Chapter 21
Two days had passed since Negan had brought the contract to Daryl. Two days with no visit from Claire, or Negan either. He'd been left to himself in his room, food brought regularly and a first aid kit brought to him for his shoulder wound. Other than that he'd seen no one.
He'd spent the time pacing anxiously-his mind playing over every disgusting and depraved thing he imagined Negan would do to Claire. His conscious was having its way with him-he already beat himself up regularly for not being smart enough or brave enough for his family, anyone's death he blamed himself for. Claire was just one more reason for Daryl to give in to his ever present feelings of shame and humiliation at who he was and where he came from. He was useless to everyone, and every action of his led to nothing but death and disaster for his family. The only way to make this up to everyone was to get Claire out of here and see his family safe from Negan. If this meant his death, so be it.
The evening of the third day the door opened and Claire stepped in bearing a tray of food and a medical bag. Daryl stood and waited uncertainly as Claire delivered the tray to the table and set the bag beside it. His fists clenched and unclenched as his gaze ran over her looking for any bruising or other signs of abuse. When Claire looked up at him finally, he noted shadows under her eyes but no other signs of distress.
"Claire," he rasped hesitantly. Claire met his gaze without any hesitation and held it until Daryl dropped his. Daryl shook his head at her continued silence. "Claire," he whispered brokenly.
"Let's get your shoulder and that brand looked at," Claire said softly and motioned for Daryl to step toward her as she began to open the bag. Daryl crossed the room and stood uncertainly in front of her. "You'll need to take your shirt off, Daryl," she murmured.
Daryl nodded and slipped his shirt off and sat in the chair so Claire could examine his shoulder and back. Claire leaned closer, her lips almost touching Daryl's ear. "Listen carefully to me," she whispered. At Daryl's brief nod, she continued. "I have a plan to get us out of here. But you have to trust me. Don't do anything rash. Don't sit in here and let some misguided sense of guilt eat you up. I'm a lot stronger than you know, and I don't need anybody to rescue me from this. I put myself in this position because I think I can use the situation to get the upper hand and get us both out of here safely." Daryl opened his mouth to protest and Claire squeezed his shoulder impatiently. "Daryl," she hissed sharply, "promise me you'll trust me and not do anything foolish." After a slight hesitation, he nodded reluctantly.
Claire straightened up and sighed. "Alright then, your shoulder looks much improved. Your branding won't get infected and scarring should be at a minimum, for a branding at least," she said softly. She moved to his front and gazed at him steadily, searching his face silently. "Are you sleeping alright? I need you to be at your best when I feel the time is right to leave. I need you to eat, get a full nights sleep and get some exercise. There's a running track that I'll tell Negan I want you to use." Daryl nodded. "I'm going to see Maggie tomorrow," she said and smiled at the look on Daryl's face. "Negan wants me to check her and I'm going to suggest she be moved to Hilltop for a real doctor's care and bedrest. Glen too. I'm going to try to go with them to get her settled in, and while I'm there I'll see what the situation there is like. We're going to need as many people as possible to help us with what I have in mind."
Daryl nodded and began biting at his thumb. "There's a guy at Alexandria, or he was anyway. His name's Jesus. He lives at Hilltop but he came to Alexandria with Rick and me."
Claire thought a minute. "I'll see if he'll go back to Hilltop with me then, unless he's already there. Do you trust him?"
Daryl shrugged. "Yeah, guess so. Rick did anyway." He continued to tear at his thumb while thinking. Claire placed her hand on his and gently tugged his thumb away from his mouth.
"Hey, I get the feeling you haven't had many people in your life you felt you could trust. But I promise you I won't ever do anything that I think would put you at jeopardy or hurt you."
Daryl frowned. "Why? I ain't nothin' to ya. Just some asshole Negan made ya take care of." He tried to pull his hand from Claire's and she tightened her grip to his chagrin.
"I told you about Bryan. You remind me of him in some ways. I didn't help him the way I should have. I'm not going to make that same mistake again," Claire replied and leaned in and kissed Daryl briefly on the mouth then moved away.
Daryl stared at her in shock and surprise, his lips tingling slightly from where she'd kissed them. She turned and smiled softly at him and headed toward the door. Turning slightly she laughed slightly at the look of astonishment on Daryl's face.
"Hmmmm, I guess trusting someone isn't the only thing you haven't done much of in the past," she said teasingly and went out of the room leaving Daryl to stare in bemusement after her.