"Hershel!" Rick screamed as he burst through the door. "Hershel!" he bellowed again.
"Rick, what's going on?" Carol asked from the living room wear she sat with Mitchell. "Who's blood is that?" she caught sight of his hands.
"Where's Hershel?" he asked, panting from his run from the other end of the colony.
"I'm right here." Hershel said, walking into the room as he dried his hands with a kitchen towel. "What's all the commotion?"
At that point everyone in the house had assembled in the living room, anxious to find out what had happened.
"Daryl.." Rick wiped the sweat from his brow, smearing Daryl's blood onto his skin. "He was hurt, we need you at the infirmary."
"Beth, Maggie, I'm gonna need you to help." Hershel said, turning to his girls. "Well, what are we waitin' for?" he asked as he shooed the group out the front door.
"What happened?" Beth asked, trying to ignore the knot in her stomach.
"Tree branch fell, landed on him." Rick resisted the urge to run, knowing it would do no good as Hershel would not be able to keep up with him. "His leg is busted up."
"What kind of a set up do they have at this infirmary?" Hershel asked, trying to keep a fast pace, eager to reach the young man who needed his help.
"I don't know." Rick shook his head. "I handed my end of the stretcher to Christie and came to get you."
"Okay." Hershel put a comforting arm around Rick who was obviously shaken by what had taken place. "We'll see when we get there."
They walked the rest of the way in silence. They had been living in relative safety, hunts and patrols never having been a problem before, but now one of theirs was lying injured and it wasn't even because of a walker, not even due to a human. A freak accident of nature.
"In here!" Christie called out as she watched from the door. "I didn't know what supplies you would need, so I just unlocked all of the cabinets." she trembled as she spoke, leading Hershel into a large room, several beds lined up, glass cabinets displaying different types of medical supplies.
"Good." Hershel said as he spied the cabinet containing gloves. "Girls, grab a pair." he instructed Beth and Maggie. "I need the rest of you to stay out there." he nodded to the corridor outside, the makeshift waiting area they'd put together. "Either me or one of the girls will keep you up to date."
The group allowed themselves to be herded out by Maggie who slid the door shut behind them. They stared at one another in silence for a moment before each taking a seat.
"He'll be okay, right?" Carol finally spoke.
"Hershel's good at what he does, even when he doesn't have adequate supplies." Rick nodded as he sat, leaning forward, his elbows digging into his legs, rocking back and forth. "Here it looks like you've got good supplies, and a clean place."
"We found a hospital a while back, took a while but we cleared it." Christie moved from her seat and stood next to a large garbage can, feeling as though she was about to be sick.
"You okay?" Mitchell asked, about to get up from his seat next to Carol to see to his friend.
"Fine." she said before losing control and vomiting into the can. "Just sit back down." she waved him off even as she still had her head inside the receptacle.
"You sure you're okay?" Rick asked, watching her heave once more, everyone cringing at the sound, trying not to be sick themselves.
"I'm not good with blood, and I'm a bit of fear puker." she said as she wiped her mouth and sank to the floor next to the garbage can.
"Traveling with her at first was...interesting." Mitchell put in.
They fell into silence once more and Rick began to scan the group. Carol and Mitchell sat huddled together across the room, T had retrieved some water and sat next to Christie on the floor at the far end, Glenn sat next to the door, staring out and Lori sat next to him. "Where's Carl?" he asked, the realization that his son wasn't there just dawning on him.
"With Brad, on a play date." she sniffled as she spoke.
"He'd kill you if he heard you call it a play date." he chuckled.
"Good thing he's not here." she smiled. "How are you?" she asked.
"At this moment, not so hot."
"I meant in general, besides this."
"Good." he looked at her. "I'm doin' good."
" Me, too." she sighed "After we know Daryl is gonna be okay, we should talk, shouldn't we?" she looked nervous.
"Probably." he nodded.
The door opened and Hershel emerged. "His leg is broken in a couple of different places, the bleeding has stopped. He's gonna be outta commission for a while."
"But he's gonna be okay?" Rick asked, jumping to his feet as the door opened.
"He's gonna be a bit more ornery than usual, but we'll just have to live with it." he smiled. "The girls and I are setting to put the bones back in place, then we'll cast him." he looked to Christie and smiled. "This infirmary is well equipped, you've done a good job on that, too bad you haven't had a doctor or nurse...someone to properly staff it."
"All the doctors and nurses at the hospital were gone when we got there." she shrugged. "Well, mostly."
"I best be gettin' back in." he nodded and closed the door behind him.
"I left Carlos with Todd." Christie seemed to suddenly remember. "I should go deal with him." she set her bottle of water down and made for the door but was stopped by Rick grabbing her wrist.
"I don't think that's a good idea." he said to her, quietly.
"And why is that?" she asked, eager to figure out some sort of punishment for the boy.
"You may not be as scared anymore, but you're still pissed." he pointed out. "Calm down a bit more before dealing with him, or let someone else do it."
"He took off, left his partner so he could go...I don't know what the hell he did, but he wasn't around when Daryl needed him!" she became more agitated. "He should have been there to help him."
"I agree." he tried his best to calm her. "But it won't do any good for you to off after him half-cocked."
"What's going on here?" Reichert suddenly appeared at the door, Stein right behind him looking like a child who had just tattled on their siblings or friends.
"There was an injury during the hunt." Mitchell said, getting to his feet. Christie was in no mood to deal with Reichert, let alone Stein hovering in the background.
"Stein said you assaulted him." Reichert looked around the room before letting his gaze rest on the woman before him.
"Assaulted?!" she spat. "I did not assault you, you little weasel!" she moved to look around Reichert's bloated form. "I came back with an injured man and he wouldn't give up the keys to this place. I grabbed them out of his pocket. I never assaulted him."
"You grabbed me." Stein reminded her.
"Stein, go wait outside, you're not helping matters." Reichert ordered. "Who was injured and how bad was it?"
"Daryl had a large limb fall on him, broke his leg." Rick stepped forward, still holding onto Christie's wrist. "Hershel's fixing him up now."
"Hershel?" Reichert asked. "The old man from your group."
Rick nodded. "He's a doctor, saved my boy a while back."
"You never mentioned you had a doctor in your group." he looked to Christie and Mitchell "Neither of you did."
"We didn't know until today." Mitchell answered truthfully.
"He's actually a vet." Lori pointed out.
"Still, someone with medical training." Reichert looked towards the closed door. "That's good to know." Bringing his attention back to the group and patted Christie on the shoulder. "Next time try not to be so rough on Stein, you know what a coward he really is."
She impatiently tapped her foot. "Something needs to be done with Todd." she told him. "He was teamed with Daryl and he took off. When he came back as we were getting ready to bring him back here, Todd seemed to be on something."
"Let Dixon decide the kid's punishment." Reichert shrugged as if he couldn't care less. "He's the injured party, let him decide what happens to the boy, within reason of course."
"Seems like a good enough plan." Rick said, more to Christie than to Reichert.
"Fine." she was a bit annoyed at not being able to handle it herself, but she was sure Daryl would be able to come up with a good punishment.
"He'll be wakin' up soon." Hershel said as he washed his hands.
"No permanent damage?" Beth asked nervously as she watched Daryl sleep off the meds her father had given him.
"Only time will tell how the bones actually heal." he watched them clean up and started to help them. "You both did well."
"We handed you what you needed." Maggie pointed out.
"After you told us what you needed." Beth smiled, always keeping an eye on Daryl as she moved around the room.
"You're good nurses." he insisted. "I think we should let him rest. Are you gonna stay with him, Bethy?" he asked, knowing the two had bonded in their time in the colony.
"Yeah." she smiled. "I saw some crutches over there when he needs them."
"It's best he gets a couple of days bed rest before moving around on crutches." Hershel informed them, knowing full well that Daryl would likely try to be up on his feet as soon as he was awake. "We never got 'round to cleaning his hands." he stared at the bloodied fingers with their ripped nails. Daryl's reward for trying to drag himself into the tree.
"I'll clean him up." Beth assured him. "Could someone bring something clean to wear?" she asked as she grabbed a stainless steel bowl and filled it with water.
"Yes, ma'am." Maggie said, giving her sister a quick squeeze before leaving.
Beth set to work cleaning the dried blood and dirt from his hands, carefully dabbing at the torn and rough nails. She imagined that the pain from his leg had distracted him from the pain in his hands, but her own hands ached at the sight of them, especially when she cleaned his left middle finger and found the nail was missing completely. She'd heard a bit of the conversation from the outer room and had an idea as to what had happened out there, and she could only imagine what kind of punishment Daryl would have in store for this Todd guy.
She didn't even realize that she'd began to cry until a tear fell from the tip of her nose down into the bowl of water. Up to that point, everything had been a blur. She'd just followed the group there knowing she would be needed to help her father. But now, as she sat looking at him, thinking of how horrible his leg had looked, the dirt and bits of walker that remained on his upper body, leaves still stuck in his hair, she realized how scared she'd been when she heard he had been injured.
She had been afraid of him leaving them to be with his brother, it had never really occurred to her that he might be seriously injured when he left for patrol, or hunts. He was Daryl, of course he could handle himself. He'd saved the others so many times, she had almost forgotten that he was still human like the rest of them. Still capable of getting hurt, or worse, killed. Suddenly the thought of him joining Merle didn't seem nearly as bad. At least he'd be alive and with someone he cared about. Today though, he could have been killed.
"How long you gonna dab at that one spot, princess?"
Startled, Beth dropped the ball of cotton she'd been using and jumped back. "You're okay!" she hugged him suddenly, ignoring the bits of walker that still clung to him.
"So far as I know." he didn't have the energy to return the hug. "My head is killin' me."
"Daddy knocked you out so he could fix your leg." she informed him, moving back and smiling.
"Don't feel that right now." he sighed as he closed his eyes again, trying to ease the pain in his head.
"No, he gave you pain meds for that, but the headache is from what he used to put you out." she tossed the fallen cotton ball into the nearby trash and fished out a fresh one. "You had a bad day." she was feeling better seeing him awake.
"No shit." he draped his free hand over his eyes. "Is that smell me?" he asked, the odor making him a bit nauseous.
"Yeah." she wrinkled her nose a bit. "Between the sweat, blood and walker brains, you're pretty rank."
"Some bedside manner you have, princess." he couldn't help but chuckle a bit.
"Maggie's bringing you some fresh clothes, we can give you a bath..."
"We?" he asked, suddenly removing his hand from his face. "I can bathe myself, girl."
"You can't get outta bed for a few days at least." she told him. "You can't get to a shower right now."
"How the hell do you plan on gettin' me clean then?" he asked.
"Sponge bath." she blushed a bit.
"Oh hell no." he shook his head. "I ain't lettin' you give me a sponge bath."
"You stink, you need one."
"Get Glenn." he said with a shrug.
"So you'd rather have Glenn undress you, lather you up and wipe you down?" she raised an eyebrow. "Should Maggie be worryin'?"
"It just ain't gonna be you doin' it, princess." he said in a way that she knew it was pointless to argue. "Gotta find someone else. Actually, no women."
"Okay, okay." she finished cleaning his hands.
"Got fresh clothes." Maggie popped in, bag over her shoulder. "Hey, you're awake." she smiled down and squeezed his arm.
"Glenn here?" Daryl asked.
"I'm right here." Glenn stepped in. "Something you need?"
"He needs a bath." Beth dumped the bowl into the sink and threw the used cotton balls away.
"Okay..."
"He can't get up and he won't let me or any of the women help him." Beth explained, getting a little enjoyment from the uneasy look on Glenn's face.
"Really?" he groaned. "Wouldn't you want a pretty girl like Beth or Maggie doing that, rather than me?"
"No women." Daryl shook his head slowly. "Do those damned lights have to be on?" he asked.
"I can turn them off for now." Beth said. "But Glenn will need light to give you a bath."
"I'd rather do it in the dark." Glenn chimed in, knowing at this point his opinion didn't matter.
"You can't see anything in the dark." Maggie pointed out.
"Exactly." he sighed, resigning himself to the fact the was gonna have to do it.
"There are some towels and a wash bin in the cabinet over there." Beth said as she and Maggie stepped outside.
"Yeah, yeah." Glenn shut the door behind them and took a deep breath. "You so owe me for this, dude."