Hey guys! Sorry it took me a couple of days. My power kept going out, stupid wind storms on the west coast keep knocking trees over. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'm working on the third, please let me know what you think. Things will start to get interesting soon I promise.

Stay

Take Me Back To The Start

Daryl had been leaning against the wall, arms crossed, for over an hour while the group argued with Rick about his "crazy" idea.

Maggie hadn't said much, only that she appreciated that he wanted to make sure she was okay but it should be her staying. Glenn quickly protested stating he'd stay if she did.

Rick made a point to tell them the doctor said only one could stay and he had chosen Daryl.

Finally, when Daryl felt he might start shouting at all of them, Carol spoke up in her calm but commanding voice. "I think Daryl can handle escorting Beth to Virginia once she's better, he watched out for her for over a month last time we separated."

But he lost her.

Daryl said nothing but gave Carol an appreciative nod.

"If someone can get me a map of the east coast I can draw up a good route, mark some places I stayed with my dad when we looked for my uncle, they'll all be safe." Noah toed the gravel with the tip of his shoe and Daryl knew he was thinking of his family. He felt sorry for the kid, to lose his father and uncle at the same time and then get kidnapped along the way.

Michonne walked over to the car she had scavenged and pulled a map from the glove box. Noah set to work immediately drawing out a path and marking certain areas for water, safe houses, and places to avoid.

When he handed it to Daryl he shook the kids hand and gave him a small crooked grin. He had to admit he was impressed with him.

"I got these from a hunting store," Michonne walked up to Daryl and handed him a bag, he peered inside and saw a few arrows and a small handgun. "It isn't much, place was pretty cleaned out but I figured it'd help when you travel."

"Appreciate it Michonne, really."

Glenn walked up next to Michonne and handed over one walkie talkie.

"I grabbed this from an electronics store, it was under the register." He said grinning, "I don't know how good it is but I've got the other one and I managed to fix them up so they work, when you get close to Virginia you can try communicating."

"That's a great idea Glenn," Rick remarked smiling.

"Feels like Christmas," Daryl joked and everyone laughed.

Maggie ran up and gave Daryl a quick hug; something he hadn't expected.

"Take care of my sister Daryl," She whispered in his ear before letting go. He nodded and the rest of the group gave their goodbyes one by one before loading their scavenged gear into the truck and car.

Daryl stood and watched as they slowly pulled away and then turned to look back at the hospital, dark and looming; an overwhelming feeling of uneasiness settled in his chest and he did his best to ignore it as he made his way back inside.

"Mr. Dixon?"

Daryl looked up from watching Beth to find a young girl about Maggie's age standing in the doorway. She had on scrubs like the rest of the staff but she wore an apron.

"What?"

"Can I see you outside in the hall for just a minute?" She asked smiling politely, Daryl was already annoyed by her; he couldn't pin point it.

He glanced at Beth one more time before sighing and getting up, following the girl to the hall.

"Mr. Dixon my name is Alice and Dr. Edwards sent me to help you get cleaned up," She had a cart with her loaded with towels and scrubs, bathing supplies, and a few other hygiene items.

"What?"

"Well Dr. Edwards said if you're going to stay here you should represent the hospital and he thinks you ought to have a good shower, a shave, and a haircut." She said turning a little pink from his tone, "I brought clean scrubs for you too."

"I'm not wearing those stupid scrubs," Daryl said immediately turning around, he felt her catch his arm and turned to give her a death glare only to find she had one of her own trained on him.

"Now Mr. Dixon I won't tolerate your behavior, you're being very rude!" She huffed jerking his arm so he turned back towards her. "There is a bathroom right across the hall here, we have heated water, and when you're done I'm going to cut your hair for you. Don't worry I worked in a barber shop before the incident."

"You do realize this is a fucking apocalypse?" Daryl asked sarcastically, "I highly doubt a zombie is going to give a shit if I have a haircut."

"Language, Mr. Dixon." She was scolding him and it was pissing him off. She shoved a bag in his arms and pointed to the bathroom.

He could have argued but what was the point? He didn't want to get kicked out of this stupid hospital before he could get Beth out of here, so he made his way to the bathroom but managed to slam the door shut behind him just to spite her.

The bathroom was small but it did have a running shower although the water took a few minutes to heat up.

He groaned when he stepped under the scalding water and realized it had been several days since he had a chance to get cleaned up.

Okay so maybe the snippy bitch was right.

He reached over to the bag sitting outside of the shower and found some small bottles of shampoo and two tiny bar of soap, real soap…

He crammed one of each at the bottom of the bag to save for Beth when they got out of here, knowing how much she'd love it.

After he finished scrubbing himself from head to toe he stepped out and used the towel to dry off and then turned to the sink, a small mirror hung above it. He looked younger now except for the stubble growing on his face. He felt refreshed and as much as he hated it he reached for the clean scrub bottoms and t-shirt, not wanting to put his old dirty clothes back on.

He gathered up his things and opened the bathroom door where Alice was waiting for him holding up a pair of scissors with a grin.

He felt apprehensive and said nothing until a young man came by and snatched his old clothes from his hands.

"Hey!" He barked reaching for the kid's shirt.

"Let him go he's just going to wash your clothes!" Alice commanded sternly, "Now follow me I'm going to finish getting you cleaned up."

"I better get all of that back." Daryl growled as he followed Alice to a room with a surgical chair set in the middle.

"Oh calm down, I'll return it tonight and put it in your bag for you." She rolled her eyes and pointed to the seat. He plopped himself down and leaned back glaring at her.

"Don't cut me."

"I was very good at this back in the day, thank you very much." She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll just trim your hair a bit and shave your face."

"Whatever." Daryl closed his eyes as she went to work.

Snip snip snip

She felt her hand run through his hair ruffling it slightly to remove the excess trimmings and it reminded him of when Beth ran her hand through his hair once to comfort him.

He felt a slight lump rise in his throat but he just crossed his arms and allowed Alice to apply shaving cream to his face.

As she slid the razor across his face with gentle precision he started to drift off. He felt like he hadn't slept in days. Maybe he hadn't, everything had blurred together these past few weeks.

"There all done," Alice startled him from his thoughts and he opened his eyes. "See you look so much younger, probably more your age now."

"You don't know my age." Was all he had to say before glancing at the mirror she held up. He had to admit he did look his age; he looked healthier and almost normal again. He still had dark circles under his eyes and a few cuts across his face but it was an improvement to say the least.

"I'm guessing you aren't going to tell me either?" She asked with a sly grin, "Let me guess, thirty?"

"Almost, I'm actually twenty-nine."

"Darn I'm good," Alice let out a laugh, "Dr. Edwards wants you to see him in his office and I'll have someone bring ya'll supper."

Daryl nodded and stood up heading toward Dr. Edwards's office, it was crammed with junk and the doctor sat behind his desk scribbling on a sheet of paper. Daryl knocked on the door-frame to be polite and stepped in when the other man looked up.

"Hello Mr. Dixon, glad you could join me."

"Ain't nothing, and call me Daryl, Doc."

"Then call me Steve."

Daryl nodded and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Steve had books piled all over the room, in shelves, and on the floor. His desk was littered with paperwork and Daryl thought it seemed a little pointless, but then again everyone needed something to keep them going; he knew he did.

The same young man who took his clothes earlier walked in with a tray; two sandwiches and two cups of water.

Daryl grabbed his water and downed it quickly and Steve smiled raising his own before taking a sip.

"So, Daryl, we should talk about Beth's condition." He grabbed his sandwich off the tray and took a bite chewing slowly. Daryl didn't touch his, feeling this was going somewhere he wouldn't like.

"All ears." He tried to keep his tone even; he wouldn't butt heads unless he had to.

"Well we've used a lot of resources fixing her up, and I'm sure she'll need pain medications and the like once she comes to." Steve took another large bite and Daryl narrowed his eyes slightly. "So we can't have you running off too quickly after she wakes up, especially if she needs time to heal, that'll build up some debt."

Daryl had been glad he kept his knife strapped to his leg when he showered and put on the scrubs. He knew he'd eventually need it.

He reached down and unsheathed it, bringing it up so that Steve could see it. He played with it casually while maintaining eye contact with Steve who had frozen mid bite.

"See Doc, that isn't going to work for me." Daryl spoke calmly but the hidden threat was clearly delivered as Steve stared at him warily. "I promised to get Beth back to her sister and the rest of my group as quickly as possible and I don't plan on staying here long."

Steve swallowed and said nothing to this; Daryl pointed the knife at him.

"Now I know you think you could probably sick your cop friends on me and keep Beth here, but I'm a determined man Doc and if it so happens to come to that I plan on taking as many of you fuckers with me as possible and you're at the top of that list."

"Right…I'm sure we could work something out Mr. Dixon." Steve's tone was clipped but lined with fear and Daryl knew he wouldn't have trouble.

"Glad we're on the same page then." He placed his knife back in the sheath and pushed his pants back down over it.

"Doctor!" Alice came bolting into the room at that precise moment startling Daryl; She looked frantic and terrified. "The girl is awake and…just come!"

She turned around and ran back down the hall and Steve was out of his seat before Daryl could even blink.

No no no

He vaulted himself from the chair and flew down the hall after the Doctor, as he neared the room he could hear screaming and his chest felt tight.

A cop was in front of him before he made it to the door pushing him back.

"You can't go in there, the doctor doesn't need distractions!"

"Get the fuck out of my way!" Daryl shouted, he threw a punch at the cop who howled with rage and cupped his face as blood poured from his nose.

A young woman, also in a police uniform, pulled a gun and pointed it at him.

"I don't want to shoot you…" She said in a shaky voice. He recognized her as the girl who stopped him from shooting every last one of them after Beth was shot. "Please give Dr. Edwards a few minutes…Please."

He stared at her for a moment, breathing heavily. Her hands shook and he knew she didn't plan on hurting him, she didn't want to.

He raised his hands as a sign of peace and she slowly lowered her gun. The male cop had a towel pressed to his face, glaring daggers at Daryl.

"Better put some ice on that." He remarked in an arrogant tone.

The cop stormed off and Daryl noticed the screaming had stopped. He heard quiet crying and soothing words being spoken.

"What's going on?" He asked warily; he felt suddenly exhausted.

"I don't know she just woke up, I'm sorry; I'll find out."

The woman disappeared into the room closing the door firmly and Daryl slid down against the wall feeling weak.

It felt like hours had passed when she finally emerged with Dr. Edwards who had a grim look on his face.

Daryl pushed himself up quickly and strode over to the door. Dr. Edwards put a hand on his shoulder, "Daryl you might want to listen to me real quick."

"Move" His voice was acid and Dr. Edwards back away without another word.

He stepped into the room and saw her sitting up. Even with the bruising, the bandages, the cuts, she still looked gorgeous and glowing.

Her blonde hair was tangled around her and she was peering out of the window, dried tears covered her face.

"Beth"

She turned her head slowly and stared at him. He smiled at her but she just stared back with an expressionless face.

"Is it true?" She asked weakly.

"What?"

"That my whole family is dead, that a lot of people are dead, that the world is gone…" She started crying again and Daryl felt his heart drop into his stomach.

"You look so familiar…" She spoke softly; he closed his eyes tightly not wanting to hear anymore. He wanted to get out of here; rewind, go back to the funeral home, ignore the damn door and the stupid dog. He wanted to go back to that moment and stay there forever.

"You don't remember me?" He didn't mean for it to sound so pathetic but at this point he didn't care.

She looked at him sadly; he could see the wheels turning in her head, trying to remember.

"I'm so sorry…I don't."

Okay I'm sorry! I wasn't going to leave it there but it felt right for some reason. Don't hate me. Let me know what you think.

As a side note for anyone wondering, the story is clearly more in the mind of Daryl right now and I'm making it clear he cares about her since I'm going off of what happened at the cabin. In later chapters there will be some input from Beth's mind. I just wanted to clear any confusion and didn't want anyone to think I'm rushing this, he does care about her its super obvious even in the show. But yeah, again let me know what you think!