AN: Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. You guys are awesome. Hope you're liking the story so far. Read on.
Daryl opened his eyes at the sound of a soft moan beside him. Carol was lying there, still wrapped in his arms, a grimace on her face as she pressed her hand to her head. "Carol?" he said quietly, not wanting to scare her.
She opened her eyes for a split second before tightly squeezing them shut again. "Daryl, I didn't mean to wake you."
Fear gripped him as he moved himself to look at her. She was pale, her small bruises standing out even more against the white of her skin. Her body was tense and the look of pain on her face was enough to make his heart break. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked quietly.
"I just have a headache. I get them all the time. It'll go away soon, they never last very long." she replied, her pain evident in just her voice.
He placed his hand on top of the one she held against her temple, his fingers brushing against the skin on her forehead. She was burning up. He moved to pull himself away from her, ready to go get Hershel. But she just gripped him tighter.
"I know what you're gonna do, but you can't. It'll go away soon, just stay here with me."
Daryl was torn between his need to help her and the promise he had made her not to tell anyone about her condition. He decided after a moment of thought that he was going to try and do both. "Carol, I'm not going to say anything to anyone. I'm just going to get you something for the pain. I'm only going to be gone a second, okay? I'll be right back." He pulled himself from her before she had a chance to argue, and crept quietly out to the perch where all of his stuff was. He quickly located the bottle of pain pills that had been left over from his brother's stash. He grabbed a bottle of water and a rag before making his way back to her. Sitting down on the bed, he heard her moan again. He gently moved her head to his lap, and poured some of the cold water on the rag, placing it on her forehead. She seemed so weak, she didn't even fight him as he placed a pill in her mouth and gave her a sip of water. She opened her eyes for a moment, gazing up at him with a grateful look. "Thank you." she said quietly, closing her eyes again. He didn't say anything, just held her and watched her until he could see that the tension was leaving her body, her face beginning to relax as the medicine took effect. After a while, he removed the wet rag from her skin, and though she was still too warm, her fever had broken. He was scared to move. She looked so fragile right now. Suddenly everything became so much more real to him. He knew she was sick, he knew she was going to die. It was killing him inside, but he knew that was the way things were. But seeing her like this, so weak, in so much pain. It hurt him so deeply that he wanted to scream. This wasn't fair. She didn't deserve it. As the first faint rays of morning sun entered the room, Daryl watched as she opened her eyes. She looked like she was on the brink of tears when she saw his worried face above her. She hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"I'm sorry Daryl."
He was confused by her statement. "What the hell you sorry for?" he asked softly.
A few tears rolled down her cheeks but she didn't break down. "I'm sorry for this. Last night was so wonderful, and I ruined it."
He couldn't believe it. She was apologizing to him for her pain ruining their night together. He felt his temper rising, but he bit it back. Getting mad at her sure wasn't going to help anything. He moved his hand to her face, rubbing his thumb across her wet cheek. "Carol, don't do that. Nothin' was ruined. Even with all this, it was still the best damn night of my life. I knew what I was getting myself into when I told you I loved you. A headache and a fever ain't gonna change that." He moved to lie back down beside her, watching the look on her face as she processed his words.
"It was the best night of mine, too." she said quietly, closing the small distance between them and kissing him tenderly on the lips. When she pulled away, he was smiling at her.
"Are you feelin' better?"
She nodded softly. "It's gone now. Fever too. I get one every time the headache comes."
He was relieved that her pain had subsided, but he knew that it would return. He didn't know what else he could do. He was a man of action, if there was a problem he'd figure out a way to fix it. But there was no solution to be found here. This is what his life was going to be. He could help her, try and make her life a little better while she was still here, but in the end there was nothing more he could do but watch her die. And she knew that. She had warned him that this wouldn't be easy, and she had been right. But he had meant what he said. He needed her, now and for as long as he could hold on to her. They laid together for a while longer, a new kind of understanding between them. He had seen everything now, and he wasn't running.
Carol finally broke the silence between them. "Daryl, we need to get up. You need to go hunting and I have work to do."
He knew she was right about him needing to hunt, but there was no way that she was working today, not after the hell she had just been through. He pulled himself away from her, standing up next to the bed. She moved to follow, but he gently pushed he back down. She looked up at him with a confused expression. "Daryl, I need to work. I can't do that from this bed."
He shook his head, a stern look on his face. "No. I ain't letting you do that. You just spent over an hour with your head in my lap, looking like someone split your skull open. You need to rest for awhile."
She gently pushed away his hand from where it was still resting on her shoulder. She sat up on the edge of the bed, never taking her eyes off his. "I need to work. I need to move. I can't just lie here and wait for things to get worse. They're going to one way or another, but right now I need to do what I always do. I can't live my life if all I'm doing is waiting for it to end."
She was right. He knew it and so did she. It didn't mean he liked it. "Carol, I'm just worried about you. It killed me seeing you like that this morning. It killed me when I had to pick you up and carry you into this cell because you were so weak you couldn't even hold yourself up. I just don't understand why you're pushing yourself like this."
"I'm pushing myself because it's all I know how to do. Everyone needs me. I have to do what I can to help them while I have the chance."
He sat down on the edge of the bed and took her hand. "I know you want to help, but do you think for a second that if everyone else knew what was going on that they'd be letting you work the way you do. Think about it, when you're gone, do you think anyone is going to care that you left them with clean clothes or full stomachs. They are going to be angry with themselves for not seeing what was going on. For not taking some of the load off of you. I still think you need to tell the group that you're sick."
She looked at him, knowing he was right. But she wasn't ready. Not yet. "I'll tell them soon. I promise you that. I just want a few more days. A few more happy days before I tell everyone. Can you give me that?"
He nodded. He suddenly had an idea. "I can give you that if you'll do something for me. Come with me today?"
She couldn't hide her smile when she heard his request. "You want me to go hunting with you? Me? I'm not a very good shot, if you haven't noticed. Nearly took Rick's foot off the first day we came here."
He chuckled a little bit at the memory of Carol on the watchtower, shakily wielding a rifle that was way too heavy for her to have been shooting in the first place. He also remembered later that night, the way she had leaned into his touch when he had tried to rub the pain from the kickback out of her shoulder. The way she had teased him, asking him if he wanted to screw around. He had loved her even then, but he was too much of a pussy to tell her that. He just laughed it off and changed the subject. Looking back, he wished that he had taken her up on it. They would've had so much more time together. But he was happy with the time they had now and he was determined to make the most of it. He shook the memory away as she looked at him, waiting for an answer.
"I want you to come with me. I ain't asking you to shoot nothin', not even asking you to carry it. Just want you with me. Beth and Maggie can handle things here for one more day. It won't even be that hard, just a nice quiet walk in the woods."
She was convinced. "Okay, I'll go with you. But I'm not going along just to stand there while you do all the work. I'm not that fragile, I don't think carrying a couple of dead squirrels is going to do me in."
He leaned forward and kissed her. "Stubborn ass woman." he said affectionately when he pulled away.
She smiled and pulled him back to her for one more kiss. "I am stubborn, and don't you forget it."
Daryl was already dressed, never having taken his clothes off the night before. He picked Carol's jeans up from the floor and handed them to her. She stood up and slipped them on, not even bothering to find her panties, something that had not gone unnoticed by Daryl. She looked down at her shirt, and after a moment of thought, peeled it off and slipped on a clean red tank top. She was reaching for her familiar brown cardigan when Daryl stopped her. "It's too hot out there for this. I don't need you passin' out on me again."
She looked at him, still touched by his concern. "It's okay. I'll take it off as soon as we get in the woods."
He agreed and she threw the thin sweater on, shielding her bruises. He grabbed his crossbow and his bag of hunting gear and they made their way down into the common room. Everyone was sitting around eating breakfast and when they saw the couple enter, hand in hand, they all looked up, mumbling greetings. Daryl was prepared for the comments, the questions about he and Carol's newfound relationship, but they never came. It was as if nothing had changed, as if he and Carol had always been together. Maybe they had been? The only difference was that now they knew it. Daryl pulled Carol over to the stove, pouring them each a cup of coffee. He grabbed them each a plate of food and they made their way over to the table where Rick and Michonne sat, going over plans for a run. menu both looked up when he and Carol sat down. They were both smiling but neither one said a word. "Everyone is acting so damn weird this morning." Daryl thought to himself as he chewed his tasteless eggs. Carol was just picking at her food, and took a few bites before pushing it onto Daryl's plate when he wasn't looking. When they had finished eating, Daryl stood up and dropped their dishes in the sink. Carol followed close behind him, wondering how she was going to ask Beth to do her chores today. Daryl took care of that worry.
"I'm takin' Carol huntin' with me. Ya'll think you can manage without her takin' care of you all day?" he announced to the group.
Beth spoke up before anyone else got the chance. "I can do everything here. I kind of like having something to do all day other than sit around and worry."
Carol looked at the young blonde girl. "Thank you sweetie. I appreciate that. I just thought it would be nice for me to get out of here for a while. Learn to do something besides cooking and cleaning."
Everyone agreed, and wished them good luck as they began to make their way from the room. Daryl stopped when he heard Glenn call from behind them.
"Watch out for poison ivy. It's a bitch if you get it in, um, sensitive areas."
There is was. The comment he had been waiting for. Figured it would be Glenn to make it. Daryl didn't get angry, just smirked as he called back over his shoulder. "Shut it Glenn, unless you want a matching fist print on your other arm." He heard Maggie giggle and he led Carol out into the yard with a look of satisfaction on his face.
Thanks for reading. Updates soon. Please review! I'm a little unsure about this story right now and I would love to hear your thoughts. Constructive criticism welcome.