Chapter Info
Title: Consequences
Number: 51/?
Warnings: Angst, language, nightmares, sickness
Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Comments are love!
galwidanatitud: She's never embarrassed, but Daryl always is. :D Thanks for reading and your comment!
Mizu-shan and basherherface: You both made my day with those comments, thank you so much for taking the time to read the whole thing and for commenting! And thank you Mizu-shan for letting me know which one you would like if I decide to write one. :)
"I fell 'n they ripped."
Adie didn't ask more about how she tore her stitches, but she sure as hell smirked the whole time she stitched them back up. Daryl stood watching the whole time, but the blush on his cheeks was so red that it eventually spread to the rest of his face as well. He stayed silent as the girls spoke and made some small talk between them, luckily not heading down the road of how things happened, but rather about everything else. For a moment he thought she was going to tell Adie about the baby, but it never came up. Daryl understood why Amaleen didn't want to tell anybody yet. He saw it buried deep in her eyes every time she talked about the baby, that fear that something would happen to it whether it was already born or not. And she didn't want to tell anyone and then have something happen. Because he knew it would break her to then have to go back around and say, "I lost it." It would probably break him, too.
As terrified as he was about this baby, about her being pregnant, he couldn't help but admit how excited he was about becoming a father. He lost a son before he even knew him, and here he was getting a second chance at being a father. He wasn't father material, he knew that, he wasn't good enough. He was terrified of becoming his own father eventually, though he knew the difference between them was that he would sooner die than allow any harm come to his family. When he had seen her unconscious and bleeding with that man standing over her, he had seen red and if Rick hadn't shot him, he was prepared to beat him dead. He had been so scared and he felt like a failure; no matter what she said to him, he still felt that way, especially now when he was watching her wince through getting re-stitched after he had let himself get dragged into lust rather than thinking things through clearly.
Would she've been safer on the bottom? Would she've been safer if I sat up more against the headboard more 'n held her? Nah, she would've been safer if I just thought with my head 'stead of my dick 'n kept firm, she would be fine.
His thoughts twisted over and over again making him brood against the wall, staring at his feet with a frown deeply engraved in his features. As good as he felt, coming harder than he had in a long time, her safety wasn't worth the risk. What if her arm got infected because the stitches ripped? It was something she could die from and watching that woman fade away from him wouldn't be something he could come back from. His jaw clenched as he looked at her, watching Adie pat some of that tequila on her shoulder to keep it clean and he hoped that that was enough to work. Part of him thought it would be better to tell Adie about the baby, maybe she could check up on it somehow, and almost opened his mouth to say something, but the last thing he wanted was Amaleen upset with him. She was the most important thing in the world to him and all he wanted to do was make her happy, so if she wanted to wait to tell them, then that's exactly what he would do.
"All done," Adie said back and Daryl watched Amaleen sigh with relief. He almost wished she could drink so she could take the edge of, but he knew she never would even if she wasn't pregnant. He only met her father once, but once was more than enough. Daryl had heard all the stories about him and while he didn't physically hurt her like his own father hurt him—if he had, he probably would've beat the shit out of him—the stories of words he said to her in his drunken stupors were more than enough to let Daryl know that he didn't want her around him. The fact that she and Alex spent ten years around him between the time she left and the time of the apocalypse didn't sit well with him, but he supposed kin was kin. He still stayed around his brother even though Merle was an asshole just because they were kin. He was ashamed to admit that he became a Merle Junior there for awhile.
An arm wrapped around her waist as he slowly helped her up, making sure the sling was tight around her shoulder as he did so. He wasn't taking anymore chances and even if she felt so good pressed against him like before, he wouldn't do it again. Not until those stitches were out and Adie gave her the fully clear sign.
"Make sure to take some pain meds, and guys?" The couple paused and turned back to Adie who was smirking again. "Please try and refrain from all physical activity until those stitches are out."
Amaleen snickered and said, "You got it, Doc," as Daryl went even more red and ushered her out quickly, mumbling to himself as they went.
.x.x.x.x.
As Amaleen expected, he barely touched her after they had gotten back in the bedroom later that night. He didn't even try and catch peaks of her as she was changing into one of his old t-shirt and some clean panties. But she did see his jaw tighten as he glanced at her and quickly looked away; this was the "outfit" that she wore during their first relationship when she wanted to seduce him. A couple times when she knew Merle wouldn't be there with him, she would meet him at the door after he was out of work in that exact same outfit, and it never failed to work, he would just sweep her quite literally off her feet, carry her to their room, and have his way with her for hours until she was so sore the next day she couldn't walk without limping and made him all kinds of smug.
But this time she saw how hard he fought not to do just that, and she wasn't about to make it easier for him. Yawning, she climbed into their bed with her back to him, angled her ass towards him so the shirt slipped up passed her hips which showed off the scrap of material attempting to cover her lower half. She could only smirk as she felt his eyes on her before he grumbled and cursed under his breath and turned on his back to stare up at the ceiling. She could merely sigh and turn back to him, shaking her head as she yanked the blankets up around them and laid her head on his chest.
"Sorry, I had ta try."
"Pain in my ass," he grunted even as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She grinned into his neck and giggled before sighing as her body began to relax.
"But ya love me anyway," she murmured.
"Maybe," he mumbled and she just rolled her eyes as she knew he was joking. She could feel how he felt just by the way he was keeping them pressed so close together, the way his grip was protective and comforting at the same time. If she could push closer to him she would, needing his warmth and comfort to be able to fall asleep. For a moment she wouldn't let herself, remembering the nightmare she had on the way through and not wanting to go through that again. But her body was so exhausted, and no matter how hard she fought, she felt herself slipping away into sleep.
This time it was dark out and she couldn't see anything going on in the room. This isn't right, it was just light out, she thought as she crept through the house, a frown on her face as she felt the stairs creaking underneath her feet. The low murmur of voices told her Rick and Daryl were still in the house and that made her feel better. They would always be there to protect her and save her; they wouldn't let her get hurt.
Breathing out deeply, she reached the second floor and frowned as the hallway seemed to stretch on in front of her a lot longer than the house had looked from the outside. That's weird, she thought, but just shrugged and kept moving, maybe it's just the shadows. She opened doors as she went, peaking inside to make sure she was alone because she didn't want a repeat of last time. That man still gave her shivers and she never wanted to experience something like that again. She was surprised she was allowed to go upstairs by herself again, but then again had she really asked? Oh they'll be so mad. She just left and didn't tell them.
Letting out a sigh, she decided she should head back downstairs and make sure they knew she was alright. As she spun around, she realized quickly that she wasn't alone. It was a feeling rather than seeing anyone, but as soon as she did, she saw glowing eyes peaking out from behind a door to one of the rooms she already checked.
"No," she whimpered and spun around to run back the other way, except she didn't get that far as arms wrapped around her waist. She screamed in terror and tried to struggle away, but they kept on holding tight. Looking down she saw they belonged to a walker, except there was maniacal laughing in her ear. The grip was so tight she was gasping for breath, struggling with everything she had. "Rick! Daryl! Help me!" But she heard nothing from downstairs except soft voices and cans banging around in the kitchen.
She cried out as the door slammed shut and she was tossed on the bed, a body immediately covering hers. It was the man all right, the one that shot her, except he was a walker. His milky eyes twinkled with mischief and he looked positively gleeful as she tried to wiggle out from under him to get away.
"Just stay still, sweetheart, it'll all be over soon." The voice was dripping with malice, blood and goo falling into her face and chest, watching as he rotted quickly right in front of her so only half of his face was left. She gasped, gagging as she tried again in vain to wiggle away. He laughed again as he picked up a knife which only made her scream louder. "Now now, none of that."
And with a quick thrust, the knife was buried in her throat. It was then she knew she was dreaming because it didn't hurt, but her voice cut off anyway and she gasped for breath, blood gurgling out of her throat and dripping down her face.
"Daryl," she gasped, more blood spilling from her mouth and for a few moment she panicked because her air was choked off. She could feel herself getting lightheaded, darkness crawling into her vision as she stared up at the walker over her, petting down her face and smearing more blood along her pale skin.
"Nobody's going to save you," it hissed before it leaned down to bite her, and she screamed again, loud and at the top of her lungs.
"Amaleen!"
She screamed again as she darted up in bed, her entire body covered in cold sweat as a headache pounded behind her eyes and her heart nearly broke her ribcage as it created a furious rhythm. A hand touched her good shoulder and she screamed again, struggling out of the blankets that had tangled around her limbs causing her to collapse over the side of the bed, bone-deep sobs wracking from her body as terror pounded through her. Emerald hues darted around blindly, uncomprehending that she was no longer in her nightmare for that walker, the man who was going to kill her. She quickly felt at her neck and only felt sweat; no knife wound, no bite wound. She was alive and safe, yet she couldn't crawl out of this one so easily.
Her other arm had fallen out of the sling without her even realizing it and she scrambled backwards away from the bed so her back hit the wall and she pulled her legs up, hugging them to her chest as she buried her face in her knees and sobbed. She was trembling harder than she ever had before, gently rocking back and forth as she tried to get herself under control, but it wasn't working. All she could see was that horrible, rotten face standing over her. All she could feel were those dead hands caressing her skin and the feeling over drowning in her own blood.
"Am... Am, come back to me."
The voice was close, oh so close and for a moment she thought she was dreaming again and she turned away from it. But she heard it again, soft and broken and oh so terrified that her mind actually began to let lose, let go of the grip it had on that nightmare, that it was reality. Part of her was wondering if it was and everything else was a defense mechanism to try and make herself survive the horrors she was going through. For a moment she didn't know what was real and what was just in her mind, but she felt the gentlest of touches on her arm, so soft that she didn't flinch that time, she didn't scream. Instead she crawled for it, realizing that the touch belonged with the voice murmuring to her.
She brought her head up, her eyes blurry and swollen from her crying, but slowly a figure came into focus in front of her. The room was dark just as it had been in her nightmare and for a moment she gasped and tried to pull away and the grip let go, but her eyes cleared even more and she saw that it was someone she wanted to see, needed to see. Not a walker, but the figure of her lover. Daryl was crouched down next to her, eyes wide and terrified and sad as they flickered over her. And it was then she knew this was reality, the nightmare wasn't going to take over her life, she couldn't let it. She almost lost herself to it, but not again, not this time.
"...Daryl?" she whimpered and she saw him let out a breath of relief as he nodded and held his arms apart. Immediately she scrambled forward, not even minding the pain in her arm as she curled up against his chest and cried some more, sniffling against his skin as she clung to him, unable to let him go even if she wanted to. She was actually surprised she had the nightmare with him there. She had figured that with him there with her, the feeling of his arms around her, her mind wouldn't go to that place.
"M's'sorry," he mumbled into her ear. The sound of his voice breaking had her clinging to him tighter. "I couldn't sleep. Thought since ya were already asleep, me leavin' wouldn't hurtcha 'n give ya nightmares. I went ta help with watch. I was downstairs talkin' with Carol when I heard ya screamin'." He shivered and pulled her tighter. "God, I thought ya were bein' ripped apart. Was s'fuckin' scared, Am. I got up here fast as I could 'n I couldn't getcha ta stop at first..." He shuttered and pressed his face into her neck. "If I'da known ya would'a had that nightmare with me gone, I never would'a left. 'N m's'sorry, baby. M's'sorry..." He sniffed and she realized that she was feeling tears, Daryl's tears, on her neck and more of her own spilled out. God, she scared him so badly. Her mind was still fighting reality versus nightmare, but the way she was feeling, she knew that couldn't be a nightmare. This was real, she wasn't in that house with that thing, she was here with Daryl wrapped up in his arms with him crying against her shoulder.
"My beautiful man," she whispered to him, pressing a kiss to his hair and slowly her body stopped trembling with fear, though she ached all over and she felt cold shivers race down her spine even though she felt like she was on fire. The headache increased in intensity and she wasn't sure if it was the pain her shoulder was radiating or the after-effects of the dream hitting her, but she knew that a long sleep would make her good as new. "Wasn't your fault. Couldn't'a known."
"But—"
"Daryl, stop. It's not your fault." She wished she could say she would be fine, but she knew damn well she wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon, even if she knew her body needed it. She felt him sigh against her, but luckily he didn't try and argue again. He merely nodded and gathered his legs under him to stand up.
It was only once she was laying against his chest that she realized there was someone else near the door. A quiet gasp left her and her body tensed, but a second look told her it was an extremely worried Rick, hand still hanging onto the gun he had grabbed, clad in only boxers and a t-shirt. Clearly her screams had woken him up which meant she probably woke everyone up and she frowned at that thought. She hadn't meant to wake everyone, she knew how hard a good nights sleep was to get these days.
"M'sorry, I didn't mean ta wake ya, Rick," she said gently as Daryl set her on the bed and climbed in with her, pulling her back to him as a clear sign that he wasn't about to leave her side again that night, and probably not through the next day either. Not that she minded of course, she just clung to him again and pressed her face into his chest, one eye peaking out to see Rick slowly walk up and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Don't apologize," Rick said, reaching over to set a hand on her arm. "You scared the shit out of me, but it's not your fault." Daryl looked away in shame and Amaleen squeezed him more.
"It's the man that shot me," she said firmly, more to Daryl than to Rick.
Rick nodded. "Exactly. You didn't ask for that." He paused, though, looking like he was going to say something, but shook his head.
"What is it?"
He sighed. "I don't know. So many things. I wish I never let you go upstairs alone. I wish we checked that house more thoroughly. I wish I had done more than just shot him. He hurt you, he was going to do more, and I let him get away with an easy death."
She frowned. "What're wishin' ya done, torture him?" Rick shrugged. "But that's not you, that's not any'a us. He shot me, you shot him. Eye for an eye."
"Yet you just screamed so loud that every person in this house, including Beth at the back door, heard you because of the nightmares he gave you. That doesn't seem very 'eye for an eye' to me." He paused. "Plus, I care way more about you than I do him so it's not even in the least bit."
Amaleen frowned and reached for the hand on her arm to squeeze his fingers. "It's not your fault either. I wish you boys would stop blamin' yourselves. Nobody asked for this world, we just gotta live with it. These nightmares'll go away," Hopefully, "but the rest'a us never will." Even though it felt like every time she fell asleep from now on, she would see that face. She saw it then, the crazed maniac that shot her rotted away to nothing, but still alive somehow and still hurting her. But that didn't mean that it was real, that he would really get her. It haunted her, but it wouldn't hurt her. She just had to keep telling herself that, as much as she told them: he wouldn't hurt her, the nightmares wouldn't hurt her, and she would be okay.
Rick sighed and didn't reply. Seems like he's takin' lessons from Daryl now, she thought wryly even as she squeezed his fingers once more. He leaned over to give her a gentle hug and kiss on the forehead before getting up and running a hand through his hair.
"Just get some rest, okay?" he said, glancing to Daryl quickly.
Amaleen nodded. "Sure thing, deputy." He chuckled at her and she smiled, before he turned to head out of the room, grabbing his Colt on the way out.
After he was gone, the door clicking shut softly behind him, Daryl turned her head in his direction and kissed her. Just like he did in the truck, lips moving quickly and desperately over hers, letting them draw comfort out of each other. His arms tightened around her body, and only pulled back when he felt her wince, the movement making her shoulder throb. She was surprised it didn't start throbbing long before then considering she used it to take her weight across the floor and remembered falling on it when she had toppled off the bed. Pulling back slightly, Daryl peaked under the bandage quick and was satisfied that she didn't rip anything, before helping her put the sling back over her arm. He rubbed her side and closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against hers.
"Fuckin' scarin' me, woman. Don't fuckin' like hearin' ya scream like that."
Her fingers ran through his hair and she kissed him again tenderly. "I try so hard to be okay. I'll try harder."
"I know ya don't mean ta." He sighed. "C'mon, let's try 'n get back ta sleep. We were gonna go on watch next, but Rick's gonna have Maggie, Glenn, 'n Adie take next watch. Ya need ta be able ta get some real sleep s'don't try 'n argue."
Amaleen didn't like the others needing to make up for her own weaknesses and she frowned, but she didn't argue. Instead she tugged at him until he followed her back into the bed, laying down as they were before with her head on his shoulder and his arms tight around her body. "I'll try 'n sleep... Just don't leave me again." Her voice was soft and pathetic, whimpering to him as she clung to him tighter. She could feel the guilt and pain radiating off him as he shook his head against her, his arms tightening so much she was practically on top of him.
"I promise," he said, voice cracking. "I promise I won't leave ya. I promise, Am." He kissed her hair and it was only then that she was able to try and relax, to forget everything she saw and focus on feeling Daryl right there around her, protecting her and loving her and promising her that nothing would ever happen to her. She knew him letting go allowed the nightmare to sneak in, but that didn't mean she blamed him. The fact that he saved her once again just made her love him even more.
.x.x.x.x.
She slept on and off throughout the night, but the dream kept coming back to her making her body jerk itself awake, just as she had done in the truck. Luckily she didn't wake Daryl up in the process because it happened a lot. Once morning actually came around, she was exhausted, the aches and headache still drifting through her body, the feeling of cold while sweating like a sauna. She woke up first and had managed to wiggle herself out of Daryl's arms and crawl off the bed without waking him up, but only after she pushed his hair off his forehead and pressed her lips against his cheek. Finding their bag was easy and she sat down in front of it to dig out some new clothes. A bra was completely out of the question considering she needed two arms for that and there was no way she was getting her arm back there even a little to close it. So she just pulled out some pants and a t-shirt to change into along with a sweater.
A knock on the door had her rushing for it in hopes that nobody woke up Daryl before he got in a full night, he deserved it as she could tell that he was fidgeting as well all night. She tried to sleep, but just couldn't. So her move to the door was more sluggish than usual and she pulled the door open, smiling softly yet tiredly up at Rick, who didn't look like he slept any better than Amaleen or Daryl had. His eyes moved over her to make sure that she was alright and frowned slightly as he saw her exhaustion, but she smiled at him to get him to focus on something else other than that. She pulled the sweater closer and nodded into the hall, stepping out and shutting the door most of the way so they didn't disturb him.
"What's up, Rick?" she wondered softly.
"We're heading out in an hour," he said.
She frowned. "Thought we were gonna stay 'n search the buildings?"
For a moment he looked guilty about something and she frowned harder, staring at him quizzically. He rubbed the back of his neck and he looked away, shoving his hands in his pockets. "We've all been up a couple hours. Walkers came out of the streets nearby and we've been taking them out. It's clear for now, but I don't want to take anymore chances. I didn't let anyone wake you two because I figured you had been sleepless enough as it is. Plus you're hurt and I wanted Daryl to stay here with you, if we'd have woken him, he would've gone with us."
"Rick, I can kill some walkers, I know how ta use a gun."
"We went in hand to hand to try and not draw too many to our location." Amaleen sighed, looking down at the ground. Well, if she didn't feel useless before she certainly did then. A world full of walkers and evil people, she couldn't even fight any of them off because people didn't want her to break. Or to fuck up and get any of them killed, honestly she wasn't sure which it was, probably a bit of both. "Amaleen, c'mon." He gripped her chin and turned her head to look back up at him. "Don't feel bad, okay? Please. We didn't do it to make you feel bad. We want you safe. If any had gotten inside, that's why we wanted Daryl with you. Once you're better, you can fight with us again. But for now, we're going to protect you."
She nodded softly and gave him a little smile. "I love ya, Rick, ya know that?"
His eyes widened in shock and he started stuttering, "I-I... Amaleen, you're great... But... I-I... Daryl..."
Amaleen giggled loudly and she shook her head, biting her lip. "Not like that, dork. M'not in love with ya, but I love ya. Like you're my brother." Rick visibly relaxed and gave her a sheepish grin.
"I knew that," he said defensively.
She rolled her eyes. "M'sorry, you're a great man, Rick, but m'in love with that grumpy redneck. Have been for twelve years, can't help it." She shrugged and his grin widened.
"Lucky man." They both laughed and she leaned forward to wrap her good arm around his waist, squeezing him tightly as his arms went around her shoulders. He kissed the top of her head and she realized how easy it was for Rick, her best friend and brother, to make her feel better, so she squeezed him tighter, pressing her face into his chest.
"Am!" The loud exclamation had her pulling back from Rick.
"Speaking of," she said, turning to open the door just as Daryl was reaching for his crossbow, still only dressed in boxers, as he realized he was alone. "Daryl, I'm just talking to Rick." He turned around to the door quickly and they both saw his shoulders visibly sink with relief and he put the crossbow back down. He frowned at her and closed in the distance between them, quickly pulling her into a hug.
"Don't fuckin' do that, woman," he grumbled.
"Sorry, Rick knocked 'n I didn't wanna wake ya." She kissed his cheek and smiled up at him. "I guess they let us sleep 'n battled some walkers without us." He frowned deeper. "We're leavin' in an hour s'pack up, big guy."
"Everyone okay?" Daryl asked as he stepped back into the room to start getting around. Rick and Amaleen followed him in and shut the door. Both of them knew Daryl was self-conscious about those scars on his back and never went around without a shirt, and the only reason he was then was because he was worried she wasn't there. Rick had seen them back when he got hurt at the farm—which is when Daryl explained the scar on his left side and the one on the head—so it wasn't a shock for him to see them, but he still respectfully turned away. Amaleen started to grab her own stuff to shove inside, but realizing it was that much harder as she was dragging herself from the door to the bed to her bag and back and forth, trying to find her clothes. The only thing she couldn't find was the shirt that she had taken off herself and tossed the night before and smirked when Rick plucked it off a light fixture and handed it to her.
"Sex," she said as way of explanation causing Rick to smirk and shake his head, while Daryl turned to her quickly and looked at her like she just stabbed him. "Calm down, I'm sure Rick knows we have sex. That's how this," She pointed to her stomach, "happened. Considering he has two, it's not a secret."
Daryl just mumbled and yanked a shirt over his head after finally sniffing them all and went back to shoving stuff in his back. Amaleen rolled her eyes and finished up with her own, allowing Rick to pick it up when he saw she was going to.
"I'll put this in the truck 'n make sure the kids get their stuff around, then we'll head out, okay?"
"Okay. Thanks, deputy." He grinned and headed out with her bag. Daryl finished up rather quickly since he had even less than her and checked around quickly through their room to see if there was anything they could take and wound up grabbing the pillows and one of the blankets off the bed. She perked up because damn they were comfortable, and he allowed her to carry one of the pillows down to the truck.
"I'm s'glad you're trusting me with this. I mean what would I ever do without my protective pillow here? M'such a lucky girl that my man allows me ta carry things s'important like a pillow."
The glare he turned to her could've turned her to ice, but she grinned cheekily at him and helped him shove everything in the trunk where some boxes of food and her bag already were sitting. The other cars were packed up as well and the rest of them were just working on searching the house like Daryl had done with their room. The other rooms were all cleaned out of important items including the pantry and bathroom, and Maggie and Adie had clear the library of any good books they found, which Amaleen was excited for. Once they were all packed away, they all climbed into their cars to head out, which was just in time because they saw a pretty good size herd coming from the opposite way.
Daryl was driving this time with Carol in the back and Amaleen in the passenger seat, just like they had when they first started out from Hamilton. He had hesitated, though, but Amaleen climbed in the passenger side herself so he took that as a sign. Quickly they navigated back to the highway and got back on schedule in hopes to reach the next checkpoint by that night.
.x.x.x.x.
Amaleen didn't sleep, but she felt more and more tired, more and more...blah the further they drove. Her headache grew worse and worse, so bad she couldn't keep her eyes open because the sun was hurting them. She had to lay her head against the window to feel any sort of relief, but the vibrations of the vehicle soon changed that. She shivered so hard even Daryl was starting to notice and yet she couldn't focus on trying to reassure him that she felt okay. Because honestly she didn't, she felt like she had been through a washing machine and was laying out on the line to dry in a snow storm before being shot into the sun. She was sweating even more, but shivering in her sweater as she curled up against the door. In the side mirror all she could see was her paling face, dark rings under her eyes, looking like she could keel over at any moment.
"Am, look at me." Daryl's voice finally brought her out of her thoughts and she shivered again, even though she wanted to rip her sweater off her because her skin burned. But she knew she would just keep shivering. She didn't realize she was shivering enough that she was actually shaking the car. "Amaleen. Now."
Sighing she glanced over at him, blinking her eyes open even as the sun glared at them so she had to squint. "M'fine, Daryl," she mumbled, but of course he didn't believe her. Before her eyes were forced to close again due to her headache, she saw his widen in shock. The horn beeped three times making her groan in pain, but it signaled the other two cars for an emergency. She felt a hand on her forehead, smaller than Daryl's so she knew it was Carol's, and she didn't have enough energy to push it away. The truck squealed to a stop and she heard the others ahead of her also stop quickly. Daryl's door slammed and she opened her eyes to try and figure out where he went but soon her door open and she slumped sideways, right into his waiting arms where she whimpered. She hadn't realized the body aches until right then, but soon she erupted with them and she nearly flinched away from him. But she didn't have the energy to do that and so she lay there, face pressed against his neck as she breathed in and out.
"When did this start?" Carol asked from the back as she maneuvered her way over into the driver's seat.
"This mornin'," she mumbled and she felt Daryl tense.
"Ya felt bad this whole time 'n ya didn't tell me?" he demanded.
"Thought it was lack of sleep." She shivered again, violently as she tried to ignore it. "Thought I could ignore it 'n it would go away."
"Goddamn it, Amaleen!"
"No, sweetheart, it's a fever," Carol said, ignoring Daryl's little outburst as she began dabbing her forehead with a cold, damp cloth. Must be she poured some water on it, Amaleen thought randomly, but it felt good. Mostly. She was still shivering and she all but climbed onto Daryl's chest. Faintly she heard voices and running feet over to where they were at the side of the truck.
"What is it? What happened?" It was Rick's worried voice demanding that after he told Beth, Carl, Glenn, and Maggie to keep an eye on for anything.
"Fever," Carol said with a sigh.
"Shit. Adie! We need you, c'mere." His voice was as panicked as Daryl's, she could tell, but he was trying so hard to hold it in as he stepped up next to the redneck and felt along her forehead. "Fuck, kid, you're burning up. Why didn't you tell us?" She repeated what she said about sleep and he sighed. "Didn't sleep at all last night?"
She grunted. "Maybe n'hour'r two. Kept seein' him s'I kept wakin' up."
Rick sighed and looked up as Adie got to them, moving to the side. He tried to get Daryl to as well so Adie had some room to work, but he snarled so furiously at him that Rick actually backed up a couple steps. "Okay, okay then get her out and sit down with her. Adie needs some room."
"I think I know what caused it," she said gravely, "so I'll need access to her wounded shoulder."
Daryl and Rick frowned, but nodded and Daryl ever so gently picked her up off her seat, one arm around her back and the other under her knees. She whimpered as it made her body ache even more and he winced, but sat them down on the ground so her good arm was pressed against his body and her other arm was free for Adie to look at and work on if needed.
"Ya think she popped 'em again?" Daryl asked and Adie silently shook her head. She tugged down Amaleen's shirt and sweater, having Rick help her keep them down. Daryl made sure her head was leaning against his shoulder so it wouldn't be in the way, but there was no doubt about that as she was having trouble keeping it up without her head hurting even more.
Adie pulled away at the tape, peaking past the bandage to see. Her eyes grew grim and she sat back on her heels, mumbling out, "fuck!" before she put it back in place.
"What?!" Daryl demanded with a snarl as he squeezed Amaleen closer to him. Adie sighed and ran a hand through her blonde hair, disheveling it more than it was before. "Adie, what's wrong with her?!"
Adie looked up, her eyes sad and serious as she glanced from the wound to Daryl's scared, furious face. "It was just what I feared would happen... The fever is from an infection in her wounded shoulder. She got an infection, Daryl."
