Bethyl week prompt 3:
Numb
"Daryl's been hurt!" Michonne shouted, jumping out of the car.
Beth's head shot up at this. She had been worried when Daryl had said he was going on that run. She had just had a bad feeling; now she knew why. She raced over to where Tyreese was helping Michonne pull an unconscious Daryl out of the car.
"What happened?!" Tyreese demanded, once they had got him out.
"Some fucker shot him" Michonne replied, struggling under Daryl's weight.
Beth's eyes widened as she followed them to a tent where they lay Daryl down. Carol came soon and looked at Beth apologetically asking her to stay out of the tent. Beth begrudgingly did as she was told and waited right outside the tent.
Please Beth thought. Please let him be okay.
. . .
After a long, stressful night Carol revealed to the group that Daryl was going to be just fine. The bullet had not gone in very far and Carol had been able to fish it out fairly easily. Relief soaked over Beth. She hadn't gotten a wink of sleep that night. At the news she finally felt she could relax.
But that didn't last long because when Carol asked her to change Daryl's dressing for her she had an urge to jump for joy. She listened to Carol's instructions while nodding frantically, eager to see him as soon as she could. She had to see that he was okay for herself.
She took the bandages and disinfectant from Carol then practically jogged to Daryl's tent. But once she froze and braced herself. Carol had told her he was mostly alright, but just in case she prepared herself for the worst. After taking a breath she zipped open the tent and stepped in.
She had expected him to be asleep, but instead he lay propped up by his elbows studying the roof. His eyes flicked up to meet hers.
"Beth?" he greeted her, seeming confused as to why she was in his tent.
"Promise me you won't do that again!" she yelled, unable to stop herself.
"What are you on about?" he asked. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Don't ever scare me like that again!" she demanded. "I thought you were going to die!"
"I can't help if I-" he began.
"Promise me!" she cut him off.
She could feel that her breathing was heightened, but she couldn't think about that then. All she could think was that she could not ever feel like she had all the night before ever again. His confused, slightly irritated eyes scanned her face. He must have seen something there because his features softened.
"'kay" he mumbled. "Promise."
Beth let out a long breath. She felt as if a weight had lifted of her shoulders. But the problem with that was a few moments after that weight was lifted Beth realized what she must have looked like. She had just barged into Daryl's tent and shouted at him for getting shot. Her cheeks warmed and she held in a cringe. Daryl was watching her expectantly.
"I came in to change your bandage" she told him, raising the bandage.
He chuckled and fell onto his back. Beth took the moment to chastise herself. She kneeled down beside him and in between laughs he said he could do it himself. Beth wasn't having that. She peeled away the old gauze and exposed his wound. Carol had done a good job on the stitches, but she said it was important that it was kept clean and covered.
Beth took a cotton ball and wet it with disinfectant. She dabbed at the injury, placing her free hand on his thigh to balance herself as she tended to him. She heard him suck in a breath. She looked up to find him staring straight at her. His face was full of something that looked almost like pain.
"Does it hurt?" she asked.
After a moment he shook his head and continued to look at her and the back down to her hands on his half-exposed body. Beth was all of a sudden able to interpret that look a whole lot better. He toes curled.
"Then how does it feel?" she asked, making her voice slightly deeper.
Beth waited with so much anticipation she was practically dripping with it. Daryl's eyes darkened and he opened his mouth to say something.
Then he closed it. He looked away from Beth.
"It feels like nothing" he muttered into his pillow. "Guess those pain killers Carol gave me must really be doing their job."
The disappointment Beth felt was so powerful she nearly lay down on the tent floor and curled into a ball. Instead, she forced herself to nod stiffly. She finished stitching him up and without another word, left. What had she been thinking? As if Daryl would ever think of her in that way. Beth supposed she would be stuck always being thought of as a little sister for the rest of her life.
Little did she know, after she left the tent all Daryl could think about was how her hands had felt on his skin and how much he wanted them back.