Yeah, so…new story! This one features one of my ultimate OTP's: Glenn and Daryl. So…if you don't like man/man, then I'd advise you not to read. If you do… I hope you enjoy! I'll try for regular update time… maybe once ever two weeks? But I'm not sure. Anyways, I really hope that you like this new story, please review and yeah… Enough rambling, just enjoy the chapter!
Glenn shoved the old screen door open and practically fell outside, opening his slim arms wide and allowing the cool breeze to ruffle his sweaty dark hair and tug playfully at his clothes. The ringing laughter of Carl, Eliza and Sophia reached his ears, along with the quiet murmurings of Rick and Shane, their heads bent close together as Rick gestured passionately with his hands. The women – Carol, Andrea, Lori, Amy and Jacquie – were all chatting and laughing as they soaked and scrubbed clothes in rusty buckets of water. Carol's dick husband, Ed, was nowhere to be seen, as was T-dog and Morales. Jim was sitting with his back to a tree, looking up into the shivering green leaves with a faraway expression in his eyes, while Dale sat watch on top of his RV, surveying the camp with a satisfied expression on his face. All in all, a peaceful day at camp: no bloodthirsty walkers, no mounting tension between survivors, no trouble at all. Well, except… Glenn cast a glance back at the RV and heaved a sigh. Daryl wasn't getting any better. In fact, the infection could even be getting worse, and there was nothing Glenn could do to stop it, except try his best to keep down the fever and change the bed sheets as best he could with limited supplies.
Glenn's mind cast back to the attack. The cold, gleaming eyes of the attacking group as they swarmed the quarry survivors, weapons held at the ready. The cutting voice of the leader demanding supplies, the cold steel of his knife gleaming in the moonlight. Rick's hesitant refusal. The resulting chaos as the attacking group fell upon them, cries of pain echoing through the night. And then the nearly inhuman sound of agony that rose above all of the others, ringing in Glenn's ears days afterwards. The moment where everyone, friends and enemies alike turning towards the noise. But the thing that haunted Glenn the most was the gruesome scene of Daryl, on his knees before his attacker, mouth open in a cry of anguish, hands grasping at his eyes as if trying to claw them out.
Glenn shuddered and snapped out of his dark thoughts, forcing the images from his head. Above him, the sun was shining brightly, and he lifted his face to the golden orb, closing his eyes for a moment and letting the burning red impression imprint itself behind his eyelids. Then he lowered his head again and blinked a couple of times to regain his sight. It was kind of odd, he supposed, but doing that helped to calm him down whenever he felt amped up, or overly disturbed, two things that had been happening quite a lot in the wake of the zombie apocalypse.
"Hey, Glenn!" He turned to see Sophia running up at him, teddy bear trailing behind her and concern in her large eyes. Carl and Eliza were watching from a few feet away, games halted for the moment.
"Yeah?" He asked. She looked down shyly, twisting the hem of her shirt in her hands.
"Um…is Mister Daryl gonna be okay?" She asked quietly. Glenn stiffened, but forced a comforting smile. "Of course he is, Sophia. I'll take good care of him, I promise." Glenn told her. Sophia bit her lip, looking like she wanted t say something, but too afraid to. Glenn mentally cursed Ed for forcing both Sophia and Carol into a state where both flinched at any sudden movement, and rarely ever spoke their minds. The man was a monster, equally as bad as the rotting corpses that stumbled across the earth in search for human flesh to devour.
Glenn forced back his anger in favour of an encouraging face. "What is it?" He prompted.
"Well…what happens if – I mean when – Mister Daryl recovers? I heard Mummy say that he won't be able to see anymore, and then Daddy said that he was useless without sight, and that he would just be walker bait!" Sophia burst out, automatically flinching away as if Glenn were about to hit her. Glenn made a mental note to speak to Rick about Ed's treatment of his family. And then Sophia's words really sunk in for the first time.
Truth to be told, he hadn't really given any thought to what happens next. He'd focused all of his energy and thought on keeping Daryl alive, and making sure his fever didn't get too high. He hadn't planned at all for how to successfully integrate Daryl back into their little society, or how to get him back to his previous, independent self. Glenn could feel his panic rising, and he glanced back up at the sun, letting the light expand beneath his eyelids for another moment. Then he looked back at Sophia, blinking past the lingering light of the sun.
"I'm sure he'll be fine." He lied smoothly. "We'll all help him through it, okay?" Sophia hesitated. "But I don't think Shane likes Daryl very much, and Daddy doesn't either, and everyone else is real busy…" She whispered. Glenn smiled soothingly.
"It's okay; I'll take care of him if no one else wants to." Glenn told her without thinking. She perked up. "Really? Promise?" Glenn hesitated. He really wasn't sure that if he swore to it, he'd be able to keep that promise, but Sophia was looking up at him with huge eyes filled with hope. She was such a sweet girl, to care so much about a man that she barely knew. Glenn didn't want to have to disappoint her, so he took a breath. "Promise." He vowed. Sophia visibly brightened, and a huge smile graced her small face.
"Thank you, Glenn!" She said happily, before running off to join her two friends as they resumed their games once again. Glenn watched her go off with a feeling of dread starting to gather in his stomach. He had no idea how he was going to keep that promise. He wasn't a doctor, how the hell was he supposed to help Daryl recover and readjust to this insane, chaotic world? Would Daryl, with all of his pride, even allow Glenn to help him to try and help him, or would the stubborn redneck just push him away? Of course, all of this depended on Daryl actually recovering.
Glenn shook his head firmly, chasing the thoughts away. He couldn't allow himself to become hopeless, not when he had Daryl's life in his hands, and Sophia's hopes riding on him. He had to keep on believing that everything would turn out all right.
With one last jerk of his head, Glenn turned and headed back into the RV, back into the stuffy, stifling hot air of the small structure, and the thick smell of sweat and urine. Fun. Glenn plodded over to the single bedroom where Daryl currently resided. Glenn rapped lightly on the wood, even though he knew there'd be no reply. With a sigh, he pushed open the door, letting a small slip of light spill in from the open doorway, piercing the oppressive darkness that inhabited the room. It illuminated a curled up figure on the bed, blankets tangled around his legs, arm flung over his ruined eyes and a look of anguish on his rugged face. Glenn slipped inside the plain, sparsely furnished room and softly closed the door behind him, plunging them back into the dim, murky darkness.
"Hey, Daryl." Glenn murmured, not expecting a response. He didn't get one, of course, so Glenn proceeded to take the simple wooden chair by Daryl's bed, putting his head in his hands for a moment. It had been almost two weeks, and Daryl still hadn't regained consciousness.
"Daryl, please wake up. Sophia made me promise to look after you today. I can't break my promises, now can I?" Glenn whispered, grabbing a cloth from where it hung off the side of a bucket of water, quickly dipping it in the liquid and placing it on Daryl's forehead, carefully smoothing out the creases. The white gauze around Daryl's eyes was spotted with dark blood, and some of the water trickled down from the cloth to mingle with the crimson. Glenn sighed and sat back down, folding his hands under his chin.
Daryl and him didn't really know each other all that well. They never talked around camp, only barely knew each other on first name basis, and quite frankly, Glenn didn't think Daryl particularly cared about him either way. But somehow, when Daryl had been injured, Glenn had found himself volunteering to look after the man, to the surprise of the group. From then on, he'd been the one forcing mashed up food and water into Daryl, taking out the bedpan, keeping him cool and staying with him to make sure that his fever didn't get any higher, not that there was much he could do if there was. Like he'd said, he wasn't a doctor, and they had next to no medical supplies other than some Tylenol.
Glenn was snapped out of his thoughts by a groan from Daryl's prone form on the bed, and his head spun around to where the injured man was lying. His dark eyes widened as Daryl shifted slightly and moaned again. Was he waking up?
"Daryl?" Glenn asked quietly, standing up and moving to Daryl's bedside. He shifted again, and suddenly stiffened.
"W – Why's it s'dark?" He rasped. Glenn forced down his happiness at Daryl's sudden consciousness and returned to business.
"Daryl…There's something you need to know." Glenn began hesitantly. But Daryl wasn't listening. "Why's it so dark?!" He asked louder, his voice hitching in his throat, rusty from disuse.
"Daryl–" Glenn tried, but to no avail.
"Why can't I see!?" Daryl yelled out, his hands going to the bandage around his eyes. His fingers moved fleetingly over the wet spots just above his eyes, and Glenn could see the exact moment that realization set in.
"No, no, no, no." Daryl said, his fingers frantically ripping away the binding in order to linger, shaking over his eyes.
"Why can't I see?" He yelled, his entire body starting to shake now. Glenn laid a gentle hand on Daryl's arm, but the bigger man shrugged it off, sightless eyes squeezing shut.
"It hurts. It hurts." Daryl moaned. Glenn grabbed Daryl's arm and held it with all of his strength.
"Daryl, you have to listen to me! It's Glenn, Daryl, it's Glenn. Remember me?" Glenn cried desperately. Daryl didn't stop thrashing, and Glenn had to struggle to hold on to his arm. "Daryl! Please listen to me! You have to calm down!" Glenn shouted. Surprisingly, at his words, Daryl quieted and stilled, breathing rapidly, cloudy, ruined eyes flickering around as if desperate to see something, anything. Glenn relaxed his grip on Daryl's arm slightly; though he still let his fingers remain lightly touching Daryl's skin as he spoke in a calming voice. "Take deep breaths. Slow down, and just count to ten, okay?" Daryl nodded a little too fast and focused on his breathing, while Glenn started counting in Korean.
"한…두…세…네…다섯…여섯…일곱…여덟…구…열." Glenn counted slowly, steadily, and Daryl seemed to relax slightly farther to the rhythm of Glenn's words, even if he didn't understand it. Once Glenn had reached ten, Daryl was as calm as he was going to get, although his face was still screwed up in pain.
"Good. And I'm sorry Daryl, but there's…um…something I have to tell you." Glenn licked his lips nervously. Daryl went very still on the bed, and opened his mouth hesitantly, as if afraid to speak.
"I'm blind, aren't I?" He whispered, so quietly that Glenn could barely hear him. The young Asian swallowed. "Yeah."
Daryl turned his head to the side, closing his eyes tightly as far as they would close. Glenn thought for a moment that he'd slipped back into unconsciousness, until he spoke. "I can' tell when my eyes are open or closed no more." He spoke as if to himself, barely aware of Glenn's presence in the room. Daryl took a shaky breath. "I though' that there'd be a little change. I mean, a difference in dark an' everythin', but there ain't nothing. Jus' black." Then his facial expression hardened, all traces of vulnerability suddenly gone.
"Who did ya say ya were?" He asked suspiciously. Glenn flinched guiltily, and had to remind himself that he had nothing to feel guilty about. He was just caring for Daryl, had actually kept him alive all this time. So he straightened.
"Glenn. Remember me?" He asked carefully. Daryl hesitated for a moment, and then shook his head. "Ne'er heard of ya. Oh…wait…" His face scrunched up in concentration. Then remembrance washed over his rough features.
"Right! You're that kid…the Chinese one." Daryl sounded proud of his memory, and Glenn had to restrain from rolling his eyes. "I'm Korean." He corrected, but Daryl wasn't listening.
"Wait…what are ya doin' here? An' where am I?" He asked sharply, starting to sit up, eyes darting rapidly, seeing nothing. He winced every time his eyes moved; the torn tissue must have hurt like hell. Glenn placed a gentle but restraining hand on Daryl's shoulder.
"Relax. I've been taking care of you, for almost two weeks. We're still in camp, and you've been sleeping in Dale's RV for the time you've been injured." He explained carefully. Daryl froze for a minute, swaying slightly due to impaired balance, and then slowly, deliberately, rolled onto his side, his back facing Glenn, and then didn't move. Glenn groaned.
"Aww, come on Daryl, everyone needs help once in a while, right?" Glenn tried.
"Not from Chinamen who ain't no more than kids themselves." Daryl snapped. Glenn sighed and sank back into his chair, his hand massaging his temple. It was going to be a hard next few weeks.
Well, there you go. Hope you liked the first chapter, and hopefully there shall be more to come! Please, please review, and hopefully I'll see you next time! Until then, Hawq out!
