And now we're in Alexandria.

In this story, Denise is and has always been the resident doctor at Alexandria, and Pete and Jessie and their kids are not in the picture.

Also, I'm extending the timeline out - it will be about 8 months before our group meets Negan because I've got a couple of other storylines to fit in there first.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 67 - Doctor's orders

Marshmallow.

Tahlia was lying on a big, soft marshmallow floating through the sky, the wind on her face.

Slowly blinking her eyes open, all she could see was white.

More marshmallows?

But it wasn't soft white. It was solid and… oh, a ceiling. A pristine, white ceiling.

Her senses were slowly returning to her and she dropped her gaze slightly to the left, realizing that she was in a large bedroom, lying on one side of a big bed, the space next to her vast and empty, the breeze from the open window tickling her face. Nothing was familiar about this room. Fear suddenly gripped her. Where was she and whose room was this and what had happened and-

"Tahly? Tahly, you're awake!"

Finally, something very familiar.

The gritty rasp of Daryl's voice calmed her instantly, and she turned her head to see him sitting on a chair at her bedside, eyes alight with hope, and beyond him, other familiar, comforting things – his crossbow propped up against the wall; her katana lying on the desk; his vest draped across the back of an armchair.

"Daryl." Her voice sounded alien, cracked and dry, her mouth cottonwool.

"I'm here. I got ya. You're safe." His warm hands encircled her own as he leaned his elbows on the mattress. "How ya feelin'?"

"I feel…" Tahlia turned inwards for a moment. Her head was pounding, her side throbbing, her brain a little foggy, but overall she felt… good. Definitely better. "I feel… alive."

A half-smile tugged on Daryl's lips and he let out a sigh of relief. "Thank fuck for that."

Her forehead creasing in confusion, Tahlia's eyes shifted around the room, then back to Daryl.

"What… where…?" Then suddenly hot tears were slipping down her cheeks and she saw the surprise that she felt reflected on Daryl's face.

"What, baby? What?!" He scrambled to get closer to her.

"I'm so glad to see you." she choked. "So fucking glad. I didn't know if..."

Daryl nodded, his own eyes shining. "Thought I was gonna lose ya. Thought that was it. After I'd only just got ya back."

And then he dropped his mouth to her hand and she felt tears that didn't belong to her sliding over her knuckles.

But maybe, in a way, they did belong to her.

Wiping at her face with her free hand, Tahlia struggled to sit up a bit, and Daryl quickly propped another pillow under her head.

"So… tell me what happened?"

Chewing on his lip, Daryl sniffed then asked, "How much do ya remember?"

Tahlia thought for a moment. "I remember being in that barn and Rick punching a guy in the face – was that real?"

Daryl chuckled. "That was real. Rick ain't dealin' with his trust issues so good."

"And… that's it. Oh, wait – was there a car? I feel like maybe I was in a car."

"Yep. There was a car." He waited expectantly for more, but it never came. "Ya really don't remember nothin' since we got to Alexandria?"

"That's this place?" asked Tahlia, then gave a slow shake of her head. "Nope."

"Shit. Good."

"Good?"

"Yeah." Daryl shifted uncomfortably, drumming his fingers on his thigh, then gave a sigh of resignation. "Guess I should tell ya. You were in a real bad way when we got here. Took ya straight to their doctor. She said ya probably wouldn't have lasted much longer. Anyway, she stuck some bag of fluid stuff, antibiotics and somethin' in your arm to help fight the infection and rehydrate ya, sort ya out. But before that… she had to reopen your wound. Check it, clean it. They don't got no anesthetic though. She gave ya somethin' else, but ya weren't really under so…" A flash of anguish passed over Daryl's face at the memory. "…you were screamin', strugglin'. Me and Carol and Sash had to hold ya down. Things got pretty tense. Lotta shoutin'."

"From me?" asked Tahlia, wide-eyed.

Daryl shook his head and gave her a sheepish look. "Naw. Mostly from me. She was diggin' around in there and was hurtin' ya real bad and she just kept on doin' it, takin' forever and I wanted her to stop but she wouldn't. Said she had to do it. Make sure it was clean. So, I was pissed. Then she threw me out and wouldn't let me back in 'til she was done. Rick and the others had arrived by that time, so him and Abraham took over keepin' ya… still. Could still hear ya screamin' and Carol had to come out to stop me from bustin' back in there. It was really fuckin' awful." He ran a hand over his mouth. "Anyway, turned out there were still a couple bits of metal stuck in ya, so she took 'em out, cleaned y'up, stitched ya. I was real nice to her after that. That was three days ago. She let me bring ya back here last night and I just been waitin' for ya to wake up."

"Whoa. Ok, well I'm glad I don't remember any of that. Wait, did you say three days?!"

"Yep. Glad you're awake. I been gettin' pretty bored."

Tahlia laughed a little and brought his hand to her mouth to press against her lips. And that's when she noticed her own hands. Her fingernails were painted in alternating colours of metallic blue and hot pink, a tiny pattern drawn in black pen on each one, the patterns extending down her fingers and meeting at her wrist joint.

She arched a brow. "So I see."

With a big grin, Daryl gave her a one-shouldered shrug. "Nail polish courtesy of Tara. I did the rest. We did your feet too."

"Huh. Weirdos." Tahlia smiled as she turned her hands over and back again, and then her gaze travelled further up her arms, her brow furrowing. Curiously, she lifted her arm to her face and sniffed it. It was clean and smelled like vanilla.

"Did you… wash me?"

"Yep." Daryl nodded proudly. "Gave y'a couple of sponge baths. Real thorough ones. Cleaned y'up real good."

Narrowing her eyes, Tahlia lifted the neck of her t-shirt and peeked below it. "Now that you mention it, my boobs are looking particularly sparkling."

Daryl smirked. "Top service for my girl. Right. You ready to get outta that bed?"

"Yes! Can't believe I've been lying around for so long."

"I know. Lazy ass." Daryl said affectionately as he leaned over to kiss her.

He had only intended to brush his lips to hers – she'd just surfaced for the first time in three days - but the pent up tension and emotion and the everything inside him tipped over and he found himself tumbling into a desperate kiss of relief and aching longing. Cupping her face, he finally managed to let her up for air, but it wasn't as easy to let go of her.

"Shit, Dixon." she murmured, a lazy wildfire burning in her eyes. "Anyone would've thought you might've been missing my pain in the ass company over these last couple of days."

Smiling at that, Daryl stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Ya damn well pull a stunt that has ya layin' on Death's doorstep again and I'ma kill ya myself." Then with seriousness, he sat back and dropped his gaze. "Can't lose ya, Tahly. Just can't."

"Well!" she announced as she pushed the blanket off her. "Lucky for you, I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me for life."

That sounded fucking perfect to Daryl.

He smiled a little and slid one arm under her knees and the other under her back, lifting her up.

"Oh God. You're not still insisting on carrying me around everywhere, are you?!" exclaimed Tahlia, even as she reflexively looped her arms around his neck.

"Y'ain't used them legs in days." Daryl told her sternly as he carried her out of the bedroom and onto the landing. "And after everythin', the last thing we need is you fallin' down the fuckin' stairs." He paused at the top of the staircase, then gazed down at her. "Plus, I like doin' it."

Tahlia laughed. "You like hauling my ass around?"

"What's not to like?!"

To punctuate his point, he shifted her positioning so he could squeeze her butt with one hand and reach her nipple with the other to give it a pinch while simultaneously planting a big wet kiss on her lips. He grinned as she giggled. "See? Don't get much better than this."

As he made his way downstairs, he grew serious again. "Gotta warn ya though, Tahly – shit here is fuckin' weird."

"Weird how?"

"You'll see."

Moving down a short hallway, Daryl brought Tahlia into the kitchen and set her down next to the kitchen island.

She sniffed the air. "Why does it smell so delicious in here?"

"Oh. Carol's been bakin'."

"Baking." repeated Tahlia in disbelief. "Right."

Then her brow creased as she glanced around at the high-end furnishings, new appliances and generally immaculate, unlived-in-looking space.

"This place looks like it's straight out of a catalogue! Everything here looks brand new!"

"It is." Daryl told her. "This whole place was only just finished when things turned to shit, half of the houses still ain't never been lived in. They said we can have this one. Carol's with us here in the room at the other end upstairs. Rick and Michonne are next door, the others in the houses across the street."

"We get our own house?!"

"Yep."

"You're kidding me! We got our first house together and I wasn't even conscious for it! Damn!"

"Best that ya didn't see the size of the mortgage I signed us up for." joked Daryl, then he held a hand out. "Come see our crazy new neighbourhood."

Leading the way onto the porch, Daryl guided her to the loveseat and they sat down against one another.

"Uh… where… where did you say we are?" asked Tahlia breathily as she gazed around at the rows of pristine houses, manicured lawns, white picket fences, clean suburban-like streets and general lack of death and ruination.

"They call it The Alexandria Safe Zone. Some swanky-ass gated community. Some of 'em haven't even been outside the walls at all since The Turn."

"Huh." remarked Tahlia, gob smacked by the peace of their surroundings. "But we're still like… like on planet Earth, though… right?"

Daryl chuckled. "Yep. Virginia, Earth." Then he remembered something and nudged her. "Hey, I'm sorry we didn't make it to your uncle's place. But I was thinkin', maybe when you're all better, me and you can take a trip there, check it out. It's only a couple hours from here."

"Yeah?" Tahlia smiled up at him. "I'd like that. It would be nice to-" She trailed off as she caught sight of two people in police uniform strolling down the street, and she lifted a finger to point in their direction. "Um, is that...?"

"Yep. Rick and Michonne signed up for patrol." replied Daryl deprecatingly.

"Patrol. Ok…" Tahlia breathed, wide-eyed.

"Honey, you're up!" came a chirpy voice, and Carol appeared on the front lawn wearing a clean white shirt, a yellow cardigan and a beaming smile, holding a container of cookies. "How're you feeling?"

"Uh..." started Tahlia. "Uh... ok, just... a little... confused..."

"I'm so happy to see you're doing better! It was touch and go there for a while. Lucky you've got this guy – he barely left your side for a second. Let me just go deliver these, then I'll be back in a bit to make you some tea." Carol fixed Tahlia with a large, genuine smile. "So glad you're on the mend."

Tahlia watched her walk away, dumbfounded. Eventually, she found her voice and turned to Daryl.

"Is this a parallel universe?! Rick and Michonne as community patrol officers and Carol the Stepford wife on the set for Wisteria Lane?! What the hell?! You're the only one around here that I actually recognise!"

Although her tone was laced with jest, Tahlia shifted as close as she could to Daryl and clutched his hand for reassurance.

"I know. Told ya it was weird. The people here act like none of that other stuff's goin' on outside. Like nothin' ain't happened to them at all. And our people just fell straight into it like we ain't been livin' on the edge for the past couple years. Still tryna get my head 'round it."

"So weird." agreed Tahlia. "But… maybe kind of nice to feel… normal, don't you think?"

"Normal?" exclaimed Daryl as he turned to face her. "This ain't normal. This is a damn illusion. The way we been livin', what we been through – that's what's normal. Don't ever forget what's out there, Tahly. Soon as ya start gettin' soft, that's when you're gonna get killed. Promise me ya won't forget."

"Can't forget." Tahlia told him soberly. "Got the scars to remind me. And got you to keep me real."

Daryl gave a firm nod as he squeezed her hand, then stood up and pulled her to her feet. "C'mon. Doc said she wanted to see ya when you're up."

The infirmary was on the converted lower level of a house at the end of the street, and a young woman with blonde hair and glasses answered the door, a warm smile spreading on her face when she saw Tahlia.

"Well hot damn, you made it!"

"A reassuring sentiment from the resident doctor." stated Tahlia with raised brows and a grin.

"Well, you had a pretty serious infection. Got to us just in time. I'm Denise." the woman told her. "And I want to lay all my cards out right now and tell you that although I graduated medical school, I was only a first-year resident when the dead started walking. So, technically I'm a doctor in training, but I have been doing all the doctory stuff here since then, so that's another couple of years of experience under my belt."

"The 'doctory stuff'?" laughed Tahlia. "I am in good hands!" Then she touched her fingers to Denise's forearm. "Kidding. I mean, you managed to pull me out of the woods, so I'm not complaining! And thank you so much for everything you did for me, I owe you big time."

"No problem." smiled Denise. "It's what we do for our community – it's nice to have some new faces around here. Come in."

They chatted while Denise checked Tahlia over - soon satisfied that she was healing nicely - then pressed a bottle of pills into her hand with strict instructions to take three a day until they were finished, to take it easy, and to come back the next day for another check.

"I can't believe you shouted at her." Tahlia scolded Daryl as they headed back out onto the street. "She's so nice!"

"Don't give a shit how nice no one is – if they hurt ya, I'm gonna shout. And they'll be lucky if that's all I do."

"Aw, you are still so damned sweet!" laughed Tahlia, pre-empting the hard smack on her butt that she almost managed to block with one hand.

"Shuddup. C'mon, let's go check this place out. I ain't seen much of it yet."

Wandering down towards the main gates, Alexandrians smiled and waved and called out greetings as they passed.

"Everyone here is so friendly!"

"Oh Gawd." groaned Daryl. "You're gonna make goddamned friends with every single person in town, ain't ya?"

"Yes." Tahlia declared resolutely. "And you'll need to get your three-piece suit dry-cleaned because I'll be hosting dinner parties at ours every second night."

"Like fuck ya will."

Arriving at the main gates, Sasha was standing atop of the guard post, and they climbed up to join her.

"Hiya, stranger." beamed Sasha as she hugged Tahlia. "Looking a lot better now."

"I think I owe you a thanks – I hear you had a part in restraining me during surgery." Although Tahlia's tone was jovial, Sasha exchanged a sombre look with Daryl at that comment – the memory still fresh and jarring in her mind.

She nodded, and gripped Tahlia's forearm. "I'm just glad you're ok."

"This the wall reinforcement Rick told me 'bout?" asked Daryl changing the subject as he pointed out beyond the gates to where a group of people were constructing another perimeter wall.

"That's right. Abe's ended up leading the team because these guys don't know the first goddamned thing about protecting themselves out there. It's pretty worrying, actually. No wonder Deanna welcomed us so easily." said Sasha.

Tahlia raised her brows. "Deanna?"

"Yeah, she's the leader of this town. Right at the beginning, the army directed her and her family to come here, so they were among the first to settle this place, and her husband, Reg, built these walls and was the main hand in fortifying it, then other people joined over time. They're nice people, just very… idealistic. They haven't seen what we've seen." explained Sasha.

"They got everythin' they need here." Daryl added. "Place was designed for sustainability. Solar panels, runnin' water, gardens, fruit trees, hell of a lotta supplies, and they ain't had no one find 'em and try take it from 'em yet."

"I think they're realizing that they need to get some muscle behind these walls otherwise it won't be long until what happened to us at the prison happens to them here."

Tahlia gazed around, taking it all in. "I guess that's good for us, then. We get a place to stay, they get some fighters."

"That's right." agreed Sasha. "But we'd better be prepared, because to anyone who's been living like how we just were – this place is a fucking goldmine."

Daryl nodded gravely. "We're gonna make sure that we're ready for it."

After exploring the rest of the settlement and bumping into most of their people – effusive hugs and greetings to see Tahlia back on her feet – Tahlia and Daryl were meandering around the large pond that marked the centre of the community.

Daryl took a sudden deep breath, and stopped walking. "Need to run somethin' by ya."

"Go for it." Tahlia said, a shadow of concern on her face.

"Know that guy Aaron that found us in the barn?"

"The one who turned out to be trustworthy, just like I said?" asked Tahlia in an innocent tone.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "'Course if you say that 'bout everyone you're bound to be right one time. But yeah, that guy. So, he's a recruiter for this place, a scout. And he's… he's asked me if I wanna do that with him."

"What, like go out there and find people?"

"Basically, yeah. And check out what's goin' on in the surrounds." Daryl caught her hand. "Wanna know if you're ok with me doin' that. I know it ain't fair really, askin' ya - coz if it were the other way 'round, I wouldn't want you out there. So I won't do it if ya don't want me to."

Tahlia sucked in a breath. "Is this what you want to do?"

Running a hand through his hair, Daryl shrugged. "Well, shit. Ya seen this place. It ain't me, Tahls. Think I'd go mad if I had to stay in these walls. So... yeah, I guess."

Nodding slowly, Tahlia squeezed his hand. "Then you should do it, if that's what you want. Obviously, I hate the idea of you putting yourself in danger and being away from me… but…" Her brow creased. "How… how far would you be going?"

"Dunno." Daryl told her honestly. "Guess we'd have to keep pushin' out further eventually. But if it's gonna be more than three or four days then I'm takin' ya with me."

"You'd better." said Tahlia staunchly, then smiled. "As long as you promise to be careful out there – don't do anything stupid or reckless."

"That's rich comin' from you!" stated Daryl as he caught her in his arms. "We both know I'm the sensible one outta the two of us. But I'm gonna be real careful." he promised. "Got the best reason in the world to wanna make it home."

He kissed her slowly and surely, keenly feeling what he had just told her.

Drawing back from her a little, he said, almost shyly, "He... he gave me a bike."

"A bike?!" repeated Tahlia in surprise.

"Yeah. And he's been pickin' up heaps of parts as he comes across them. Got it all in his garage and he don't know nothin' 'bout motorbikes so said he wants me to have it."

"That's amazing!" Tahlia knew how much losing Merle's Triumph had affected Daryl, so to find out that he'd been gifted another bike made her heart swell with gratitude towards Aaron. "Well, we're definitely having them over for a dinner party now."

"No fuckin' dinner parties. Ever. But he seems like a good guy. I owe him one."

"We both do. Anyone who makes you happy like that is a massive tick in my book." smiled Tahlia. "And I'm looking forward to a ride on this bike!"

Daryl tapped her gently on the cheek. "Doc says y'ain't allowed to leave this place for at least two weeks. Gotta take it easy."

"Ugh." Tahlia rolled her eyes. "Sounds like although my infection didn't kill me, now I'm about to be bored to death."

"Nah." replied Daryl, a dark, smokey note in his tone. "Gonna take ya home now. Gonna have ya lay back and take it easy, but y'ain't gonna be bored. I'ma make ya feel real good."

Tahlia's pupils dilated as she sucked in a ragged, wanting breath.

That sounded exactly like what the doctor ordered.