Chapter 6
Daryl stayed with his head buried into Shane's shoulder the whole time. Shane didn't move except for rubbing the kid's hair when something particularly painful happened. Shane could tell when something did because Daryl would make a very quiet whimper. When everything was finally fixed Shane laid Daryl's head back down on the bed and covered him with a blanket. The kid looked exhausted. Hershel took his team out of the room and Glenn left as well. Shane moved to leave but he stopped when a hand grabbed his arm. He turned away to see Daryl looking at him. "Yea," he asked. It was silent for a minute but then Daryl spoke quietly again, "Don't leave yet please?" Shane nodded and sat down, "You ok?" Daryl shrugged slightly, "Not really but I will be. I don't like them." Daryl motioned with his good arm towards the door. Shane glanced over, "Why?" Daryl looked like he was contemplating if he should tell Shane or not but he did, "The old guy told me that I'd get sedated if I didn't stop moving. But it hurt so bad. I felt like throwing up multiple times. When you came up he told me that you were going to knock me out. I guess he was wrong. I'm glad though. You can go, but if they come back will you come too?" Shane nodded, "Yea, don't worry Daryl he doesn't mean it though. He just wanted you to calm down so he could help you. But don't worry, I'll come back if they do. Just get some sleep alright?" Daryl nodded slightly and pulled the blanket up over his head. Shane walked out of the room and headed downstairs. "Did you threaten him?" he asked Hershel angrily. Hershel looked at him, "I told him that he was going to get knocked out if he didn't stop moving." Shane glared at him, "Was that why he was cowering from you when I walked in? You don't need to throw random threats out like that. He was scared to death of you." Shane stomped outside and walked out to the fence where Glenn was sitting. "Nice job there," Glenn laughed as Shane approached. Shane nodded, "Thanks to you, I would never have remembered that calming thing." Glenn shook his head, "Nah I think that whole 'turn his head away so he didn't watch' thing was awesome. I would've never thought of that." Shane was silent for a moment, "I think Hershel threatened to knock him out. I think he told him that I was going to do it. He's afraid of everyone Glenn. You should've seen him." Glenn sighed, "I heard Hershel yelling about that. Do you think that's why he started screaming?" Shane shrugged, "Could be. But I think that we can help him get better." Glenn smiled, "You like him don't you? I do too. I think he'll be very helpful to this group with that contraption you got in the back of your truck." Shane rolled his eyes, "Why were you in my truck?" Glenn grinned, "Just making sure everything was ok." Shane hit him on the head and walked away hearing Glenn laughing at him as he left. Carol came out of the house as he was walking back. "You're kid wants to see you," she said. Shane frowned, "Yea? Ok." He headed up stairs to where Daryl's room was. When he opened the door he saw Daryl lying on his bed trying in vain to pull himself up. "Do you need help?" he asked. Daryl jumped but settled as he saw it was Shane. "Um no?" he tried. Shane groaned, "Alright then I'll just leave you to your business." He started to leave when he heard Daryl say quietly, "Ok yes." He smiled as he walked back in and helped the kid sit up and then eventually stand. Daryl slowly put a bit of pressure on his injured leg and hissed as it hurt him. "Look Daryl, you've had that leg bandaged for a good five hours. That's it. You can't go walking around yet," Shane said. Daryl sighed but let himself be led back to the bed where he sat up and continued to look longingly out the window. "I want to go outside later today," he said. Shane sighed, "Fine if you can walk we can go outside alright? But I'm not letting you torture yourself just so you can go walking around out there." Daryl nodded and laid back down. Shane shut the door and left. He headed outside once again. It was weird how much that kid reminded him of himself. He remembered when he and Rick had been in about the same situation.
"But Rick, I can come. It's not like I'm going to bleed out on you," Shane said as he walked back to the car with Rick. "I told you no. You got hit by a bullet that might not be killing you but I'm not taking chances with you. You're going to the hospital and I'm doing the mission alone," Rick said. Shane glared at him, "I said I'm fine. I don't want to be locked up in a hospital for weeks while they poke at me." Rick shook his head, "I don't care. You're like my brother and I'm not letting you hurt yourself just so you can come on this little problem." Shane flung his uninjured hand into the air and sat on the front of Rick's car, "I'm not moving unless you let me come with you. I don't trust the mission and you are going to need back up." Rick looked at Shane and started laughing, "You know how funny you look sitting there right now?" Shane tried to keep the smile from reaching his face but it didn't work. They were both laughing soon. Rick looked at Shane, "Look, let me take this one mission and you rest at home. Then you can come on all the next ones ok?" Shane sighed but realized that it would be the best offer he had, "Yea I guess. Just don't get shot." Rick smiled, "Why would I do a stupid thing like that?"
He smiled at the memory. He realized he had just done exactly what Rick had done. He had made a deal with a very disagreeable guy. He hoped Daryl was feeling better later so they really could go outside. He knew that a kid like that needed to move. He waited for another couple hours and then went back to Daryl who was already standing. "Jesus, you make a quick recovery," Shane said. Daryl grinned, "Yep. Now let's go." Shane helped Daryl walk down the stairs and outside. The people in his group gave Daryl cautious glances as the kid walked through the house but Daryl didn't care. Shane would talk with them later but all that he cared about now was making sure that Daryl wouldn't kill himself with excitement. Daryl grinned as they walked outside and slowly stood out in the grass with the same face Shane had had when he went on the next mission with Rick.