Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 2

Authors Note: Thank you for those who are following my story after one chapter! Thank you for those who made the story a favorite after one chapter. PLEASE review, it motivates me!

Jewel and Summer were not in the visiting mood and did not hear Rick's explanation at the fire.

OK, so Merle's language is not mine in the flashback…don't hate me!

Jewel sighed as she pulled up to the trailer park. "Home sweet home," she mumbled to herself. "Summer start putting the stuff in the truck."

"We're not taking the car?" she asked as she stood up.

"Not enough gas, and you saw the lines," Jewel told her daughter as Merle walked out of the trailer. "Merle."

"Well, look who we got here, it's Miss Uppity Nurse. Droppin' the kid off? Goin' to the hospital? Abandonin' your family? You're god at that," Merle told her as he put stuff in the truck.

"If I remember correctly, you were the one always leavin' Daryl and me," Jewel said as she put her bag in the truck. "Summer, go help your Uncle Daryl," she ordered.

"Didn't you just tell me to unload the car?" the teenager questioned.

"I know I didn't hear you just sass your mother," Merle told his niece. "You heard her, inside," he told her.

"Oh yeah this is going to be fun," Summer said as she passed Merle.

Merle rolled his eyes as he put the stuff in the truck. "So, where's that Nigger friend of yours?"

Jewel shook her head. "Jane, her name is Jane. She told me not to come to the hospital…to get to Atlanta with Summer. Even told me to come here," she said.

"Well, at least she had some sense for a…" Merle started to say.

"Don't," she told him. "You know, she was there when you couldn't be. She got me and Summer out of here, she helped me become a Nurse. You know if I hadn't stopped drinkin' I could have wound up like momma or daddy," she told him as she pulled out the first aid kits from the trunk.

"Wouldn' have happen', Daryl and I wouldn' have let it," Merle said as he took the kits out of her hand.

"Right, like you could have stopped it, Merle. All I ever wanted was for Summer to be better then me, not to make the same mistakes as me," she told her older brother. "So far so good, but now I'm askin' for a little help. Noticed you didn' tell me to leave, and you're puttin' my stuff in the truck," she pointed out as she smirked at him.

"Girl," he warned.

"What? Just cause Daryl would follow you off a bridge for you, don't mean I would, and you know it," Jewel informed him.

Merle picked up a purple bag. "Hell girl what do you have in this? Bricks."

"That would be your nieces," Jewel said as she took out her backpack. "This is mine. A teenagers definition of what you need and an adult's is different," she said as she shrugged. "Don't change the subject."

"I wouldn' turned you and Summer away, wouldn' do that to family. You know that, baby sister," Merle told her.

Jewel walked over to his motorcycle. "You're takin' that sticker off," she told him as she pointed to the swastika.

"You know better then to talk to me like that," he warned. "You also know my answer to that."

Jewel sighed. "I swear if I hear my daughter spoutin' your racist bull, you and I are goin' to have issues."

"We already have issues," Merle pointed out as she started walking inside.

"Alright so, bigger issues," Jewel said with a grin back at him. "Love you big brother," she told him as she walked inside. "Daryl? Where's the brother I can actually stand?"

Daryl handed Summer a box of canned items. "Got it?"

"Yes Uncle Daryl," Summer said as she walked outside.

"Hey kid sister," Daryl said as he hugged her. "The two of you gonna be OK travelin' together?"

"Summer and me?" Jewel asked as she opened the cabinets to make sure there wasn't anything else to take.

"You know who I'm talkin' about," Daryl told her. "You an' Merle are oil and water, always have been."

"And you always been the peacekeeper. We'll keep our cool for Summer's sake," she told him.

"Middle child, keeping' the peace and all," Daryl told her. "Summer told me about Jane…" he said.

"Don't want to think about that right now Daryl, right now we got to get goin'," she told him.

Jewel opened one of the first aid kits and took out Neosporin and bandages as she zipped it back up.

"What are you doin?" Summer questioned as she sat up in the tent.

"Carl told me his dad had been shot before this, I was goin' to check on the bandages," Jewel told her daughter as she stood up.

The younger blond looked at her mother. "Isn't Carl's dad the idiot who handcuffed Uncle Merle to a roof and left him there?"

Jewel glanced at her daughter. "One, don't be callin' an adult an idiot, even though it may be the right word for him," she warned. "Two, just because the idiot left your Uncle on a rooftop, doesn't mean he still should get an infection from his wound."

"I don't think Uncle Merle or Uncle Daryl would agree," Summer told her.

"Well your Uncle Merle just about disagrees with me about everythin' so that won't be such a surprise, and Uncle Daryl is out huntin' so he doesn't have a say in the matter," she said as she found the scissors. "Stay here."

"What about my say in the matter?" Summer asked.

Jewel sighed as she stood up. "Summer, the world may be goin' to hell in a hand basket, but common decency should never go out of style. Now stay here," she repeated as she walked out of the tent in the dark. "Hey Dale, can you keep an eye out on the tent for me?" she called up to the older man on the RV.

"Sure, you need help with something?" Dale asked.

"Where's the newcomer? Carl's dad?" she asked.

"Over by the trees. I'm trustin' you aren't goin' to go off on him about Merle," Dale told the younger woman.

"He's gonna get enough of that tomorrow from the other Dixon, I'm just checkin' on his wound," Jewel answered as she walked out to the tree line. "Carl told me that you got shot before all this," she told him as she walked up to him.

The man looked at her as he lowered the gun. "Yeah, you here to talk about your brother?"

"No, I'm actually here to check on the wound," Jewel answered as she held up the bandages. "I am a nurse…was a nurse. I didn't think to wear my uniform," she said as she nodded to his uniform. "Don't think that I'm still not mad at you leavin' my brother handcuffed to a roof but I'm tryin' to teach my daughter common decency still exists," she said as she held out her hand. "Hello I'm your nurse for this hell hole, Jewel Dixon and I would like to check your bandages. The last thing you need is let'n that get an infection out here."

"Rick Grimes," he introduced as he shook her hand.

"Alright, Rick mind takin' off your shirt and holdin' the bandages?" she asked. "I wanted to get you before you went in the tent with your wife."

Rick looked at her as he took off his shirt. "I'll be here all night," he told her. "We were separated a few weeks, before I got shot."

"Didn't mean to pry, sorry," she told him as she handed him the bandages.

"You weren' prying, you made an assumption, probably would have been right a few years ago," he told her as he sat down.

Jewel nodded as she bent down and cut the bandages off. "So what happened? I mean Carl told me that his father had died."

Rick nodded as she cut the bandages off. "He had every right to think that. I woke up at the hospital, disorientated and full of fear, and confusion."

Jewel paused a moment before continuing. "You woke up in the hospital…just a few days ago? Didn't know any of this was happenin? Seriously?"

Rick nodded. "Yeah, seemed like a bad dream."

Jewel let out a snort. "You mean it still doesn't feel like a bad dream now?" she asked as she touched the wound. "You're lucky, it's healin' pretty good. You were probably dehydrated too, when you woke up."

"I was," he answered.

"Can I ask you something?" Jewel asked as she started applying the Neosporin on him.

"Well considerin' you're applying a bandage to me, when you didn't have too after what happened with your brother, yeah you can ask a question," Rick told her.

"The hospital….how bad was it?" she asked. "I mean…was there any chance any staff got out…" she asked.

Rick looked at her. "I couldn't say for sure, but from what I saw, no," he answered. "You were supposed to be there wasn't you? Had friends?"

Jewel finished bandaging him up. "All done," she said as she sat down beside him. "I worked at a small clinic, few miles outside the hospital. When just a few cases were reported, we transferred all the patients to the main hospital, combined resources. We were all on call, in case the military got mobilized. A good friend, an older woman, Jane, she was the one who helped me get through nursing' school, watched Summer while I went to school at night so I wouldn't have to pay a sitter. She called me middle of the night to tell me that all the staff had been called in. There was something in her voice, some hesitati'n. When I asked her what she really wanted to tell me, she made me promise to get Summer, pack up, and get to my brothers. She hated Merle, wouldn' let him in her house," she told him.

"So you knew it was serious?" he asked her.

"Oh yeah," Jewel answered as she looked away.

"You did the right thing," Rick told her. "You're daughter wouldn't have her mother right now. Her father around?"

Jewel laughed. "If he was, I'd have a bullet in his head. Always been Summer and me, since I was 15. Daryl helped when he could, Merle was well a pain in my ass but he's still family."

"Why did you come check on me? I mean I did leave him on the roof," he told her.

Jewel stood up. "Two wrongs don't make a right Rick. You had a wound, I was a nurse, I have the supplies, which you can thank Jane for. I'm tryin' to teach my daughter that some humanity is left in the world. I know you can understand that for your son."

Rick nodded. "I am sorry."

"Well, you got to tell Daryl tomorrow, that's on you," she told him. "And, Summer and I, we may not even be able to stop him from throwin' a punch," she told him. "Night Rick," she said as she walked away.

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