Thank you so much for all of the reviews! Because of them all, I felt inspired to continue this tonight...so hope you like it
"Beth, are you ok?" Rick asked as he rushed into the room while she was still clutching her head. She shook her head no and let out a sob just as Morgan and Carol came rushing in too.
"Is it like before?' Morgan asked her as he sat down beside her on the bed. She nodded and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"What do you mean 'like before'?" Carol asked as she gently caressed Beth's hair.
"She used to get them a lot, right after I found her they would come every couple days. When they would hit, it would be horrible for her. We would have to find a place to hold up so she could rest. They got fewer and fewer as she healed. This is the first one she has had in a little while. Probably all the stress from the past few days." Morgan said as he wrapped his arm around Beth. He knew that Beth had been through a lot, having to deal with coming back here, reuniting with her entire family, then having to deal with all of that stuff with Maggie and whatever was going on with her and Daryl, it had to have led to this headache.
"What do we need to do? How can we help?" Rick stated, he knew Daryl would want him to protect Beth, make sure she was ok if he was not there. He had no idea where his best friend was, but Beth was his family too and he would do what he had to do. He was just about to suggest that Beth lay back down when she winced in pain.
"Ok, we are going to see Rosita. They have to have something that will help her" Rick said as he scooped Beth up in his arms. She laid her head on his chest and softly cried. She hated when the pain got like this. She really wanted Daryl with her, have his arms around her instead of Ricks.
"Morgan, can you stay with Judith? Carol and I will take Beth" Rick asked, his friend nodding in agreement and then kissing Beth on the forehead softly.
"You feel better Sunshine" he murmured into her hair. Beth nodded and leaned back into Rick's chest.
"Where is Daryl?" She asked softly through the pain as they walked out the door and down the porch steps.
"I'm not sure, I haven't' seen him since yesterday. I will send somebody to find him" Rick said as they turned to walk down the street. The light outside was blinding to Beth, but she was able to make out a figure walking down the street.
"Ask her Carol. That's Nessa" Beth whispered to Carol from Rick's arms. Carol looked up just in time to see Nessa get a glimpse of Beth in Rick's arms. She seemed to have a smirk on her face that turned into a look of concern when she saw Carol looking at her.
"What's wrong? Is she ok?" She asked, Carol seeing right through her fake concern. She figured she was going to catch her now.
"Have you seen Daryl?" Carol asked, seeing the smile come across Nessa's face at the mention of the archer.
"Not in the past few hours, why?" Nessa asked, a small smirk flashing across her lips when she heard Beth sigh and wince again in pain.
"Please find him, tell him to come to the infirmary, that Beth needs him" Carol asked, her voice demanding but with a sweet smile still on her face. Nessa nodded in agreement and Carol watched as the girl started slightly jogging down the street. Carol shook her head at her, wondering if Daryl would show up or if he would never get the message. Whichever way this worked out would determine how Carol delt with her. She turned back around and gently stroked Beth's face, the young girl wincing again as Rick and Carol took off with her to the infirmary.
"Ok Beth, I am going to give you a few pain pills. They will make you very sleepy and a little loopy, but you should wake up feeling much better. I will give another one to Rick but you should only take one every 8 hours or so. "Rosita said as she handed Rick the pills.
"Thank you Ros..." Beth started but stopped when the door to the room flung open. For a second Beth hoped that it was Daryl, but her face dropped when she saw that it was Nessa. She leaned into Rick a little as Nessa turned to face Carol.
"I found Daryl and told him. He said that he was busy and couldn't come" Nessa said, a hint of smugness in her voice. Beth gasped and hid her face, not able to fight the tears anymore. What Nessa just said didn't sound like Daryl, but her head hurt too much right now to think differently and her heart was hurting just as much now. Rick and Carol on the other hand glanced at each other, both knowing good and well Daryl would never say that. Even if it wasn't Beth in that room, Daryl would come if it was any of the family, but this was Beth. He would be right here, growling at everybody until they made her better. Something was not right.
"Ok, thank you Nessa" Carol stated calmly as the girl turned, throwing a little smirk toward Beth and going out the door. Carol's narrowed eyes following her the entire time. She nodded at Rick and kissed the top of Beth's head.
"You take that pill and rest. Rick will get you home. I have something I have to take care of" Carol said softly, but her voice was full of steel. Beth took the pill from Rick and swallowed it, nodding at Carol. Carol smiled at her and then turned and walked out the door, on a mission to find a certain archer.
"Daryl" Carol called as she caught up to him climbing down the wall. He looked exhausted, but raised his eyebrow at her when she ran up to him.
"What the hell are you doing, Daryl?" She asked, her voice stone cold, her eyes narrow. She knew, knew that Nessa was lying, but seeing Beth as hurt as she was still made her angry.
"What do you mean, I'm goin' home. What does it look like?" He growled out, exhaustion taking over his body.
"Why didn't you come when Nessa came to find you?" She asked, her eyes still narrow.
"What do you mean? I haven't seen Nessa since yesterday mornin'. "He growled out again. He was so tired, and all he wanted to do was get home and crawl into bed. He hoped Beth would be around. He saw Carol nod, like she was understanding something and then she looked back at him.
"You need to get to the infirmary Pookie, its Beth" she said, instantly seeing the change in Daryl.
"What the hell you talkin' about? What's wrong with Beth? Is she ok?" Daryl growled out, worry and concern taking over all of his features.
"She has had a headache since she had that appointment with Pete. She has been trying to fight it off, but last night it got bad and this morning it was even worse. She is at the infirmary now with Rick...ya would have known that if..." before she got a chance to finish he had turned and took off at full speed toward the building. Carol watched him go with a small smile. "Ok, that's one down" she mumbled to herself. "Now, onto Nessa" she finished, her voice low and menacing.
Daryl ran and ran, he didn't acknowledge anybody as he passed them, he just kept running. The exhaustion he was feeling completely gone at just the mention of something being wrong with Beth. His lungs burned like crazy, and as he just started to cuss the cigarettes he had smoked in his life, he saw Rick carrying Beth in his arms as they started up the sidewalk to their house.
"Beth" he cried out as he ran up to them. He could see her in Rick's arms, flashbacks of him carrying Beth out of that hospital ran through his head as he got to them. He shook those out of his head when he got in front of them and looked down at her.
"Beth, are you ok?" He asked softly, taking his hand and gently stroking her hair. She mumbled a little and turned to look at him, her eyes narrowing when she saw him.
"Thought you were too busy to come?" She mumbled out, her voice a mixture of anger and sadness and her head rolling around from the effect of the pill Rosita gave her.
"What ya' talkin' about girl? Carol just told me. I didn't know" he said as he looked from her to Rick, wanting some kinda answers. "Here, let me take you Beth" he asked as he moved toward her. She recoiled from him, making him pause mid step.
"Don't touch me, not after you touched her" she slurred out. Daryl looked at her, confusion all over his face.
"Let me take her upstairs and I will explain" Rick whispered, taking sympathy on his best friend. He was standing there, looking so lost, so concerned but he nodded at Rick and followed his friend as he took the most important thing in his world up the stairs to their room. He had no idea why Beth was so upset with him, but he wanted to make it right. After a few moments, Rick came back down and motioned for him to come into the kitchen.
"So what's wrong with her?" Daryl asked, pacing back and forth across the kitchen.
"She gets the headaches sometimes, according to Morgan. They used to happen a lot right after the gunshot. They have been happening less and less and Morgan seems to think all the stress of the last few days led to this one. She was in pain last night but it was nothing like this morning. She was crying out for you. Where were you by the way?" Rick asked, his eyes narrowed just a little. Daryl had stopped pacing when he heard that Beth had been crying for him and then looked at Rick with a raised eyebrow when he asked where he was.
"I was working the wall. After I left the infirmary yesterday, I was stopped by Abraham. He needed some help wit' one of the construction sites, so I helped 'em carry a few loads. Then I came home but nobody was 'ere, so I took a nap on the couch. I went out after to try to find Beth and that's when the south wall was in danger from a small herd. I spent the rest of the afternoon killin' walkers. Then they were one man short for watch duty and they stopped me when I was on my way home. I had been on the wall until Carol found me just a little bit ago. I had seen Nessa while I was on the wall and asked her to tell Beth that I wouldn't be home last night, she didn't tell 'er?" Daryl asked, his face and voice full of concern and worry and now anger.
"This Nessa seems to have an issue with Beth. She was outside when Carol and I left to take Beth to the infirmary and Carol asked her to go and find you, let you know. She came back to the infirmary to let us know that you said you couldn't come, that you were too busy to be bothered. Daryl, I will tell you honestly, I think that hurt Beth the most. She said something this morning about you lying to her yesterday. And then you not coming home for two nights, Nessa acting this morning like she had just seen you and then for Nessa to tell her you said that, and on top of everything that happened with Maggie and on top of all of that to have a splitting headache, that is why Beth acted the way she did outside." Rick stated, seeing instantly his friends mood change.
"What do I do Rick? How do I fix this?" Daryl asked, he never even cared about anybody even close to what he felt for Beth and it was killing him to know that he had hurt her, inadvertent or not.
"Go up there, talk to her. Lori used to always say I didn't talk enough. You got a second chance Brother, take it" Rick said, clasping Daryl on the shoulder as he walked by and got a glass out of the cabinet and filled it with water. "Here take this up to her. Rosita said that the pills they have her on with make her thirsty, so when she wakes up she will want it" he added as he handed the water to him.
"So she is ok?" Daryl asked, his voice low and soft. Rick smiled at him and nodded
"Yes, she is fine. The pill will help her sleep but she is going to be fine. Now go" Rick ordered, Daryl nodding and taking off up the stairs, two at a time.
He entered their room slowly, the room dark and quiet. He could see Beth lying under the covers, softly sleeping. He crept over and sat the water down on the table, gently picking up the chair that was over by the window to beside the bed. He took her hand in his, gently caressing it as he whispered to her...
"I'm so sorry for all of this Beth, so sorry. You are my girl and I will never leave you again"
Ok, so there you have it. Daryl was not actually doing anything with Nessa. He will get more into it with Beth when she wakes up but he is gunna be right there with her from now on.