fell silent down her cheeks.
"How is he?" She asked the doctor who examined Daryl.
"Not good, he lost a lot of blood, he was still conscious when they arrived and I gave him some medicine so he could sleep and not feel the pain. He is a strong man."
"I know, he is the strongest man I ever met. Can I stay with here with him for some time?"
"Sure, I'll take a look at the pregnant woman."
"How is she?" Carol asked worriedly
"Looks well, but needs to stay under observation. We need to make sure that the baby is fine"
Carol just nodded. When the doctor left the room, Carol approached Daryl bed, she ran a hand through the archer's face. He was frail, pale and cold. She held his hand, which was hot and she laid beside him, at the side that wasn't hurt still holding his hand.
"Hi Pookie ..." She sobbed. "You need to wake up, you can not leave me, that's not fair. I need you, I need your smile, I need to see you be embarrassed asking me to stop when I say something that makes you dull. I love you Daryl, and it was enough for me to admit. You were always so good to me. Look at you always been like looking at the mirror. You know me better than anyone else and when I'm with you I don't need to pretend. I feel so much. There was a time when I wanted to say what I was feeling, but I was afraid, afraid of being rejected, afraid of losing our friendship and after all so much has happened, so many things away from us and it hurt me so much ... but ... even away I knew you were there, I knew you were alive. Pookie if you die I will not support". She began to cry harder, the pain was intense. "Don't leave me, please, you don't have to match my feelings, you just need to be here. I need to know you're okay. I love you so much"
"I love you" She heard a whisper, she thought she was hallucinating and looked at him. Daryl remained with his eyes closed and she realized she was not hallucinating when he pressed her hand lightly.