Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.
Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story.
The next morning the rest of the group arrive at the farm, Rick and Lori go out to meet them.
"How is he?" Dale asks.
"He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people." Lori says.
"And Shane," Rick adds. "We'd have lost Carl if not for him. And Phoenix."
"How did it happen?" Dale asks.
"Hunting accident. That's all—just a stupid accident." Rick tells them.
He notices Daryl looking around the farm before Daryl's eyes come back to settle on him, he knows what he's going to ask and dreads the explanation. "Where's Rayne?"
Rick stutters slightly, "She's in the house, uh, she was shot too."
"I thought you just said it was an accident." Daryl snaps.
"It was. When the gunshot sounded, Phoenix put herself in front of Carl, trying to protect him. She took the brunt of the impact."
Maggie steps up seeing that this man cared for the woman, "Uh, Daryl?" His glance turned to the girl. "She's okay. The bullet went straight through her shoulder, not much damage. I'll take you to her if you want."
Daryl nods, ignoring the looks he's getting from the group at his sudden concern for someone who wasn't his brother. He follows Maggie into the house and to the upstairs bedroom.
Maggie smiles at him, "Just holler if you need anything."
Daryl nods, biting the inside of his cheek as she leaves, shutting the door behind her. He sits down in the chair next to the bed, his eyes roaming over the woman in the bed.
Her skin is very pale and covered in sweat, Maggie mentioned her fever had just broke that morning. Her hair was still in the braid it was in when he last saw her two days ago, only it was messier with strands falling out here and there.
The sheets were pulled up to just above her chest, her arms resting over them. It was clear she wasn't wearing a shirt. Daryl shook his head, now was not the time for him to be thinking like that about her. He could see the top of the bandage on her right shoulder, it was lightly faded pink from the blood. She was hooked to an IV since she had been unconscious since the accident.
He watched her eyes flutter and sat back, wondering what reaction he was gonna get when she saw him sitting by her bedside.
The first thing Phoenix saw when she woke up made her wonder if she was still asleep, that or dreaming. Daryl Dixon. Sitting in the chair next to her bed. Wait. Why was she in bed? She started to sit up only to be met with an excruciating pain in her right shoulder. She laid back down gently touching the bandage with her fingers.
Suddenly it all came back to her and she started to panic. Daryl noticed and leaned over towards her, "Hey, hey, calm down."
"C-Carl. Is he okay?" She all but whispered, her mouth feeling like it was full of cotton.
Daryl nodded, "He's gonna be fine."
She smiled laying her head back and closing her eyes. She was about to ask Daryl why he was here when the door opened. A beautiful woman with short brown hair came in.
"Oh great, you're awake. How do you feel?"
"Better."
"Good. I'm Maggie. Let me get you some water and my dad will be up here shortly to check on you, okay?"
Phoenix nodded, the woman smiled as she left the room, returning a moment later with a glass of water. She left the two alone, Daryl watching Phoenix closely as she sipped her water. She tried to set the glass down but every time she rolled to her left, the stitches pulled in her shoulder.
Daryl watched her with mild amusement, knowing she was stubborn and refused to ask for help. He figured one of two things was going to happen. Either she would keep being stubborn and tear her stitches open, or she would ask him for help. He was surprised when she looked to him, a pleading look in her eyes. He smiled, she wasn't going to come right out and say she needed help, but her eyes said everything. He leaned forward taking the glass and setting it on the table next to him.
"Thanks."
He nodded, "You are stupid, you know that."
She nodded not speaking, knowing he had more to say.
"What the hell were you thinkin' taking that bullet?"
"I was tryin' to save Carl." She said in a whisper, then lowering her head and biting her lip, picking at her fingers. She couldn't understand why Daryl scolding her made her feel like what she had done was wrong. She felt the need to apologize for getting herself shot. Why did he have this effect on her?
"I'm sorry." She said softly worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.
"Please don't bite yer lip like that."
She looked up at his strained voice, catching his eyes, she saw something in them she hadn't seen before. He was looking at her like HE had, the one before, the one who was responsible for the way she was now.
She looked away not being able to hold his gaze. "Why are you here?"
"Why wouldn't I be? I'm checkin' on my friend. We are friends aren't we?"
"To be perfectly honest, I don't know what we are."
"I do. We're a team." He sighs, "None of them understands me like you do. Nobody has ever stood up for me, or my brother ever. You didn't know either of us and you stood up for us, you took my side on things. You're the only one I can stand to be around and not want to kill. You make the day enjoyable, I'd be miserable if you weren't here."
Phoenix didn't know what to say, here he was basically pouring his heart out to her, telling her he cared for her, in his own way of course. Who would've thought, Daryl Dixon, caring about someone who wasn't his brother.
Before she could say anything the door opened and an older man walked in. He glanced between the two of them, "I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?"
"Na Doc, yer good." Daryl said standing up. "I'll check on you later." He leaned down and kissed her forehead, making her smile.
After he left the man turned to her with a knowing smile. "I'm Hershel."
"Phoenix. Thank you, for everything."
"You're welcome. I can see you're itching to get out of this room but I'd like you to rest for a few more days. Get some fluids and solid food in you, make sure you don't get an infection."
"Okay, that sounds fine. I guess more rest couldn't hurt."
"No it couldn't. I'll have one of the girls bring you some food." He said standing up and walking to the door.
"Thank you again."
"You're very welcome young lady. By the way, where did you learn to stitch like that?"
"I was an EMT before this all started."
"Very good job. I'll check on you later sweet pea."
Phoenix smiled as the elder man left, he reminded her of her grandfather.
Hershel's youngest daughter Beth came in with a plate of food.
Afterwards Phoenix decided to take Hershel's advice and let her eyes drift closed.
Outside Rick is standing by the porch when Daryl walks by headed for the woods.
"Daryl. You okay on your own?"
"I'm better on my own. Don't worry, I'll be back before dark."
"Hey. We got a base. We can get this search properly organized now."
"You got a point or are we just chattin'?"
"My point is it lets you off the hook. You don't owe us anything."
"My other plans fell through." Daryl says walking off. He wasn't about to tell Rick that he didn't want to leave. And the main reason for that was a beautiful blue-eyed woman.
Out in the woods Daryl comes across a clearing, a farm house in the center. He kicks open the front doors, making his way room to room checking for walkers. Inside what appears to be a kitchen he finds an empty can of sardines in the trash, He picks it up smelling it, testing its staleness. He drops it back into the trash as he notices a cabinet ahead of him, the door slightly ajar. He raises his crossbow, slowly moving towards it. He reaches out with one hand and yanks the door open. On the floor is an empty make-shift bed.
He walks out the back door, "Sophia! Sophia!" Something in the field catches his attention, he walks over finding a bush with two white flowers on it.
Daryl goes back to the house, he heads into the RV noticing quickly how clean it is inside. He's chewing on a piece of straw as he walks back to the rear bedroom finding Carol sitting on the bed sewing.
"I cleaned up. Wanted it to be nice for her."
He looks around, "For a second I thought I was in the wrong place." He sets a beer bottle down on the counter behind him, in it is the white flower from the house.
"A flower?" Carol asks.
Daryl takes the piece of straw from his mouth. "It's a Cherokee rose." He waits to see if she knows what it means, when she doesn't speak he steps forward. "The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they uh, said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mother's spirits, give 'em strength and hope. The next day this rose started to grow right where the mothers' tears fell. I'm not fool enough to think there's any flowers blooming for my brother. But I believe this one bloomed for your little girl."
Carol gives a small laugh, wiping the tears from her eyes. Daryl walks back to the front door, "She's gonna really like it in here."
Daryl heads into the house to check on Phoenix, he knew he was foolish for thinking she was ever gonna look at him like Lori looked at Rick. But at this point he just wanted her in his life any way he could have her.
As he opened the door he noticed she was asleep, so he crept in as quietly as he could and sat down in the chair by the bed. She was wearing a long sleeved blue, black and white plaid western shirt. He figured it was easier to get on and off with her shoulder. She had also taken the braid out of her hair and it now tumbled freely across the pillow and her shoulders.
He watched her eyes flutter and open, blinking away the sleep. When her eyes found him she smiled, it was times like this, when knowing that seeing him made her smile, it made every day worth it to Daryl. He never thought such a small thing could mean so much.
"Hey. Did ya find Sophia yet?"
"Not yet. But I found some clues today." He proceeded to tell her about the house and the rose, after which she smiled.
"I'll bet that meant a lot to Carol. Who knew Daryl Dixon had a heart."
He did have a heart and it jumped as he heard her say his first name for the first time. He wanted to say something to her about that but was afraid she'd take saying it back, so he stayed quiet. Then he remembered something and stood up rummaging around in his pockets. He pulled out two things handing them to her. "I thought you might want these. They took 'em off when they were patchin' you up."
She looked down at the Navy Cross on the silver chain and the silver Navy Seals Trident pin. She smiled at him, her eyes saying everything for her again.
"You gonna tell me bout those." Daryl asked. He didn't want to push her, but he wanted to know something about her. Something that might help him understand why she kept him at a distance.
"My brother Nico. He was a Navy Seal. He received this Navy Cross on his last deployment. He said it was a shame to let it sit in a box, he was proud of it and I was proud of him. So he made it into a necklace and he gave it to me. He was always my hero and now I could prove it and show it off to the world. The pin is an exact replica of his gold trident he received when he graduated Sear Training. He wanted me to be able to take care of myself when he wasn't around. So he taught me everythin' he had ever learned and put me through his own Sear Training camp. By the end he said I had everythin' it took to become a Seal. So he had this pin made especially for me, to remind myself that I was worthy."
Daryl watched as she stared at the cross and pin, rubbing her fingers over them lovingly. "What happened to him?"
"I don't know. I was on my way to Florida to meet his ship when it came in, when this all happened. I don't know if he made it. If any of my family did. He was always my partner in crime. Where he went, I went. Even though he was older than me, he always included me in everythin' he did. He taught me everythin' he ever knew. He looked out for me, cared for me, I was his little sister, I came before everyone else."
Her voice broke at the end and she couldn't stop the tears. Seeing her crying and in pain broke Daryl's heart. He made a quick decision and got up moving over to the bed, he sat down beside her.
She flinched lightly until she realized what he was doing. Almost immediately she laid her head on his chest and curled into his side, ignoring the protest her shoulder was giving her.
Daryl held her tight, running his hand through her hair.
"I just want to know they're all okay. That they made it. I need to know."
Daryl held her until she had cried herself back to sleep, but instead of moving, he stayed put. He turned off the light and for the first time in a while he drifted to sleep quickly and slept soundly all night long.
