He's a Good Man

When Anna received the radio call in the middle of the night about what had happened to Daryl and Carrie, she grabbed the children, still dressed in their pajamas and headed straight for the clinic. She had been a nervous disaster ever since Daryl's departure earlier and now her fears were coming to fruition. Anna knew that Daryl was trying to push down some sort of internal struggle that was triggered by his interaction with his father. She also suspected that it had to do with some sort of trauma that Daryl had not disclosed to her during their time together. She had a gut feeling of what it could have been, but she didn't want to think that Daryl had been exposed to something so dark and evil.

Anna loved Daryl exactly as he was. She saw him as a beautiful complicated man whose imperfections made him perfect to her. When she first met Daryl she had been overwhelmed with is willingness to help her. He gave up his family at the prison to make sure that she made it back to her family and he stood by her as she gave birth to Hunter. He never asked for anything in return, and he soon fell in love with the little girl as if she was his own. Anna had felt guilt over her feelings for Daryl so soon after her husband had died, but how could you not fall in love with a man like Daryl? He was raw, masculine to a fault, and wore his heart on his sleeve. He had an innate sense to protect people and yet with all that masculinity there was innocence to him too. Daryl was quick to show anger, but struggled to show softness and love, except with Anna, and now with their children. Occasionally others got to see his tender side, but it was a rarity as far as Daryl Dixon was concerned.

After Anna had arrived at the clinic Dr. Jordan had asked her and the children to give him a few minutes to examine and stitch up Daryl's wound. After he was finished he came out to brief Anna and the family on Daryl's condition, and Marty had slipped in to speak to Daryl first. When Marty came out of Daryl's room he had a concerned look on his face and told Anna that Daryl wasn't in any condition for visitors, including her and the children. Anna was devastated at the news, and her two overly tired children were asking questions as to why they couldn't see their father. Anna told Marty that she understood and soon left with Joe to return to the house. She told the children that "Daddy hurts really bad and he doesn't want to scare them because of his injury." It appeased them for the time being, but Anna was internally freaking out.

She put the kids back in bed in the wee hours of the morning and attempted to sooth herself to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. Somehow she needed to get the answers as to what really happened with Daryl and his father and the only person she could think of that might know was Rick. Rick was Daryl's closest friend and confidant, and even though Daryl might feel betrayed if Rick told her what was going on, it was a risk that needed to be taken. One thing was for sure, she was going back to the clinic later on and wasn't going to take 'NO' for an answer when it came time to see her husband. There wasn't any way she was going to let him suffer in silence. She knew he was feeling guilty about what happened with Carrie, but they all knew that he actually saved her life, and saved her from an unthinkable fate.

…

The pain meds were wearing off as Daryl arrived at the cabin his father was being held in. Rick looked exhausted when he met Daryl at the door. Daryl had assumed that Rick hadn't been informed about what had happened the night before and Daryl was going to use this to his advantage. "Time for you and Glenn to take a break for a few hours." Daryl said.

"Glenn left earlier to give Beth some relief with Maggie. Apparently Maggie isn't taking bed rest in stride like she was supposed too. You feeling all right Daryl? You look a little pale." Rick inquired.

"Just a bit tired and the hip is aggravated." Daryl told him, in case Rick noticed the limp.

"You sure you want to do this? I mean yesterday the interaction between you two was…intense." Rick said as tactfully as possible.

"I'm fine. Go home and check on Michonne and your family. They need you." Daryl said.

"Daryl, your family needs you too, don't forget that." Rick replied.

"It's just for a little while" was Daryl's response. And that was all the time he would need to do what needed to be done.

Rick left and Daryl made his way to the basement. He went into the room where his father was being held and kicked the chair out from under the sleeping man.

"What the fuck." The man exclaimed.

"It's time you and me take care of things for good." Daryl told him.

"Whatever you want little pussy." Will said.

"You think I'm weak and worthless, then prove it. You kill me, and you go free, but if I kill you, this shit is over and I prove you wrong. I ain't afraid to die old man, but I ain't afraid to kill you either. You ain't nothing but a blight on everything you touch, and I would like nothing more than to get rid of you, but I'll do it fair…which is more than you ever did for me." Daryl told his father.

Will thought for a moment about his choices "What is to say I don't kill you here and then your buddies upstairs are just waiting to take me out?"

"They're gone. It's just you and me old man. I told you this was a fair fight." Daryl said.

Without so much as a grunt, Will lunged for Daryl and caught him off guard, taking him to the ground. Immediately Daryl's hip exploded in pain as he assumed that the stitches had split open. Daryl should have anticipated Will's move, knowing how the man could attack without warning.

"Still haven't figured me out yet you worthless piece of shit." Will said as he began to pummel Daryl with his fists. Daryl reached up with his hands and temporarily threw Will off of him. It only angered Will more and he grabbed the chair he had been knocked out of earlier and swung it at Daryl. Daryl ducked, but the chair made contact with Daryl's shoulder sending Daryl back to the ground. Will ran at Daryl and attempted to nail him again with the chair, but Daryl threw his arms up to block the blow of the chair that was now being swung at his head. His father grunted in frustration as the chair was pulled out of his hands and sent hurling across the room.

Daryl stood up and pushed his body into his fathers and the two men went sprawling against the table full force, causing the table to break into splinters of wood. Daryl began beating his father senseless as his inner demons and anger began to over take him. If Daryl had been at full strength, the fight would have been over much sooner, but Daryl was weak as a result of his injury and even though his fists were hitting their mark, the power behind them wasn't what it would normally be.

Will grabbed a broken table leg and swung it at Daryl's head, making contact against his cheek and jaw. Daryl was pretty sure he now had a few loose teeth, but he didn't have time to think about it as Will swung hard at him again, this time the table leg made contact against his injured hip, sending yet another jarring wave of pain through his body. Will took advantage as Daryl yelped out in pain. "I knew you were a weak little girl. You can't beat me Daryl, I OWN you!" Will taunted as he was getting the upper hand over his son.

Will crushed his knees into Daryl's chest making it difficult for Daryl to breathe, and soon had his hands wrapped around Daryl's throat, slowly sucking the life out of Daryl's injured body. They were both covered in blood and Daryl could feel his mind beginning to fade to black as Will continued to choke the life out of him. Memories of Anna flashed through his mind. He saw her long dark hair cascading over her olive skinned body, her beautiful brown eyes flashing a warmth at him that only she could give. Then memories of Hunter, her birth, her eagerness to want to be like him, her tender hugs and kisses that could bring him out of the worse moods. He knew he had to leave, but he didn't want it to be this way. The last thing he wanted was for them to find his dead body, most likely turned into a walker, down in this house. He suddenly saw the flaw in his plan as he realized if Will killed him he would be free to go after Anna and the kids. Daryl suddenly began to flail and fight his father, but Will was intent on killing his son here and now. As if by some miracle, Daryl began to reach around him with his one free arm, and felt a splintered piece of wood from the table. With his last bit of strength he grabbed the sharp wood and thrust it up into his father's chest. Will's dead body dropped down onto Daryl and Daryl quickly flung it off of him. Just like that Will Dixon was dead with a piece of the table protruding from his chest.

Daryl was gasping trying to catch his breath. His body was weak and he was dizzy, but he was alive. He looked at the crumpled heap on the floor that was Will Dixon and felt no sadness. All he felt was a sense of relief. He now knew he could leave without the fear of his father hurting his family or people he cared about. The room looked like a blood bath as Daryl realized it was mostly his own blood that was littered everywhere. He didn't care because he had managed to accomplish what he set out to do. It was a fair fight and his father's death was a result of Will's own actions.

Daryl sat there in a stupor for at least fifteen minutes. He assumed Rick would be back on his way down after Carl filled him in on what had happened last night. With his last bit of strength Daryl rose and pulled the wood protruding from Will's chest out and shoved it into the man's brain, forever putting and end to the reign of terror Will Dixon had placed on his life. It was over now, and Daryl felt glad.

He began to stumble out of the room and up the stairs, finding the half-empty bottle of Moonshine still upstairs on the table where he had left it the previous day. He gathered it up, along with a few other essentials in the cabin and promptly left. Rick would probably be back with reinforcements if he didn't get out of there soon and he didn't want to waver from his decision to leave. As much pain as he was in, he figured he could only make it a couple of miles on foot, but he knew where an old abandoned cabin was just on the outskirts of the community, but in an area no one would think to look for him.

…

When Rick arrived home and heard about what had happened to Carrie and Daryl he suddenly was overwhelmed by a sick feeling. It didn't make sense to him that Daryl would be there to relieve him after being shot the previous night. It did however, explain Daryl's paleness and lethargy.

"Something's up with Daryl" Rick said to Carl and Michonne.

"Dad, why do you say that?"

"Because he showed up at the Cabin where we are holding his father, and my guess is he should be down at the clinic."

"Let's go get him and make sure he is alright" Michonne replied.

"No babe, you need to stay here and take it easy, I'll take Carl."

"Damnit Rick, I'm not an invalid. Daryl means a lot to me too, and he has always been there for me. It's not going to hurt for me to get in that truck and sit beside you while we take a ride to that cabin!" She said emphatically.

"I'm going too. I'll take my own truck and take Judith over to Beth." Carl said.

Rick ran his hands over his scruff and finally said OK. They loaded up and headed down to the cabin.

…

When they arrived at the cabin the first thing Rick noticed was the jug of moonshine was gone but Daryl's vehicle was still at the house. The cabin was eerily quiet and they all made their way to the basement. The room was covered in blood, remnants of broken furniture, and the body of Will Dixon.

"Shit!" Rick said "Daryl…Daryl are you here?" He yelled for his friend but was only answered by silence.

"Where do you think he might be?" Carl asked.

"Maybe the clinic, with this much blood loss he has to be injured pretty badly." Rick said.

"Let's go then." Michonne said.

…

When they arrived at the clinic is was pure chaos. Anna had arrived shortly before them (after leaving the kids with Beth as well) and was having a meltdown in the lobby. Viv and Marty were doing everything they could to get her to calm down and Ghita was trying to remind her about taking care of her pregnancy.

"How can he just leave? He was hurt and weak and in no mental condition to be by himself right now." Anna cried.

"Shhh darling…we will find him." Marty said trying to console his distraught niece. Ghita nodded to Marty and Rick and asked them to follow her down the hall. Viv took over trying to console Anna and Carl slipped out of the room to go see Carrie.

…

Ghita quickly brought the men into an examining room and shut the door. "You have to find him soon. He hasn't had proper antibiotic treatment, he's dehydrated and lost quite a bit of blood. He's at high risk of an infection or worse, and this weather is prime for hypothermia." She said.

"How long?" Marty asked.

"Anytime, he could already have an infection now, or he might not get one at all, but I don't like the odds." Ghita told them. "Marty, how was his mental state when you talked to him earlier?"

"Not good. He didn't want to see his family, and he blames himself for what happened to Carrie. I should have seen this coming." Marty told her.

"Just find him. We can work on the mental aspect once we get him back, but right now I'm more concerned about his physical well being. Daryl is a good man and he doesn't need to put this guilt upon himself. I think his father being here has caused him to spiral out of control." Ghita told him.

Rick replied "Well his father isn't going to be an issue anymore. We'll leave now. Marty we need one of the Mocksley's to help us Track, see if they can send someone over here right now. We aren't going to let Daryl down."

Marty went to his vehicle to call the Mocksley's on the radio and Rick walked out into the lobby to see Viv holding onto a visibly distraught Anna. Michonne and Viv were both trying to comfort her. He walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder "We'll find him Anna."

"Take the Gator, you can track him down faster if he is on foot." She told him.

"Good idea Anna. We'll come by and pick it up."

Michonne spoke "I'll take Anna home and stay with her. I'll also radio Beth and see if she has any issues keeping the kids until we find him. I don't think it will be a problem."

…

Carl slipped into Carrie's room to check on her. He watched as she slept peacefully. Her left arm was now a stump and heavily bandaged where it ended at the elbow. It was heartbreaking to see her loss, but he was thankful to still have her with him. It could have been all over if Daryl hadn't acted so fast. He made his way over to the side of bed and took her right hand into his. She looked weak and pale, but didn't appear to be in too much pain. His guess was that the pain meds were doing their job.

She woke up and turned to look at Carl "Hey" was her response.

"Hey yourself. Glad to see your are still here with me." He told her.

"It would take a little more than a walker bite to get rid of me. Hope you aren't going to mind being with a girl missing half her arm." She told him.

"Wouldn't care if you were missing both your arms and legs…I love you Carrie." He told her.

"Why Carl Grimes, you're going soft on me. You've never told me that before." She said to him.

"Carrie I think I have been in love with you since the first time we met. I hated everyone and everything when I first met you, but you gave me hope again. It's the same as how Anna was for Daryl. You didn't know him before…He was sort of a good guy, but he was hard and didn't seem to like people, and now…"

"Speaking of Daryl, where is he? I want to thank him for what he has done." Carrie said.

"He's missing. I think he actually blames himself for what happened to you and he left. They are going out to try to find him." Carl told her.

"No…He can't leave. He saved my life and he stood by me the whole time while we waited for Andrew to get back with the horses. It's not fair for him to feel that way because he was exactly what I needed at the time. You have to find him." She told Carl.

"We will find him Carrie. Now get some rest OK."

Carrie nodded "Thanks Carl…and by the way, I love you too. And just so you know, Left arms are over rated."

"Oh definitely. I was thinking about getting rid of mine too in support." He teased.

"Shut up goober…I will be just fine, but you need to keep all your parts intact for me."

…

Viv stayed at the clinic with Carrie while Michonne and Anna returned to the Dixon house. Beth had assured them it wasn't any problem at all to keep the kids while they looked for Daryl.

"Michonne, what if it is too late when they find him?" Anna asked.

"It won't be. Dixon is a tough son of a bitch. You've always heard him say that the only thing that can kill a Dixon is a Dixon." Michonne assured her.

"I heard Rick say that Daryl killed his father…and I'm glad. That man didn't deserve to breathe the same air as Daryl. He did horrible things to Daryl while he was growing up, and I think there is a lot more that Daryl has never told me about." Anna admitted.

"Daryl will tell you when he is ready. You know him well enough to know he doesn't volunteer much information about himself." Michonne said.

"I want to show you something." Anna told her.

Anna got up and came back with a box. She reached inside and pulled out some children's building blocks. "Daryl made these for Hunter's first Christmas. He hand carved each of them so she would have something to play with later on. Hunter loved them and I know just how much love and effort he put into making them for her. How can such a good and caring man blame himself for so much?"

"Will Dixon messed with his head. Could you imagine growing up with that for your entire life? It's all that Daryl knows…guilt. Will blamed Daryl for everything, and after listening to it for twenty plus years I think Daryl believed it." Michonne told her.

"We gotta fix him. I'm gonna love that guilt right out of him." She said.

"We all should do that. I can't imagine my life without meeting Daryl… He has proven to be a true friend. I always knew he had my back." Michonne admitted.

"He's gonna need all of us after this." Anna said wiping away the tears that she couldn't fight anymore.

…

Andrew Mocksley showed up shortly after Marty made the call. Andrew had proven himself to be an excellent tracker and good decision-maker. He seemed to take a liking to Daryl and was more than willing to help aid in the search to find the injured hunter.

They all met down at the cabin that they had been holding Will and took Anna's advice to use the Gator for the search. It was obvious to them all that Daryl wasn't thinking straight as he left a blood trail that wasn't even remotely difficult to follow. Andrew picked up the trail immediately and after they had followed it for about a mile they found the first dead walker. With Daryl bleeding like this his scent must have been attracting walkers for miles around. Rick looked at Marty and said, "At least he is still defending himself. We need to find him though, this is a lot of blood and he most likely isn't thinking straight."

"Andrew, how long ago would you estimate he came through here?" Marty asked.

"An hour or two ago. It looks like he is heading towards the state game land. The terrain gets more rugged as the elevation rises. I do think I might know of a place he could be going though, but we can only make it there on foot." Andrew said.

"Lead the way." Marty chimed in.

…

Daryl's teeth were chattering as the fever began to overtake him. He was pretty sure he had an infection and the blood loss was making him feel lethargic. His motor skills weren't responding the way he anticipated and when he made it to the abandoned cabin deep in the woods he was almost overwhelmed with relief.

He quickly made a fire in the fireplace and sat down in an old chair that was in the cabin. He felt sick and his hip was aching badly. It reminded him of the time he injured it three years earlier. It had taken at least a month for him to be able to fully put his weight on the leg and he prayed that his hip would heal faster this time. Daryl reached into his bag of things he had gathered after taking care of his father and pulled out the jug of moonshine. Without any pain pills the liquor would have to work in helping him ease his pain. It also helped in warming himself up.

After another hour Daryl was still nursing the moonshine and his head was spinning. "Shit" he mumbled to himself when he realized he didn't have any food with him. "Reckon I could get a squirrel" He told himself. Daryl stood up shakily, his body was trembling from cold, but he did what he did best and pushed down the discomfort and headed back out to find himself some sort of sustenance. His aim was off, and it took him four tries to finally hit a squirrel with one of his bolts. He was so weak and tired, as well as suffering from the effects of the alcohol that he didn't even make an effort to gather the bolts that missed their mark back up.

He was struggling with his coordination, but made it back to the cabin and quickly gutted the squirrel and cooked it in a pan that was left behind in the cabin. It was far from Anna's cooking, but it was food and he desperately needed it right now. He poured himself yet another drink and promptly passed out on the floor before he finished the glass.

Daryl was awoken by the sounds of the undead clawing and scratching their way at the cabin. "Bet 'cha wish you had picked up those lost bolts you lazy bastard." Will Dixon said to his son.

"What are you doing here? I thought I finished you." Daryl replied.

"You ain't never gone be rid of me boy. I'm gonna be in that thick head of yours for as long as you draw breath…and by the looks of things, that ain't gonna be too long." The man taunted.

"Shut up old man and leave him alone." Daryl heard as he looked up and saw Merle sitting in the corner of the room.

"Merle?" Daryl said confused.

"Shhh…just relax, I can handle the old bastard."

"I gotta take out the walkers." Daryl said attempting to reach his crossbow. He was so disoriented that he stumbled when he tried to get up off the floor.

"You stink like a Still boy." Will said to Daryl.

Daryl shook his head as he crawled over to the wall and began to pull himself up off the floor. His legs could barely hold his body weight and he saw that there was blood pooling on the floor. "Fuck me." He said to himself.

"Gonna die and join me in hell soon boy. It will be a good old family reunion." Will continued taunting.

"I ain't gonna die, I'm gonna be just fine. Just need you bastards to leave me alone so I can get some sleep." Daryl yelled.

"Ain't time for beauty rest baby brother. You gotta get rid of them walkers or they are gonna tear this place down." Merle told him.

Daryl made his way to the small window so he could surmise his situation. There were at least eight walkers working on trying to get into the small cabin. Daryl opened the window slightly, which proved to be a mistake as they quickly caught his scent and moved over towards him. As quickly as he could, he loaded a bolt and pulled the trigger. The bolt landed square in the forehead of the closest walker, dropping it immediately. He had five more bolts and seven more walkers.

Daryl's breathing was becoming labored and he was drifting in and out of his hallucinations. One moment Merle and his father were there with him and then one moment he was alone. After he took out the third walker Daryl could no longer stay upright. "Fine God…you want me, then take me now." He said.

The crossbow fell to the floor with a clatter as Daryl's strength left him and he fell to the floor. His body was shivering and his pallor was pale from blood loss. Tears came to his eyes as he realized he probably wasn't going to survive the night. "I'm so sorry Anna," he said. He realized that he was going to die alone and most likely turn into a walker, as there wasn't anyone around to end it for him.

"Daryl honey, stay strong OK." He heard. This time he looked up and it was Ava, Isabella, and Gus holding his son.

"It's not time for you yet Daryl. You have to get back to Anna and the kids. You have two beautiful children on the way and they will need their father. Anna can't do this without you Daryl." Gus told him.

"Gus…I'm sorry I couldn't have been there for you." Daryl said remembering the circumstances of Gus's murder.

"Don't you fret about it Daryl. I'm here with my Ava and we are happy. We've got your son and he is a happy boy. Even though he is with us, he is always with you too." Gus assured him.

"Daryl I'm so proud of you, but you have to get your ass back." Isabella said with a cheeky smile.

"I'm not so sure I wanna go back. Can't I go with y'all? I want to see my son." Daryl confessed.

Gus held the little boy up, but wouldn't approach Daryl. Daryl felt more tears stinging his eyes as he saw his precious son. He had the Dixon blue eyes with Anna's dark coloring, similar to Hunter except for the fact that it was Daryl's eyes. Daryl reached for the illusion, but just as he thought he could touch him, the apparition disappeared.

Daryl became aware at the snarling that was just outside the cabin and knew he needed to get himself together. Anna…He needed to get back to here. What the hell had he been thinking? Dixon's weren't cowards, and he had run from his problems because he thought it was the easiest thing to do. Now more than anything he wanted to be back with his wife and children. He wanted Anna's warm hands holding his while he tried to get himself back to full strength. She had nursed him back so many times in the past and he would give anything to be with her again. But Daryl was in too bad of shape to make it back and right now he still had some walker's to dispatch.

Daryl willed himself up off the floor and staggered back to the window. He reached down to get his crossbow but the effects of leaning over sent him back to the floor. The pain in his hip and leg was excruciating so he dragged himself back to the table and took yet another drink of moonshine to help dull the agony. He was barely lucid but he managed to get himself back up and get his crossbow in position. With all his might he notched a bolt and let it fly. It took down the walker and left him with two bolts and four walkers.

He looked around the cabin and found his bowie knife. Too weak to pull back the draw on his bow he opened the front door and took a chance. As the walkers made their way towards Daryl he quickly plunged his knife into the eye of one walker and the temple of another. Now there was two left and Daryl could barely stand.

He heard Gus once more "Help is coming Daryl, but you have to take out the two remaining ones."

Fading quickly Daryl simply said, "I can't do it alone Gus. I'm too weak."

"Daryl you aren't weak, you have to do this. Anna and the kids are waiting for you. You don't want Michael to see you die do you?"

Daryl reached up with the knife and took out the third walker, now leaving just one. He stumbled to the ground as the walker made his way to him and Daryl could feel the hot breath of the walker as it opened it's jaw to devour Daryl's weakened body. With one last gasp of air Daryl reached up and stabbed the walker up through the neck and into the base of his skull. The dead man fell onto Daryl covering him in rotting flesh and black blood. He attempted to move, but was just too weak. He did manage to push the walker to the side, but Daryl couldn't make it back into the cabin.

As if God heard his prayer he heard voices. He wasn't sure if he was hallucinating or if it was real, but he recognized one of the voices as Rick's.

"Andrew, Marty… over here, I found him." Rick yelled as he ran to his injured friend.

"Rick…I'm sorry." Daryl managed to get out.

"Don't be sorry Daryl, but I need you to hang in there." Rick could feel the fire coming off of Daryl's body and yelled to Andrew "See if you can find a blanket we can wrap him in."

Rick had never seen Daryl look so vulnerable. Tears were running down his cheeks and he was clinging to Rick with everything he had left in him. "You gotta get me back Rick. I need to see my family...I fucked up but I don't want to do this anymore. I can't live without them."

"Shhh Daryl, save your strength. We will get you back I promise."

Andrew and Rick wrapped Daryl in an old blanket and each of them gave up their winter coats to try to help with Daryl's chills. Marty hadn't worn a coat, but he scouted ahead while the two younger men dealt with Daryl. Andrew was able to make radio contact with his father and his dad told them he could make it to the old fire road in twenty minutes but they would need to walk the mile with Daryl to meet the vehicle. "There's no way he can walk a step, we'll have to carry him." Rick said.

"What are you waiting for, lets get him back to his family." Andrew said.

They carried Daryl's motionless body through the woods and creek to the old fire road where they met Bill Mocksley. The only thing they could get out of Daryl was he was constantly mumbling "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" over and over again.

"What's he sorry for?" Andrew asked Rick.

"I'm not really sure. Daryl blames himself for everything that has happened lately. My guess is it is something to do with that."

"He's a good man, he ain't got nothing to be sorry for" Andrew said.

…

They arrived at the Clinic and Ghita met them at the vehicle with a gurney for them to put Daryl on. He was in and out of consciousness and kept asking for Anna. "Get her here as soon as you guys can." Ghita told them.

"I'm on the way to get her now." Marty said as he jumped in his Escalade that had been left behind at the Clinic from earlier in the day.

Ghita and Dr. Jordan worked diligently on trying to assess Daryl's condition. "He needs a transfusion immediately." Dr. Jordan told Ghita.

Ghita ran out of the room and yelled at Rick "Call Joe, he's a universal donor and we need him right now."

Rick obliged and immediately called Joe on the radio to get him to come to the clinic. Ghita then ran back into the room they were working on Daryl. Dr. Jordan was hooking Daryl up to an IV of Saline and an antibiotic. "His infection is serious. I can't do anything with the wound until we are able to clear up the infection. The muscle damage is worse than it was, and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to fix it." Dr. Jordan told Ghita.

"Kyle, do what you can. You're an amazing surgeon and I've seen you fix worse. This is a good man and he deserves the best treatment we can provide." She told him.

"We'll do what we can Ghita." He said.

"Anna, I need my Anna" Daryl was repeating over and over. Ghita was concerned about Daryl's state of mental distress and she wasn't sure if it was the fever that was causing him to break down or if Daryl had suffered a true psychological break.

"Kyle, I think he has been drinking and is most likely has dehydrated him. No opiates until we can get his system flushed." She told him.

"Let's pack the wound to staunch the blood flow, but I don't want to stitch it up. We need to clean it and sterilize the area. Hopefully I can perform surgery on him in the morning or the next day. What's his blood pressure?" Dr. Jordan inquired.

"Ninety over fifty five, lower than I would like. His pulse is erratic." Ghita informed her partner.

"Once we get him a transfusion he should stabilize. I'm more concerned about his infection and the fever. Did you get a temperature on him?" Kyle asked.

"103. Let me see if I can get him to swallow some acetaminophen and try to bring his temperature down." She said.

Ghita maneuvered herself so she could lift up Daryl's shoulders and head. He moaned slightly at the movement but she gently spoke to him "Daryl I need you to take these pills and drink the water for me. Do you think you can manage that?"

He nodded his head in affirmation and with her help he was able to swallow the pills. He looked at Ghita "Anna…is she here?"

"On her way Daryl. Marty went to get her." As she finished telling him Joe came bursting in the room.

"Heard you need some blood. I'm here to help." He said as he offered his arm to Ghita. She set up the lines for the transfusion and Joe sat down in the chair by Daryl's bed.

"Joe is that you?" Daryl asked weakly.

"The one and only Daryl. Why don't you take it easy so we can get some of this blood into you." The man told Daryl.

"Thank you."

…

Marty showed up at the Dixon home to grab Anna and take her to Daryl. She was surprised to see her Uncle at the house unannounced and knew immediately something was wrong. "Is he dead?" She asked.

"No baby girl, but he is extremely sick and he keeps asking…no begging…for you." The man informed his niece. She let out an audible sob at hearing the news of Daryl's condition.

Marty drove like a maniac to get Anna to Daryl. When they arrived at the clinic Marty barely had time to park the vehicle before Anna jumped out and rushed inside to be with her husband. She entered the clinic yelling for Daryl and was met in the front lobby by Ghita and Rick. Immediately she feared the worse when she saw the grave look on both of their faces.

"No, please tell me I'm not to late." She said as she collapsed into Rick's arms in a heap of tears.

This chapter was going to be longer, but I decided to split it up since it was getting wordy. Daryl is finally in the process of mentally cleansing all his demons and the next chapter is going to be emotional as people begin to let Daryl Know just exactly what he means to them.

Just an FYI we haven't heard the last of Dirk and Damien either. We still have Babies, supply runs, and other adventures coming...So please stay tuned in.

and most importantly please leave me a Review...I have to admit they make my day.

Love Ya'll

Missy

XXOO