This is most likely the last chapter update for the day. I figured four was a good number to upload to ay thanks for waiting while I was on vacation.

Lily is mine.

"Come on,sweetheart. Open those eyes." Daryl was patting her face trying to get her to wake up.

"Atta girl."

He was pale, covered in dirt and looked like he had slammed into a brick wall. "You look like a walker," she sighed.

He laughed almost too hard. "You're one to talk. You're the one with a hole in your shoulder."

Looking down at her shoulder she saw blood soaking the bandages that were wrapped around her chest.

"Andrea shot you. Bullet passed through you then hit me."

"Please tell me again why was she shooting at us? And why are we not dead?"

"Thought I was a walker. Saw ya running towards camp with me hobblin' behind you. Aimed and fired at me when you ran in the path of 'er bullet and took it. So she says. She's also a shitty shot. You were also bit by a snake..."

"Oh, good you're awake," Maggie said from the doorway.

"Wait," Daryl interjected holding his hand out to stop her. "Let her be for a few minutes."

"Why? What's going on?" Lily asked him.

"Surgery."

"Surgery? No, I can't handle surgery. Not while I'm conscious. Is there any way around it?"

"No, there's not," Hershel said walking into the room holding a bag of supplies. "And it's not exactly surgery per say. It's more of a stitching up which is after a surgery takes place. It's something I should have stitched up hours ago but it wasn't safe. Son, could you grab her, please."

"Don't touch me, please," she told Daryl. "What is this for?"

"Your shoulder needs to be sewn. We had to make sure you were conscious before we began because if we didn't you could have died during the night from the poison of the snake bite. Waste of supplies and time, you understand."

"Yes, I do, but do I have to be conscious for this? Is there no way for you to knock me out?"

"No." Hershel nodded for Daryl to take her arms so he could begin.

"Look, I'm not gonna get involved in this-" he held up his hands stepping away.

"Take her arms."

"Daryl, I can get this." It was Rick. "Your side might split if you move too much. I can take care of her."

Rick sat on the bed, pulled her arms behind her back and wrapped an arm around her chest to hold her to him.

"Maggie," Hershel called. "She will grind her teeth without anesthetic."

Hearing there would be no anesthetic sent Lily into a mode of panic. Her breathing increased and she closed her eyes. Maggie forced something between Lily's teeth so she wouldn't bite her tongue. Receding footsteps filled the room as Daryl left.

The bloody bandages fell to the bed as her shoulder was exposed.

Rick closed his eyes allowing him to clutch her tighter. Nothing pained him more than seeing people in pain, but he was the only person who could hold her for surgery so he had to hold himself together.

Muffled groans and screams of pain filled the room as Hershel worked on sewing up her shoulder.

As Hershel worked he had a sad expression on his face. When he saw Lily's tear filled eyes he had to tell her. "It is likely your arm won't heal to its proper health. The bullet damage is too severe in some places and may not heal entirely."

Tears ran down her face as she doubled in pain. Then to top off the day, Rick had to keep her hunched over to sew up her back where the bullet exited.

"She's done. There's no need for visitors. Let her rest," Hershel said as he finished wrapping her shoulder again. "Keep everybody out."

...

The pain in her arm was always constant and it was hard not to cry. She had to toughen herself up, but maybe once she could use her left arm again. Footsteps approached the door and she expected Daryl to be there but the footsteps were too quiet to belong to him so she wasn't too shocked when Carl opened the door.

"Lily, are you ok?"

"Yeah," she sniffed. "I'm fine. What's wrong?"

"I heard you." Her words froze on her tongue. "It gets better," he said walking over to her and sitting on the bed. The wind blew in through the open window making him shiver.

"Come over," she said lifting the sheets offering him a space next to her. Carl fit into the space under her right arm.

"The pain goes away," he told her. "It hurts but it does go away after time."

The wind made him shiver again. Lily reached down to the foot of the bed to grab the quilt but searing pain shot through her arm causing her to groan.

"I've got it," Carl said reaching down but his side caused him pain.

They laughed at their injuries and Carl got the quilt for them. Lily tucked Carl in before settling down herself.

"Well, on the bright side, you're right handed."

"Who told you I was right handed?"

"Everybody's right handed."

"Not me," Lily smiled, "I use my left hand for everything. Well, I did. Gonna have to learn how to use my right hand more."

"What's it like being left handed?"

"A hassle. You have to get special scissors and spiral notebooks are always a pain to write in. And you usually end up with pencil smudges on your hand if you don't lift it off the paper."

"Sounds painful."

"At times it is."

The two of them sat there while the others ate dinner and eventually they drifted off.

...

"Where's Carl?" Lori's panicked voice reached Lily's waking ears. Lily leaned forward to place a kiss on Carl's sleeping head, but she remembered he was not hers to kiss so she sufficed with a gentle head pat before sliding her arm from under his head.

A hand on her back made her jump. "I'll tell them." Rick patted her back. "I knew he'd be curious about what happened up here. Get some sleep."

She nodded before crawling back in bed next to the softly snoring Carl sliding her arm back under his head. The soft footsteps of Lori reached her ears. Lori was the protective adult that Lily wished she'd been toward her sister. That was part of the reason she'd jumped up so quickly to save Sophia. Sophia had been like her younger sister and losing her had killed her.

"He needs to be back in his own bed. He'll hurt his side," Lori whispered.

"It's bringing comfort to Lily," Rick argued. "She's been through a lot. Besides, he came up here to see her. Just leave him. Please."

"Ok," she nodded. "Ok."