So lucky you guys, I must have scraped this entire chapter at least three times, but once I got it going, it came out quick. So I did a fast edit, and here it is..
There were hands holding him down. He felt the sting of a needle as it jabbed into his arm. "He's alright. He just started to wake up." The words sounded so very far away.
"Why'd he pass out?"
"Are you kidding? Look at him. If someone did this to you, then you had to hike fifteen miles through the woods and didn't sleep for three days, you'd pass out too. Pass me another suture would you?" The voice was quiet for a moment. "We're going to run out of pain killers and antibiotics before too long."
There was a rhythmic pulling sensation on his back. Suddenly it stopped. "You should be laying down," the voice paused. There was a murmur as someone answered. "Fine, but sit in a chair and don't get out of it."
A hand closed over his. It felt nice. He wondered if his mind was playing tricks on him because he could smell her. It had to be his imagination because she was dead.
He was laying on a hard table on his stomach. His back was on fire. He shifted uncomfortably on the table and opened his eyes. He did make it back to the prison. For a while there he wasn't sure if he was going to.
"Hey," a voice said softly. He turned his head to the other side.
"Stella?" She was sitting in a chair next to the table. "I saw you get shot." He said confused. Maybe he was losing his mind.
She smiled over at him. "You didn't think I was going to risk getting killed by a bullet, did you? I just didn't want to leave the last vest here. Couldn't think of another way to carry it." Her hand pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Do you want something for the pain?"
"No." It would make him drowsy. He had this awful fear that if he fell asleep she would be gone when he woke up. "I thought you were dead." For the last few days he had run it through his head over and over again. He would close his eyes and see her fly back against the bus. He had seen the front of her shirt tear apart.
He moved to get up. "No, don't," she said trying to stop him. "You'll rip your sutures." He ignored her and pushed himself to a sitting position.
He sat on the edge of the table and looked down at her sitting in the chair. "Come here." He pulled her hand towards him. She removed her hand from his and used it to push herself up. His brow furrowed as he watched her wobble. She reached out and grabbed his hand as she straightened all the way. "Stella?" he asked quietly.
She shuffled the few steps over to him. It was though she was afraid to pick up her feet. "Something just got knocked a little loose in my head is all. It's nothing to worry about." She stood between his thighs. He must have looked doubtful because she moved to reassure him further. "Hey, it's alright. Hershel's keeping a close eye on me." When she kissed him lightly he felt her sway on her feet.
The door opened and Hershel came in. When he saw the two of them he snorted. "Should've known better than to leave the two of you in here alone. Sit down before you fall again," he said to Stella.
He turned to Daryl. "How you feeling?" Daryl shrugged. The movement reminded him that his back was shredded. "You're not going to win any beauty pageants for a while," he said as he began pressing his fingers systematically against Daryl's face. Daryl winced as Hershel pressed on a particularly tender spot. "Doesn't look like anything is broken though." Hershel clumped around to the other side of the table.
"They made nice work of your back." Hershel commented as he looked at it. "I stitched up some of the deeper cuts, but you're going to have to be careful for a while. You move around too much and it's all going to open back up." He moved over to one of the shelves. He grabbed a tube of ointment and gave it to Stella. "I know there's no way either of you will be staying in here, so take this. I'll go see if I can get someone to help you back."
As soon as Hershel left Daryl asked, "How bad is it?"
"It'll take a while for everything to heal. You'll have a few scars." She smiled. "Add to your rugged good looks."
Daryl shook his head. "Not me. You. Hershel wasn't saying I need help getting back, he was saying you need help getting back. And don't give me some bullshit run around answer."
She leaned back in the chair. "It's not as bad as it seems. Hershel thought at first it was a skull fracture, but it seems more like it's probably a small bleed somewhere in my head." Concern flashed across his face. "It's not really getting worse so it's probably stopped. There's just a little too much pressure in there. As soon as the swelling goes down it'll start getting better."
Too many thoughts flashed through his mind. He was trying to decide what to ask when Rick walked in. "You tough son of a bitch. Didn't know if we'd be seeing your ugly mug around here again." Rick laughed and shook Daryl's hand enthusiastically.
"Couldn't leave you alone here. Knew this place would go to shit without me." Daryl smiled broadly.
Stella began to laugh. "I swear, I'll never figure out male bonding. It's like it would kill the two of you to say that you're glad to see each other."
"Maybe it would, I've never said it before." Daryl quipped. His face grew serious. "What'd you do with Merle? Figured you wouldn't be too happy to see him."
Rick's jaw clenched. "I know he's your brother, but after what he did to Glenn.. we locked him in one of the cells. Have to say, he went easier than I thought."
"Yeah, well, when you're back's against a wall you take anything you can get. There's no way he can go back to Woodbury. That asshole governor is almost as pissed at Merle as he is at us. Rick, he's going to be coming here. Spent a real long time asking me questions."
"Like what?" Rick asked.
Daryl looked at Rick with incredulity. "What was my favorite type of ice cream. What the fuck you think he asked? How many people, guns, defenses." Daryl gave a wry laugh. "Don't think he liked my answers."
Rick raised his eyebrows and looked at Daryl's bruised face. "No, guess he didn't. We can talk about it tomorrow. You hungry? Lori said she'd bring you down some dinner." Daryl shook his head. " Then why don't we get you two back to your room." He moved over to help Stella stand.
Daryl went to get up and realized he was naked. His jeans were in the other corner of the room. He looked over at Stella and saw her eyes sparkle with amusement. "Don't worry, Rick's already seen me naked. A couple of times. Don't think he'll be too impressed with you after that."
Daryl's eyes narrowed to slits. Rick blushed. "Hey man, I didn't see anything" When Daryl didn't relax he continued. "I swear, I didn't look."
Daryl hopped off the table and gasped as his knees almost buckled. Jesus he was weak. He managed to catch himself before he embarrassed himself by sprawling face down on the floor.
After he managed to shove his legs into the jeans he turned back around. Rick had Stella standing and they were making their way to the door. He watched as she shuffled forward slowly, hand gripping Rick's, his other hand on her lower back, ready to grab her if she fell. Looking at her he was filled with both joy and distress. She was alive, but whatever was going on in her head was no small thing.
He followed them down the hall and watched as Rick lowered her to the bed. She hissed through her teeth as she sat. Rick passed by Daryl. "See you in the morning man."
Daryl shut the door and then he went over and sat down next to her. She pressed her forehead to his. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again. I thought they had killed you."
He breathed her in. He pulled back abruptly. "What type of flower do you always smell like?"
"What?" she seemed confused at the turn in conversation. "Oh, um, it's probably the soap I use. Lavender."
Daryl slowly nodded his head up and down. "Lavender. That's been driving me crazy for days." He pushed her hair off her shoulder, bent over and kissed her neck. "Now I know."
"Daryl? What-" She was cut off by a knock on the door. "Come in."
Lori pushed the door open. "Rick said you didn't want anything to eat, but I figured I'd bring it down here anyway. Besides, I got some pain killers for Stella." She held up a syringe. "Don't argue. Hershel said to made sure you get it. Said to remind you of your blood pressure."
As Lori attached the syringe to Stella's IV, Daryl picked up the bowl. It was a good thick stew. He dived in. "Where'd you get the meat?" he asked between bites.
Lori started to laugh. "Rick went out one day to hunt. A deer pretty much walked across his path with a bulls eye on it. Though to hear him tell it, he tracked the thing to China. Wasn't even gone an hour." She looked down at Stella. "There, that's all done. Get some sleep and I'll see you two in the morning." She leaned over and kissed Daryl on the cheek. "I'm glad you're back Daryl."
"See? Women say nice things, not like you men." Stella said as she scooted back onto the bed.
Daryl scraped the bottom of the bowl then turned to look at her. "I can say nice things." Stella began to chuckle. "No really." He put the bowl aside then cast off his jeans to climb into bed. "I could say that you have a great belly button." He reached down to undo the clasp of her pants. "Or that your toes are adorable." He pulled them off. He started undoing the buttons on her shirt. "That you have sexy collar bones." He pulled her to a sitting position so he could push it off her shoulders. She laid back down and Daryl's smile collapsed.
Her chest and abdomen were covered with sutures and band aids. She reached up to touch his face. "It's all just superficial. Not one of them was that deep. Come lay down and keep saying nice things." She tugged him down gently.
He laid on his side next to her and pulled the covers over them. He was serious as he said, "If I had to say one nice thing, I would tell you that I wouldn't have known what to do without you. That the last three days were hell, but only because I thought you had died." He leaned over and kissed her.
"I was wrong. You say the nicest things." Her voice was drowsy from the medication. She snuggled in closer to him.
Daryl felt his body relaxing as he laid next to her. He pulled her in tight and threw his leg across hers. He couldn't believe that she was laying in his arms again. He began to think about what life had been like before her. Never had someone meant so much to him. He knew she had changed him. Exhausted he closed his eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.
The sound of the door opening woke him. He pried his eyes open to see Beth help Stella in. "It's okay Beth I got it from here. Thanks," she shut the door quietly. As she turned she saw his eyes were open. "Morning. How do you feel?"
"Don't know yet, give me a minute." Daryl rolled to a sitting position. And groaned. "I feel like an old man." He hauled himself to his feet. "Of course I think I'd feel better if I got a little love." He grinned and gave her a brief but passionate kiss.
"What time is it? I feel like I've been sleeping forever." Daryl started pulling on clothes.
"I'd guess sometime around ten. They saved you some breakfast. Here, wait. Let me put this on your back."
"What is it?" he asked as he turned around. He felt her begin to dab it over the shredded skin.
"Just some antibiotic ointment. We should stop at the infirmary and get you some oral antibiotics as well. Just to be safe. All done."
Daryl watched move around the room as he buttoned up his shirt. "You seem to be moving a bit better today."
"I feel better. Headache is almost tolerable and I'm not nearly as dizzy all the time. Ribs still hurt something awful though." She laid the last of her things on the bookcase. "What do you say we head outside? Everyone wants to see you."
"Sounds good, just one condition."
Stella looked at him warily. "What?"
"Gotta stop at the bathroom."
She laughed. "If you must. Come on." She took hold of his arm as they walked out together.
When the passed by the entrance to their old cell block, Daryl walked over and looked in, hoping to see Merle. Instead he saw four strangers. "Who the hell are they?" he asked Stella.
"They apparently came in through one of the breaks in the prison wall while we were at Woodbury. It's one of the things Rick wants to talk with you about. Come on."
When the got outside everyone rushed to greet him. It made him feel good. He had really come to care about these people in the last ten months. It surprised him how much they seemed to care about him.
After all the women had kissed him at least once and the men had all shaken his hand, the group went over to where Michonne was waiting. There was a lot to talk about.
"Here," Rick passed him his crossbow. "How'd you get it back?"
"Andrea. Didn't Merle tell you? She's there in Woodbury. Anyways, after they captured me, Merle went to her for help getting me out. She managed to get the crossbow and then snuck me out through a break in one of the walls. Killed a guard to do it. Merle caught up with me not long after."
"Andrea? She didn't come with you?" Carol asked.
"Nah, said she wanted to stay, but couldn't let me die. Said it wasn't right what happened. She didn't know they were holding Glenn and Maggie."
"Holding!" Maggie blurted out. "About to execute is more like it."
Glenn wrapped his arm around her and murmured something in her ear. She relaxed and smiled back at him. Daryl wondered if that's what he and Stella looked like to others.
"We need to talk about Merle." Rick sighed heavily. It was clear this was not a conversation he was looking forward to. "We need to decide what we should do about him."
Everyone fell silent. It was clear what people were thinking. He was Daryl's brother and he had helped Daryl escape. On the other hand, he beat Glenn and would have killed him and Maggie both.
It was Stella that spoke up. "If Woodbury is coming here, we need to know everything about them. Maggie, you said Merle was one of the ones in charge right?" Maggie nodded. "We need him to tell us about what they have for weapons, how many there are, what type of strategy they'd likely use.. anything he can. I don't think he's going to be inclined to do that from a cell. If he gets out of line, we can always kick him out."
Rick seemed to be considering it. "Daryl, you're sure that they didn't let you go. That this isn't some form of a trap?"
Daryl looked around at everyone. "No way. They were going to shoot me in the town square the next morning. Public execution. I think till then Merle really thought he'd be able to talk the governor out of killing me. Besides the governor was pissed that Merle's little brother was one of the 'terrorists'. He froze Merle out."
Rick turned to his left. "Maggie? Glenn? Need to hear what you have to say."
They looked at each other for a moment then Maggie gave a slight nod. Glenn turned to face the rest of the group. "Let him out. But, I don't want him sleeping near us. He can stay in the cells. He shouldn't have access to anything."
"Alright, that's fair," Rick said. "Daryl and I can let him out after we're done here. We'll make sure he knows what the deal is. Next we have to talk about the other group. I don't know if they want to stay, or if they don't. What I do know is that if something is going to happen with Woodbury, we're going to need all the help we can get. I suggest that we let them stay. Same thing as Merle. They sleep in the cells, don't have access to the guns. They go by our rules and they have to pull their own weight."
The group agreed with Rick pretty quickly. It made sense. Daryl couldn't help but feel a little relieved. With Merle and the other four, it would make them much stronger. He had seen what type of weapons they had at Woodbury. They were going to need all the help they could get.
Glenn and Rick went to lock up the sleeping quarters, and go retrieve the other group. When they came out, it was clear that the four of them hadn't realized how big the group was. When they reached the main group, Rick started to speak again.
"Sorry for keeping you in there for so long, but we've had some things to deal with. We've talked about it and we'd like to invite you to stay. But you need to know some things first. This is our prison. We cleared it out and if it wasn't for my son, you'd have died in there. It's going to be our rules. We've been through a lot stuff together and we trust each other, but we don't know you. You can sleep in the cells, and have access to the yard and the bathrooms, but that's it. You pull your weight around here. If that's not acceptable to you, the gate is right over there. We'll give you some food and you can be on your way."
The big black guy stepped forward. Daryl estimated him to be in him mid thirties, six-four, about two-fifty. The guy was physically impressive.
"Your offer sounds good man. This place is like heaven. We'll do anything to stay."
"Well there's something else that you should know. There's a town a few miles away. We've had a bit of a run in with them. It's entirely possible that they will at some point come to attack us. If that happens, we'll expect you to help defend the prison."
"Hey man, it's going to be our place too. Can't have something like this without someone wanting to take it." He shot a look over his shoulder.
"Well then, welcome." Rick stepped forward and shook his hand. "I'm Rick."
"Tyreese. That's my sister Sasha and that is Allen and his son Ben."
Rick pointed us all out one by one. Daryl couldn't help noticing the look Ben gave Beth. He didn't particularly like it, but he'd see how it went. Until then, he'd let Hershel worry about it.
After all the introductions were made Daryl and Rick headed in to see Merle.
"Merle! Hey Merle!" Daryl called out. "Get your lazy ass out of that bed."
"What? Are they going to let me out of here? Oh I see John Q. Lawman is here. Gonna make me promise to be a good boy?"
Rick shook his head in disbelief. "Would you like us to send you back to Woodbury as a peace offering? Because I have zero problem with that. If you weren't Daryl's brother, I would have put a bullet in your brain the second you showed up here. So, if you want to stay, you better listen. You will tell us whatever you know about this governor, what type of weapons he has, and how many men there are. You're going to tell us anything we ask. If you don't you're going right out those gates. You pull anything, I will shoot you myself. Do you understand?"
Merle clicked his heels together and gave Rick a mock salute. "Oh, yes sir! Whatever you say sir!"
Rick turned and walked away.
"Jesus Merle, you're a real asshole. What'd you expect? Thought they'd bake you a cake?" Daryl asked as he unlocked the cell. "Grab that piss bucket, I'll show you where the bathrooms are."
Merle stepped out of the cell and clapped his hand on Daryl's shoulder. "Well it's you and me again baby brother. Come on, I'm starving."
After showing Merle where the bathroom was, Daryl headed back outside. Just as he stepped out Stella started to rise from her chair. The new arrival, Tyreese, stepped over to help her. Stella laughed at something he said. Daryl looked at Tyreese's hand on her waist and ground his teeth together. He started down toward them.
"Thanks man, I've got her." The look in Daryl's eyes had Tyreese looking from him to Stella with understanding. He quickly dropped his hands.
As soon as Tyreese moved away he looked down at her. "What?" She simply gave him a look. "Why are you getting up anyway? Do you need something?"
"Yeah, to keep my ass from falling asleep. Thought I'd go see if Lori needed help washing the laundry."
Just then Merle wandered up to them. "Well, well, well. Look at what we have here." He gave Stella an appreciative once over. "I'm Merle." He held out his left hand.
Stella shook it. "Stella. It's nice to meet you Merle."
Merle didn't release her hand. Instead he stepped closer. "A northerner huh? Well, if there's anything I can do for you, you just come find me. Be happy to help you out with whatever you need," he said suggestively. Stella pulled her hand from his.
"Back off Merle," Daryl snapped.
Merle looked at Daryl and down to where his hand was wrapped around Stella's waist. "Oh, I see. Baby brother's got himself a classy piece of cooze. No wonder why you wanted to get back here so bad. Sure you don't want to share?" Merle laughed. "No matter. Got to get me something to eat."
Daryl shifted uncomfortably. Stella turned to face him. "So, that's Merle huh? He's a charmer. Don't know how the women aren't swarming around him. Come on, walk me over to Lori."
He was using the scope on one of the sniper rifles from the armory to look for scouts when Merle came up. Daryl stayed silent. He had an idea of why Merle was there.
Merle strolled around the tower and leaned against one of the windows. "Nice place you got here."
"What do you want Merle?"
"Thinkin' there's going to be a fight here. See no reason to stick around. You and I, we don't need these people. They're dead weight."
Daryl looked at him through the corner of his eye. "I ain't leaving."
"Oh, come on. What you got around here that's worth sticking around for? The governor's gonna come here and you and I are gonna be his number one targets. This place is gonna be wiped out. Might as well take some supplies and head out. We can even take that trim that you seem so fond of."
Daryl spun around. "Stay away from her," he growled.
"Ho ho ho! You know baby brother, I might start to think that you're not happy to see me. First you side with Barney Fife down there and now you're gonna take the side of some piece of ass over your own blood? I'll admit, it's a mighty fine piece of ass. Surprised she lets you dip your wick in her."
"You best shut the fuck up." Daryl fought to control his anger. Fighting with Merle was never a good thing. Even when you won, you lost.
"You know she ain't never gonna care about you. Not really. She may say she does, she may even do things to you that make you think so. But one day, she's gonna cut you free and not think twice about it." Merle put his hand on Daryl's shoulder. "No one's gonna care about you but me baby brother and you know it."
"Screw you. I ain't leaving here. We got a good thing here. Worked hard for it."
Merle put his hands up and backed up. "Fine, fine. Whatever you say."
Daryl turned back, looking out the window. If he hadn't he would have seen the smile that spread across Merle's face.