Daryl couldn't decide what was causing him the most pain, his leg - which he'd broken falling off the roof, or his head- which was throbbing thanks to Merle incessant yapping.

He was barely out of the ambulance, still begrudgingly strapped to a stretcher, when he'd heard his brother's voice booming through the thin partitions of the emergency room. It was mid-afternoon so Daryl knew Merle would have got the call at the pub, probably with a drink or two under his belt, and he'd rushed straight over to support his little brother.

And support he had, with a hard clap on the shoulder and a "Toughen up, pansy ass." During the x-rays and examination and resulting cast he had been right there by his side, offering more support in the form of dirty jokes for the nurses, and even dirtier jokes about the nurses for Daryl. For hours now Merle had been sprawled in a chair by the door of his hospital room, and Daryl didn't know how much more he could take. The pain medication they had given him when he arrived was wearing off and if it wasn't for the fact that he was a Dixon, and Dixons didn't ask for pain relief, he'd have taken a whole bottle just to drown out his brother.

"This is what you get for workin, you know that Darylina." Merle leant his head back on the wall behind him, his long legs stretched out in front, his arms gesturing wildly as he spoke. "Leavin old Merle behind and goin to work for those rich folk. Getting god damn boring you are."

Daryl sighed, "Gotta grow up sometime, Merle" he replied wearily. This wasn't the first time he'd heard that particular speech from his brother, and that was his usual response.

A couple of years before Daryl had gotten tired of following Merle around and had got himself a job and, as soon as he could afford it, his very own cabin out in the woods. He was working for a friend of his in construction, Abraham, who specialised in the renovation of old heritage houses. It was hard work, but Daryl enjoyed it, and he had gotten surprisingly good at it too. The decorative gables and wooden balustrading on those old places were all handmade, so matching and replacing parts was practically an art form. It was satisfying, using his hands and his tools to take something that looked ready for the trash and making it look like something really special. At the end of the day when he sat on his very own porch with a beer in his hand and his body aching, he felt content in a way he never had with Merle. He knew he'd never go back to that life - sleeping on other people's couches, wearing the same clothes for days at a time, hunting for his diner. He still hunted, but now it was only for enjoyment on his days off and not because he was broke. Being out in the woods with his bow, surrounded by trees and knowing there wasn't another person for miles was the only time he really felt like he could be himself.

Daryl shifted his head around on the unnaturally crisp pillows, trying to find a comfortable position. His neck was already stiff and he was reminded once again how much he hated hospitals. Growing up a Dixon meant he had been a fairly regular visitor, and he was sure he had a file in every hospital in Georgia. Wherever he went though, it was always the same. The same small sterile room with the permanently shut windows and the same sickly antiseptic smell. He could never sleep with the constant footsteps tapping along the corridor and the ridiculous hospital gown that bunched up every time he turned over. This time the closest hospital was Grady Memorial in Atlanta, so even the view through his dirty window was just the depressing grey concrete of city buildings.

He had only been there for a few hours and he was already homesick for the quiet solitude of his cabin and the clean smell of the woods. The doctor had said he would need to be there for about four days, and if Merle insisted on staying all that time he thought he might just have to throw himself down the elevator shaft to end his misery.

Merle was still talking and Daryl put his hands over his eyes in an effort to block out both his brother and the artificial light above him. It was definitely his head that was causing him the most pain, he decided, as the throbbing slowly became a pounding. Soft footsteps out in the hall came closer and closer, stopping just inside his room but he kept his hands over his eyes, deciding to ignore whoever it was.

And he did, until Merle's appreciative whistle made him lift his head.

Standing between Merle and his hospital bed was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. She was small and blond, with big blue eyes and a sweetheart face that lit up as she smiled.

"Hi Mr Dixon, I'm Beth. I'll be your nurse this evening."

She was wearing a light blue dress with a zip up the front, a name bag on her chest, and comfortable flat soled shoes. It was the same outfit he'd seen a hundred times before but he'd never seen it look as good as it did now. Her blond hair was pulled back with just a little wisp hanging by her face, and as she smiled at him she pushed it to the side with one hand. The girl in front of him didn't look old enough to be a nurse and she certainly didn't look like any nurse he'd ever had before. She looked more like someone who belonged on a stage…

Daryl glared at Merle. It would be just like his uncouth, moral-less brother to arrange a stripper to visit him in hospital, and Daryl knew he'd probably make him pay the bill at the end too. "No way Merle." He practically growled.

Merle stood up from his seat behind Beth where he'd been not so subtly eyeing her legs, his mouth stretched into a grin. "Not me baby brother." He held his hands out in front of him in denial, but Daryl wasn't convinced.

His eyes narrowed even further. "No one else knows I'm here."

The young nurse frowned a little in confusion at their exchange, her eyes flicking from one man to the other. A moment later she was smiling again and moved to stand at the end of his bed where she gently placed the clipboard she held beside his feet.

"I'm just here to clean you up a little Mister Dixon. You're a little dirty." She turned to smile sweetly at Merle. "Would you mind leaving us for a while, it won't take long."

Merle grinned even wider, crossing his arms over his chest. "No, I bet it won't" he snickered and Daryl's scowled deepened. He absolutely was not in the mood for this. If it wasn't enough that he was in pain and had to put up with Merle, now he had to put up with whichever of Merle's stupid ass friends had arranged this stunt.

Merle winked at him as Beth ushered him out and closed the door behind him.

She crossed the room to a trolley in the corner, bending to retrieve a towel from the bottom shelf and then a wash basin and cloth.

Her dress wasn't short, but as she bent it slide up just enough to get Daryl's attention, and he couldn't help a little look at her legs. They were long; longer than you'd expect for such a petite thing; all lean muscles and flawless skin. His eyes wandered upwards, from the contours of her calves to her slim thighs, and then higher to where her dress hugged the gentle curves of her bottom nicely.

He made sure to look away before she turned around and went to stand at the sink in the corner, filing the basin while humming gently to herself. Daryl let his eyes drift over to her again. She wasn't just the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, she was beautiful. Everything about her, from her soft golden hair to her fair skin and sparkling blue eyes. If he had to endure a stripper than at least Merle hadn't gone with the usual girls that he liked, all fake nails and fake hair and probably fake boobs too. This girl, Beth (if that was her real name), was total class. Which bought up another problem for Daryl, and he crossed his arms grumpily over his chest. "I can't afford you."

She smiled at him over her shoulder, her perfect white teeth visible behind shiny pink lips. "Your employer has taken care of everything. Just relax."

So it was bloody Abraham. That guy was just as bad as Merle sometimes.

She carried the now full basin over to the table beside his bed and set it down, and he practically held his breath as he waited for her performance to start. Merle had dragged him to enough strip clubs and forced him to sit through enough porn over the years that he had a pretty good idea of where this was headed. The accidental wetting of the uniform, the innocent little 'Oops!' and the 'I better get out of these wet clothes', followed by her climbing on top of his hospital bed for a lap dance. He hoped she at least had enough sense to keep off his leg, which still hurt like hell even with the cast on. He wished she'd just get it over with.

The girl surprised him then by picking up the clipboard by his feet and flipping through the pages. Her eyes scanned over a few lines, and she nodded before she flipped it closed again.

"Before I start, do you need any more pain medication? It says here your last dose was hours ago."

Daryl raised his head, his scowl softening into a confused frown as he looked her over.

Beth's expression was serious, her pen poised over the paper and her eyebrows raised slightly as she waited for his answer. Daryl's eyes roamed lower and for the first time he noticed that the badge on her chest had the hospital logo right beside her name, and the clip board she held was his chart - his medical chart. "You really a nurse?"

She nodded, laughing lightly as she asked "What else would I be?"

Her head tilted to the side and she just looked so sweet and innocent he couldn't tell her that he had thought she was a stripper. She would probably think he was one of 'those guys'. Guys like Merle, who wolf whistled and said words like 'tits' and slapped girls on the ass in bars. The truth was he barely even looked at girls, and didn't speak to them if he could help it.

Daryl shifted his eyes back down to his lap, wishing he could just pull the thin cotton blanket over his head and pretend this day wasn't happening. "I thought…"

"What?" She smiled, waiting for him to explain.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders, peering out through his hair as his thumb moved to his mouth and he chewed on the nail. "Hmmd..."

"Don't Hmmd. You thought what?" She persisted, still smiling so sweetly that he had to look away.

"S'just… that outfit, I thought…"

She laughed again, "It's a nurses uniform. Who else would wear a nurse's uniform?"

Daryl still couldn't say it. He just waited, hiding behind his long hair as she figured it out for herself. A moment later her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped a little in surprise. "You thought I was a stripper?"

Daryl didn't know much about women, but he was pretty sure that if they weren't a stripper they wouldn't take kindly to someone thinking they were. He cringed, waiting for this girl to let him have it, but she seemed more confused than anything. "I look like a stripper to you?"

"No! I just… never had a nurse as pretty as you."

It was the truth and she deserved to hear it, but he felt like an idiot anyway as he mumbled the words around his thumbnail. He didn't stay stuff like that to women.

"Oh." Beth smiled a little shyly, one hand pushing her hair back from her face again, as a blush coloured her cheeks. She seemed surprised by the compliment and Daryl couldn't understand why, surely a girl as pretty as she was heard stuff like that all the time. But she was young, maybe she hadn't been out in the world all that much yet and coming from an older man, a rough one like himself, a compliment like that probably seemed more creepy than sweet. He wanted to make sure she knew that he wasn't that guy, that he recognised she was too young for him. "And… you seem kind of young." He added.

She seemed to be more offended by that then being confused for a stripper and one hand went to her hip.

"I'm 23. I know I look younger, but I graduated last year, I'm sure I can handle giving you a quick wash."

"Ok, Sorry"

Beth nodded that she accepted his apology and Daryl was relieved she was taking it so well. Until, what she had just said sunk in. A quick wash. He realised that if she wasn't there to take her clothes off, then she was there to take off his, and that was worse. Infinitely worse. Daryl didn't like to be touched, and he didn't like to get undressed in front of anybody. He could count on one hand the number of people who had seen him naked, and this girl wasn't going to be one of them.

Just the thought of her college-educated manicured little hands sliding over his work- hardened skin and touching his many scars made him want to hobble out of there no matter how much it hurt.

He pulled the blankets up a bit further, from his waist up under his armpits and crossed his arms over the top. "I don't need a wash."

"You do." Beth smiled, her head tilted to the side like a mother patiently trying to convince a stubborn child. Daryl was well aware he was playing the part of the stubborn child to a tee, but it didn't matter. It was far better she think he was stubborn and un-cooperative than what she would think if she got him undressed. There was no way he was going to let it happen.

Until, Beth sweetly bought out the big guns.

"If you don't want me to do it, I can call our wards man Tyreese for you."

Daryl grimaced "That big guy who bought me up?"

Beth nodded, her eyes sparkling with humour and Daryl knew he might as well give in. The only thing worse than the thought of Beth's manicured little hands on his skin was the thought of those unusually large man hands.

"Na, I guess its fine."

He almost changed his mind a moment later when Beth leaned closer, one hand on his shoulder and her face inches from his to whisper with a smile "I'll be gentle, I promise."

She started by gently folding down the blankets covering his legs, and Daryl had to curl his fingers up at his sides to stop himself from pulling them back up. He didn't think he'd ever felt more awkward than he did right now. The hospital gown reached the middle of his thighs, which compared to his usual jeans and boots seemed indecently short. He tugged it down a little further, making sure it dipped down into the gap between his legs, but there still seemed to be way too much skin exposed. Dirty skin too, he realised with embarrassment. He had put in almost a full day of work before he had slipped on a loose shingle and tumbled to the porch below, and it showed. Grim and sawdust stuck to the sweat on his skin, and he could just imagine what this girl was thinking.

His thumbnail was already short, but he chewed on it some more anyway as she picked up the cloth and prepared to get to work.

"You really are dirty, Mr Dixon."

Suddenly she stood back, covering her mouth with her hands, her big blue eyes wide. "Oh my god! I said that before didn't I! In front of your brother!"

Daryl nodded. "Yeah."

Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, but she laughed anyway. "Ok, I can see how you thought that I was… you know, what you thought. You're forgiven."

Beth smiled at him again, shaking her head a little at the awkwardness of the situation and Daryl wondered if anything could stop this girl smiling. He didn't know what she had to be so happy about, she was at work after all and her patient was a grubby bad-tempered guy who mumbled and who thought she was a stripper. There was something special about this girl though, and he felt silly for even thinking it, but her smile was like a little ray of sunshine brightening up his dull hospital room. He was distracted by these thoughts and didn't notice as she dipped the cloth in the basin, and when she bought it to his upper thigh, he froze. His breath caught in his chest, his muscles tensed and his fingers gripped the sheets like claws. His wide eyes stared at the small pale hand that slide across his thigh towards his knee as though he were watching a snake.

Beth didn't seem to notice his struggle, or if she did she pretended not too, just kept dragging the cloth across his skin, rinsing it out every few strokes and working her way down his leg.

Daryl gritted his teeth. It was torture.

It wasn't actually, her hands were soft and the water was warm and she was rubbing over his skin with just the right pressure. He tried to unclench his fingers and to lean back a little into the pillows. People touched each other all the time, he told himself, and this girl probably did this every day. He tried to regulate his breathing like he did when he hunted, slow and deep, in and out, and he started to feel better.

When his lungs were moving properly again he noticed there was a soft clean vanillary scent in the air and he wasn't sure if it was the soap she was using, or if just the way she smelt, but it was nice. He was starting to relax a bit, his fingers were almost straight again when then he realised she was talking to him.

"So I guess your brother thinks I'm a stripper too?"

Daryl could barely speak, but he gasped out a quick "It's likely."

"And he thinks that right now I'm… that we're…""

"Yep… Sorry."

Beth shrugged, unconcerned. "It's OK. My sister will think it's hilarious actually. She's always telling me I should loosen up. She loves to tease me, but we get along pretty well most of the time. Her names Maggie and she just moved away to live with her boyfriend, so I don't get to see her so much anymore, but we try to talk on the phone as much as we can."

Daryl had learnt over the years that most nurses were talkers, and this girl was no exception. He supposed that was fine as long as she didn't expect him to say anything in return.

She moved around the end of the bed then to do the other leg, the one covered in a cast from his ankle to just over the knee. He braced himself for the pain, but as she washed over his thigh and then his foot with gentle strokes it didn't hurt at all. "You get along with your brother?"

Daryl shrugged. He didn't really want to talk, and certainly not about Merle, but when Beth looked up from where she was hovered over his foot and her eyes met his, he found himself doing it anyway. "He's an asshole, but he's the only family I've got."

He said it without really thinking and regretted his language immediately, this wasn't the kind of girl who cursed. "Sorry" he mumbled, but Beth just shrugged it off with a grin and a wave of her hand. "I've already been warned about you Dixon boys."

Daryl snorted at that. He could just imagine the gossip that went on in the nurse's station when the Dixon brothers turned up and the files came out. "You draw the short straw?"

She looked up at him from under her eyelashes a little shyly. "No actually, I asked for you."

"Why?"

She paused for a moment as though she was nervous, pushing that stray wisp of hair back from her face again. "I wanted to meet you."

That was the last thing he was expecting to hear and he knew he must have looked as shocked as he felt when a second later her cheeks were turning pink with embarrassment again.

"Oh no, not like that. I'm not some creepy stalker or anything. I don't just ask for all the good looking guys." Her cheeks turned even pinker as she tried to explain herself. She was a little flustered and she stopped and shook her head and started again.

"Just, we've met before, kind of."

"Yeah?" He was surprised. Daryl didn't take much notice of girls at all, but he was sure he would remember this one.

"Yeah. A couple of years ago…"

She flipped the blankets back over his leg carefully, and moved to his arm. Taking his hand in hers she stroked the cloth from his shoulder down to his wrist.

"I don't remember"

"No, I'm not surprised" She laughed. "You were a little drunk."

"It was at a bar, the 'Crossroads' down at Senoia? I was there with a group of friends and my ex-boyfriend Jimmy showed up. He got a bit handsy with me in the parking lot and you were walking by. You pulled him off me, and you punched him. Merle was there too, and you were both a little drunk." She shrugged. "He left me alone after that."

He still didn't remember. He'd punched a few guys in parking lots over the years, usually because of something to do with Merle, but a couple of times had been over a woman. He couldn't help it, whenever he saw a man being rough with a woman it was his mum and dad all over again, and he had the uncontrollable urge to connect his fist with their jaw.

"You left before I could buy you a drink to say thank you. The bar tender said you guys were regulars there, so I left $50 at the bar. He didn't tell you?"

Daryl hadn't really been a regular anywhere in the last couple of years. He knew the bar she was talking about, it was a decent enough place with pool tables and cheap beer, far enough from Atlanta to avoid the city yuppies. He knew Merle still went there on occasion. "I'm not really a regular there, Merle is though."

And straight away he knew what had happened to that $50 bar tab. It would be just like Merle to drink away the money and never say a word about it. "Damn Merle."

Beth laughed. "Wow, he really is an asshole" she said, much to Daryl's surprise.

She walked back around the bed to do his other arm.

Daryl had actually met Abraham at that place. Merle was playing pool with a couple of rough looking guys and Daryl was leaning on the bar, keeping one ear on the game in case he needed to intervene. A big red headed guy had plopped down beside him, grumbling about how much work he had on and how a couple of his guys were hopeless, and he'd looked over at Daryl next to him at the bar and said "Don't suppose you're any good with tools?" A few more questions and Abraham had taken him on for a trial period, and Daryl had surprised them both with his natural skill and willingness to learn. Thinking about Abraham took him back to what Beth had said earlier. "Before, you said that my boss took care of everything?"

"Your injury happened at work. He filled out the paperwork, so all your treatment goes through the company insurance."

"Oh."

Daryl was starting to feel a lot calmer, not exactly relaxed, but less like he wanted to jump off the bed. Beth was good at her job - gentle and thorough, and although he'd never admit it, he was starting to feel better now that he was getting cleaner.

When she was finished with his arms she pushed on his shoulder gently to get him to sit up, then tossed his pillows over onto Merles chair. Daryl leaned forward as she untied the strings on the back of his hospital gown, pushing it off his shoulders and down around his waist. He waited for the gasp or the pause that usually followed someone seeing his back for the first time, but he got nothing like that from Beth.

She rested one hand on his shoulder as she used the cloth to wipe over his back and he tried not to, but he could feel his muscles tense and bunch under her touch.

"Just relax." She whispered, squeezing his shoulder with her fingers as she kept dragging the wash cloth across his skin, up his neck and down over his shoulders, changing hands to get the other side.

She hadn't reacted at all and he supposed she was used to seeing injuries and scars but he knew she must have been looking. It was hard to miss the silvery lines that crisscrossed his skin. Is wasn't so much that they were ugly that bothered him, he'd never cared much for appearances, but anyone who saw his back knew more about him than he would ever want them to. How he was raised - with beatings instead of love. The kind of family he was from and the kind of person he was now because of it all. He couldn't imagine the girl behind him would have experienced anything like that.

She was still running the cloth over his back and it felt nice, but all he could focus on was the bare skin of her hand that was still resting on his shoulder. He couldn't remember anyone ever touching him there before, and although his physical scars had long since healed, the psychological scars made the skin there still sensitive. It had been a long time since he had seen his Dad, he didn't even like to think about it but it was hard not to with her soft hand making his shoulder feel like it was on fire.

"My dad…" he mumbled quietly "…wasn't a good guy." He didn't know why he told her that. His Dad was something he didn't talk about with anyone, let alone perfect little nurses who were just trying to do their job.

"Oh." She squeezed his shoulder again, and he was glad she didn't feel the need to talk about it.

He felt like he could tell her anything, and she'd just take it in with a smile, not judging but just listening. He'd never felt that before it felt almost dangerous, wanting to talk to her.

He struggled to find something to say, some way to change the topic to anything else but it seemed unlikely they would have much in common. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes fell on her hospital name badge on her chest. "You always wanted to be a nurse?"

"Not always. It pays the bills, but I really love is singing."

"You any good?"

"I'm OK. I sing at a club on Friday and Saturday nights."

Daryl could picture her up on stage, her smile radiant as she played it up for the crowd. She'd probably sing about boys or love or something like that, just like that Taylor Swift girl he'd heard on the radio. She would be great, he was sure of it, not just OK. He could even picture the audience,a room full of young guys who wished they could have her and young girls who wished they could be just like her.

"You gonna be famous one day?" He asked and Beth laughed, her breath puffing softly against the back of his neck. She moved around in front of him, rinsing out the cloth and bringing it to his chest.

"Probably not. I've just always loved performing, you know. I'll sing anywhere, church or school musicals, or just by myself. What I love most though is writing songs. Taking words and creating something special, sharing something of myself with all those people."

Daryl watched her face light up as she spoke about singing and once again he thought there was something special about this girl.

When she had wiped over his upper chest she stepped back. She had to be almost done. There wasn't much of his body left that she hadn't washed, but it was what was left that started worrying him. He had nothing to be ashamed of in that department, everything was as it should be and of average size, but the thought of her down there, her small hands and that vanillary smell and the rough slide of the cloth… Just thinking about it caused a little stirring and he was terrified. What if it moved while she was down there? He cursed that of all the times he had wound up in hospital, this was the first time he was stuck in bed and in need of a sponge bath, and it had to be when he met Beth.

Beth rinsed out the washcloth one more time and passed it to him, her cheeks a little pink. "Now if you just do your face and...private areas, and I'd recommend in that order, we're all done." She turned around to give him privacy and grab a fresh gown from the trolley.

Daryl puffed out a quiet breathe in relief. He did as she said, wiping over his face first before reaching under the blankets to quickly clean everywhere that was left. He kept his eyes on her back the whole time, making sure she didn't turn around.

When she did turn around she held out the empty basin and he dumped the wash cloth in there.

She helped him into a new gown, holding it for him while he pushed his arms through the sleeves and then tying the strings behind his back. She held up the blankets while he tucked it in around himself and he kept his eyes on her again, making sure she didn't peak.

She was almost finished and he knew she'd been walking out of his room soon. He didn't understand it, but this girl was doing the two things that he normally couldn't stand - talking and touching him, and for some reason he was letting her. If he was honest with himself, he was actually enjoying it too. There was something about this girl, and he couldn't put his finger on it, but she wasn't like any other girl he'd met before.

He actually wanted to see her again. "You gonna be working tomorrow?"

Beth shook her head. "No. I don't work weekends."

Daryl nodded, his gaze shifting back down to his hands in his lap. He felt strangely disappointed. He knew it was unlikely they would run into each other outside the hospital, he didn't imagine they would travel in the same circles. "I should be out of her by Monday."

"Oh" He was surprised to hear disappointment in Beth's voice as well, and he lifted his head to look at her standing near the end of his bed.

Beth picked up his pillow from Merle's chair and fluffed it up a little, watching him as she did with her head tilted to the side. She paused, hugging his pillow to her chest, her chewed on her bottom lip shyly for a moment.

"Maybe you could come hear me sing one night. When your leg's better I mean."

Daryl watched her face as she came closer and slid his pillow in behind his back, her hand gently resting on his shoulder.

"Why?" He didn't mean it how it sounded, he just didn't understand why she would want to see him again. This girl was pure sunshine, all soft warmth and bright smiles and he was the total opposite.

Beth looked at him for a long moment, and she seemed to understand. "Daryl, you seem like a good person. I'd like to get to know you better."

She pulled a small notebook and a pen out of her pocket and scribbled a quick note before tearing out the page and passing it over.

"You can say no if you want. Here's the place. If you can come, I'd love to see you there."

With a playful twinkle in her eye she added "Oh, and I keep my clothes on, so you don't have to worry."

Daryl looked at the piece of paper for a long time. She had written her name and the details of the Moonshine Bar in neat loopy hand writing and she'd drawn a little smiley face at the bottom.

He wouldn't go. Daryl Dixon didn't go to clubs and hear young woman sing about love next to tables of college students and rich kids. He went to bars with loud music and cheap drinks, and even then it was only for Merle and only rarely. If it was up to him, he'd spend his life in the woods where it was quiet, surrounded by nothing but nature. He'd work with wood, smoothing and carving and making something beautiful for someone, putting something of himself into it, like Beth described with her singing. Suddenly he was picturing Beth there, and somehow she actually seemed to fit.

She said he seemed like a good person, but, what about when she got to know him better, would she be disappointed? She already knew about his past, knew he was covered in scars and grumpy as hell and didn't have a fancy job. Maybe it was crazy, but...maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Hell, the girl had already met Merle, and even he hadn't sent her running. Daryl had been quiet for a long time, and she had already gathered her things and was heading for the door with the basin under one arm when he looked up.

"Beth…"

She turned around

"Thanks. I'll see you there sometime."

She smiled at him then, her blue eyes sparkling like he had made her day, and he really didn't understand why a girl like her would ever look at him like that. She paused in the doorway for a moment and she looked so beautiful he knew he would be replaying that image over and over until he saw her again.

As the door closed softly behind her, he leant his head back against the pillows. His head wasn't hurting anymore, his leg either for that matter. The room smelt like vanilla now instead of the sickly hospital smell. Even his pillows felt different. He rubbed his cheek against the soft cotton as he thought of Beth standing there with her arms wrapped around it. Maybe hospitals weren't so bad after all.

Beth backed through the doorway into the corridor and as she turned around she almost ran straight into Merle. He stood with his arms crossed, his mouth stretched into a wide grin. "All done?"

"Yep." Beth smiled politely, even though the way he was eyeing her up and down made her feel like she had taken her clothes off. She stepped around him, about to head down the hall to the nurses' station when she had a better idea. Trying her best to turn her innocent smile into something she hoped was worthy of an actual stripper, she turned back to face Merle.

"Oh, I gave him a little extra. You owe me $50."

The wide grin left Merle's face immediately. His forehead furrowed and the corners of his mouth turned downwards as Beth held out her hand. Slowly, he reached into his back pocket, pulled out an old leather wallet and separated one note from the wad inside. He reluctantly held it out and Beth plucked it from his hand with her first finger and thumb.

"Thanks." Beth gave him a little wink, tucking it into her pocket as she turned and walked away.