Daryl is laying on the cold tile floor of the hospital, tinkering away with his swiss army knife at the portable food tray with that he ate he most recent meal on. The top of the tray, the part that holds the food, is loose on one side, and when he'd set his plate on top of it, his soda collapsed onto the floor, his food damn near fell off too, he'd been able to catch the plastic plate with on hand, salvaging his tuna surprise and green beans that came straight from the cafeteria on the lowest level of the hospital. Though he had to admit, it wouldn't have been much of a loss if the food hit the floor. He missed the home cooked meals he'd grown used to Carol making, just thinking about the last meal she cooked before Sophia was born; black eyed peas, collard greens, and pork-lion, left his mouth watering. He knew she wouldn't be cooking any time soon, and he damn sure didn't expect her to after giving birth, but he sure was gonna hate living off pizza again the next few weeks.
"You're so restless," Carol commented with a light chuckle as she stepped out of the hospital bathroom. She'd just finished taking a quick shower after she and Daryl finished their less than appetizing supper. She turned her head from the comical image of Daryl laying on the nasty hospital floor to the corner of the room, her eyes darting to the bassinet Sophia was sleeping.
The little one had been asleep for the past hour and a half now, and if Carol had to guess, that meant there was still about thirty-minutes to an hours-worth of sleep left in her daughter. She'd used that knowledge of the newborn's schedule to plan her shower, she found she did that with most things the past two days since her child was born. Planning meals, hygiene, and even her own naps around the 6 lb. 2 oz. being that she new now controlled her life. There was an instinctual urge within Carol, an inborn need to access Sophia any time she let out even the tiniest whimper and scoop her up in her arms to find a way to quell the cries, which is why she was trying to plan her life around the baby girl's need. It's why even though she knew her daughter was ore than likely going to be asleep for two hours and she should have plenty of time to shower and relax, she'd still left the bathroom door open, just in case Sophia cried and Carol needed to get to her in a moments notice.
Hershel and Anette laughed at Carol's mama bear instinct telling her it was common for all first-time mother's but in time she'd learn to let her baby "cry it out" so to speak. But the idea of her own flesh and blood crying and not rushing in to soothe her daughter unnerved Carol.
Daryl hummed to himself as he tightened the last screw. She was right. He was restless. Restless as hell. In fact, he thought he might go out of his damn mind before Carol finally got to go home. He didn't know what he'd do if he ever had to be confined to a bed as much as she had the past two days. At least he was free to pace the room or tinker with shit. "Don't like being cooped up," he muttered pushed himself off the floor.
Carol shot him a sympathetic look. "Why don't you go home for the night?" I know it's late, but there's lights in the shed, you could probably tinker with your bike for a while."
He huffed and shook his head as he moved to sit on the tiny fold out couch. "Ain't going nowhere," he insisted. Hell, he hadn't even stayed gone more than thirty-minutes earlier when Rick visited and brought those cigars, he'd only stayed outside long enough with his friend to smoke two of them, then ran down to the cafeteria and picked up food for him and Carol. The only reason he'd even felt comfortable staying gone that long was because he knew Lori was with her.
"What in the world are you gonna do when you have to go back to work in two days and Sophia and I go stay at Uncle Hershel's and Aunt Anette's for two weeks," Carol chuckled. She walked across the room, coming to a stop beside Daryl. She stared out the window of her second-floor room, her eyes landed on the small pond with a walking track that was in front of the hospital. Security lamps illuminated the track and she could make out a couple walking below. She longed to be outside again. To go on walks again. She was feeling restless, too.
Daryl pressed his thumb and index finger together and studied them hard as a way to avoid Carol's gaze. "Been thinking about that…" He hesitantly began.
"About what?"
"Got a lot of vacation time left…think about 120 hours."
She turned away from the window and stared at him.
He felt the weight of her gaze and slowly lifted his head in her direction. "Could use some of that time. Say, maybe about two weeks?"
"Did Lori tell you to do that?" Carol asked carefully.
"What?" Daryl's voice was genuinely confused. "Nah. Why you think that?"
"It's just…" She sighed. "You don't have to, Daryl. You don't."
"Know I ain't gotta," he replied. "Want to." He paused and swallowed, his saliva felt thick, like he might choke on it. He couldn't help but consider the fact that maybe she was tired of being around him so much. Maybe she didn't wanna spend two straight weeks with him without a break.
Carol didn't miss the hurt in Daryl's eyes or the way his eyes flitted to the floor and how his right leg began shaking. She shook her head and stepped in front of him, then slowly slid herself in his lap, wincing slightly at the pain from her incision, but biting it back for the moment to comfort him. She kissed his cheek and then cupped his chin and titled it up until he met her eyes. "I love you, Daryl," she told him softly. It was only the second time she'd said those words to him, and even though he didn't say it back, she watched his lower lip tremble from the weight of that statement as she held his face in the palm of her hand. "I just don't ever want you to feel like you have to do something for me. For Sophia. You've been so good to us already. Done more than I ever expected you to, staying with us like this. Taking care of me so I can take care of my daughter. I don't wanna ever wanna take advantage of you."
The accusation Merle made against Carol when she first met him still rang in her ears sometimes. The one where he accused her of trying to trap Daryl into being her husband and a father to her child. She never wanted anyone to think that's what she was doing, and more importantly, she never wanted Daryl to feel like that was her intention with him. The past two days he'd played the role a husband would to his wife while she was stuck in this hospital, he'd played the role of a new father sticking close to his daughter. If he took two weeks off work just to help Carol recover from her c-section, that would be going above and beyond what some husbands and fathers even dreamed of doing. It wasn't fair for him to have to do that."
"You ain't," he insisted. "I ain't nobody's doormat, Carol. You ain't ever asked me to do shit, I'm here 'cause I wanna be. I work my ass off and I ain't ever gonna use that time before next year no way. Heard you tell Annette yourself this morning that you rather go home. Get Sophia settled into her own place. Makes the most sense to do that. All her stuff's there, all your stuff's there, all my stuff's just a few feet away from yours, this way no one gets put out and I get some time off work and get the peace of mind of knowing my girls are at home and alright."
She nuzzled into the crook of his neck, and wrapped her arms around him, grinning from ear to ear at his choice of words. "You sure you wanna put up with me for two whole weeks? Answering to my every beck and call?" She teased lightly.
He grunted. "You ain't so bad. Still a hell of a lot easier to deal with than Merle. Both of ya are."
She laughed to herself. "That's two whole weeks of me looking like this." She was currently wearing an oversized pair of pajama bottoms, one of Daryl's t-shirts, and a pair of compression stockings on her feet, she hadn't even bothered to blow dry her hair after getting a shower and she knew her damp hair was soaking through the shirt he had on. On her way out of the bathroom she'd caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, her eyes were puffy, and she had dark purple circles underneath them. The word shaving definitely wasn't in her vocabulary for the next several weeks. She wasn't sure how Daryl could stand to look at her these days, let alone want to spend ever all day every day looking at her for the next two weeks. She had no doubt she looked just as worn out as she felt. "I doubt you'll ever wanna kiss me again."
"Stop," he mumbled as he kissed the crown of her head. His lips moved down to her forehead, then her nose, her left cheek, then her right cheek, until they finally captured her lips. His tongue snaked out over her lips until she parted them for him, and he slowly teased her tongue with his. She tasted like mint toothpaste and he probably tasted like tuna surprise. It was the first proper kiss they'd shared since Sophia was born, and damn if he hadn't missed kissing her like that. "Ain't never not gonna wanna kiss ya," he assured her. His strong arms wound tightly around her small frame and he placed one final kiss on top of her head, and with a raspy voice, he whispered, "I love you, too"
