"That's the only other broad spectrum antibiotic we got. The best we can do for now, I hope it'll be better than the first one…"

You take the little bottle Rosita is holding out to you.

"Thanks. It can hardly be worse. I'll give him some when he next wakes up."

You follow her gaze to your man, asleep again on the bed after she's checked him over. He looks smaller somehow, diminished from the ordeal of the last few days.

Rosita, now one of the few people with any medical knowledge, and for now in charge of the infirmary, came over right away once you'd sent Carl to fetch her this morning. Daryl had woken up by the time she arrived. You'd made him drink some water right away, and it had not made a reappearance, thank goodness. He still felt feverish to your touch, and looked completely done in. For once it had been positively easy to convince him to stay in bed.

You had been less than keen to actually watch Rosita checking on the wound, but you'd swallowed down your distaste. Daryl deserved you staying by his side. The cut was infected, that much was obvious even to you as you threw one quick look at it. Rosita cleaned the wound and the surrounding area, and Daryl had hardly winced. He'd kept his eyes on you for a while, and you'd pulled him into a tighter hug, stroking his hair. Then he'd closed his eyes with a tired sigh and rested his head against your chest.

Just this behavior alone had told you Daryl really isn't quite himself right now. He's never shown his affection for you in front of anyone. In fact, you're not sure any of the others are even aware of what has happened between the two of you. Not that you mind them knowing, but there just wasn't really time until now to make a thing of it. Rosita hadn't looked surprised, however, and anyway, it felt right, comforting your man when he had clearly needed it.

By the time Rosita has finished tying the fresh bandages in place he's mostly asleep again. She gets up from the bed and looks down at Daryl again.

"The infection isn't too bad, Rick. There's no irreversible tissue damage or necrosis, as far as I can tell. He needs some proper downtime to heal, though. All this running around, and the heavy lifting, he's not done himself any favors."

You don't say what's on your mind, that you thought the recruiting had been a stupid idea in the first place. You'll have to be careful not to blame him for it, either. And he needs to stop putting himself in the line of fire like this constantly. You're more worried about him than ever.

"Make sure he takes the pills, with plenty of fluids. And he needs to get a few square meals, and soon."

Rosita looks at you sternly. She'll make a good medic for this community, your new home.

"I'll make sure he gets whatever he needs. Thank you for checking on him."

"No problem."

With a quick smile she's gone. You settle Daryl on the pillows carefully, then get up to close the door behind her. Then you return to Daryl's side. You're not planning on leaving him alone for the time being.