Two more chapters after this one! Hope you all enjoy your Friday the 13th and thanks for reading!
I posted this a few minutes ago and messed up. It said it was chapter 3 but I fixed it. Sorry for any confusion. lol
Chapter Four
When Daryl came to he had no recollection of what had happened or where he was at. All that registered in his mind was pain. His head was killing him and his side was aching like mad and when he cracked open one eye the light was blinding, making the headache worse.
He tried to remember what the hell had happened and bits and pieces, all disjointed and senseless floated through his mind. He tried to relax, tried to focus.
They had been staying in the abandoned house for a little over a week. He had been out because they were running out of food and he wanted to find something before they finally left the old farmhouse to find something more permanent. He remembered Sophia asking to come with him but he'd told her no, knowing she wasn't ready, knowing she would likely scare any animals away. He remembered she hadn't argued, which hadn't been surprising at the time because that just wasn't her.
He groaned and tried to sit up, knowing that if he stayed still he would fall asleep and he didn't want to sleep, he wanted to remember. He needed to remember...
"Take it easy, son," an unfamiliar voice advised.
He heeded the advice but only because the flare of pain in his side nearly had him passing out. He did force his eyes open, though, since he had no idea who the hell had just spoken to him. His vision blurred but finally focused and he found himself staring up at the face of an old man he had never seen before.
"Where the hell am I?" He asked, meaning to sound menacing but his voice was low, his throat dry.
The old man smiled slightly. "I'm Hershel Greene and you had yourself a pretty bad accident. Your friends found you and happened to luck up and run into my daughter after they dragged you out of a ravine. Do you remember anything?"
He stared up at the ceiling, wracking his brain, and finally pieces started sliding into place. "Snake," he mumbled.
"What was that?" the old man asked, leaning closer.
"I was huntin'. Had my sites on a buck and I wasn't payin' much attention to anything else. I looked down and there was a damn snake and it struck at me, hit my boot. I jumped back, lost my footing and that's all I can remember."
The old man nodded. "You took a tumble down a pretty steep ravine, banged yourself up real good and shot yourself in the side with your crossbow. I'd say if you'd been alone, you woulda died out there."
Daryl frowned. "I was alone." Hadn't he been alone?
Hershel shook his head. "There was a little girl with you. She couldn't get to you so she ran for help but from the area your friends described I really can't believe she found her way back to your group. Anyway, they got you out, made it all the way to the field that cut between the house you all were staying and the woods and that's when my Maggie found your group and brought you here to me."
Girl. There had been a girl with him? He realized then what must have happened and he grit his teeth through the pain as he sat up, his heart slamming hard in his chest and sending white hot pain through his head. "Where is she?" he snapped.
"The woman?" Hershel asked. "I suppose she'll be back any second now. She went to grab some water. She's barely left the room since they brought you in this morning."
"The girl, damn it. She's okay?" he asked, glaring at the idiot old man. He was glad to hear that Carol had stuck by him through the ordeal, if that was the woman the old man was talking about, but if Sophia had been out there alone, anything could have happened.
"She's fine, considering," Hershel said patiently.
"Considering what?" Jesus, if something happened to her then it was his damn fault!
"She was shaken up, thought you had died when you fell, but she's had time to accept the fact that you were banged up pretty good, but you would pull through. You just need to take it easy for a few days."
The relief was so great that it almost seemed to ease some of the pain in his head. He looked past the old man, towards the open doorway, and met a set of red rimmed eyes. The old man turned, following his gaze and then cleared his throat.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone for a few minutes, but Carol, he needs his rest and frankly, so do you. He has a lot of healing to do and if you keep on running yourself ragged you won't be any help to him," Hershel admonished gently. He gave Daryl one more once over and then slipped out of the room, past Carol.
She stepped in, tried to smile at him but gave up. "How do you feel?" she asked, sitting a tray down on the night table and crossing her arms over her middle like she had to hold herself together physically.
"Feel like a fell ass over teakettle down a ravine and then shot myself with a bolt," he said grimly, watching her. He wasn't sure how to take her at the moment. He sure as hell wasn't used to someone worrying this hard about him, but it was clear she had been. She looked like she was about to drop. Her hands were shaking.
She came a little closer. "When we got there we thought..." her voice trailed off. "It was bad."
"Where's Sophia?" he asked suddenly.
She shook her head and then leaned against a wardrobe that was pushed against the wall near the bed. "Asleep. She's with Rick and Lori. I had no idea she had left. She hasn't ever done anything like that before and after the lecture she had to listen to, not just from me but from the whole group, I doubt she'll do it again." She let out a slow breath and he could see the exhaustion written all over her.
"How the hell did she find her way back to the house?" he asked, wanting to tell her to sit the hell down before she fell over. "I had to have been miles away."
This question brought a little bit of light to her eyes and she smiled slightly. "You."
His brows came down and then he realized that hurt so he let his features smooth back out. "What?"
She nodded. "She said that every time you let her go with you into the woods you weren't teaching her to hunt but to track. She said it was easy to get back once she calmed down and focused on everything you taught her."
He sighed and then stared at the ceiling for a few long moments. "If I'd have known she'd end up pullin' a stunt like that, I never woulda taught her."
"Daryl, as angry as I was at her for doing something so foolish, you would have died out there. You were teaching her ways that she could save herself but she ended up saving you. She keeps saying that she wouldn't have gone but she was afraid something would happen to you out there."
"I've spent my whole life in the damn woods," he muttered.
"And she's spent her whole life missing out on things like this. You may just be showing a little girl some survival skills but to that little girl, you're showing her that she matters and that you care and I know you don't want it, and you never asked for it, but she feels like she needs you. She was afraid something would happen and something did."
He met her eyes and she seemed to be bracing herself for his words but he didn't know what to say to that. He understood her daughter. He knew why she felt the way she did because he'd always longed for the same thing as a kid. Carol expected him to blow up at her words but he couldn't. "You two sure know how to put pressure on a man," he said instead, trying hard to make light of a serious situation.
She nearly sagged with relief and he still couldn't believe how worn down she was just because he'd gotten himself in a bind. She glanced towards the table her eyes widening. "Medicine. I can't believe I forgot." She bustled around the tray and then turned on another lamp, chasing the gloom away, meeting his questioning glance. The light hurt but he didn't comment. "Generator. There's even water here." She held out her hand and he stared at the two pills balanced on her palm.
"Where is here?" he asked. "Last I knew we were livin' in squalor."
Her eyes darkened again and she didn't say anything until he scooted up, propping himself against the headboard and took the pills and water she offered. He thought maybe she would sit down then but she stayed there next to the bed, looking unsure of herself.
"When they got you out of the woods they had to cross the field. We were about halfway between the field and the house when some girl on a horse came out of nowhere. Once she saw you she told us that her father could help. We've been here since last night."
His brows went up. "That explains it," he muttered looking towards the dark windows.
"Explains what?" she asked, obviously shaken by the memory of what had happened.
"Explains why my goddamn bladder is about to burst. I'm drownin' over here."
A surprised laugh bubbled up and she covered her mouth with her hand. "Leave it to you to make light of something like this. You scared me to death," she said, offering him her hand.
He took it, for no other reason than to not hurt her feelings, and swung his legs around. His hand went to his side and the thick bandage covering the wound. "Christ, I did a number on myself." He slowly stood up and she was at his side, her hands fluttering uselessly, wanting to help him but not knowing how.
He grabbed the shirt that was hanging from the bed post and shrugged it on, not bothering with the buttons since his ass was coming right back to bed anyway. "Point the way."
He stared at himself for a few long moments in the bathroom mirror, he had splashed his face with cold water to try to wash the cobwebs away, rinsed his mouth out with some mouthwash he'd found in the cabinet and was now studying the lacerations on the side of his face. Just another couple of scars to add to his arsenal.
He wondered if she was planning on leaving him alone any time soon. The accident had obviously shaken her up and it was a strange feeling, having someone around that cared so much, but there was no other reason for her fussing over him like she was. He wanted to be annoyed. Wanted to be able to go out there and tell her that he was fine and she could go the hell to bed. But he couldn't. It would have been a farce and he knew it. He wanted her around, wanted her to know that he wanted her around. He ran a hand through his hair and dropped his eyes.
Maybe things would be different if he hadn't given into his urges that night. Maybe things would be different if she was someone else. Anyone else. But things had happened, and she was who she was and he was tangled now, trapped, a prisoner to emotions that he didn't know what to do with, wants that he had never dreamed of wanting before, needs that went far beyond physical. She understood him like no one else ever had, accepted him for what he really was and goddamn if that alone didn't make him want to try harder to be a good man. The kind of man that she deserved. With a heavy sigh he opened the bathroom door and stepped out into a dim and empty hallway.
He scoffed at himself at the flash of disappointment he felt. He shouldn't have expected her to be there but it seemed like ever since they had broken down on the road over a week ago, that was how it had been. Quietly... there. Sometimes he lived for those small moments when her hand brushed against his or when she caught his eye from across the room, saying everything without saying a word. What a mess...
He didn't feel right going back to the room, or staying here at all for that matter. He didn't know anything about this house or the people that were in it or if it was really safe. He had no idea where the girl was and he'd taken it upon himself to keep an extra eye on her. All of it made him uneasy and if Carol had stuck around for another few minutes she could have soothed his nerves a little. She was kind of good at that.
He was just too tired to go looking for any of the others and the medication she had given him must have been something good because his mind was starting to fog up and he was getting drowsy. Just as well. He could go back to sleep and get the woman out of his head.
He stepped into the room and shut the door, turning towards the bed. He stopped mid step when he realized he wasn't alone in the room. She was sitting on the edge of the bed with the side of her head leaned against the headboard. Her eyes were closed, her breathing deep and even and if she stayed like that much longer she would end up with a horrible cramp in her neck. But he was relieved to see her.
Darkness pressed against the window and he wondered how late it had gotten while he was knocked out. He almost didn't want to wake her since she seemed so damn exhausted but he couldn't let her sleep that way.
"Hey," he said, keeping his voice low.
She mumbled something, shifted slightly and then her eyes snapped open, regarding him with a confused expression on her face. She stood up, trying to blink the sleep from her eyes. "I can't believe I fell asleep," she muttered, swiping a hand over her face.
He shrugged. "It happens." He eased himself back onto the mattress, moving slowly as he lowered his head back onto the pillows.
"I'll leave as soon as I check those bandages. I told Hershel I would," she searched his face, waiting for him to object but he wasn't going to. He would rather her looking him over than some old man that he didn't even know.
She smiled and sat back down, her hip flush with his as she turned her body towards him. Gently she removed the bandage and he watched her face fall at what she saw. He looked down and grimaced. There was a distinct hole in his side, raw and ugly.
"It went all the way through," she said, her voice almost like a whisper. "There was a lot of blood. A lot."
He looked away from the wound and studied her face. She worried her lip.
"I should probably do the exit wound first. Get it out of the way. It's a little worse," she said nervously.
He tensed at that, his eyes hardening, his jaw clenching tightly. That wasn't something he had considered. As much as he trusted this woman, he couldn't bear the thought of her seeing things she had no fucking business seeing. His nostrils flared in warning and as much as he didn't want to hurt her, he knew his words would if she pushed this.
Holding his gaze she didn't flinch, which surprised him a little. "I can do it, or Hershel can do it. There isn't anything back there that I haven't already seen. I think it was only fair anyway, since I've already shown you mine." Her gaze stayed on his, almost challenging.
He didn't make a move to roll over and give her access to the exit wound she needed to examine.
To his complete surprise her eyes hardened and her own jaw set firmly, her lips thinning into a thin disapproving line. "I thought you were dead. By the time we got there you were nothing but a crumpled heap lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of that ravine, and if that wasn't bad enough, I had to watch two walkers making a beeline for what I thought was your corpse. I know how you feel and trust me, I get it, but I won't let you be a stubborn fool and set up infection and die because of your pride. I lost you out there. In my mind you were gone and something like that, well, it changes a woman. So, you let me check that damn wound or so help me I'll call Shane and Rick in here and make them force you. Your choice."
He would have given her hell but before she was finished with her quiet tangent she was trying hard to blink back tears and he realized then how much she had been through. First her daughter had been missing and then she was hit with what she thought was the realization that he was dead. And he wasn't sure what the hell they were or what they ever would be but he was certain that it ran deep, deep enough to leave scars of their own.
"Guess it's your turn to be fuckin' bossy," he grumbled, forcing back his trepidation of her seeing the scars that littered his back.
She took in a shuddering breath and let it go slowly. "I'm working on it." Her voice was only a whisper now.
He sat up and let her push the shirt away from his shoulders. There wasn't anything erotic about the way she touched him but the moment seemed to charge regardless. He eased back down and then rolled over onto his side. He heard her hiss in a breath and then he felt the sharp sting as she cleaned him up. She was quick and efficient but still tried to make it as painless as possible. Sooner than he thought she would she gave him the okay to roll back over.
She was biting her lip hard, her face even more pale than it was before and there was fine sheen of sweat on her forehead. The wound was either worse than he imagined or she really did care a whole goddamn lot about his well being.
Her hands shook slightly as she went to work on the other one, her eyes never leaving her work. As she cleaned the area her free hand skimmed over his stomach with a feather light touch and though he knew she had meant nothing by it the muscles under her fingers flexed. She grew still and her eyes met his for a few beats before she went back to work.
She didn't look at him again until she was finished, smiling slightly. "That should do it for tonight."
He nodded, watching her carefully. Was she reluctant to go? Because he was reluctant as fuck to see her leave. He was tired, knew he'd be able to sleep, but he didn't want her to leave.
"Hershel, he's a decent man and if I'm not up early enough he'll probably be in to check on you. Something tells me I'm gonna sleep like a rock tonight."
He frowned, glancing at the closed door. "Where you sleepin'?" he asked, wondering if her room was close to his.
She nodded towards the window. "We're camped out right outside. Sophia's with Lori in the RV."
He came up on his elbows then. "Why the hell didn't the old fucker let you all in?"
She shrugged. "Because he has a family of his own and he has no idea who we are. No one really minds."
He nodded and let his back fall back to the mattress. How the hell could he stay up here in a real bed knowing that the rest of them were stuck outside, in just as much danger as they had been in when they had been out on the damn road? At least back at that other dump, they had a roof over them.
"It's fine," she smiled.
"Stay here," he said, not even meaning to say the words out loud.
He wasn't sure what he had expected but he sure as hell didn't expect her to reach over and turn off the lamp. He swallowed hard when she didn't make a move to do anything else. "Are you sure?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
He braced himself and then reached for her hand. Slowly she seemed to thaw, moving so she was lying next to him in the dark.
"They're gonna wonder where I am if I'm not out there in the morning," she whispered. "But I was honestly considering camping out in the hall tonight."
He stared up at the ceiling, waiting a few beats as she inched closer. "Yeah, they'll all be wonderin' why you ain't made their breakfast yet. Fuck'em." The pain meds were really kicking in now.
She rolled over until she was facing him and he realized that her hand was still trapped in his own. As his eyes drifted closed he tugged her a little closer and she came willingly, the warmth from her body somehow relaxing him into an even deeper stupor than the drugs. She shifted her grip on his hand until her fingers were threaded through his, her grip tight. "I'm afraid if I go to sleep I'll wake up and realize that you never woke up. That maybe I'm dreaming," she whispered, her voice shaking as badly as her hand was.
He opened his eyes, his brows coming down in a frown. "Trust me, I ain't no dream guy."
A strained laugh escaped her. "This is no time for jokes, Daryl."
"You know, this ain't so bad," he mumbled and then just accepted the fact that his thoughts would likely tumble out of his mouth at this point.
"I guess I'll take that as a compliment," she whispered.
He felt a slow grin blossom on his face. The pain was all but gone. "You aught to."
"Are you high?" she whispered.
He snorted and then rolled over, facing her now. "No."
She edged a little closer and finally he decided that there really wasn't any reason to hold back. He put an arm around her and sighed heavily.
"Would it be distasteful if I said that maybe I like you better after you shoot yourself?" she whispered, sounding so serious that his addled brain had a hard time deciding that she was kidding.
He laughed, probably too loud, but she was funny as fuck at the moment. Whatever she had given him did their job, shutting down the pain and drawing him under quickly. It was a good feeling, but having her there and knowing that for the moment they were safe was what gave him the push he needed to finally succumb to sleep.
