Here are the usual disclaimers, though I doubt they have any legal validity: The characters are not mine, I'm just taking them out to play. Thanks to creators, producers, AMC, you know the drill. Hope you enjoy!

Carol leaned back in the wicker chair and smiled. The long winter seemed to finally be over. Sofia was swinging on the wooden seat that had been suspended from the tree branch for her as soon as she was physically able to hold on to the ropes. There was a soft breeze blowing, tempered by the warmth of the sun. Out of the corner of her eye Carol could see the tulips in the flower bed waving hello, bright reds and yellows. There was one white one that must have ended up in the batch of bulbs by mistake. Mistake or not, she loved it. It always reminded her of strength and purity. The screen door creaked open giving way to the sound of footsteps softly making their way across the porch to her. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder and a breath across her ear as he leaned down from behind to kiss her on the cheek.

"Coffee's ready."

The low voice caused a shiver to run down her spine as a hot, steaming cup seemed to magically appear on the small table next to her. It was a perfect morning. She allowed her eyes to drift close, just for a moment, to relish the feeling but it didn't take long for her to realize something was wrong. The air had grown cold. Though she had closed them willingly, now she couldn't open her eyes. It was like they had been cemented shut. She tried to call for her daughter but the words caught in her throat. She blindly reached for the man behind her, desperate for the reassurance she knew his touch would bring, to know that everything was going to be okay, but he wasn't there. In the distance, she heard several voices, male and female. They were arguing about something. One was very angry. It scared her. What was going on? Where was she and where was her daughter? Suddenly everything went black.

"Well, well, sweet cheeks, you always seem to be in the middle of things now, don't ya?"

Carol found herself lying in the middle of an empty room, well, empty except for a plain wooden chair. A large man walked up to it, flipped it around backwards, straddled it and studied her. He had closely cropped hair and a thick brow.

"Merle?" She didn't really understand how she knew his name, but she was sure it was him, "Merle Dixon?"

"In the flesh. Must be your lucky day. All the ladies love it when ol' Merle comes around."

"No, it can't be you. You're dead. If you're here than I'm dead too."

"Nah, my dear little brother will make sure that never happens, not as long as he's got a breath left in him."

She inhaled deeply, "Daryl."

"That'd be the one."

She squeezed her eyes shut to hold back the tears she felt threatening to fall, "He's gone. I don't know if he's coming back."

"Oh, he's comin' back all right. Ya see, he's kinda taken a shine to you. You think he'd let a few hundred of them deadbeats keep him away from you?"

"Oh God, the herd. They were leading it away and haven't made it back yet. What if they're dead?"

"Now you just shut your pretty little mouth. They ain't dead."

"How do you know?"

"Look around, girl. I don't see none of the three of 'em here."

"Three?"

"Hell yeah, three. Damn, you did hit your head hard. You know Daryl ain't alone. He's got that bulldog Abraham with him. Shit, I'm sad I didn't get to meet him in person. I think we'd of gotten along real good. And that nice piece of ass, Sasha?That girl can butter my biscuit anytime."

Carol sighed heavily, "They're okay...Daryl's alive. Thank God."

"I ain't too sure how much he had to do with it, but okay." Merle shook his head, "I think you maybe need to go back to sleep, you're actin' a little loopy."

"No, I need to get up. They'll be hungry when they get back. I need to fix them something to eat." She tried to push herself up but her arms were too weak to hold herself.

"Nah, you need to rest. Just close your eyes. Don't worry. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Okay. Maybe you're right," Her voice started to falter, "I'll just sleep for a little while longer."

Carol was comfortable. She could feel the weight of a blanket across her body and her right hand was warmer than the rest of her. She leaned her head over, almost afraid to open her eyes, unsure what she might see this time. An intense throbbing in her head kept her from wanting to move too much. It was reminiscent of times past, when she was accustomed to waking up in some kind of pain. But that had been a long time ago. Ed was gone now. He'd been bitten and she'd put a pick axe through his head. She shifted slightly and cracked her eyes to brave a look at her hand. It was in the beam of sun coming in through the small opening in the blinds over the window. That's why it felt so warm. She was in a bed, and it was the sun that was heating her skin. She stared at her hand for a long time, flexing the fingers, trying to assess if this was real or just another dream. As she slowly returned to herself she became aware of a faint sound in the room. It took a minute to realize it was breathing, the inhale lightly accented by a soft snore. Carol swallowed hard and slowly turned her head.

There were no words to adequately express the feelings that overwhelmed her as her eyes focused on the man sitting in the wing back chair across the room. His legs were stretched out, boots on and crossed at the ankle. His hands were settled in his lap, covering the knife sitting below them. His head had fallen to the side and was leaning against the chair, hair covering part of his face. She could see that his eyes were closed and his chest rose and fell with each slow, easy breath. She couldn't keep tears of joy from sliding down. She's not sure how long she stared at him. She was afraid this was just another dream, that it wasn't real, and she wasn't ready to let go of him just yet. He was the one thing that could give her the strength to keep going and she knew she might not survive losing him.

She heard footsteps stop out in the hall and the door creaked open. It was Maggie. She was carrying a tray with some food and a bottle of water. She paused when she realized that Daryl was asleep. She set the tray on the table next to the chair and walked over to the hope chest at the foot of the bed. She opened it and pulled out an afghan. As she closed the lid, she finally looked up at the bed. A smile lit up her whole face when she realized what she was seeing.

"Carol, you're awake. Thank God.".

A vision of Merle smirking flashed through Carol's mind, "Something like that."

Maggie left the afghan on the chest and came around to sit on the edge of the bed, "We've been so worried about you. Rick wanted to keep you at the infirmary but Daryl insisted you be brought here. We need to wake him up, he'll be so relieved."

Carol grabbed her hand before she was able to stand, "No. Let him sleep. He needs the rest."

Maggie pressed her lips together and nodded, "You're right. He hasn't really slept since he got back. I'm going to go tell the others though. Do you need anything?"

"I wouldn't mind a drink of that water."

"Sure."

Maggie grabbed the water and helped Carol to sit up enough to get a couple of sips, "Do you remember anything?"

Carol blinked slowly, " I was arguing with Morgan. He'd kept that...that man. He put us in danger." She felt her heart rate start to pick up in fear which increased the pounding in her head. She had to do something. She tried to push herself up but Maggie stopped her, "Carol, it's okay. He's gone. We're safe now...you've...you've been out for a while. There's a lot that's happened. But, we'll fill you in later. You just concentrate on getting better. That's all you need to do right now," She looked over at Daryl, "I know that's what he would say if he were awake." Maggie tilted her head to the side, "He's kind of taken over your care since he's been back. Wouldn't let anyone else do anything for you. Hovered whenever Denise came in to check on you."

Carol tried to relax back into the pillow, "He's a good man."

"Yes, he is." She rubbed Carol's hand, "I'm going to go and let you both rest."

Maggie stood and grabbed the afghan, placing it over Daryl. She gave Carol a smile on her way out the door before closing it gently behind her.