Chapter 23

-Dodger's POV-

Black, everywhere I looked. It was honestly pretty terrifying. I didn't know where I was, there was no one with me. Every so often I'd hear voices but I couldn't figure out who they belonged to.

I tried to open my eyes but they felt glued shut. Trying to raise my arm, nothing happened. Was I dead? Panic filled what was left of me and I sat up, trying to catch my breath. Wait. I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I was still in the church's backroom. The sun was out and it was getting warm. Where was everyone?

Climbing off the couch, I changed into my clothes that were on the table. I put my boots on and went to grab my knife, which was gone.

"You gotta be kidding me..." I say to myself quietly

I throw my dirty, bloody hair into a messy bun and open the door.

"Dodger!" Carl yells running over to me. He wraps his arms around my waist and hugs me tightly

"I-I thought you were gone..." He silently cries, his head resting on my shoulder

I hug him and rub his back, "You can't get rid of me that easily"

Carl still held onto me as everyone got up and made their way over.

"Dodger..." Rick says putting a hand on my other shoulder, happiness all over his face

"Hey Rick" I smile a little

Carl lets me go smiling and picks up Judith.

"It's so good to have you back..." Rick says hugging me tightly, one hand on the back of my head

"It's good to be back" I hug him back too. I feel like I might be doing a quite amount of hugging...

Rick lets go of me with a smile on his face, relieved. Next in line was Carol. Carol?

She slowly comes up to me with an apologetic look on her face.

"Dodger listen, I explained this to Daryl yesterday and I knew I had to come to you too... When we first met I was jealous, really jealous. I can see now that you love him, I accept that. I'm sorry for everything that's happened... Can we start over?" When she mentioned Daryl, a shiver went down my spine. I could never look at Daryl the same way anymore, not after what he did to me...

"It's okay Carol, I was jealous too. Of course we can start over" I say with a smile

"Thank you" She returns the smile and hugs me

Maggie and Michonne didn't come up to see me. I don't even think they were here... Everyone else was still skeptical of me and kinda walked away. I understood, I did.

"Are you hungry?" Carol asks taking me to a pew by the altar

"Not really but I should probably eat..." I sit
down

"I'll get you some squirrel" She says as she hurries off towards the back of the church

When the door closed I heard it quickly reopen. I turned to look to see who it was. Daryl, followed my Maggie and Michonne. I turn away from him and hide my face. Before I knew it, Maggie and Michonne were running over to me and stood me up for a warming group hug

"Oh it's so good to have you back" Maggie says happily

"It sure is" Michonne adds

"It feels good to be back" I smile and look up to see Daryl standing in front of me

I swallowed hard and quickly walked out to Carol. She was out front cooking squirrel. I sat on the bottom step and put my forehead on my knees.

"What's wrong?" Carol asks sitting next to me

Before I could answer, the door opened to reveal Daryl standing there. I looked at Carol out of the corner of my eye and she got it. She stood up and closed the door, probably giving him some stupid excuse. She sat next to me and gently rubbed my back

"He loves you, you know that, right?" She asks whispering in case if he was standing at the door

I sit up and look her in the eye, "But what he did to me..."

"I don't know what he was thinking at the time, but he says that all he wanted to do was help you. He never meant to hurt you"

"That's such shit!" I protest, not whispering anymore

"I know it may seem like that-"

"No, that's what it is! I'm sorry but if he loved me, I wouldn't have almost died!" I get off of the steps and stand in front of her

"He wouldn't have dropped me, he wouldn't have injected Propofol into my system, he wouldn't have left me!" I sort of yell, balling my fists

The door slowly opens, "Dodger..." His raspy voice was soft

"No! Leave me alone!" I turn and walk away

"Dodger you can't go out there" Carol says grabbing my wrist

"Carol please, let me go"

"I won't, you need to rest, you need to stay here..." She pleads

"I just need some alone time..." I say sternly

Carol sighed in disappointment and nods.

"Just don't be too long,-"

"Please..." Daryl finishes her sentence

I look at him with wide eyes and walk into the woods. How can he be someone completely different now?

-Daryl's POV-

When I came back with Maggie and Michonne, I couldn't believe my eyes. Dodger was sitting down, looking to see who entered the room. She was alive... I was so happy to see her I could have cried, but the look on her face would beg to differ. Her face was full of terror, I wasn't the same person in her eyes.

Maggie and Michonne ran over to her and hugged her. I slowly made my way over and stood next to them. When Dodger looked up and saw me, she quickly walked away. I went to call her name but Maggie looked at me.

"You should try to talk to her..." She suggests

"A-are you sure?" I question quickly

"Just try. That's all you can do right now..."

I nod and make my way back to the door. I could hear her and Carol talking. When Dodger's voice began to rise, and Carol started protesting, I opened the door.

"Just don't be too long" Carol starts

"Please..." I finish her sentence

Dodger looks at me like she just saw a ghost. When she walks away, my head falls. Tears swell in my eyes and I close the door. I sit on the step and cry silently. Carol sits next to me without a word.

"What did I do..." I ask trying to hide that fact I had tears pouring out of my eyes

"Well first off, you left her in the woods. Then you popped her stitches and tried to fix them. Put drugs in the veins and almost killed her. You have to convince her that you didn't want her dead and you didn't mean to hurt her..." Carol explains

"She won't even look at me without terror and fear in her eyes..."

"I know. I used to look at Ed like that too..." She looks down at her feet

I pick my head up and look over at her, "Can I fix this?"

"Can you?"

"Probably not" I sigh

She looks over at me, "Just think about it Daryl. If you think, you might be able to find a solution"

Carol stands up and goes back to cooking the squirrel I had brought back earlier. It was more than likely for Dodger, considering she hasn't eaten in days. When you looked at her you couldn't really tell but soon you would be able to.

I don't move from the step, I had nowhere else to go. Memories of Dodger and I came into my mind, pulling me down. Her laugh, her smile, her eyes, when I held her over the edge, when she woke up crying. I still me never figured out why she was crying, but I should have.

"You want to go see how far she got before her food gets cold?" Carol asks me, kicking me out of my trance

"Yeah I guess..." I reply quietly

"Just tell her I said come and eat. That's all"

I stand up and nod, "You're gonna help me through this, right?"

"Of course I will" She smiles

"Thank you..."

She places a hand on my shoulder, "Now go bring her back. Try not to be too forceful"