A/N: Good afternoon peeps!

Sorry for the delay in the reveal for the next chapter…I ended up with a lovely upper respiratory infection that has totally put me out of commission for half a week. Hacking up lungs and having razor blades in your throat is NOT an experience I can recommend to anyone. Luckily, I have had plenty of time to sit and watch the featurettes and commentaries on season 3 to pass my time. I think I've got the rest of the story worked out now, and surprisingly, it's all in thanks to Danai Gurira.

Listening to her talk about Michonne and how she feels about the other characters gave me such a confidence boost in how I've been plotting this out in my head. I was also amazed at how much she and I think alike about the character development and where things may go. If anyone listens to commentary, there's a great moment during "The Suicide King" when the group comes back from Woodbury and Carol realizes that Daryl isn't with them. In the commentary, they actually describe the relationship between Caryl as "two damaged people who actually find themselves in the zombie apocalypse and heal through each other" which is EXACTLY how I have been thinking about this all along…I attempted to squeal when I heard it, but it sounded more like a wounded badger thanks to my horribly strained voice. Daryl probably would've tried to shoot me lol.

Anyway, hope you are all out there enjoying your dvd's and relishing in the awesomeness that is TWD. We are soooo close to season 4 now guys…I can almost taste it…and damn is it yummy!

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with The Walking Dead or its characters…but apparently I think like them sometimes!

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Ch17.

Carol knew she had passed out, but she had no idea how long she'd actually been unconscious. It seemed to take her years to finally be able to open her eyes again because they felt like they were glued shut. When she did, she immediately noticed that she was not in the hallway anymore. She wasn't in her room either. Her body felt heavy, and she was worried she wouldn't even be able to even lift her arm off the bed. Then it dawned on her that it was because her arm was already occupied.

She managed to roll her head to the side slightly so she could look around. Daryl was asleep on the chair next to the cot; his hand laying overtop of hers. He was hunched over so that he was half lying on the bed with her. She saw that she was hooked up to an IV drip, and her midsection was bandaged pretty tightly. The pain she had felt earlier wasn't gone, but it was much duller than it had been. It looked like they'd given her blood too. She swiped her thumb over Daryl's knuckle, and he quickly jerked awake.

"Wh-" His head flew up and directly over in her direction. "Carol?"

"When did you get back?" Her voice sounded awful.

"Couple hours ago." He rubbed his face. "You all right? Need anything?"

"Right now I'm too tired to even think."

"I should go get the doc to check on ya."

She felt his hand loosen hers, but she didn't let go. "Wait…where am I?"

"The infirmary." He leaned back in. "The doc had to go in and fix you up, so you're gonna be real tender for a while."

Carol was confused. "Fix me? I thought it was my ribs."

He shook his head. "Doc had to take your spleen out. We gave ya some pain meds and blood too, but you might need more."

"Who gave me blood?"

"Me and Tyreese did."

It was a lot to wrap her head around, but there was only one thing that was really important to her in that moment. "What happened to Beth?"

"Been wantin' to ask you that." He said quietly. "What the hell were you two doin' down there?"

"It's a long story…" Carol could feel the pain starting to kick in now. "I'm not up to telling it right now, but is she gone?"

"Don't know. Been in here since I got back." He moved back. "Let me go get the doc."

"I'm so sorry Daryl."

He stopped to look down at her. "What you apologizin' for?"

"Everything." She felt a sharp pain when she breathed in. "I never wanted to put you through something like this. I'm sorry. It was my fault."

"Shhh…" He soothed. "It'll be all right. Just rest."

She felt his hand pull away and the room got quiet. For a moment, Carol actually thought that he had left because he was angry, but then she heard more footsteps. The doctor's face came into view just above her.

"Carol? It's Dr. Stevens. I'm going to give you something for the pain."

Before Carol could object, she felt a sharp pinch in the crook of her elbow. Within seconds, the pain was starting to fade, but so was her memory. Daryl's hand clamped back down on hers as he rubbed his thumb back and forth over her palm. As much as she wanted to tell him what had happened, she couldn't find the strength. She only managed to get a few words out before she sank back into the abyss.

"She saved me Daryl…she saved me…"

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Carol had been out for the rest of the night. The doc had decided that she should have another transfusion too. Daryl had given blood plenty of times before. He'd even done it for money sometimes when he was getting low on cash. But this was the first time that he'd ever realized who that blood was saving. As far as he was concerned, the doc could bleed him dry.

When she finally came to late the next day, he was immediately relieved, but she wasn't really out of the woods yet. They hadn't talked for very long the night before because she got too tired to speak, but what she had said had thrown him for a loop. He wasn't sure why it'd surprised him to hear her say that Beth had ended up saving her. Beth was as capable as any of the women in the prison of handling herself. He wished he'd realized it sooner.

Daryl wasn't even sure himself what had happened to Beth's body. She had to have passed on by now, but no one had come to fill him in on the details. He knew Carol would want to go to the funeral but he didn't think she'd be able to get up anytime soon. He should go pay his respects to Maggie and Hershel nonetheless. Everyone had left him alone last night other than the doc, who had to check in on him from time to time. He figured maybe Rick'd asked them to leave him be for a little bit. Plus, Carol wasn't in no shape for visitors.

She'd had some rough times already. When the pain meds wore off, she was writhing in pain pretty bad. Doc got her settled down and she'd fallen back asleep now, but if it weren't for her getting those medical supplies on the run, they wouldn't have been able to do much to help her. Maybe Tyreese had been right.

Maybe she had known something bad was gonna happen.

"Hey..." Rick's voice whispered from the doorway. "Can I come in for a moment?"

Daryl nodded. He was actually glad to see someone else at the moment. Rick walked over to the edge of the bed.

"How's she doing?"

"So far so good." He sighed. "Sorry I ain't filled no one in. I was hooked up to this tube all night. She needed more blood."

"I know more than anyone here what that's like." Rick acknowledged. "I asked for no visitors right now anyway. People are concerned, but they want to respect your wishes just the same."

"Thanks."

"When's the last time you ate?"

"Doc brought me somethin' to tide me over." He gestured to the empty plate in the corner. "What's happening with Beth? They bury her yet?"

"We're working on it. Hershel's having a hard time letting his baby girl go. Maggie's been leaning on Glenn a lot, but I figured they'd let me know when they want to move her."

"And the walkers?"

"Did a sweep of that section last night. Didn't find any more of them, so as far as we can tell it was just a fluke. I think one had gotten stuck in the room across the way and when Beth and Carol went wandering down there, it heard them and somehow managed to get out." Rick shook his head. "I hate to think what could've happened if it had found its way into our block. They really saved us all."

Daryl looked down at her. As angry as he still was that they'd even gone down to the tombs in the first place, he had to admit that he was proud of her. No one else really knew what had happened down there other than Carol, but Daryl suspected that there was a good chance that it was partially his fault.

"Think I'd like to go speak to Hershel if I can. I owe his daughter my gratitude."

"I think he'd probably appreciate that right about now." Rick patted Carol's leg. "I'll stay with her until you come back."

Daryl nodded, getting up and making his way out the door. Rick would make sure that Carol was all right while he was gone, which was good because he really just needed to get out and stretch his legs. Sleeping on that chair hadn't been much fun and now his back was paying the price for it.

He made his way down the hall to where Rick had told him they'd be, but he nearly walked right past the door because there wasn't a drop of sound coming from the room. When he looked in, he saw Hershel sitting next to the cot where Beth was still lying. Daryl was suddenly at a loss for words. What could he possibly say to this man who had just lost one of the only two things he cared most about in the world? Starting to rethink his actions, he turned to go back in the other direction, but his footsteps hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Daryl," Hershel turned towards him; his eyes were bloodshot. He looked like he hadn't slept much either. "I've been wanting to come check on Carol. How is she?"

"Think she's gonna be all right." He said, walking slowly into the room. "She said Beth saved her life. I wanted to come pay my respects."

Hershel nodded, turning back to look at his deceased daughter. They'd cleaned her up a good bit. She wasn't covered in blood anymore, and it looked like they'd gotten her a change of clothes too. Daryl got a lump in his throat at the thought that he might've had to do this for Carol. He imagined it had to be the worst feeling in the world.

"Think it'd get easier." Daryl said, standing over her. "Sayin' goodbye. But it don't."

"At least she went out fighting like she wanted to." Herschel said tearfully. "You know, there was a time when she was scared of everything. A monster under the bed…shadows on the wall. Maggie used to call her 'Scaredy-Beth' and she'd get so mad at her." He sighed. "When her mother turned, she took it hard, but I tried not to let her focus her attention on it. Then after the barn fiasco, when she tried to kill herself…I thought I'd failed her. What kind of father would just pretend that it was all going to be okay in a world like this?"

"You did what you thought was right." Daryl said quietly. "She knew you cared 'bout her. That's more than my old man ever gave me."

"Mine either." He admitted. "I never wanted to be like him, but in a way I felt like I was. Like I'd lost my humanity. But then she recovered, and we left the farm. We found our purpose and didn't look back. I kept forgetting that she wasn't that same scared little girl anymore. She became immune to the monsters of the world. Even fought them back."

"She was one of the bravest women I ever knew." Daryl said sadly. "Used to think that women were just asking for trouble. I'd never seen one who wasn't scared of the man she loved. Started thinkin' that's what love was supposed to be, and it scared the hell outta me." He gestured to Beth's body. "But this girl right here? And Maggie? They're strong. They don't need a man around to save em neither. You taught 'em right Hershel. They were lucky to have ya."

"Thank you Daryl." Hershel looked over at him with tears filling his eyes. "I stand by what I said. You'd make a good father."

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Carol could hear the sound of voices. At first there were two, and then just one, but now it was quiet. By the time she managed to open her eyes, she was surprised to see a blurry figure sitting on the edge of her bed. It took her eyes a minute to adjust before Rick's face came into view. When he saw that she was awake, he got up and walked over to her side.

"Hey there pretty lady." He said sweetly. "You gave us quite a scare."

"Sorry about that…" Carol didn't feel quite as woozy as she had, thank goodness. "Those walkers throw me for a loop sometimes."

"I think we've all been there at one time or another."

"Where's Daryl?"

Rick looked towards the door. "He went to pay his respects to Beth. He'll be back soon."

The acknowledgement of Rick's words hit her like a ton of bricks. In her medicated stupor, she'd momentarily forgotten what had happened. "Herschel and Maggie…they know?"

"Yes."

"So she is gone?"

Carol didn't even need Rick to respond. She knew that Beth was gone. She'd nearly been gone by the time she got her back to the main block. Her eyes stung at the painful memory.

"Did she turn?"

"No." Rick sighed. "She asked us to…end it before that point."

"Were they with her?"

"Herschel was." He leaned into her a little. "Maggie didn't stay in the room during that part, and I had to pull Carl out beforehand. I didn't want him having to witness that again."

Carol was slightly surprised. "Carl saw her?"

Rick nodded. "He insisted on being able to say goodbye before she passed. I don't know if she heard him or not, but it seemed to help him through the process. I think he felt bad that he didn't want her to come along on the hunting trip."

"He probably blames himself just like I do."

Rick sat on the edge of the cot again. "Do you think you can fill me in on what happened and why you two were down there? We weren't really able to get any details from her."

Carol frowned. Despite her haziness, she hadn't forgotten the gory details. "I didn't want to tell Daryl, but it started when he kissed me in the cell block. Apparently Beth saw it and didn't take it well."

He sighed. "I noticed that she seemed to have a soft spot for Daryl lately."

"She had asked to go along with them on the hunt, but Daryl didn't want to make things awkward for Carl there, so he said no. I guess she was feeling left out and angry, so she took a gun and went down into the tombs to find a walker and prove that she could be tough like the rest of the women in the group."

Rick's eyes widened at this revelation. He obviously wasn't expecting the answer she'd given him, but he managed to remain calm about it. "What then?"

"I found her before she had a chance to do anything stupid, and talked her out of it." Carol winced at the pain in her side when she tried to sit up. "We had started walking back, but realized that she left the gun on the table in the room. We were heading back that way when we noticed a door was open, and then the walker bit her."

"How did you kill it?"

"I found an open room for us to hide in and I pried up a piece of cement."

Rick got up and started pacing the room slowly. He rubbed his hand across the whiskers on his chin, trying to process the news. She'd always admired Rick's ability to stay calm in a moment of panic. She was glad Daryl wasn't here because she knew he would have cursed and thrown something across the room. It was just how he handled his anger.

"She'd been asking me for weeks to take her out," He said, finally. "But Herschel was against it. He thought she'd had enough training and didn't need to go out and risk herself anymore."

Carol felt tears building, both from the pain of the memory and the pain in her side. "If I hadn't made such a big deal about trying to prove myself, maybe she wouldn't have gone down there to try and provoke a monster. It's my fault she thought that was the only way to be brave."

Rick leaned down next to her. "Carol, you can't blame yourself. In a moment of anger, she made a bad decision. The next person who went down there could've just as easily have been the victim instead."

"I know, but I-" She could feel her chest tightening at the memories. "I thought we could save her. If the fever hadn't set in, we could've amputated like with Herschel, and she'd be okay."

"I understand." Rick grasped her hand. "I know you did everything you could. She could have been a lot worse off if it weren't for you."

"If we hadn't left the gun, she'd still be alive."

"You don't know that."

Carol tried desperately to calm herself down. The pain in her side, coupled with the tightness in her chest was making her feel like she might pass out. "I…I just wish that I had done something different."

"If you had, then you might be dead right now too." Rick looked over towards the door frame. "As much as he doesn't want to admit it, Daryl needs you. If you hadn't come back, I'm not sure what he would have done."

As surprising as it was, Carol had spent very little time thinking about Daryl in those tense moments because she'd assumed he would be able to go on with or without her. "It might have been hard on him at first, but he's a survivor. He would have been okay."

"You know he cares about you more than he cares about himself." Rick said genuinely. "He might not say it in so many words, but I can see that he loves you in his own way. He looks at you the way I used to look at Lori."

Carol almost couldn't let the words soak in. "I haven't been looked at that way in a long time."

"Well you deserve it."

Carol wiped away the tears. "Thank you…for being there for him."

He took her hand in his. "You should try to get some more rest now. You need to get your strength back."

Carol was just about to agree when she heard the familiar sound of boots shuffling around outside of the door. Daryl walked in; immediately noticing Rick crouched down holding Carol's hand. She was sure he'd noticed her tears too because he suddenly looked very concerned.

"Everything all right?"

"We were just having a little talk." Rick lifted Carol's hand off the bed and kissed it gently. "You follow doctor's orders. I'll come check on you sometime later when I have more details."

"Yes officer."

He got off the bed and walked towards the door, putting his hand on Daryl's shoulder when he got there. "You take care of her, you hear?"

Daryl nodded, quickly filled his place on the empty chair next to her. It had probably just been moments that he'd been gone, but knowing he was back made her feel safe again. She had tried so hard to prove that she didn't need him or anyone by her side to survive, and although she'd managed to succeed by the skin of her teeth, she realized that she'd missed having someone there. Just knowing that someone cared enough to stand by her suddenly meant the world to her. It filled her heart with hope knowing that her man of honor had truly stepped up, and that she could never deny her feelings for him again.

I love you Daryl Dixon.

A/N: I felt that it was very important for Carol to have the realization at the end that she really does love Daryl, even if she hasn't actually said it. Some people write stories and throw "I love you"s all over the place, and while there's nothing wrong with that in some scenarios, I feel like it really needs to be earned in this world with these people. Both of these characters have been used and abused throughout their lifetime, and a true admission of love should be something very rare and special. Carol may have even thought about it before this, but I think this is the moment when she truly realizes just how lucky she is.

That being said, just be forewarned that you may not actually hear the words come out of either of their mouths in this story. I don't plan on getting too gushy with the admissions of feelings, but I also promise that you will know where these two stand with each other by the end. I also want to warn everyone that I only have about 7 more chapters planned out before the end. (sniffles) It will be bittersweet for me when it's all over, but I have gotten more love from people on this story that I EVER dreamed I would, and I'm so thankful to all of my readers. I am going to keep writing shorter stories after this, but probably nothing this detailed for a while. I don't know if I have another 6 months to dedicate to one story lol.

I have also been trying to catch up on some stories from people following mine, and I want to give a big shout out to Allidon and tell any Boondock Saints fans to check out her story called "Broken Chains"…it's coming along very nicely, but it's definitely not getting the attention it deserves, and Murphy McManus is a close second to Daryl Dixon as one of my favorite bad-ass characters, so he definitely needs some love. If I find any other diamonds in the rough I'll let you know, but for now…

LLACO (Live Long and Caryl On)!