Me To You

"Hey," Glenn said in greeting as he stepped into the room that Carl was in. His heart dropped to his feet at the sight of the boy lying in the bed, as pale as snow. Rick didn't look much better and Lori seemed as though she were in shock. T-Dog stepped up behind him, looking through the room. There was a man taking Carl's blood pressure and another woman sitting near the door. "We brought someone that we think might be able to make things a bit easier."

Lori and Rick looked over to him, wondering what he meant. Jamie stepped around him and T-Dog then, her hands in the pockets of her jeans with a solemn look on her face. It was easy to tell that Rick had been giving blood by the look on his face and she really hoped that she would be able to help.

"You're an O- blood type," Lori said in understanding, realisation coming to her. The man on the bed looked over to where Jamie was standing, her posture showing just how unsure she was of the situation she was in. It was the first time that they had seen her look awkward in any situation.

"That's good, Rick can't give much more before he risks his own life," the man said evenly.

"Come on," Maggie said from the doorway, "I'll get y'all something to eat."

They were taken to the kitchen and given something to drink so that Maggie could make them each a sandwich, the silence that hung in the room was hard to stand. Jamie let T-Dog and Glenn receive their food first, waiting until last to get something to eat. She just leaned against the doorframe with a blank stare, wondering if she's be sitting where Rick was with Daryl in the bed.

ᵻ

"It ain't the mountains of Tibet," Daryl snapped as he watched the path in front of him and Andrea. "It's Georgia. She can be holed off in a farm house somewhere. People get lost, they survive; happens all the time," he explained, moving the flashlight about in several directions for any sign of movement; whether it be a walker or Sophia.

"She's only twelve," Andrea reminded, sound unbelieving.

"Hell, I was younger than her and I got lost," Daryl said after a heartbeat. "Nine days, in the woods, eating barriers and wiping my ass with poison oak," he told, not noticing the look that came to Andrea's face as she tried to picture it.

"They found you?"

"My old man was off on some bender with a waitress, Merle was doing another stint in Juvie; didn't even know i's gone," Daryl explained, looking between Andrea and the woods around them. "I made my way back, though. Went straight into the kitchen 'n made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear," he said as he looked carefully through the trees on his right, where he was exposed to anything that came out. "Except my ass itched something awful."

Andrea snorted as she tried not to laugh, covering her mouth as Daryl turned to give her a look. "Sorry," she laughed softly, speaking into her hand. "I'm sorry, that is a terrible story." Even as she said this she still couldn't help laughing, causing Daryl to as well.

"Jamie laughed enough to bust a gut when I told her." Andrea sobered slightly at the mention of the other blonde, someone that she didn't truly understand. "The only difference here is that Sophia's got people looking for her. I call that an advantage."

They walked in silence for a minute more before the curiosity and the need to know finally got the better of her. "How'd you and Jamie meet, anyway?" she asked softly, not chancing a look over at him. "I mean, you two don't exactly seem like the kind of people to get along, let alone date."

"We get that a lot, actually," Daryl admitted. "People see me and they think of this guy that just spends his days drinkin' and leering a women. They see Jamie and they think of a woman working in some high up office in the city. Truth is that I never really cared for women like Merle did. Guess I kind of got the impression that they would just ruin my life because of what I saw with my dad and brother. I met Jamie in high school, just a while before I dropped out."

"You guys went to high school together?" Andrea asked in disbelief, looking over to him doubtfully.

"Yea," Daryl encouraged, "She walked passed my place every morning on her way in, the exact same time every day. She had it timed out so that she got to the class just as the bell was ringing; drove her teachers insane." Daryl was grinning at the memory of the one time he had been to class early and had watched Jamie step through the door with the bell just beginning to scream throughout the halls, grinning to the teacher and skipping to her seat.

"Let me guess, she was the only person in school that was nice to you?"

"Nah, she was a bitch to me. But it wasn't in the way that all the other girls were, she only ever snapped at me when I did something first and even then she was always more amused than angry. I didn't understand her at all at the time. One day, Merle got put in the hospital because he got his teeth kicked in and I had to go drag his ass home." Daryl paused for a moment, as though he was trying to think of a way to tell the story properly. "She was there with her dad, visitin' her ma. I ran into her in the hallway when I was trying to find Merle's room, she'd been crying and her face was all red. I'd never seen her do anythin' but smile so it was weird.

"She said hi to me, even though she was crying and worried about her ma, the second she saw me she said hi and smiled. After that day we just started talkin', didn't fight no more when we saw each other."

Andrea paused a moment as she looked down at the path under her feet, wondering why Daryl was actually answering all her questions. "You were there when her parents died?"

"Yea, her mom died a week after her eighteenth birthday. She crawled through my window in the middle of the night after leaving her dad at home, her back wrapped in bandages, and asked if she could stay the night."

"That was when she got her tattoo," Andrea said, more to herself than as a question to Daryl. He stopped walking suddenly, turning to face Andrea. She was surprised at the abruptness of it, halting her own stride to look over at him.

"You need to lay off her, a'right? I know that you don't really like her because she gets a gun, and she didn't lose someone close to her, but the next time you get angry at her for still having me around think about the fact that within the span of a year, she lost her mom, her dad, her home and all of the money that she had saved up for college to pay for everything. She's had a hard fuckin' life, and she doesn't need it thrown in her face."

ᵻ

"Jamie!" Lori nearly screamed as she tore into the kitchen like the hounds of hell were at her heels. "Carl needs more blood, please," she gasped out, moving over to where Jamie was only halfway through her sandwich. She didn't need to ask twice before the blonde had dropped her food onto the plate, wiped her mouth and taken off toward the room that Carl was in.

Rick was standing at Carl's side when she walked in, only moving so that she could sit down as Hershel directed and placed her arm on the armrest of the chair, letting him press a needle into the exposed vein of her arm. She winced slightly once it was in, everything happening so fast that she barely even had time to tell herself to fist up her hand.

"Thank you, Jay," Rick said as he took a hold of her other hand for a moment, getting a nod of understanding in return before he moved back to his son, placing one hand on Carl's leg and hoping that he knew he was there. Hershel soon moved aside to let the blood take effect, watching as Jamie leaned back in the chair. At least now Rick was out of danger.

It didn't take long for the fatigue of giving blood to set in, the lack of proper food and nutrition going straight to Jamie's head as she sat in the chair next to Carl's bed. She sat there for a while, watching Carl's pale face, Lori's fearful one and Rick's equally pale and fearful one. She almost didn't want to let Hershel remove the needle when he started to, because she knew that it wasn't enough to save Carl's life.

"I can't thank you enough, Jamie," Lori said as she squeezed the younger woman's knee in one hand, no other words needed between them as Jamie smiled softly. It was the least she could do. Maggie came in with the sandwich that Jamie had been forced to leave behind and a glass of juice so she didn't pass out when she went to stand, letting her eat it at the bedside like she had with Rick.

A loud commotion woke her later into the night, asleep on the living room couch with her head at an odd angle, the sounds of rushed voices and people moving about. Jamie rolled her neck as she tried to work the kinks free and turned toward the doorway where Lori and Rick were walking by, worry colouring their features. Jamie stumbled her way over toward the door to the front porch of the house, moving out to where Lori and Rick were sitting on the front steps. T-Dog was sitting in the chair a couple feet away, his arm stitched and bandaged. She made her way over to him.

"What happened?"

"Shane came back," he answered as he motioned over to the blue truck that sat before the pathway, Shane leaning against the front of it as he sat on the dirt. "The guy that went with him didn't make it. Otis. They're in working on Carl right now."

"How's your arm?" she asked after a pregnant pause, looking down at the fresh bandages.

"Hurts like a bitch," he answered, causing her to grin softly. "They say it was the antibiotics that Dixon gave me that saved my life. Thank that redneck, asshole boyfriend of yours for me, a'right?" Jamie smiled softly as she looked out at the darkness that surrounded the house, the worry of walkers not as strong as any other time.

"Fiancé," she corrected softly, getting a look from the tall black man. She didn't say anything else on the matter and moved over to the railing around the porch, pulling herself up to sit on the wide wood and lean against one of the posts carefully, angling herself so that she wasn't leaning on her bruise.

The night felt surreal, as though it was a bad dream that they needed to wake up from. The peaceful surroundings of the house made everything feel calm, stuck in place; but when you peeled away the surface layers there are millions of problems moving around and twisting things into one huge knot. They'd only just lost Sophia—didn't even know if she was still alive—and then Carl got shot. The entire group was in disorder and they needed to pull themselves back together before everyone fell apart at the seams.

It seemed like they'd been sitting there forever, just thinking and sitting around—helpless—before Hershel finally stepped out into the porch. Everyone got to their feet at once, looking over to him.

"He seems to have stabilized," Hershel announced, gaining a collective sigh of relief. Rick looked ready to collapse in relief at the words, holding on to Lori's hand tightly. Jamie smiled at them, relieved to hear that Carl was going to be alright. He wasn't saved just yet, but now he had a much better chance of pulling through.

They all moved about the house into different areas, Lori and Rick spending the rest of the night with Carl, Jamie taking the couch in the living room. Shane got a bedroom since he was injured and they all felt that he deserved it after he'd risked his life for Carl. Some fell asleep, others stayed up all night, watching and waiting. Even though she was tired, Jamie couldn't get herself to fall back asleep that night. Her mind was on her parents, on her family, and on Daryl. She had only just started to doze when the sun was coming up.

Before long, the sun was in the sky and they were outside with the others, helping out in any way that they could. Shane continued to get odd looks whenever someone saw him, his shaved head bringing pause to each person. Jamie had been helping out with getting drinks for everyone when she was asked to give blood to Carl one last time, Rick still too drained to do it.

She spent a good hour that morning sitting at his bed side, speaking with Lori and Rick. They told Lori about when they'd first met, when they went into the city and got locked in the tank. The mood was light as they told stories, Jamie taking her turn to listen as they told her about Carl and all the things that he'd done. She moved out of the way so that they could sit with him while she drank the juice that Hershel handed to her.

"Thank you for helping save my boy," Lori said as she moved over to give Jamie a hug before she left the room, startling the blonde for a moment before she loosely returned the embrace.

"I'm sure that if the roles were reversed then you'd do the same," she replied softly, getting a small nod and smile from Lori. Jamie's attention shifted, however, when she heard the familiar rumbling of Merle's motorcycle. She turned quickly, the room rushing around her for a moment before she made her way through the halls of the home to get to the front door.

"Hold on, let me give you a hand," Rick said quickly as he moved over to her side, letting her rest an arm around his shoulders and lean on him. She thanked him quietly and let him guide her to the front door, Lori getting there just before them and holding it open. T-Dog and Glenn were already on the porch, looking to where the three vehicles had pulled up. They'd rigged up another car.

"Damn, Angel, I thought I said you'd need to be able to walk," Daryl said as he rose from the bike, shutting off the engine. Jamie smiled softly and pulled her arm from over Rick's shoulder, stepping down the few brick steps toward him. Daryl met her halfway when he saw her stumble, wrapping an arm round her waist to keep her up and getting a lazy smile.

"Shut up, I just gave blood."

"How is he?" Dale asked, looking to where Rick was standing with Lori at the mention of giving blood. There was only one person that would need it.

"He'll pull through," Lori answered for Rick, "Thanks to Jamie and Hershel and his people-"

"And Shane," Rick cut in, glancing back to where Shane was standing in a set of borrowed clothes. Jamie found it comical to see him in overalls. "We'd have lost Carl if it wasn't for him." She leaned against Daryl as their group came together again, giving hugs of support to Rick and Lori, listening as Rick explained very quickly what had happened in the forest. The accident.

Hershel announced that there was going to be a small ceremony for Otis and everyone assured that they were going to be there. Jamie was moving to go and sit down when she caught Andrea's eye from across the way, stopping to look at the strange emotions that were on the woman's face. After a moment, Andrea nodded to Jamie in a silent offering of peace between them. Jamie hesitated a second before she nodded back, wrapping an arm around Daryl's waist and letting him help her over to sit on the porch steps.

"So what happened at the highway?" Jamie asked once they'd sat down, seeing that he seemed different.

"Nothin' much. Carol was crying in the RV so Andrea and I walked the forest for a while to look for Sophia." Jamie knew right then that they had spoken about her and that was why Andrea wasn't glaring at her anymore. "Told her about when I got lost in the woods-" Jamie snorted in laughter before he could even finish the sentence, hiding her face in his shoulder to quiet the sound. "That was her reaction, too."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just wish I could have been there. Oh, if only I'd moved into town a couple 'a years sooner!" Jamie laughed, placing a hand on Daryl's head and petting him like he was a large dog. "That would have been something to see."

"You're laughin' now, but if I'd 'a known you then I would have been making you put that pink shit on my ass to stop the itchin'," Daryl snapped back, only making Jamie laugh harder. She soon became light headed, though, and had to force herself to stop. Daryl let her lean against him, his arm falling into place over her shoulders as they looked out that the vast, untouched land that Hershel owned.

If there was one thing that Daryl Dixon hated more than his father, it was sitting in school. He would rather deal with his father and all of his beatings than sit through another second of pointless classes. What the hell did he care about quadratic relations, anyway? Not a fuckin' thing.

"Mr. C looks pissed," the guy beside Daryl said, causing the dirty blonde haired man to look over at him. He didn't know the guy's name, didn't really care either way. "It's gotta be Jamie, she's not here yet."

"Class ain't started," Daryl mumbled out, looking over toward the door. It had become the highlight of the day for everyone in Mr. Coopers class to wait for Jamie to step in at the same time, just as the bell was ringing. She wasn't early, on time or late. The bell hadn't stopped ringing by the time she stepped through the door so the teachers couldn't do a thing about it. She couldn't be given detention with an entire class of witnesses saying that she was on time and her teachers were full 'a shit.

"She's cutting it close this time," the guy continued, looking up at the clock that sat above the door. "Pro'ly 'cause it's so close to summer vacation."

Just as the long hand reached the twelve at the top of the rusted, yellowed clock, Jamie appeared in the door with a smile on her face, the teacher's face going red as he was forced to hold his breath to refrain from yelling at the 'innocent' woman. Daryl looked over to where the guy in the desk beside him was laughing, holding out his hand and receiving a high-five when Jamie Knight strode passed their row of desks to get to hers near the far window.

"Miss. Knight-"

"She was on time, Mr. Cooper," several people in the class called out at the same time, getting a glare from the large man at the front of the class. Jamie leaned back in her seat, crossed her short short clad legs, leaned her right elbow on the back of the chair and looked at the teacher expectedly. Attitude.

"Please, try to come to class prior to the bell," he finally bit out, getting snickers from the other students. Daryl began to wonder if Jamie did it just to see how long until smoke came out of Mr. C's ears. He glanced over at the blonde as she smiled up at the teacher.

This was routine.

"I'll do my best, sir," Jamie said with a mock salute of two fingers to her forehead, getting more snickering and snorting from the students. If looks could kill, she'd be burning alive in her seat at the moment. Daryl wondered if the math teacher was going to break another yard stick that was kept at the front by the board, like he had the previous month.

Jamie was strange when it came to where she sat in the school 'clique' system. It was almost as though she were in the 'neutral' category. She hung around with the jocks and cheerleaders, got high enough grades that she could hold an easy conversation with one of the declared geeks of the school, she was on athletic teams and scholarly teams, she looked hot to teenage standards and showed it, but didn't come off as a bitch in the process. She had gotten suspended once for punching a guy in the face when he grabbed her ass, but other than that she'd never gotten in actual trouble with her teachers. Aside from royally pissing them off. Discretely.

"Fuckin' weird," Daryl grumbled to himself as he crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair and prepared to do nothing for the remainder of the seventy five minute class.

So long! I know that you all are ready to boycott or something to get me to update again, and I am SO sorry that I haven't. I'll get out the next chapters this weekend as well, that's a given. I promise! Please review, you know that I love them! You are all so amazing for sticking around with all my crazy updating habits! :P

Chapter 22 – Wings of Hope

"Carol let me sleep?"

"She thought you needed it," Daryl answered softly as he waited for her to pull on her boots. She soon had the laces all done up and sat up straight to stretch out her cramped back, moaning in pleasure when her spine cracked in several places. She rolled her shoulders once before she stood up carefully, making sure that the blood loss wasn't still eating at her.

"No poison oak today, right?" She teased, getting a fierce glare from Daryl that had her laughing. She leaned forward into him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing a kiss to his lips as she continued to giggle to herself. "I'm sorry, it was just too tempting to resist."

"I made Andrea throw up for laughing at that story," Daryl warned, but that just made Jamie laugh harder. He shook his head at her overtired ways and pulled her back up straight and moved toward the exit of the trailer, a giggling woman following after him more slowly. She paused, however, at the sight of the bloomed flower sitting on the counter by the door.