AN: As always, thank you all so much for your lovely reviews. This one is a little shorter. It's also a little heavy so you may or may not want some chocolate or whatever it is that helps you with your Caryl feels.

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Daryl stood back and watched Hershel prodding at Carol who was obediently answering his questions. It had been well over two weeks since they'd brought them back, Daryl wasn't really sure how long to be exact. Most of Carol's bruises had gone away now, the worst of them that remained were a sickening green color. She didn't complain about her shoulder anymore, but it was obvious that her ribs still bothered her.

"You're looking good, Carol," Hershel said, when he was done. "And I think we know who you have to thank for that." Hershel looked over at Daryl.

"He takes care of me," Carol said.

Daryl was trying to take care of her, but he felt useless most of the time. He didn't know how to help her with the nightmares she had, other than shaking her awake, and he had no idea what to do when she cried. That was the worst part of it because he felt like he couldn't fix anything. He was just helplessly there, hoping that it would pass.

"Do you mind if I steal him from you for a few minutes?" Hershel asked.

Carol shook her head and the old man wrestled up from his sitting position. Daryl put his arm out to catch him in case he should fall. With the extra mattress in there the cell was hard to navigate. Hershel hobbled out and Daryl followed him.

"Let's go for a walk, son," Hershel said.

Daryl quietly followed him outside.

"She OK?" Daryl asked as soon as the door closed behind them and they began to walk.

"Physically, she's doing remarkably well. She's not complaining much about the shoulder and her range of movement is good. Her ribs are healing but she's got a little way to go with that. Other than a little nausea, which is to be expected, she doesn't seem to be having any difficulty with the pregnancy…I'd say that she's about as good as she can be," Hershel said. "How is she mentally?"

Daryl thought about it. He didn't know how to answer that question. She was at least eating with the group now, though she spent most of her time in the cell. Sometimes he could get her to come outside with him and walk around, and Michonne had been pretty good at getting her to come out as well. She only talked about what had happened occasionally, and only after a nightmare.

"Don't know," Daryl said finally. "She has a lot of nightmares, an' I think she cries too much."

Hershel chuckled a little.

"Daryl, I can promise you that she doesn't cry too much," Hershel said. "I'm not worried about if she cries a lot. I'd be a lot more worried if she wasn't crying."

"Well then ya ain't got nothin' ta be worried about 'cause she cries all the damn time, an' I don't know how to stop it," Daryl said.

"Don't try to stop it," Hershel said. "Beth's crying now, and that's a good thing. She's not made the same kind of progress that Carol has, and I think that's because Beth doesn't have you around. You're doing everything right, son."

Daryl stopped. He had never in his life heard those words said to him. He had never been a person that did much of anything right, less likely to be told he was doing everything right. Hershel stopped a second later and Daryl became aware of the fact that he had frozen.

"I ain't doin' nothin' special," Daryl said. He really didn't know what it was that he was doing right. He felt lost most of the time. "She won't even come out the cell half the time."

"You're keeping her from slipping into her grief entirely," Hershel said. "She's socializing a little more now, soon she'll be coming out even more. What's important, though, is that you've created that cell for her as a safe zone, somewhere where she feels comfortable. Son, have you ever tried to help a wounded animal before?"

Daryl shook his head.

"Carol's a little like a wounded animal right now," Hershel said.

"She ain't no damn animal," Daryl shot back.

"Easy, son, I don't mean any harm in it. What I mean is that when you're trying to earn the trust of a wounded animal, trying to get them to be comfortable with you, the last thing you want to do is to move too quickly or make too much noise. If you do that, they'll either run away, or they'll bite you. It can take a very long time, but the more patient you are, the more they'll let you get a little closer, and a little closer, until finally you've earned their trust. Carol, and Beth too, need that patience. I know that you want her to be just like she was, and she may be one day, but you've got to let her get there on her own time," Hershel said.

Daryl sighed. Patience was not something he was good at, at least not all of the time, and he really did want Carol to be back to her old self. He wanted the pain gone, all of it, physical and mental. He wanted her back.

"Hershel," Daryl said after a moment, "do we get to keep the baby?"

"I don't know, Daryl," Hershel said. "I don't want to tell you yes and I don't want to tell you no because I could be wrong either way. A lot of things happen in life that we don't expect. I can tell you that right now it looks like her body is responding well to the pregnancy. It's early, though. I can only guess that she's maybe eight weeks, ten perhaps."

Daryl wanted to ask Hershel more questions, but he didn't quite know how to go about them. He didn't want to just out and ask him. He finally decided he was going to have to, though, if he wanted an answer.

"When do ya think we could…well…how long we need ta wait before…" Daryl started. Damn this wasn't easy and he felt his face burning.

Hershel chuckled.

"Daryl, are you trying to ask me when you can have sex?" Hershel asked.

Daryl wished he didn't look so damn amused. Now he almost didn't even want to know. He nodded.

"Give it a couple more weeks," Hershel said. "Give those ribs some more time to heal. After that, I'd say go with how Carol's feeling, but take it easy for a while."

"Anything else ya got ta tell me?" Daryl asked.

"No," Hershel said, "just remember, slow and easy, even when you get frustrated. Don't push her too hard. She's coming around, but she's got to do it at her own pace."

Daryl nodded and started back to the prison, Hershel hobbling off in the other direction, clearly not done with his walk yet.

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Carol was just starting to wonder how long they'd be gone when Daryl appeared at the cell door. She'd started to worry that there was something Hershel wasn't telling her. Daryl looked calm, though, so her fears were quickly erased.

"Everything OK?" She asked. Daryl just nodded. "Sit with me?" Daryl came over and sat down next to her.

Carol leaned over and brought her face to his, finding his mouth with her own. He returned the kiss, barely.

"I want to take a shower," she said when they broke away. "Take one with me?"

Daryl nodded.

"I can do that," he said.

When they got to the showers and stripped off, Carol knew exactly what she wanted. Daryl had barely touched her since she'd been back, and she knew he'd been afraid of hurting her, but she wanted him to touch her. She felt like she needed that contact with him, and she knew he needed it from her. When Daryl stepped in behind her she turned around and tipped in his head down, finding his mouth and battling his tongue with her own. He pulled away after a minute.

"Ya ribs gotta heal," he said.

"I know that," Carol said. She kissed him again and brought his hand to her breast, keeping hers over his so that he wouldn't try to pull away. "Just a little," she whispered. "I need this…I need you."

Daryl kissed her then, deeply, and squeezed her breast, the other hand going to the other breast. Carol panted.

"Are ya tits bigger?" Daryl asked when he pulled away from the kiss.

Carol giggled. She couldn't help it.

"Little bit," she said. "That's your butterbean causing that."

Daryl smiled a little at her.

"Kid's lookin' out for his old man," Daryl said.

Carol kissed him again and pulled one of his hands down to her core. He rubbed her for a moment and she rested her forehead against his chest.

"This what'cha want?" He asked. She nodded, moaning in response. He slipped a finger inside of her and she rubbed her face against him, wrapping her arms around him as he worked her. When she felt herself tensing up, though, the aching in her chest became overwhelming and it got difficult to breathe.

"Stop," she panted. "Stop…stop…"

Daryl did stop, holding his hands up as though he'd gotten caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. Carol turned away from him, trying to get her breath, the aching in her ribs making it harder. She felt the tears coming then and tried to control the sobs.

She felt Daryl's hands on her back.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean ta hurt ya, I'm sorry."

Carol turned around.

"You didn't hurt me, Daryl. It's not your fault," she said.

"You cryin' 'cause ya hurt an' I did that," Daryl said.

"No, Daryl, I'm not crying because of my ribs, I'm not crying because of what you did," Carol sobbed. "I'm crying because I didn't want you to stop, but my stupid body wouldn't let you keep going, and there's nothing I can do about it."

Daryl had no idea what to do at this moment. None whatsoever. He'd been aroused, but any of that was gone. Carol was sobbing, and even though she said it wasn't his fault, he'd been the one that made her start crying.

"You didn't hurt me, Daryl. You didn't do anything wrong," she continued. Daryl backed up because now she'd begun to pace, and there really wasn't much room to pace in the shower stall. It was more like just turning around and around in circles. "You haven't ever hurt me. It was him and I don't even know why and it isn't fair! It isn't fair!"

Carol screamed the last word at him and he backed up another step. He felt like he'd broken her or something and he wondered if he should get Hershel, even though she was in the shower.

"I know it ain't fair," Daryl said, trying to make his voice sound calmer than he felt right now.

"It isn't fair!" Carol yelled again. "I can't sleep and I want to sleep…but I can't because he's always there! He's always telling me that you died, and that you're not coming…and…and…I want you, but I can't have you…I can't even sleep with you because it hurts…and I don't want to hurt anymore…and I'm scared, Daryl. I'm so scared…I don't want to be scared. I don't want to hurt, and I don't want to be scared, and I don't want to not want my baby!"

Carol stopped pacing then, but the sobbing didn't let up. Daryl stepped forward then and gently wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. She sunk into him, her body jerking with the sobs and he fought hard not to cry right along with her.

He rubbed her back and after a little while the crying slowed. The sobs were replaced by the occasional hiccupping sounds that she made.

"Feel better?" Daryl asked after a minute.

"A little," Carol said. He kept rubbing her back.

"I don't want'cha ta be scared no more, Carol, an' I don't want'cha ta hurt but I can't make it go away. I can tell ya that I ain't gon' let nothin' hurt ya," Daryl said. "I ain't lettin' nobody put their hands on ya no more an' if I could go back in time I would, but I can't. If ya think ya can get on the mattress on the floor I can sleep with ya there, at least then if I fall off I ain't got far ta go...I ain't goin' nowhere, Carol, an' if ya want ta want the baby then want it, I ain't gon' let no one take it away from ya if I can stop it."

Carol didn't respond, but she did sigh.

"How 'bout we skip the rest a' this shower an' we go back to the cell?" Daryl asked. "Ya can take a nap an' I'll stay with ya 'til it's suppertime."

Carol pulled away from him and nodded then. He reached around her and turned the water off. After they toweled off and got dressed he walked her back to the cell. She wasn't sobbing, but she did walk with her head down, shuffling along as though she were exhausted. When he saw Rick approaching them in the passageway, a look of concern on his face, Daryl held his hand up toward him, silencing him before he even asked if everything was OK.

When they got back to the cell, Daryl helped Carol ease down onto the mattress on the floor. He lie beside her and rubbed the side of her face.

"Are you comfortable?" Carol asked.

"Yeah," Daryl said, "you?" He had no intention of telling her that most of his body was off the mattress. That was something that just couldn't be avoided. These cots weren't built for two, especially when one person couldn't lie on their side.

"Yeah," Carol responded. She sighed a little and her hiccupping was calming.

"Just go ta sleep," Daryl said. "I ain't goin' nowhere. Ya gon' feel better after ya sleep."

Daryl waited until he heard her rhythmic breathing and then he eased himself off the floor. He slipped out of the cell going in search of blankets and pillows. He didn't mind his new sleeping position, not if it meant that she'd sleep better until they could both fit in the bed, but he was at least going to build up the padding.