He stood looking out the window at the beautiful morning. The sun filtered down through the branches of the tree where the leaves were just starting to come out. Sofia was swinging on the wooden seat that had been suspended from the tree branch for her as soon as she was physically able to hold on to the ropes. He could see the smile on her face from here. The tulips in the flowerbed were bending slightly in the breeze. They'd planted those bulbs years ago, back before Sofia had been born. Carol had been so excited. She said that when she was growing up they had never stayed in one place long enough to enjoy any spring flowers she may have talked her mother into planting. Well, she could enjoy them now. And if she wanted to stay here until the day they died, that was fine by him. The coffee maker was starting to slow its drip so he grabbed two cups and filled them. He drank his black but put two sugars and a shot of cream into hers. He carried them to the screen door leading onto the porch and backed out of it, allowing it to fall softly closed behind him. He walked over to set her cup on the table next to the wicker chair where she sat watching over her girl and leaned down to brush her cheek with his lips.

'Coffee's ready," he whispered. He smiled when he felt her shiver at the sensation of his breath on her ear. He loved it when she reacted to him that way. But all of a sudden the shiver that had signaled her arousal become more pronounced. The breeze turned cold and he could feel her muscles tense underneath his hand on her shoulder. Then everything went black.

Daryl startled in the chair as he opened his eyes. His heart was racing. The dream had been so vivid, so real, that it took several seconds for him to realize where he was. He rolled his head around and reached up to rub the back of his neck. It wasn't as sore as it probably should have been considering its position while he had been sleeping. He wondered how long he had been there like that. It felt like a while this time. The small bits of sleep his body had forced upon him since he'd been back hadn't been enough and apparently he had finally given in to utter exhaustion. The others had tried to get him to go lay down, get some real sleep, but he refused to leave her. He'd already left her too many times with bad results. He looked over to the bed. She was still there. Of course, she was still there. He sighed. What did he expect, a miracle? He rubbed his face with his hands and got up to go take a piss.

The house was quiet as he made his way along the hall to the bathroom. After taking care of his business, he ran the water to warm and splashed some on his face. He placed his hands on either side of the sink and leaned forward, staring at the image reflected in the mirror. It was the third time he'd had that damn dream since his return to Alexandria and finding Carol unconscious in the infirmary. At least this time he'd woken up before Merle started giving him a hard time, mocking him for his inability to keep her safe. Merle teased that if he were still around, he'd have taken care of her in more ways than one, meeting all of her needs like a real man should. Those dreams always ended with Daryl bloodying Merle's nose. He shook his head. Even dead, Merle was a pain in his ass.

He opened the bathroom door and almost ran into Maggie coming up the stairs.

"Oh Daryl, it's you. I heard footsteps and thought it might be Carol."

"Right." He avoided looking at her. That was a shit thing for her to say, but he didn't want to be pulled into some conversation about hope and faith. He just wanted to get back to Carol. He needed to be there when she woke up...if she woke up.

"Daryl, it really could have been her. She came out of it."

"What? When?...Why didn't you wake me?"

She tilted her head to the side, "She asked me not to, said you needed your rest."

He sadly shook his head, "Doesn't she know that the only thing I really need is for her to wake the hell up? I can rest later."

Maggie cautiously reached over and put her hand on his shoulder, "Daryl, I understand why you're upset. But I did as she asked because I wanted her to stay calm. She's still recovering, still fragile, and she was right. You'd have been no good to anyone, much less her, if you'd kept going the way you were. But..." a smile filled her face, "She woke up. That's good."

Daryl took a deep breath and nodded, "You're right. Sorry."

She squeezed his shoulder before letting go, "It's okay. We're all a little on edge."

"Mm, I guess"

"You know, we need to talk... all of us. There are some decisions that need to be made."

Daryl met her eyes, "You already know what I think."

She nodded, " I do."

He looked to Carol's bedroom door, "I need to get back."

"I know. Go."

Daryl nodded once more and slipped past Maggie to go back into Carol's room. He sat in the chair and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, raising one hand to scratch the whiskers on his chin. There were no words to adequately express the feelings that overwhelmed him as his eyes focused on the woman lying in the bed. He could see the subtle changes from how she looked before. Her body had shifted. Her hand was peeking out from under the blanket close to her face. Her eyes were still closed but her expression was no longer vacant. It was peaceful. He couldn't keep tears from sliding down his face in relief. He wasn't sure how long he stared at her. He didn't want it to be just another dream, not real, where at any moment everything would change and she'd be gone again. No. He wasn't ready to let go of her just yet. She was the one thing that could give him the strength to keep going. He knew he might not survive losing her and he was going to do his best to make damn sure he never had to find out.