Chapter 38

Finally, after two long hours, she saw Terminus. She almost sobbed with relief. Daryl had passed out again and she been unable to get a response from him for over an hour. She felt faint and queasy and knew she wasn't far from blacking out.

"Just a few minutes more" she tried telling herself, as she stared at the buildings in the distance. She saw the gate and saw Beth and Mitchel on duty. Her vision was edged with black and she couldn't focus, she felt herself slipping away and the car started to veer to the edge of the road. She tried to correct it but it was too late. The vehicle left the pavement and slid onto the gravel edging. It's tyres couldn't find a grip and she lost control. She saw Beth and Mitchell look at the car, waving their arms and shouting and then the car hit a rock and it flipped over. The last thing she remembered was the screeching of metal and the smell of spilt fuel.

She came too lying on a soft mattress in a brightly lit room. She tried to sit up but couldn't move her arm. Her side hurt as well. Suddenly things came flooding back.

"Daryl!" she cried out, trying again to sit.

Gentle hands caught her shoulders, pushing her carefully back down as she struggled.

"He's okay, Eleanor, don't worry, he's fine." A soft voice reassured her "In fact he's doing better than you"

She let a wave of dizziness pass before trying to speak.

"What happened?" she asked vaguely.

She felt movement as someone sat on the mattress next to her and a warm hand took hold of hers.

"You came racing up the road in a big ol'muscle car, then flipped it over and damn near came through the gates on its roof. Scared the hell out of Beth and Mitchel. It was only when we realised it was you two and pulled you out the wreck we found all the other injuries. If you hadn't been wearing your seatbelts you'd both be dead now" Eleanor's head had finally cleared enough she could see it was Carol sitting with her, her usually calm face twisted with worry.

"You've been shot and lost a lot of blood. The bullet was still in the wound and it took Bob a while to get it out. One of the container survivors, Sarah, has O negative blood, which means she can give to anyone. She donated three times in two days; guess she saved your life. You managed to re-break your wrist, as well as three ribs and I'm betting you hurt all over." Carol explained everything to Eleanor.

She tried to sit up again. "I guess I owe this Sarah woman big time" She looked at Carol, confused "you said she donated 3 times in two days, how long have I been out of it?"

"Best part of five days" Carol told her softly "Bob couldn't wake you up. We had to put you on an IV and just pray you came out of it yourself"

Eleanor slumped back into the pillows, she was exhausted. Every part of her body hurt. Even breathing was painful. She decided to close her eyes for just a moment, just until the world stopped spinning.

It was dark when she opened her eyes again, this time her head felt better and she was desperately thirsty. Cautiously she tried to pull herself up.

"Keep still, woman. Don't try movin' yet" a gruff voice sounded close to her ear. She turned her head and saw Daryl sitting in a chair at the bedside. He was battered and bruised and one arm was wrapped in a sling.

She managed a smile "Do I look as bad as you?" she quipped.

He frowned at her "Don't joke 'bout it. You had us all worried" He got off the chair and sat on the bed next to her, his back against the wall. He grasped her hand tightly. "Had me worried for a while" he confessed. She smiled at him.

"Don't worry about me; remember you said I got nine lives?" She wiggled closer to him, her hip pressed against his.

"You need to be more careful, not sure how many them lives you got left" he pointed out, wrapping his arm round her shoulder and pulling her closer.

"What happened to your arm, that weren't hurt when we left the town?" Eleanor asked him.

He gave her a stern look "Got broke when you crashed the damn car" he complained.

"I can't believe I smashed up that sweet car, it was so cool" she frowned.

He shook his head "Arm's broke and you're more upset about the car" He managed to look so insulted she started to laugh, which seemed to offend him even more, which then caused her to laugh harder.

Bob entered the medical room to find a bemused Daryl sitting next to a hysterically laughing Eleanor.

"I increased the pain medication when she woke up earlier, looks like I need to reduce it a bit" he commented with an amused look. He asked Daryl to leave so he could examine her wound but she caught his hand as he went to move.

"He can stay," she said "Aint gonna see anything he hasn't already seen" she smiled happily at both men, as Daryl blushed and Bob hid his look of amusement.

Once Bob had checked the injury and redressed it he went to leave the two of them alone.

"The wound's healing well, no infection, but she really needs to rest. Plenty of bed rest but no strenuous activity for a while" He gave them both a meaningful look.

"Aw Doc" Eleanor pouted at him "If we can't go all the way, can we still make out?"

Bob carefully avoided looking at Daryl; he could guess the expression on his face. He thought for a second before replying.

"I think it will be best if you avoid any physical activity for at least a few more days" He risked a glance at the embarrassed hunter.

"I'll start to reduce the meds in the morning, that'll get her back to normal." He informed him, getting a curt nod in response. He left the room quickly, before it could become any more awkward.

"Damn it Ellie" Daryl faced the contented woman on the bed "Could you be any more…" He didn't finish the sentence because she grabbed his shirt and pulled him down for a long kiss.

"Doc didn't say we couldn't do that" she grinned, once she'd released him. With a sigh he climbed back onto the bed, letting her snuggle against his side. She was asleep within a few minutes. He watched her sleep for a while, thinking how grateful he was she was still with him. They'd had far too many close calls recently and it scared him how close he'd been to losing her. Finally he let himself relax and drift off to sleep.