Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, wow! I'm so glad there's still people here to read this, it's awesome! Enjoy this chapter, and prepare for a little less drama…a little of the lovin'!

Chapter Eighteen

The men ran towards the farmhouse, Lila now lay in the warmth of Daryl's arms, cradled against his chest. As Hershel's home came into view, he sped up, making sure to be gentle with her. He had to fight the urge to scream and shout and argue, he told himself it was useless – being angry with her would make no difference to what had happened.

"Bring me everything in my case, Maggie, I'll need it," Hershel stated as he met Daryl, Rick and Shane at the edge of the field, "Bring her straight up stairs." He ordered as he made his way inside.

As Daryl walked up the stairs, into the first bedroom and lay Lila on the bed, he looked down at her face, covered entirely in blood and patterned with bruises, she was a shadow of her former self.

"I understand she's important to you Daryl, but I'm goin' to need you to leave for a few moments, we need to gather a game plan of some sort," Hershel said, as calm as ever.

"I ain't leavin'." Daryl's voice was heavy and stern.

"Let him work, Daryl," Rick said calmly, his hand reaching for Daryl's arm, but he pulled away violently, taking a swing for him without thinking, but Rick dodged, Shane gripping Daryl's arms and holding him back.

"You can drag my sorry ass outside but I'll be back in here in a second. I. Ain't. Leavin'." Daryl's voice was determined as he turned his attention back to the unconscious Lila, blood oozed from the stab wound at her side.

"She's got a lot of damage to the tissue and muscle along her left side, isn't much I can do about that now. Knife went in at an angle, I can repair some of it in the meantime, but she'll have pain, maybe for the rest of her life, I can't be sure," Hershel said as he began trying to repair some of the damage. Daryl watched as Lila began to stir, her eyes fluttering awake sleepily, she tried to move away as she was hit by the rush of pain from her injuries.

"Someone has to keep her still," Hershel's voice rang out and immediately Daryl was at Lila's side, he tried his best to get her attention but the panic in her eyes was almost too painful for him to witness.

"Hey, hey, we got'cha, you're back at the farm, you'll be fine." Daryl spoke, his voice low and calm as his hand brushed lightly against her hair. It was so sudden, Daryl barely had time to notice the movement, her eyes closed, her chest fell and didn't rise, her fingertips twitched before stilling.

"What's happened?" He asked, but he was cut off as Lila's body went into a fit of spasms, shaking and rattling the bed beneath her.

"She's having a seizure, I need you to put a pillow behind her head, make sure she doesn't hurt herself," Hershel added, and Daryl couldn't move, he stood, staring, unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Get him out of here! Maggie, hold her shoulders!" Hershel shouted amidst the chaos.

Hours passed, Daryl was sat in the dining room of the farm house, a number of the others joined him in silence as they waited. The creek of footsteps on the stairs was enough to cause almost everyone to jump to attention.

Hershel appeared seconds later, rubbing his hands against each other before he paused.

"She's stable it wasn't good for an hour or so, we weren't sure what the biggest problem was, but we found some bleeding, a wound at her head that looked pretty serious," Hershel paused "She seems okay for now, but we'll need to see…we wont know until…if she wakes up. We won't know how serious it is. In the meantime, we need supplies, antibiotics, bandages, painkillers."

"I'll go, ain't no use in me sittin' here doin' nothin'…"Daryl stood up, throwing his crossbow over his shoulder.

"You should stay, she'll be frightened when she wakes up, she'll want you there," Lori stated, surprising the rest of the group and causing Daryl to stop and frown back at her.

"I ain't her keeper," Daryl said before he swiftly exited the farmhouse.

"I'll go with him," Glenn said, following out of the house.

"I better go up there, she'll need to have someone there when she wakes up, I owe her that at the very least." Lori said, smiling at Carl, ruffling his hair before she made her way towards Lila's room. As she opened the door and seen her lying there, it was difficult not to feel bad. This young girl had sacrificed herself for Carl and that was something that Lori would never forget. Lori lay a hand on top of Lila's and couldn't stop herself shedding a tear as she spoke.

"Thank you," She whispered, "Whatever family you had before all of this, they'd be proud of what you've done. I certainly won't forget it."

The room was silent as the sun began to shine through the window and into Lila's room. Her eyes fluttered uncomfortably open, a pain shot through her head and echoed in her ear as she struggled to move. She grasped at the pain in her side, unable to stop herself from screaming through gritted teeth.

"Calm down, you're alright, Hershel!" A female voice rang out around Lila but she couldn't begin to comprehend it. She writhed in pain upon the bed, trying desperately to escape.

"We have to give her something, she's in too much pain!"

"There's nothing to give, Lori. We have nothing left, we used all the pain meds we had to keep her knocked out through the surgery. We won't have anything until Daryl gets back and that's only if he's managed to find something."

"Knock me out, please!" Lila screamed at them as they stood discussing the matter, her eyes blurred and tearing up as she spoke.

"I'm begging you to knock me out!" She repeated.

"We can't do that Lila, it's great you're awake we can't risk you falling unconscious again so quickly, you need to wait until Daryl gets back, he might have something," Hershel said as he moved Lila back onto the bed, lifting her vest to examine the wound, his face twisted at the angry flesh that shone a bright red in colour around the wound. An engine sounded from outside and immediately Lila was struggling against Hershel in an attempt to get to the window.

"Is it Daryl?" She asked, Lori, moved to the window and she nodded.

"That's him," Lori replied and immediately Lila shakily moved off of the bed, her hands clinging to the sheets to steady herself.

"You'll do yourself more harm by moving, Lila," Hershel prompted as he attempted to lead her back to bed. She pulled away from him groaning at the pain she felt in her side.
"I spent the past few days thinking I'd never get to see him again, you can try and stop me but I'll fight until there's nothing left." There were tears in Lila's eyes that she managed to ignore as she limped out of the room, holding her side as she clung to the banister and walked down the stairs.

As she walked through the house and outside, she stood on the porch, other's turned to look at her as she limped towards Daryl, who was searching through the supplies he'd gathered, his back turned.

"Daryl?" Lila managed to mutter with a dry mouth as she moved slowly towards him, the pain racked her body but she ignored it as best she could. The second Daryl turned to look at her, the pain was worth it. She halted, staring into his eyes before he ran towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist; his face nestled in her hair, suddenly what the others knew wasn't important to him anymore, all that mattered was keeping Lila safe.

"You're an idiot," Daryl said, stepping back to cup Lila's face in his hands.

"I won't argue with that," She laughed, the tears falling freely as she studied Daryl's concerned expression – trying so hard to pierce his tough exterior.

"You're stupid but you were brave. I respect that…" He said, his tone gentle, "But if you ever do anythin' like that again, I swear to god, LB."

Lila laughed, "Okay."

"Promise, Lila, I ain't doin' this again, I ain't watchin' you killin' yourself and actin' like you know it all and can do it all and whatever."

"I promise, it's over," Lila said, a sad smile played on her lips, she knew that it would never be truly over. Erik was dead, Daryl had killed him…but her family could still be out there, and she was determined to find them, just not now. She needed to let herself enjoy Daryl, even if it was selfish and even if it was just for a little while.