During Saturday Daryl's condition improved and Dr. Edwards confirmed that the antibiotics were working and Daryl would not lose the kidney. Rick considered staying in Atlanta another day and calling into work, but Daryl convinced him it wasn't necessary.
"I don't want you to lose your job, on top of everything else."
Rick, standing by Daryl's bed and already wearing his jacket, sighed. "You are right. I'll be back on Monday night." He leaned down and gave Daryl a chaste kiss. They still had to work on the intimacy, the hospital environment had made them oddly shy around each other.
Daryl took Rick's hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "I'll look forward to Monday, then."
After assurances from Daryl that he had everything he needed and admonishments to get a proper night's sleep -"You look like death warmed over, man," - Rick took his leave.
Monday morning found Rick cursing down the phone again. Lawyers were so useless! What did he pay that idiot for, anyway?
He was in a temper for the rest of the day, not helped by the ridiculous amount of paperwork all over his desk. Rick knew that asking to be assigned to desk duty had been the right - probably the only - decision to make, but he was getting bored of it. The thought that kept him going was that this wouldn't be an indefinite situation and that when Daryl was better and he had sorted things out with the custody for Carl he could go back to being a real cop.
Spotting Shane at the other end of the office Rick gritted his teeth. There was another reason why he was better off behind his desk for now. They hadn't as much as exchanged a glance since Lori had told Rick about her infidelity, and Rick wasn't sorry. To his credit, Shane made himself as rare as he could and Rick never saw him for more than a minute or two around the station. Going to Atlanta so much also meant that Rick was distracted and never got to dwell on his fantasies about what he'd like to do to Shane.
The thought of Atlanta brought his mind back to Daryl, which was where Rick's thoughts were predominantly these days. He didn't just think about all the worry and the pain, though that was never very far away. Increasingly, it was just Daryl's voice and the way he looked at Rick that floated back to Rick's mind several times a day.
They had talked on the phone for almost an hour the night before. Daryl had told Rick about the book he had started to read that day, and some silly TV show he said he could become addicted to. Something to do with zombies? Rick wasn't sure. He'd mostly just delighted in the fact that Daryl was well enough to read a book and hold an entire conversation without falling asleep halfway through.
Rick left the office at lunchtime to drive to Atlanta, but he didn't go to the hospital straight away. He hadn't told anyone about this plan, but strongly hoped something would come of the meeting that he'd set up for that afternoon. He couldn't wait to tell Daryl about it, but he knew he had to hold off for a while yet.
He arrived at Grady Memorial around six in the evening. Rick thought the meeting had gone well, but it'd be a couple of weeks at least until he'd find out whether this could go any further. Still, Rick was in a more hopeful mood than he'd been in days.
The door to Daryl's room was slightly ajar. Rick knew that this usually meant a doctor or a nurse had dashed in there briefly, and he was so used now to watching them prod and poke, or clean things up, he decided to just go in. In any case, if something was wrong he'd like to know sooner rather than later.
It wasn't a nurse or doctor with Daryl, however. Rick recognized the man right away, though he couldn't work out why he would be here. Merle was standing on Daryl's left side, bent over the bed and gripping Daryl's left shoulder hard. Rick instantly saw the expression of pain on Daryl's face. His left side was still bandaged and immobilized with a sling because of the broken collarbone. Merle's hand had no right to be anywhere near it, and certainly not exerting any pressure.
Oddly, Daryl didn't make a sound, though Rick was sure if he hadn't been biting down on his lower lip hard enough to draw blood he would be screaming.
"I am warning you, if you don't do exactly as I say..." Merle's voice was full of malice and he seemed to be increasing the pressure on Daryl's shoulder even more. Daryl let out a small whimper.
Rick was next to Merle in a flash. The man seemed hardly to realize that somebody had entered the room when Rick already had him in a vice-like grip and was marching him across the room and out the door. He shoved Merle hard, and the other man stumbled against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway.
Rick looked daggers at him, his voice was like ice. "Don't you ever come in here again." Merle spat at the floor.
"Don't you tell me what to do, Officer Friendly."
Rick spotted a security guard just up the hall near the nurse's station and motioned to him. The guard, who Rick remembered was called Bill, came over looking politely puzzled. "Bill, could you please escort this gentleman off the premises. He's not at liberty to return, unless he's bleeding out, in which case I am happy to show him to the ER."
Bill, who knew that Rick was a cop, did as he was asked without question. He gripped Merle hard by the arm and marched him away.
Rick returned to the room. Daryl had curled up on his side, just like he had done when he'd been overwhelmed with the nausea from the kidney infection. Now his face was streaked with tears, which he tried to hide from Rick.
Rick wasn't having any of this, though. He went over to the side of the bed and bent over Daryl. He kept his voice calm and low, even though he wanted to scream.
"Talk to me, Daryl. He's gone, he can't hurt you anymore. Just tell me what he wanted. Why he did this."
Daryl wouldn't look at him, but he did answer. "Please, Rick. Don't make me talk about it, I just can't..."
His voice broke on the last word, and Rick knew he was struggling hard not to start crying in earnest.
Rick sat down on the chair. Rage was still coursing through his veins, but he knew he had to keep himself in check if he didn't want to go down the same route as he had with Daryl in his apartment. He couldn't bear the thought of hurting the other man again, but he desperately wanted to get to the bottom of this. He took a deep breath.
"I don't want to force you to do anything, I just want to keep you safe, Daryl." He reached for the other's hand almost automatically, trying to soothe Daryl's misery through the now so familiar touch. "Tell me what you want me to do."
Daryl, still hiding his face, considered this for a moment. "Just keep him away, if you can," he whispered.
Rick made a phone call to the same cop he had been badgering about updates on Carol, telling him what Merle had done and asking him, cop to cop, to have a word with Merle about it. Then he went to find Dr. Edwards. He brought him back to Daryl's room and told him what had happened.
"How long until Daryl can leave?" Daryl looked at him with alarm, but Rick took his hand again and held it in both of his.
Dr. Edwards considered. "He's almost over the infection, and he's eating better. I want to take the sutures out in a day or two anyway." He looked at Daryl. "We need to start you on physical therapy and get you walking and building your strength back up, but I'd say a week to ten days, if all goes well."
Rick nodded. "Good. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help." Dr. Edwards smiled. "You are doing all the right things already." With that, the doctor left.
Rick sat down again, still holding Daryl's hand. He looked at him and was sorry to see that he still looked frightened.
"I want you to come home with me when you get out."
Daryl's eyes grew big. "D'you mean that?"
"Yes, I do. I was going to suggest it anyway, but now I could never let you go back to your brother."
Daryl didn't say anything. He looked to Rick like he just couldn't believe what he'd just heard. The look in his eyes was one of such hope and wonder that Rick's throat felt suddenly tight. He knew that Daryl had not experienced much kindness in his life and could see that someone actually wanting him to move in probably felt overwhelming.
Rick stood up and bent over to kiss Daryl gently. He could taste tears on Daryl's lips. He straightened up, and on an impulse climbed onto the bed next to Daryl. It took some careful adjusting so as not to jolt Daryl too much, but eventually they managed to lie quite cozily, Daryl nestled against Rick's side, resting his head on Rick's chest. Comfortable for the first time in this room Rick wondered why it had taken them this long to try this out.