Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 140

Author's Note: I've decided that if I ever catch up to the show I'm doing an AU (Without Walkers) of Rick and Jewel. I just see Jane, Mar and Summer seeing she's fighting not to fall for him. And of course Merle and Shane hating it. But that's only if I catch up while waiting for a new season. Not sure if that'll ever happen, but hey ideas! Soon mean old governor is making a reappearance, Martinez I'm still mad at you for trusting him! I had to give Hershel another scene before…well…you know. But the baddie's not coming yet! Review please.

Mar, Mitch, Daryl POV:

Mar helped Mitch sit up and take the medicine and smiled. "You know you didn't have to get sicker right before the medicine got here. I think you just waited until I could give you my undivided attention," she teased.

Daryl leaned against the cell door. "Well that sounds like a smart boy right there, figurin' out a way to get you all to himself. Now, only if I thought of that," he said with a smirk.

Mar turned. "Daryl! What are you doing in here, you shouldn't be in here," she told him.

Daryl shrugged. "Do a lot of things I'm not supposed to do," he said as he went over and kissed her. "Like that," he said with a smirk. "Anyway, we got the medicine, threats over now," he said as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "Hey kiddo, how are you feelin'? The truth, none of this manly man stuff," he told Mitch.

Mar laughed. "Manly man stuff? Really Daryl? This is the man whose response is always 'got to be' when anyone asks if he's alright?" she asked.

Mitch gave a grin. "She's right," he told Daryl.

"It's different," Daryl answered.

"This should be good," Mar teased as she playfully used her shoulder to hit his.

Daryl gave her a playful glare then at Mitch. "Cause I'm the man and I'm supposed to take care of you two. Don't need you two worrin' about me, can take care of myself."

"Doesn't work that way, Daryl," Mitch told him firmly.

Mar tried to keep a grin hidden. "He's right, Daryl Dixon. We care, we're family, it's what we do. Can't tell us not to worry, Daryl, plus I don't need this one getting that attitude from you," she said as she smiled at him.

"You two think you're so smart huh?" Daryl asked with a smirk on his face.

"Yep," Mitch answered.

"Fine," Daryl answered as he shook his head. "Now answer the question."

"Doesn't hurt as much when I cough. Mar needs to rest too," Mitch told him.

"Tattletale," Mar said as she shook her head. "I'm fine."

Daryl arched an eyebrow. "Didn't you just tell me none of that crap?" he asked. "Come on, you rest, I'll hang out with Mitch."

"Didn't you just get back from being gone two days?" Mar asked.

"Yeah, but that don't matter. Like you said, we're family, we care bout each other. Now, up and go rest," Daryl said as he helped her up. "I'll come check on you when this one is asleep. Go," he said.

Mar laughed as she kissed the top of Mitch's head. "Love you," she said. She then kissed the top of Daryl's head. "Love you too," she said as she left the cell with a smirk.

Tyreese and Ronnie's POV:

Ronnie took a breath as she leaned against the outside of A Block breathing in the fresh air. She touched her wedding band and took a breath. She heard a sound and turned. "Whose there?" she asked.

"Tyreese," he answered as he walked out of the shadows. "How's Sasha?"

"She's better, she's stronger. You going out there to get the medicine, it helped," Ronnie said.

"I wanted to tell you..I'm sorry bout Ridge," Tyreese told her.

"I'm sorry about Karen," Ronnie told him. "Did they find out who did it yet?"

Tyreese shook his head. "No, but I aint giving up. I'm gonna find out who did it, and I'm gonna make them pay."

Ronnie took a breath. "Is that going to bring them back?"

"You can't tell me that you just want who ever did this to live among us, to get away with murder," Tyreese told her.

Ronnie shook her head. "No, but I know Ridge, and I know he wouldn't want an eye for an eye. He wouldn't want a life taken because his was taken. The man might have been Air Force, the man might have killed to protect me, he might have picked up a gun for over twenty five years, but he was against the death penalty. When this all started, he killed his own men at the hospital because he didn't believe in his orders to kill everyone in the hospital, and that included me. He believed in the needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few," she told him. "I felt the same way you did, when Hershel told me, I wanted blood, I wanted the person who did this to look me in the eyes when I shot him. But, being up there, watching people die, watching the last of my kids die, all I could think of was what Ridge would have wanted. I'm not sure if he wouldn't have done the same thing if he thought maybe it could have stopped this sickness. I'm a doctor, Tyreese, I took an oath. I've had to make myself break that oath when people were bit and I knew there wasn't any hope, but this…this is different. You want revenge, you want them to pay, so do I. But I'm not sure killing them would be the right thing to do. And at the end of the day, I've got to be able to live with myself and with everything that I've done that day. That's the only way I'm going to be able to go on, to be able to honor Ridge. You still got family, Tyreese. Your sisters, they'll get you through this pain and grief. Me? I'm going to have to learn to survive without my other half, and I'm not sure if I can do that," she said.

Tyreese looked at her. "You aren't talking about suicide. You don't seem that type."

"I don't know what type I am anymore Tyreese. I don't know if I can live a day without a purpose, without having to fight for something, to have someone to care for," Ronnie told him.

"You're the Doc, if it wasn't for you and Hershel, these people wouldn't have survived as long as they did. My sister wouldn't have lived. When Jewel's time comes, she's gonna need you. That baby is gonna need you to bring it into this world. You do have family, everyone in this prison cares what happens to you. I was just getting to know Karen, falling in love with her, I can't imagine what it feels like for you. I am mad, I want the person to answer to what they did. I want to know why they did this. Maybe I can forgive them, but whatever happens, I know they have to pay, one way or another," Tyreese told her.

Ronnie looked up at the taller man. "Tell me Tyreese, is it going to fill up the hole in my heart? Is it going to keep me warm at night? Is it going to look in my eyes and make me feel safe? Unless this revenge can do any of those things, I don't want a part of it. Now if we have a trial, if we listen to the person, then I will be part of it. But right now, this is the first time I've had to grieve the losses I've dealt with, so please Tyreese, leave me alone with my thoughts," she said as she walked away from him.

Hershel and Ronnie's POV:

Ronnie walked into the cell block and saw Hershel sitting in Dr. S's cell. "He was a good man."

Hershel lifted his head. "Yes he was," he told her. "Come sit down."

Ronnie nodded as she sat down. "I didn't mean to disturb you. We lost a lot of good people."

"Yes we did, including Ridge. He loved you very much, anybody that wasn't blind could see that," Hershel told her.

Ronnie nodded. "I'm trying not to cry Hershel, don't you dare make me."

"You're allowed to grieve, the two of you had been together for a lot of years, shared a child, lost a child, lived through the beginning of the end of the world, kept it together for young adults who needed you," Hershel told her.

"They're all gone now, Hershel. I don't know how to be alone. I grew up in a house full of girls, and went to the Air Force, met Ridge, had Kim. I've never had to be alone," Ronnie confessed to him as tears ran down her face. "I don't know if I can just be Ronnie….without Ridge. I don't know who I am without him."

Hershel patted her hand. "When this all started, I thought they were sick. I lost my son, my wife, friends. We put them in the barn, we thought they're would be a cure. Rick and his group came onto the farm, Carl had been shot. There was a man, Shane, Rick's friend that when he found out about the barn, well he opened the doors and killed them all. At the time, I didn't want to realize they were already dead. I went to a bar, left my daughters to grieve. Poor Bethy tried to kill herself, and I wasn't there. I thought they were better off without me, but we've survived this far, made it this far. I know that you don't think there's hope, that you don't think you can go on, but Veronica, you can. You are important to everyone here, you have family here. Don't shut us out, we'll be here whenever you need us to be. Ridge wouldn't want you to give up."

"No, he wouldn't," Ronnie said as she wiped the tears from her face. "Thank you Hershel," she said as she hugged him.

TBC