Chapter 30

Rose's POV

"Hope springs eternally from the human heart."
It was something my grandmother said to me a very long time ago. I had no idea what she meant by it then, but now I do. I know it so well. As her voice rings through my head, I feel the sting of tears in my eyes.

-Could she have known I'd need those words one day down the road? Could she know that they've saved my life already? A few times.

Well if there was anyone who would have known, it would've been my grandmother. Somehow or another, she knew just about everything, and most of the time it drove me crazy, but I feel thankful for all she and grandfather taught me now.

It's been almost 5 days, and thanks to Herschel's experience and the help of the rest of the group, myself and the farm have stayed in tact. Yet, to calm my compulsiveness, I still need to get out of this bed and start working on it myself. So, I grit my teeth, and clinging to my grandmother's voice, I push myself from the entrapping covers. I still take low doses of pain medication, but it hardly dulls the burning now.

"Damn." I say quietly, taking in a sharp breath when I finally reach a sitting position. I think about calling for someone, but the house is quiet, seeing as how it was late morning, they were out being helpful. No way. I'm getting out this bed, by myself.

-Hope. There's always hope. I repeat in my mind. Yeah, but you need a miracle. Another part of me replies, laughing at my attempt of a pep talk.

"Ugh!" I grunt out, louder than what I thought it would be, but my feet finally touch the cool, hardwood.

-Ha. Take that.

I feel a smirk come to face, feeling a little pride.
"Aye, you alright?" I hear from beyond my door, and I nearly jump out of my skin when I see Daryl cross the threshold, concern written in every line of his face. Until he sees me, then it's back to the usual hard set expression. "What are you doin'?" He asks, and I almost hear anger in his voice.

"I'm getting out of this house." I barely finish the sentence, as I stand, nearly falling over as a dizzying feeling flashes through me.

"Hey!" He says, crossing the distance between us easily to prop me up, "lay back down. You ain't got no reason to be up."

"The hell I don't." I spit back, willing my world to stop spinning as I right myself. I take his hand, moving it from my arm, but still hang on.
- Just in case.
"And you can yell or scream 'til you're blue in the face, but it'll only take me longer without your help." I say, looking steadily into his deep blue eyes.

After a few seconds, I see defeat take over his features as he lets out big sigh, throwing his hands up, "Fine." Is all he says before disappearing out the door. I stand there, holding my side, not sure where he went but really hoping he plans on coming back and a few minutes later, I hear heavy footsteps coming down the stairs, and there is he once again. He holds up a mass of cloth, and I realize he's been in my bedroom,
"Uhh.. Thanks." I say, a nervous twinge in my voice. I notice how he won't maintain eye contact with me. "What? It wasn't that bad was it?" I ask him, throwing a little attitude behind it.

"'Bout lost a damn leg up there. You ever clean?" He says, throwing my two-cents right back at me.

I just scoff, grabbing the hem of the big shirt I'm wearing and start to lift, but the pain rips through me like a chainsaw. My body sags just a little as I let my hands fall, in defeat, mostly, and from relief of the pain.

"I'm so tired of this." I say, gritting my teeth.
-You might as well stomp the floor and cry a little too. Throw a real tantrum.

"Ease up a lil'." I hear Daryl say, beside me once again.

"Just cut the damn thing off." I say, not looking at him, still feeling a bomb about to go off in me.
The look he gives me next seems to suppress the fire inside my body, a mixture of his usual anger and a little of something I can't quite place. That little something does the job though, and I pipe down, letting my eyes fall to the floor.

"Lift your arms up." He says in a serious tone. I obey and begin lifting my arms, it's tight and little prickles of pain dart through me but it's not nearly as strong. I catch my breath though, because Daryl's lifting my shirt up, following my pace.

-He's taking your shirt off. This can not be happening right now.

Yes, it's definitely happening. No matter how much I say I wish it weren't, it would only be a lie. The further he goes, the more my stomach flips, the faster my heart beats, the more my breath quickens, and just the way his eyes stay with mine, I feel like I could be melting.

"This is not happening." I say, barely a whisper but he hears, I know he does because he hesitates a moment before continuing. When, finally, my shirt is off, he looks at the new bandage. Stares at it actually, and for some reason that makes me more self-conscious than if I were just standing here naked. I fidget for a moment before finding my voice,

"Guess that's make us even." I say, adding a small laugh afterwards.

"How ya figure?" He replies, looking up to meet my eyes.

I still feel like my hearts going to explode but I continue, "Your leg in my snare." I look down to his ankle, it's fully healed by now, but it still emotionally pained me.
-How bad must it be for him?

I suddenly regret the joke I tried to make, and I look back to him, but he's starring beyond me now.
"I'm sorry." I say, grabbing the shirt he brought. It was the teal colored one, with the flowing fabric, which means he didn't just grab the first thing he saw, he got something that wouldn't be tight on my bandage.
Wincing, I pull it over my head and let it fall, enjoying how light it feels on my skin.

I give a quiet chuckle though, when I see the pants he brought,
"You thought of every thing." I say, not expecting him to reply.

Instead of my usual form-fitting jeans, he brought a pair of loose, easy-to-get-on gray cargo pants. Nothing is really "easy to get on" when you have a huge gash in your abdomen though, and by the way I'm breathing after I finally finish dressing myself, dealing with Daryl's smirks and commentary, and putting my hair in simple braid, one would think I just finished a marathon.

"Hey," I say, grabbing his arm as he's starting to walk out of the room, feeling the muscles ripple underneath his tanned skin, "thank you.. For everything."

He only looks down at me, and it seems like a thousand different things are running through his mind, all different emotions flashing through his eyes. I lean my head back, stand myself up a little taller and kiss him. It's nothing super passionate or sexy by any means, it's just gentle and sweet and makes my whole world spin.

-You've got to be the only 23-year-old that seriously acts this way over a kiss!
My mind chides me, and I try to shake the feelings away to no avail.
-Well.. Whatever.
He pulls me closer to him, running his hand over the back of my head before he looks down at me. "Well c'mon. You wanted to work, we got plenty to do.", he says as we make out way to the door.

The first fresh air I've felt in my lungs in almost a week, and it's never been sweeter. I try to breathe in as deep and long as I can without it hurting too much, and a smile spreads across my lips. Missing the sun and wind, the sights, smells, and sounds would be an understatement. It's more like withdrawal, and to finally get my fix, I already feel the most wonderful high setting in as we walk, well Daryl walks while I, more or less, hobble beside him.

"Wow this feels amazing." I say breathlessly, stretching my legs a little with every stride. If my wound hurts, I don't feel it anymore as we walk on towards the little creek that veins its way through the front pasture. There, I see Carol's gray head bobbing with laughter over something Maggie has said, Beth is showing Carl something in the gently flowing waters, and Hershel is sitting in the old rocker that ,usually, resides on my porch. In his lap, the most beautiful brown-haired, blue-eyed baby sits, looking around with wonder and excitement at the world.I don't even realize I'm smiling so much at the sight until I feel my cheeks getting a little sore. Looking around though, I don't see Rick or Glenn anywhere, and my stomach begins tying itself in knots,

"Rick? Glenn?" I ask, cutting my eyes to watch Daryl's answer.

"Took the horses to do a check." He says smoothly, parting a glance for me too. "What? You think you're the only capable one?" He asks, fire in his voice but amusement playing at his eyes.

"Hell, I was beginning to wonder." I say to him playfully, looking back toward the water where we've finally been spotted. The expressions range from shock to joy in a matter of seconds and soon they're all there to lend a hand. "I'm good, I'm good." I say to them, answering their questions, "A little ol' knife ain't enough to stop me, y'all should know this by now." I move my head to meet Daryl, who gives me a "watch it" kind of look, but I just smile tuning back into the wash day conversation.

After another hour goes by, we're almost through and I feel exhaustion setting in, along with the literal ever-growing pain in my side as the high starts wearing off. I look behind me, expecting to see Daryl posted up on the tree near Hershel and Judith but he's nowhere to be found.

"Went to the barn to meet Rick and Glenn." Hershel says, noticing the worry I'm sure that is showing plainly on my face.

"When did they get back?" I ask, attempting to stand.

"About 10 minutes ago I'd say." He replies smoothly, gently handing Beth the now sleeping baby. "And I can imagine your pain killers have long since worn off?" He asks me in that old timey southern accent I've always loved. I nod my head, looking back to the barn across the pasture, wishing I could run to them and figure out what their doing. Suddenly, I see a mass in front of me and I look up to see Maggie,

"Ready?" She asks, kneeling down to get better leverage I'm guessing.

-Man, this whole crippled thing is not working! Just throw me some crutches.
I cringe at the thought.

"Ready as I'll ever be I suppose." I say to her, putting my arm around her neck as I move slowly to get my feet in their rightful place underneath me. We finally stand, and she stays close, steadying me as I feel the spinning coming on. I look up to see the rest of the group looking back at me with worried smiles,
"C'mon now.. Y'all quit lookin' at me like that before you see some real water works." I say, riling a laugh from them.

With that, we begin our journey up to the hanging line, and the whole time my eyes keep finding their way to watch the barn. They should be back here by now, and my mind muses on intently of all the horrible things that could be wrong. I do try to shake the feelings and thoughts, yet, it does little good, but by the time we make it to the shade of the trees, it seems all I do feel is the terrible pain coursing through my body. Moving around so much probably wasn't the best idea for my first day back out, but I had to do it sometime, sooner rather than later.

"I'll go get your medicine." Carl says as soon as we've gotten everything situated.

"Thank you!" I call out quietly after his slowly fading figure.

While he's gone, I talk to Carol about what's been going on while I've been stuck in that room.
"Everyone does a little something. We've doubled up on our checks, even go out in the woods to check further away from the fence.." She talks on intently while hanging the newly washed clothes onto the line.

"You shouldn't worry." I hear Beth's young voice, "we gave you our word about keepin' your farm safe." She says, giving me a serious look.

"Our farm." Is my only response, and she gives me a genuine smile that I can't help but to return.

I give a big sigh as I see Carl heading back toward us, knowing that sweet relief was soon to be here. He's got a glass and a small orange bottle in his hands, and walking fast as he can without spilling any water. As he gets to me, I take the two wonderful objects for him and give him a little hug from my good side and ruffle his hair for old times sake, "Thank you Carl." He accepts with a simple nod before returning to his hanging duty. After swallow down the little white pills , drinking what I need of the water before handing it around to whomever else wanted some. I sit back, breathing in deeply and out slowly, thinking of anything to keep my mind off the pain. It's not much longer after that, I feel a hand on my shoulder and open my eyes to see Carl.

- Was all that a dream?! I ask myself in a slight state of panic before looking around seeing the clothes hanging and feeling the rough tree behind me, and I start to calm down again.

"You dozed off a few minutes," he says, "We're goin' to the house now, find something to make for lunch."
I nod my head, moving to stand and noticing how delightfully dull the burning in my abdomen is now. Carl helps me up, holding me steady until I gain my senses once more.

"Eating, that's good. Something that doesn't require so much moving." I say with a light laugh as we embark on the short journey to the house. "Your dad and the others still out there?" I ask, nodding my head in the direction if the barn.

"Yeah, I guess just cleaning up the horses and stalls.." He says, but I hear the hesitation even in his voice which doesn't help my wandering mind at all.

"I guess so. " I say back, giving my head a little shake.
Once back inside the cool air of the house, Carl sits me in the big old recliner that comforted my grandfather many a time before me, and I'm grateful for the softness of it underneath my body. I'm left alone though as he goes to help cook, and Beth has taken to Judith to lay down. So, I close my eyes, thinking back on this morning with Daryl, feeling the chills come crawling back as I remember the way he looked at me while he was pulling-

"Rose.." I hear a man say.

My eyes snap open, my body tensing until I see it's only Glenn standing in front of me. Yet, something about him seems off, nervous and worried.

"Is everything OK?" I ask.

He runs his hand through his black hair, "Uhh.. You could say that, sure." He answers, stumbling over words. I push myself out of the recliner, coming closer to him,

"Glenn.." I say slowly, giving him a serious look.

"Just come with me." He says, moving to my side.

"For what?" I ask, hesitating before taking his offer for help.

He only looks down at me for a second before shaking his head slightly, "Trust me. You're gonna want to see this."

Hey guys! Sorry this one took a little longer, I hope a cliffhanger isn't too much to handle! Ha;D

Also, I just wanted to know if y'all think the interactions between Rose and the other characters, including Daryl, are decently written? Just let me know, leave lots of reviews, hope you like!