Merle felt like his world was crashing down on him and he didn't know how to react. He had always been able to manipulate and control his baby brother, and when Daryl finally stood up to Merle and told him that he no longer wanted him in his life Merle snapped. Or should he say "fucked up royally". Now Merle was back at April's trying to get his brother's blood off his hands, literally. He didn't know what made him react so violently towards the one person that he truly cared about, other than he felt betrayed.

Merle scrubbed his hands over and over, but it seemed that the blood wouldn't leave him. The sink ran red as he washed his hands and the sight slightly sickened Merle. Especially now since he was coming down from his high and the realization of what he had done was crashing down on him. When he walked into April's home covered in blood she had let out a yelp thinking Merle had been wounded. When she realized it was someone else's blood she had become somewhat concerned, but happy that her man was still safe.

"Merle what happened?" April inquired.

"Fucked up princess. I gotta get out of this area and I need your help." He told her.

"Only if you take me with you." She replied.

"Don't think so. It's too dangerous for ya." He replied. It was bullshit, but he didn't want her with him.

Merle left quickly after informing April he had to leave and found himself in the woods. He pulled out his Meth and began to inject the drugs directly into his veins. Smoking it wouldn't do at the time, as he needed to get high quick. After he felt the drug flowing through his blood stream he leaned back against a tree and reflected on what he had done. Fuck, he had most likely killed his baby brother, the one and only person in his life that meant anything to him.

Merle still had the bloody knife on his person and as he pulled it out to try to scrape the dried blood from his fingernails. He kept replaying the events of earlier in his head and all he could think of was the fact he destroyed the one thing in his life that was good because he was jealous. Of course, Merle would never admit it to anyone…including himself. He reflected on all of the abuse that Daryl and him had endured at the hands of their father. No one knew the horrors they had suffered except for each other. He recalled the difficult decision to leave Daryl and join the military, and then the choice to return to Blue Ridge after Daryl had been left destitute because of his work accident. Daryl was the only constant in his life, and when Daryl had shown interest in Davia, Merle couldn't cope.

"Fuck Fuck Fuck." Merle began to yell, only the trees were close enough to hear his outburst. "Why did you destroy the only thing that mattered?" Merle continued to yell. Whether it was the drugs, guilt, or just plain insanity, Merle took his knife into his left hand and began to hack at his right hand. The pain was unbearable, but it was also liberating at the same time. He cut through the bone, tendons, and muscles until he was covered in both his own and the remnants of his brothers blood, and his right hand lay on the ground, separated from his body.

When Merle looked down and saw his severed appendage he whispered out loud "Well you done it now Dixon." And then he let out a crazed laugh as the blood began to cover the ground beside him.

For Davia, everything was moving in slow motion. She had been at the hospital for twelve hours now and she had refused to leave Daryl's side. Currently he was in ICU hooked up to a ventilator that was breathing for him. He had so many tubes and wires attached to him Davia couldn't help but think that he looked like a science experiment. The doctor's had used words like "massive blood loss" "internal organ damage" and the most terrifying to her was "wounds with a high mortality rate."

She kept replaying the events of the past day in her head. After Daryl had crawled back into the entranceway of Dale's and collapsed, Davia had rushed to him. She was covered in Daryl's blood in moments and had been almost inconsolable as she screamed for help. For some unknown reason the police had showed up just seconds after Daryl had made it inside the bar and Rick Grimes was the first person to begin to administer first aid to the severely injured Daryl. Hershel, being a vet and having a good understanding of medical knowledge immediately shed his suit jacket and began to assist Rick in trying to staunch the blood flow just so they could keep Daryl alive until the paramedics arrived.

The only blessing that had happened during this time was that Maggie and Glenn had just left for their honeymoon before Merle had attacked his brother. The wedding reception was winding down and other than the Greene family and a few others, most of the guests had left. Davia knew that if Daryl survived this incident that he would have been mortified to have appeared so weak in front of a large group of people. Daryl was a private person and having to play out the most terrifying moment of your life in front of a group of strangers would deeply embarrass him.

When the paramedics arrived they quickly stabilized Daryl and rushed him to the hospital as an extreme trauma patient. Beth knew that Davia was freaking out and had no other family, so her and Zach offered to take Davia to the hospital, which she quickly accepted. Beth had always looked up to Davia and had admired her talent, her beauty, and her strength. She knew Davia had struggled with a tough life and that her foster family wasn't known for being the most caring or kind family in the area. When Davia had turned eighteen and moved out, her foster family had moved from the area, and Beth had lost touch with Davia other than the occasional times she was with her family and they ran into Davia in public. From what they had heard, other than Davia performing in local bars and clubs, Davia had become withdrawn from society. That was why Beth had been ecstatic when she heard Davia would be singing at Maggie's wedding, and even more overjoyed when Davia had shown up with a date. To Beth, Davia and Daryl were perfect for each other, as it was no secret in Blue Ridge what Daryl had suffered through at the hands of Will Dixon.

Daryl had been taken into emergency surgery and Davia, Beth, and Zach waited for hours in the waiting room to hear news on his condition. Davia was still in her blood covered dress and Beth couldn't help but relate to the old photos of Jackie Kennedy when President Kennedy had been shot and she was still wearing her blood covered clothes as they swore in President Lyndon Johnson on Air Force One. Davia hadn't said much, but her face spoke volumes. Davia was terrified that she was going to lose the man she was involved with.

Beth, sensing how upset Davia was, moved over to sit beside the woman while they were in the waiting area of the hospital. She gently took Davia's hand into her own and began to lovingly caress it while Zach told them he would go get them all coffee. It looked like it was going to be a long night and Beth wasn't going to abandon the woman that she had always looked up too in her most desperate moment. "Davia, I'm here for you as long as you need me." She reassured.

"You don't need to do this Beth. I don't want to put you out by any means. I can handle it on my own." Davia replied.

"I know you can, but I don't want you to have too. No one should have to go through something like this by themselves."

Zach returned with the coffee and the three of them waited for the Doctor to come and update them on Daryl's condition. As they were waiting a huge commotion broke out at the front entrance to the hospital and all three turned to see news trucks, media, cops, and various other onlookers bursting into the waiting room. Something had happened and before they could register what was going on, a reporter made a beeline towards Davia in an attempt to get an interview with her.

Fortunately hospital security intervened and kept the reporters at bay as the trio continued to wait for the news on Daryl. The doctor, who had a name that Davia couldn't pronounce but told her to just call him "Dr. S" came into the waiting room and gave them an update on Daryl's condition. He had survived the surgery, but he would need another surgery soon. Currently they had not closed his wounds. His Liver, stomach, spleen, and lung had all been lacerated by Merle's attack and they had gone in to repair the wounds. Daryl's breathing was compromised so they had chosen to hook him up to a ventilator and would close up the abdominal wounds as soon as they were sure that they had all of the bleeding under control. As the night passed into the wee hours of the morning Beth and Zach had to leave as they had obligations in the morning, but Beth promised to return and bring Davia a change of clothes as soon as she was free. She gave Davia a quick hug and Davia gave her a key to her apartment so Beth could pick her up a few things.

They had moved Daryl into ICU and Davia's heart broke as she looked at this man she deeply cared for. His pallor was as pale as she had ever seen anyone, and besides the obvious wounds across is lower torso, his body was covered in bruises and both of his eyes were blackened and almost swollen shut. Apparently Merle had inflicted quite the beating on Daryl in his fit of rage and Daryl hadn't been able to defend himself. Davia guessed that Daryl would have never thought his brother was capable of turning on him like he had, which resulted in Daryl having his guard down. Davia also felt a huge sense of guilt. Had Daryl not chosen to be with Davia the events from a week ago probably wouldn't have happened. Merle would have been drunk, Daryl would have taken him home, and Merle would have never ended up in jail. Now she prayed that Daryl didn't blame her as well for destroying his life. She had grown so attached to this man in such a short period of time she didn't want to lose him, but if he survived he probably was going to see the truth of all this and realize it was Davia that caused the entire debacle.

Regardless of what would happen down the road, Davia had made up her mind she wouldn't abandon Daryl while he was in this vulnerable state. If He chose to rid himself of her once he healed up, then she would take it hard, but she would understand. Davia was used to disappointment in life, and she didn't think this situation would turn out better. However, right now the most important thing to her was Daryl's health and recovery. Seeing him so broken hurt her deeply and she wanted nothing more than to go back twenty four hours and change the way things had turned out.

Davia pulled up a chair beside Daryl's bed and gently took his bandaged hand into hers and began to wait. She would wait with him until he woke up or…she didn't want to think about it. She just wanted him to survive so that she could apologize to him for what she had done. Davia also prayed that he wouldn't rid himself of her when he finally came to the realization that she was a poison in his life like she had been in everyone else's she had ever cared about.

Rick Grimes had been surprised when his phone rang and he answered to hear a conversation on the other end. He quickly recognized Daryl's voice and realized the other individual on the line with Daryl was his brother Merle. Rick quickly jumped into his squad car and headed towards Dale's bar where he knew Daryl had attended Maggie and Glenn's wedding with Davia. He radioed back up from the radio in his car and quickly headed towards Dale's place. He had heard the altercation between the Dixon brothers and based on the feedback he heard he knew something grave had happened to Daryl. They arrived to find that Merle had already left the scene and that Daryl had been severely injured at the hands of his older brother. Rick couldn't comprehend how a brother could turn so viciously on his own family member, but then again Rick had never been desperate and strung out either.

After seeing the condition Daryl was in, Rick wasn't sure if Daryl was even going to survive. It seemed a shame, as Rick actually liked Daryl. Yeah, he had his rough edges, but he seemed to also possess a strong sense of right and wrong and apparently that had been the catalyst for Daryl wanting to distance himself from his older brother. Well it was that and his relationship with Davia. Rick had known, or should he say 'known of' Davia since high school. She was a cute girl that he would say bordered on timid, until it came time for her to sing. He knew she had lived a shitty life in foster care and after an incident in high school with one of the guys on the football team she pretty much became a recluse. He didn't know the exact details, but he suspected it had to do with a tryst gone badly. Lori had told him that she had a crush on the guy and after they had slept together the guy had ditched her, and that had sent Davia spiraling out of control. It didn't seem to fit and the cop in Rick had never completely accepted the story.

Rick was now determined more than ever to find Merle Dixon and bring him to justice. It was obvious that Merle was considered an extreme threat to the public and if he could turn so vicious on his own brother, there would be no stopping him if he felt threatened by someone he didn't know. Merle had already allegedly attacked one man that had caught him breaking into his house and issued a vicious beating to the guy. Now the stakes were raised and Merle's desperation made him even more of a threat.

Fortunately a break had come shortly after Merle's attack on Daryl. An elderly woman in a trailer park across town had reported seeing a suspicious man that met Merle's description covered in blood entering through the back door of the trailer across from her.

Within twenty minutes of the call Rick was on his way to check out the situation. He had summoned the Georgia State Bureau of investigation as well as backup from the Blue Ridge police department and inside the trailer they found April Langley, higher than a kite and with a huge stash of heroin and Meth stored underneath her bed. April was an attractive girl, but looked older than her thirty- two years of age. Apparently she had been trafficking drugs for a while and using Dale's place as a front to meet up with her buyers. The only reason Rick knew all of this was that April volunteered all of the information the first minute that law enforcement approached her home. She told them that Merle had been there but he had left about an hour earlier.

A K-9 unit had arrived and they quickly had picked up Merle's scent through the woods. They heard hysterical laughter right before they stumbled upon a drugged out Merle covered in his own blood and handless. His self-amputated hand was sitting in the dirt beside him and Rick was in total disbelief as to what he was seeing. Merle had lost so much blood that Rick wasn't even sure how the man was still conscious.

They carted Merle out of the woods and he was quickly taken to the hospital, the second Dixon to be taken in as a trauma patient that night. As the media got wind that Merle had been apprehended a fury of reporters emerged upon the hospital to get details of what had happened with the Dixon brothers. With Blue Ridge being a small town it didn't take the media long to find out that Davia was involved with Daryl and she suddenly became a sought out source for an interview. Thankfully the hospital security had prevented reporters from approaching her while she waited for Daryl to come through surgery and she also was unaware that Merle had been captured as well as amputated his own hand. For the first time in 10 days the Dixon's were residing under the same roof, under completely different circumstances.

Sun had begun to filter through the window and Davia still hadn't slept. She remained by Daryl's bedside waiting for him to wake. The doctor would be in soon to remove Daryl from the Ventilator and if he did well then they would take him down for the second surgery. It was now Sunday morning and Davia had remembered Daryl telling her he was going to teach her to drive today. Davia fought back a sob thinking about the fact that Daryl may never get the chance to do so.

Tears were pouring down her face as the nurse came in to check Daryl's vitals. "Oh honey, you haven't moved all night. Why don't you go grab a cup of coffee while I'm in here with him." She said.

"No, that's OK, I don't want him to wake up alone." Davia told the nurse.

"Well I will have some breakfast and coffee brought in for you. My name is Carol and you must be Davia. Your name is all over the news." Carol informed her.

"What? Why?" Davia asked confused.

"This story with Daryl and his brother is the biggest thing to happen in this area in a long time. I can't believe that Merle cut off his own hand before they caught him." Carol told her.

"What are you talking about? When did they catch Merle and how do you know he cut off his hand? That doesn't seem like Merle. He loves himself too much to do something like that." Davia said.

"Merle Dixon's exploits are legendary in these parts, and I have to admit I'm shocked too. They have him here in the hospital, but of course he is under heavy guard. He came in a couple of hours after Daryl last night, high as a kite. Apparently he is feeling remorse over what he did to Daryl." Carol informed Davia.

"That's even harder to believe. I hate to say it, but if he dropped dead right this minute I wouldn't give a damn. What he did to Daryl is unforgivable and so help me if He makes it and Daryl doesn't, I might take out Merle Dixon myself." Davia said angrily. It wasn't her normal nature to be vengeful, but she was so angry at the moment she couldn't help but express her self.

"I will pretend I didn't hear that Davia, but I also would probably do the same thing." Carol admitted to her.

Davia held onto Daryl's hand tightly as Carol was checking his vitals and drawing a few vials of blood. She noticed that he seemed to squeeze her hand and she looked over as his eyes began to flutter open. "Carol I think he is waking up." Davia said in a hopeful voice.

Daryl woke with an agonizing pain in his belly and completely confused as to where he was. He started panicking when he realized he was intubated and began to pull on the tube running down his throat.

"Woah Daryl honey, calm down." Carol said in a soothing voice as she placed her hands on his arms to hold them down. She quickly pushed the Nurse call button to get another nurse to come in and assist her with securing Daryl.

Davia quickly spoke in as a calm of a tone as she could muster "Daryl it's me. Please don't pull on the tubing sweetie. It's helping you to breathe."

Daryl was unable to speak, but hearing Davia's voice calmed him enough that he was able to register the commands that Davia and Carol were issuing to him. "Just let the machine breathe for you Daryl and don't try to fight it. We will get the doctor in here to see if we can remove it." Carol told him.

Daryl tried to relax, but it was difficult because he felt like he was being suffocated. Davia kept talking to him "Just relax Daryl, I'm here with you and I'm not going anywhere." She whispered to him. He responded by gripping her small hand as tightly as he could.

Dr. S entered the room and they decided that the best thing to do was remove the ventilator. It appeared Daryl was fully capable of breathing on his own at this point and the distress that the machine was causing Daryl wasn't a good thing. After it was removed they sedated Daryl and took him back into surgery and with any luck they would be able to close up his wounds and Daryl could begin the healing process. The doctor told Davia that Daryl was doing remarkably well considering his injuries. His vitals were strong and he attributed it to Daryl's good health and relatively young age.

While Davia was waiting for Daryl to return Beth and Zach showed back up. It was now close to lunchtime and Beth could see how exhausted Davia was. "Davia have you even slept at all?" She inquired.

"No, but I will when I know Daryl is going to be OK." She told the girl.

Beth looked at Davia "You aren't going to do him any good if you are dead on your feet. Why don't you take a shower in the bathroom and then get some rest. We won't leave you until Daryl is back in the room. Come on Davia, your killing yourself."

"I might feel better after a shower." She agreed.

Davia took the clothes Beth had brought her and went into the small hospital bathroom to take a shower and change. While she was getting cleaned up Beth and Zach took the pullout chair and fixed it up so Davia could get some rest. When Davia emerged from the shower Beth and Zach led her to the new makeshift bed and coaxed her into lying down and getting some sleep. Within minutes Davia was out and Beth and Zach quietly turned on the small TV and waited for news on Daryl.

And they waited for five hours. When Daryl was finally rolled back into the room and exhausted Dr. S followed in to address Davia. "It took longer than we expected. We had to repair a few bleeders, and we ended up removing his spleen. However we have his wounds closed up now and the only thing we need to monitor is infection. It looks like he is going to pull through. To be honest with you I have never known anyone to survive such a serious wound. Mr. Dixon is one lucky man."

A groggy Davia replied "How long will it take him to heal up?"

"With the staples and sutures in his abdomen he will be limited with his movement for a few weeks. When we remove them I would guess it would be another month before he is able to return to normal activities. I would estimate he will be out of work for a good two to three months." The doctor informed her.

"I'll make sure he takes it easy during that time." Davia let the doctor know.

"Oh, we also had to give him three units of blood. He was also issued three units last night as well. However, all things considered he is doing well. He's a strong man and very fortunate. Right now we will continue to administer fluids and antibiotics and he will most likely be a patient for a week until his antibiotic treatment is completed and we are sure that he remains stable." Dr S told her.

"Thank you for saving his life." Davia said as tears slipped down her face. She was suddenly overwhelmed with a huge sense of relief.

No matter what it took, she would make sure that Daryl had a full recovery and that she would spend the rest of her life letting him know just how much he meant to her. Almost losing the man she just met opened up her eyes and made her realize just how important he was becoming to her. Davia was falling in love for the first time, and she liked the way it felt.

I hope you aren't disappointed with this chapter. Not a lot of action, but there is PLENTY to come. I promise.

Please feel free to offer up a review and let me know what you think or if you are disappointed with this chapter too...I will understand. I have lots going on in my head, but sometimes it gets difficult to put it down the way I want it to come across to the reader.

Love you guys and I am thankful for the support and kind reviews. Take care and 2 more sundays before we get the real Daryl Dixon back.

Thanks-

Missy

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