Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that you see in this story other than obvious origianl characters such as Lyla Dixon and any other original characters you may meet, as well as, any original plots and story arcs.

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Chapter Four

1 Month Before Outbreak
Sunday, June 27
th, 2010
Daryl's House
12:00 PM

"The hell, Ly?" Daryl asked incredulously, his head planted underneath the hood of his pick-up. "I ain't drivin' all the way to Cynthiana."

Lyla knew that Daryl wouldn't be easy to be around today. It was the twenty-fifth anniversary of their mother's death and even she was feeling on edge, but she wanted to do something to remember their mom.

"I just think it'd be nice to go see Nana's grave," Lyla explained, crossing her arms defensively. "You and Merle were always sayin' Mom wanted to put new flowers there every year. Why not do something for her today?"

"I got work in the morning," Daryl responded, emotionless as he tinkered away at his car. "I'm not doing a six-hour car ride to lay down some fuckin' flowers."

"It's not just about the flowers." Lyla told him, rolling her eyes.

It was stupid but Lyla liked doing things she thought her mom would like. She didn't have any memories of the woman, not like Merle and Daryl did. Listening to stories, when they chose to tell them, was the only time Lyla felt connected to the woman. Merle often said she was the spitting image of her mother, but that didn't make Lyla feel better.

Speak of the Devil.

Merle's heavy footsteps came into the garage, making Lyla tense. She hadn't really spoken to Merle in the last five months. Her brother shot her boyfriend. What was she supposed to say?

"What's this talk about flowers?" Merle asked coming into the garage from the side door, eating a bag of trail mix.

Lyla sighed and leaned against Daryl's truck. "I wanna go to Cynthiana to Nana's grave and bring some flowers."

"And Lyla's the only one who doesn't got work in the morning," Daryl interrupted, looking over at her. "Merle and I got a job that's keepin' us from six to seven. I ain't about to make a six-hour drive there and back to put down some flowers that are gonna die in a week."

Merle chuckled, scooping out some nuts from his bag. "Amen to that. Nobody's got the time for it, Lyla Jane."

Lyla scowled at her brothers. They were being incredibly selfish right now. "You don't have the time to do something for Mom?"

"I do somethin' for mom every day," Merle replied, a snarky look on his face. "You're happy, ain't ya?" He scoffed, wiping his hands on his jeans. "How's Officer Walsh doing?"

Daryl stood still, peering up at Lyla from underneath the hood. He squinted his eyes at her, warning her to choose her next words carefully.

Heart racing, Lyla calmly answered, "Fine."

Surprisingly, Merle hadn't been arrested since he shot Shane, at least if he was, she hadn't been notified. She shifted in her black fuzzy, boots. Lyla was pretty sure Merle was sober and that meant that he was smarter and more cunning.

Lyla went from being Merle's favorite girl to his worst enemy overnight; she hated it.

"Aye, Merle," Daryl called out, breaking the silence, and appearing to look at the side of something incredulously. "You think this a leak?"

Grateful that Merle's attention was on the car now, Lyla cautiously asked, "So, there's no way I can convince you?"

She had been so hopeful that it was something her and her brothers could do together. "Maybe next week, Ly," Daryl answered. "I'll see ya later."

"Stay out of trouble, Lyla Jane."

Rolling her eyes at their dismissal, Lyla waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah."

Leaving the house through the garage door, Lyla angrily walked to her car. She'd known there was a possibility that they'd shoot her down but dammit she hated when they both agreed on something and outvoted her. She settled into her Honda, immediately rolling down the windows and letting some of the fresh summer breeze move throughout the hot and stuffy vehicle, before pulling away from Daryl's place.

The short ten-minute drive to her house didn't quench Lyla's displeasure. God, it was their mom's death anniversary and all her brothers cared about were stupid cars. As soon as she pulled into her driveway, her pager for the hospital went off making her groan. She shut off the car and reached into her back pocket to take it out.

Lyla's heart almost stopped when she read that there was an officer wounded in an apparent shootout. Jaw dropping, she immediately began the drive to the hospital, feeling around for her cell-phone in her center console urgently.

Swallowing harshly, she pressed Shane's speed dial button and waited.

And waited.

"Fucking answer," she whispered to herself and she got his voicemail. She pressed the end call button and then immediately redialed.

The phone rang and rang. She repeated these actions another five times before the hospital came into view. The parking lot was crowded, squad cars were everywhere which only incited Lyla's panic. Was Shane hurt? Why wasn't he answering her calls? Where was he?

Lyla quickly parked in the employee section and then jogged her way to the lockers on the sub-level. Blood pounded in her ears as she quickly moved, her hands were shaking, and she was sweating from the hot summer heat as well as nerves.

"Hey, you alright?" her friend, Jamie, asked as Lyla entered into the locker room. "I didn't know you worked today?"

Walking over to where her locker was, on the other side of Jamie's, Lyla shook her head. "I got called in. Do you know anything about the shooting?" she asked, not looking to make small talk. Shane wasn't answering her, and she know a cop was hurt and knowing those two things didn't make her feel right.

Jamie came around shrugging into one of her scrubs. "I heard about it on my way in," Jamie told her, now putting her hair in a high ponytail. "I overheard Conklin talking about it. All I heard, really, was that one officer was critically wounded. They're performing emergency surgery now." Jamie tilted her head. "That's why they paged you in?"

Lyla nodded as she quickly changed into her surgery scrubs. "Yeah. Did they say who it was?"

Jamie shook her head and a sudden look of realization came over the blonde's face. "You haven't spoken to Shane?"

Sighing, Lyla copied Jamie's hairstyle and she shook her head. "I haven't spoken to him since this morning when he left for work."

Shutting her locker door, Jamie and herself quickly began walking up to the main level.

"I'm sure he's fine," Jamie said, a comforting hand on her friend's arm. "He's probably getting caught up in this too. Can you imagine how much paperwork would need to be done after this?"

Lyla shook her head, the beeping sounds coming from rooms around them and general chaos surrounding them made her more anxious. "Shane would not be the one doing the paperwork. He hates busy work."

Coming up to the elevators, Lyla pressed the up button while Jamie stood with her and waited. "I just don't understand why he's not answering. If it's him in the surgery I don't think I'll be much help." That was an understatement.

The elevator dinged signaling its arrival. "I'm sure you'll be fine and he's fine too," Jamie reassured her. "At the one in a billion chance it is him, page me ASAP and you can cover my rounds and I'll fill in."

The doors opened, and Lyla blew out a breath and nodded.

/

Watching Carl cling to his mother while she delivered news of his father broke Shane's heart. The ten-year-old boy clung to his mother tightly, crying into her chest as she knelt in front of him and squeezed him close. Shane could tell by the way her face tightened she was fighting back tears, putting on a brave face for her son.

Shane sniffled, feeling pressure in the back of his own eyes. Looking down, Shane let his hands hang off the belt-loops of his pants. The hot sun beat down on the back of his neck as he took a deep breath. He might hate Lori, but goddamn he would never wish this pain on anyone. He certainly didn't want his best friend in the condition he was in and he didn't want to be the bearer of news, but he owed Rick that.

After collecting himself and giving Lori and Carl a few moments of privacy, Shane picked his head up and began to walk over. Exhaling slowly to gather himself before he went over, he needed to treat this like any other crime. Detaching himself was the only way he would be able to help effectively.

Now standing a few feet away, Shane coughed lightly, getting Lori's attention. "I can take you to the hospital if you'd like. I can have another officer drive your car back to your house."

Lori's mouth opened and shut as she kept stroking the back of Carl's head. "I-I don't know. I need to go home. I-I need-"

"You're in no condition to drive," Shane stated in tone that made room for no argument. "Let me help you with this."

He knew his look was pleading and the look she gave him told him she understood. They had too much history between them to not be able to communicate silently.

Lori slowly nodded. "Okay."

/

Walking out of the surgery room, Lyla was pale and shaky and felt a hundred different emotions. The last thing she expected to see was Rick lying on that surgery table. She hated that for a split second she had a moment of great relief when she realized it wasn't Shane and then an unbearable amount of shame and guilt that she felt that way. Then having to focus extensively on the surgeon's orders when all she wanted to do was call Shane and see where the hell he was.

Having to walk through the waiting area to get to the lockers downstairs, fate seemed to be on Lyla's side as at the exact moment she was walking through the lobby, Shane was walking in.

With a distraught Carl and a clearly shell-shocked Lori.

Immediately they made eye contact and Lyla was sure she stopped breathing although her heart was pounding. He stared at her for a moment, before escorting Lori and her son to a few chairs. He murmured something to them before making his way over to her.

Lyla was frozen in her spot, her feelings bubbling to the surface. Lori didn't spare her a glance as Shane approached her. Now inches away from her, Lyla closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, savoring his scent and trying to grasp that he was really okay.

"Do you know how he is?" Shane asked, his body rigid, his face serious.

Lyla opened her eyes and tilted her head back an inch to look up at him. "His surgery just finished," Lyla replied in a shaky voice. "The doctor is just getting the last of his vitals before he talks to family members."

"But how is he?"

Lyla could tell what he was really asking and her eyes watered. "Shane… I'm really not allowed to say anything about patients. Confidenti-"

"Goddammit, Lyla," Shane cursed, his hand coming over to hold onto her waist tightly. His eyes desperate. "Fuck confidentiality. How is he doing?"

"His heart stopped twice," she said quickly, her own hand coming to rest on top of his. She circled his wrist with hers' and hated how relieved she felt feeling how alive and strong he was in front of her. "He had internal bleeding and right now he's in a medically induced coma to deal with the blunt trauma to his head."

"Jesus."

"I, um, I was really scared," she whispered quietly, looking down. "I just heard an officer was wounded and you weren't answering and I thought-"

Before she could finish talking, Shane wrapped her in a tight hug. She squeezed her eyes shut and held him just as tight, feeling his heart beat against her cheek.

"I'm sorry I put you through that," he said after a few minutes of silence. "I didn't mean to, I swear. There was just so much shit going on, I had a million and one different things to do. God, the last thing I wanted to do was scare you."

She nodded against him. "I know."

He pulled back from her. "Are you leaving now?"

"I'm off duty, yeah. But I'll stay here with you. I know this can't be easy and I'd like to be here for you."

He gave her a soft look and twirled some strands of her ponytail. "I love you. Right now, what would help me most, is knowing that you're waiting for me at my place. The idea of you resting in my bed is the only thing that will keep me sane."

Before she could help herself, Lyla's eyes went past Shane's shoulder and over to where Lori was. She didn't say anything, but she knew he saw where her eyes drifted.

"I won't lie to you," he said, answered her unanswered question. "It's not that I don't want you here but you and her aren't the best of friends. I don't want to be displaying that much affection in front of her when her husband is in a fucking coma."

Instead of being mad at his confession, Lyla's heart hurt for him-and Lori. So, she nodded and reached up to stroke her hand over his cheek. "Okay," she said softly. "I'll be waiting for you at your house."

He closed his eyes and Lyla could feel him sigh in relief. Shane bent slightly and brushed his lips across hers. Once. Twice.

"Thank you."


A/N: Sorry for the long wait and the short chapter. I have a vision for this story, I swear. I'm just having a super hard time executing it. I just want to get to the walkers already lol. Thanks for your patience with me!