Chapter 24: Always

A bright light and a door was the only thing that Brooke saw. She looked down and saw that she was dressed in a white, draped gown, her hair flowing over her shoulders in soft curls. She was confused as to what was going on as the door suddenly opened. A bell rung and she slowly approached the door. She walked through and saw a counter, a single table, a chair, and a mug of peppermint tea on one of the tables.

"The café? Is all this real?" she asked in disbelief. There was fog that moved when she walked over to the table with caution. She sat down and grabbed the mug. She took a cautious drink and the tea simmered down her throat. "It is real." She realized softly. She looked down at her arm and it was completely healed up and unscarred. She heard the back door open and Shane walked through. Brooke stood up and took a couple of steps back from him. He was dressed in a white suit and he had all of his hair back.

"Hey baby girl." He said and she was unsure whether to be afraid of him or hug him. "It's okay." He told her and she gave in. She ran over to him and engulfed him in a hug.

"Shane, where are we?" she asked. "Where's Daryl? Dean?"

"They're back there." Brooke looked behind her but all she saw was the table and the door.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"I don't really know where exactly we are right now. I have a general idea though." He explained. "I just came from the big man."

"So, are we close to heaven?" she asked.

"Brooke, right now you are in the middle of life and death." He told her.

"The middle?" she asked.

"You can choose what you want to do at this time. God is giving you a chance to choose if you want to be with us or continue living." He explained.

"Is Mom here?" she asked.

"And Dad." He replied and a rush of sadness came over her face.

"Amber?" she asked with a little shred of hope left. Shane looked at her and ran a hand through his hair.

"And Eric." He added and she had to sit down. Mom, Dad, Shane, Amber, and Eric? They were all there. The people that had raised her and grew up with her, gone. The back door opened again and an auburn haired woman walked out in a white, draped dress.

"Mom!" Brooke exclaimed and ran to her mother. Brooke started to cry as she felt her mother's touch.

"Sh baby, I'm here." Her mother cooed as Brooke sobbed. Mrs. Gina cupped Brooke's face as tears fell down her daughters face. "You have a beautiful son." Brooke's mouth opened to say something but she just hugged her mother again.

"I miss you Mom." Brooke told her.

"I miss you too sweetie." Mrs. Gina smiled and kissed her forehead. Dr. Walsh came back out and Brooke jumped to him.

"Daddy!" she said and hugged her father, who towered over her.

"Hey sweetie." He said.

"I'm so sorry." She told him but he just shushed her. "Did you go to the beach house?"

"No." he told her. "I was going to but I got bit." Brooke covered her mouth in horror of the image of her father getting bit. "I'm not a walker, I ended it even before it began."

"Daddy…" she drifted off.

"Sweetie, why don't you sit down?" Dr. Walsh suggested and she nodded. She sat down as her family stood in front of her.

"So, what's up?" she asked awkwardly.

"We're just here to help you with your decision." Mrs. Gina told her. "Ask us any questions."

"What's heaven like?" Brooke asked.

"Better than described at church." Shane answered.

"And don't be afraid of dying." Dr. Walsh told her. "It's just like falling asleep." Brooke was a little over whelmed.

"This is your decision Brooke." Shane told her and held one of her hands. "You can walk through that door with us or you can go back and wake up."

"You have a wonderful family Brooke." Dr. Walsh told her. "Daryl's a good husband." Brooke nodded.

"He is." She agreed.

"Dean is a wonderful kid." Shane added. "He has a strong middle name." they all chuckled and Brooke bit her bottom lip and shook her head.

"I wish you were all there to meet him." She told them as tears filled her eyes.

"We are." Mrs. Gina said. "We're always here for you."

"So, what will it be Brooke?" Dr. Walsh asked.

"We're not asking you to join us, baby girl. This is your decision." Shane said.

Daryl

"Daryl, it's almost been a week." Herschel told him. Daryl was holding Dean and Brooke's hand. Dean had been taking it pretty harshly. He would cry for his mother and repeat 'ma-ma' as Daryl tried to soothe him. He tried to sing him the lullaby that Brooke sang him but Dean still wanted his mother.

"She can still make it." Daryl grunted. Daryl had been taking this badly as well. There was no way he would be able to do this without her. He wouldn't be able to go on without her.

"It's very slim. Without all the things we had before her chances of living are very slim." Herschel added.

"She's still breathin'." Daryl said, determined for Brooke to be alive. Herschel shook his head at the man's blindness. Herschel knew that the most likely event is that she would die in her sleep. He needed to convince Daryl of that. Herschel opened his mouth to say something else. "Don't you have other patients?" Daryl snapped, tired and angry. Herschel walked out of the room defeated.

"Ma-ma comin' back?" Dean asked and Daryl looked down at his son. He didn't answer him. "Da, is Ma-ma comin' back?" Daryl heard a faint whimper.

"Daryl…" he heard and looked over at Brooke. Her breathing had picked up and she lightly squeezed his hand.

"Brooke?" he asked as he leaned closer. Dean held himself up by her bed. Brooke's eyes fluttered open and her head swirled a little.

"Mama!" Dean exclaimed. Brooke turned her head weakly.

"Daryl." She said again and Daryl held her hand tighter.

"I'm here Brooke." He told her and kissed her. "Do you need anything?"

"Water." She told him and he rushed to get her some water. She felt her bed shaking a little and Dean had climbed up on the bed. He was now nine months old and she had missed it. "Hey baby." She greeted with a weak smile.

"Mama okay!" he celebrated and kissed her cheek. He rested his head on her collarbone and she kissed his forehead.

"Yeah bud, I'm okay." She tried to reach him with her right arm but winced in pain. She looked down at her arm and it was stitched furiously. She knew she would never be able to get rid of the scars but she didn't care at that point. She wondered if she could even use her arm again.

"Mama wiggle her fingers." Dean told her softly as Daryl came back over with the water. He helped her drink it and she felt a million times better.

"I wiggled my fingers?" she asked the two.

"Ya!" Dean replied.

"You were able to use your fingers." Daryl said. "Herschel said that you should be able to have full use of your arm, you just have some dead nerves in there so you won't be able to feel a lot in your right arm."

"Daryl, I'm so sorry." She told him.

"What? Why?" he asked.

"I said I would never leave you again and I-"

"Hush now." He told her. "No one could've predicted that this would happen." He kissed her forehead.

"I love you Daryl."

"I love you too Brooke."

"I wasn't ready to leave you." She told him. "I couldn't."

"What do you mean 'you couldn't'?" he asked.

"They were all there Daryl." She began to tell him. "Shane, Mom, Dad, they were there in the café. They were in heaven and I was in the middle. God had given me a choice of what I wanted to do. I didn't want to leave you, so I came back." Daryl couldn't help but question her actions. He had heard about people in coma's meeting God or dead loved ones and he believed Brooke.

"Brooke, you could've been out of here. Away from the walkers, away-"

"Away from you, away from Dean." she finished or him. "I wasn't going to leave all of this behind. I love my life too much to give it up."

"Even now in the screwed up world?" he asked.

"Even now." She told him. "The world has always been strange but this is a new version of it. I'm not finished exploring it with you." Daryl kissed her again and Dean had fallen asleep on his mother's shoulder. "I need you Daryl."

"I need you too Brooke, always." He told her softly and she smiled.

"Always."