Daryl was sitting on his bike, a cigarette between his lips while he waited for Kayla to come back out of the building. The group going was just about ready to go to the hospital when Kayla headed back inside for something. As he smoked the last of his cigarette, he dropped it into the dirt and put out the embers with his foot. "I'm gonna go see what's taking' her long." Daryl called out to Rick was talking with Tyreese at the police car. He hopped off his bike and headed back inside, coming to a halt when he opened the door to the stairwell that led upstairs. He saw a pair of boot covered feet lying on the floor. Kayla's boot covered feet. His heart immediately dropped to his stomach as he ran over to find his wife on the floor, a small pool of blood around the back of her head.
Kayla!" he yelled as he dropped to his knees next to her, a hand going to her neck to check for a pulse which he thankfully found. He pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her just as Rick and Tyreese rounded the corner. Daryl looked up at the men who had shocked looks on their faces before taking off upstairs to check the obvious: to see where the officers were.
Daryl looked down at Kayla's unconscious face and felt tears prick at his eyes, but he didn't dare let them fall. His mind instantly thought back when she hit her hand all that time ago in winter after the farm. She woke up then and she'd wake now. And she did.
Feeling the movement in his arms made Daryl let out a breath of relief as Kayla let out a grunt of discomfort. Her eyes squeezed tighter together before she opened them, her irises instantly landing on her husband's worried face.
"You know how I feel about you smoking." she told him as she saw how distraught he looked. "And here you are smelling like an ash tray."
Daryl couldn't help but let out a small laugh as he pulled Kayla into his chest in relief. "What happened?" Daryl asked her just as the sound of hurried footsteps were heard upstairs before coming down the steps. Rick sprinted past the couple and outside, Daryl having an idea of where he was going but Kayla at a loss.
"I don't know." she told Daryl, answering his previous question. "I was on my way back out and then it was just black."
"Can you stand up?" Daryl asked her, hesitant to let her. Head injuries were never a good thing. There were a lot of things that could be fixed. Infections could be managed to a point, things could be stitched, bleeding could be slowed down and eventually stopped, but head injures…they had no way of relieving pressure on the brain or fixing a bleed within the skull. All Daryl could hope was that she had a concussion at the most. A couple of weeks of taking an easy and she'd be in tip top shape. After her fall through the floor, Daryl watched her like a hawk for over two months before he loosened the reigns a bit.
"With your help, yeah." Kayla told him.
Daryl held onto Kayla as she stood up, her head feeling as if it weighed twice as what it did. I t felt like there was a stronger gravitational pull on her head wanting to pull it straight to the ground. As if that wasn't bad enough, Kayla felt her breakfast wanting to make a reappearance. Her feet stumbled a bit, Daryl's arms immediately going around her in case she fell. "I think I'm gonna be sick." she managed to get out.
"Okay." he said as he led her outside. "It's clear outside."
Once she was outside, he checked to make sure no new walkers made an appearance and thankfully none did. Kayla stumbled out of Daryl's arms and over to a wall, leaning one arm on it for support before the contents of her stomach went onto the ground. It stung her nose and burned her throat- some of the most unpleasant feelings in the world. Daryl instantly rushed over and pulled her hair back, his other hand rubbing her back. Once she was done, she leaned into Daryl as she tried to catch her breath. He kept his arms around her to keep her steady when he noticed a few walkers appear at the end of the alley.
"We gotta get inside." he told her.
She simply nodded and let Daryl lead her inside and back upstairs.
OOOOO
While waiting for Rick's return, Daryl cleaned Kayla's head where there was only a small gash on the back of her head. Wouldn't even need stitches. He cleaned it and bandaged it like he's seen Kayla do a million times. "You must have had a really good teacher." Kayla teased as she sipped on water to get rid of the foul taste in her mouth.
"Just drink your water. My turn to do the doctor thing."
Kayla smiled and abided as Tyreese talked with Sasha and the remaining two officers sat in silence. "I didn't even hear him." Kayla said in a quieter tone. "And I should have."
Daryl looked at the side of her face as she dropped her head a bit to stare at her hands. "I never stopped hearing walkers, but I stopped hearing people. Because I didn't have to for the longest time."
"Hey." Daryl said as he moved to kneel down in front of her. "This ain't your fault so don't go blaming yourself."
"If I would have just-"
"Kayla-" Daryl cut her off. "This ain't on you. Could have happened to the any of us. And whatever happens…it ain't your fault.
Kayla looked up at him and gave him a small smile. He brushed her hair out of her face and met her brown eyes with his. He leaned forward to kiss her, but she pulled back. "I just threw up." she reminded him. "And you wanna kiss me?"
"I always wanna kiss you."
Before she could respond Daryl kissed her gently, feeling her smile against his lips. It was soft and quick, but just enough for that moment. The couple stood up together, Daryl's arm around her in caution God forbid she stumble and fall. Kayla could feel the officers' eyes on her and Daryl as they went over to Tyreese and Sasha, watching her as she moved. She glanced their way for a moment and couldn't miss the traces of guilt played on their faces.
OOOOO
Rick returned after about fifteen minutes later – without the cop who managed to knock both Sasha and Kayla out and make a run for the hospital. Daryl left Kayla's side to talk to Rick while Kayla remained with Sasha who felt like this whole thing was her fault for letting her guard down. Rick and Daryl only talked for a moment before coming back over to the others. The female officer, whose name was Amanda, spoke as the two approached.
"He was a good man." she said. "He was attacked by rotters…saw it go down."
Kayla had to admit it. The woman could lie pretty damn well. Her face was straight and stoic without a single tell visible hinting at a lie. The discussion that followed ended with the group settling on the story that Lamson, the officer Rick took out, was attacked by walkers while the other two officers were traded for Beth. Amanda sounded pretty convincing with the plan she presented and Kayla wanted to believe she and her fellow officer would follow through on their end, but she could be lying to them at the same time and sell the group out the minute this Dawn woman showed her face. Looks like they'd have to find out for themselves.
OOOOO
Kayla felt off when it was just Rick meeting the officers at the intended vantage point, but his police officer background was sure to earn the other officers' mercy. Kayla stood with the Amanda and Licari, the other officer, while Sasha and Daryl kept their crosshairs on the scene below. She was drinking more water, on her husband's orders, as she stood under the hot Georgia sun surrounded by the tension filled air.
"I'm sorry about what Lamson did." A female voice said. Amanda.
Kayla looked down at where she was kneeling on the pavement. "Not your fault." Kayla replied. "No need for sorries."
Amanda didn't say anything after that, but Kayla kneeled in front of Amanda with a stone hard expression plastered on her face. "But if anything else happens today because you didn't keep your word on getting our people back, you will be the first person I shoot. Clear?"
Amanda locked eyes with Kayla. "Crystal."
OOOOO
Walking the halls of Grady Memorial again gave Kayla so many flashbacks that the nostalgia was overwhelming. She remembered all the patients she rushed to OR from the ER, sitting with kids while their parents were in surgery, eating lunch with Angela in the one stairwell that was rarely used, and so much more. Even though she and Angela only worked there for about a year before transferring out of the city, the memories that were in the back of her mind instantly found their way to the front when she saw the hallways, rooms, and walked up the stairs. She really missed working in hospitals more than anything where she was able to help people who were suffering and help their family members and friends through hard times.
A warm anxious feeling spread throughout Kayla's body when she saw Beth and Carol through the glass window of the door. They were so close to getting them back. After holstering their weapons, the group walked through the doors and into the hallway where Beth and Carol- who was in a wheelchair- were surrounded by the officers of Grady. The woman with her dark hair pulled into a tight bun Kayla was sure was Dawn. When she asked about Lamson, Kayla's eyes went to Amanda and her hand rested on her holster. If anything but the cover story came from her mouth, Kayla was going to be ready to act.
"Rotters got him." Amanda said.
"We saw it go down." Licari added.
Kayla's hand left her holster.
The trade went one at a time – one of the officers for Beth or Carol at a time. Carol was first and Kayla felt herself stop breathing as Darryl walked down to the middle of the hallway with Lacari. Another officer wheeled Carol down with a bag in hand. Daryl grabbed the bag and took a hold of Carol's chair, pushing her down the hall to the others. Kayla smiled at the sight of her and she smiled back. Helping her out of the chair, Kayla immediately hugged Carol who hugged her back. The women pulled apart after a moment to watch as Rick went down the hall to retrieve Beth. The second Beth was in arm's reach, Rick reached out to the young girl and silently asked if she was okay to which she nodded. Kissing the side of her head, Rick turned around with her to return to the group and get the hell out of Atlanta.
When Beth was with the others, Kayla immediately put an arm around her and gave her a one armed hug. She had two cuts on her face that were stitches sloppily and sure to leave scars, but the innocence and purity remained in the blue of her eyes. The group all turned to leave when Dawn's voice stopped them.
"Now I just need Noah."
Everyone stopped and turned, Rick walking back to the middle of the hall visibly angrily. Dawn defended her reason for wanting to take Noah back, but Daryl pushed Noah back and told Dawn he wasn't staying. Kayla pushed the young boy behind him in defense as she watched the rest of the scene unfold. Her hand went back to the holster of her gun when suddenly Noah stepped out from behind Kayla.
"It's okay, I'll go." he said before anyone could stop him. Before going to join the rest of the Grady residents, he returned his gun to Rick.
"Wait!" Beth called out to Noah, walking up to him and hugging the boy.
Kayla felt her heart break and anger flood through her at the same time. Noah didn't deserve this. No one did. He wasn't property, he should be able to leave if he wanted to without anyone stopping him. He deserved to go home and find his family if he could, not remain in this prison like sanctuary. As she watched the two teens say goodbye, she looked at the walls around her. This hospital was slowly becoming a place filled with dark memories.
Kayla watched as Beth released Noah and turned to Dawn, saying something to her. She couldn't make out the words, but she could hear the sound of Beth's voice. Beth's voice was always so identifiable. It had a bit of high pitch, but was laced with sweetness and an undeniable kindness.
After that all Kayla could only remember Beth making a quick movement, a gunshot, and the young girl who she had the blessing of knowing for two years falling to the floor.
