Hey y'all! Sorry this didn't get out last night! It got late and I battled a little with how I wanted this one to go down and this morning I finally managed to finish it. Sorry about that! Y'all have been awesome and I wanted to thank everyone for their patience and support! I love that so many of you can't wait for the next chapters to this! Makes me feel like I'm doing something right! Anyway, I hope ya like it and please leave a me a little something if you read, it helps! Thanks! :)
Beth's fingers skirted over the edge of her bandage for the thousandth time. It had been three days since the attack and Merle had been avoiding her ever since. She was confined to the inside of the prison for the most part because her daddy didn't want her going outside until she was better. She still hadn't even seen her burn, but Maggie had and she kept insisting that it wasn't as bad as Beth thought.
It was going to leave a scar though and Beth was pretty upset about it. She figured that might be one of the reasons that Merle was staying away from her. He didn't want to look at her scar because it disgusted him. She tried her hardest to be around him the first two days, but he was quick and she barely managed a glimpse of him a time or two. By the third day she just gave up trying. If he was that determined then she wasn't going to keep putting herself out there and making a fool of herself.
He had used her. They had had sex one time and now he didn't want her anymore. She must have been worse at it than she had thought. Even before they had had sex, Merle hadn't been able to stay away from her when he had tried. So the only explanation her mind could come up with was that she hadn't been good enough for his tastes. He however, had been wonderful and she relived that moment between them over and over in her mind.
She stood next to Judith's crib looking down at the sleeping baby. Everyone else was outside and she had volunteered to watch the little girl while the others worked together to clean and fortify the prison. Now that they knew the Governor had explosives Morgan was working with the others to come up with a different plan for them.
Judith sighed in her sleep and Beth smiled down at her. Her back was giving her a fit, but she kept it to herself because she didn't want to worry anyone. The cream wasn't helping and she was so disgusted with the whole thing. She didn't want to look at it and she didn't want anyone touching it. She had been lying to her daddy, Maggie, and Carol. Whenever they asked her if it needed changing, she had been telling them that someone else had already helped her change it. They hadn't even questioned her about it and she was relieved. She didn't want the others touching it and looking at it.
So far no one had brought up the topic of why she had been outside in the guard tower with Merle. She knew her sister wanted to ask her about it, but she remained quiet instead. Her daddy didn't say much either, but it was clear that something had changed between he and Merle. He didn't look at the man as harshly and she was glad about that even if Merle wouldn't look at her at all.
Glancing around to make sure that no one was nearby, she lifted up the hem of her shirt and ran her fingers around the edge of the bandage again. She winced at the pain there and bit down on her lip. She gasped as Rick came through the doorway. He stopped short upon seeing her, "Oh, uh, sorry I didn't know anyone was in here..." His voice trailed off as his eyes narrowed on her bandage and she scrambled to get her shirt back down. Frowning, he walked over to where she stood, "Beth that looks really red. When's the last time you changed that?" He asked.
She looked down at the floor and bit her lip again. She didn't want to lie to Rick when he was staring at her like he already knew, but she also didn't want everyone worrying about her.
"It's fine. Daddy checked it this morning," She lied.
Rick studied her with the look that he got whenever he didn't really believe what he was hearing, "Maybe I should get him to check it again," He suggested.
Beth shook her head, "No! I mean...it's fine," She pulled her shirt up just over the bandage again to show him. "Nothing to worry about," She said.
Rick peered down at the bandage and she felt his fingers along the edges of it. She hissed in a breath and had to grab onto Judith's crib to keep from falling over from a dizzy spell. "I think this is infected," Rick murmured. "I'm just going to peel it back a little more. Hold your shirt up for just a few minutes longer," He told her.
She nodded and held her breath as he began peeling back the bandage. She closed her eyes and swallowed down an urge to vomit.
"What tha hell is goin' on in here?" Merle's deathly quiet voice rang out inside of the cell making her eyes fly open and causing Rick to remove his hands from her.
Merle's eyes skirted over her for brief moments before focusing their deadly intensity onto Rick. Rick sighed, "I'm trying to look at her wound."
Merle scoffed, "Looks ta me like yer tryin' ta look at more 'an that," He said icily.
Rick's eyes narrowed and he took a step away from Beth in Merle's direction. Merle's expression changed to one of dangerous intent and Beth scrambled for something to say.
"I don't think she's been getting the bandage changed like she's supposed to. It looks like it's becoming infected. Whatever else you think might be going on here isn't," Rick said firmly.
She watched as Merle processed that information, but his image began to blur slightly. She blinked several times and then she stepped backwards, accidentally brushing her burn against the side of the crib. She moaned and swayed on her feet.
"Goddammit!" She heard Merle hiss and then she fell forward into his solid chest. He managed to scoop her up into his arms with his prosthetic and she felt herself being carried out of the cell.
"I'll get Hershel!" She heard Rick call out.
She whimpered when he set her down on what she assumed was her bed. Her shirt was lifted and then he hissed, "Dammit girlie'! Ya gotta take care o' yerself!" He fussed.
She opened her eyes a little as the room slowly began to quit spinning. He was looming over her, his expression a mixture of seriousness and anger. "What do you care?" Her voice still came out scratchy, but it was getting better every day.
He blinked and then seemed to ignore the question as he rolled her over onto her side and began working at the bandage. She instantly tensed, not wanting him to see her burn.
"No! No Merle! Don't touch it please!" She thrashed around and it hurt really bad but she was determined that he not see it.
He stopped and grew quiet, but she knew he was still there. She felt hot tears sliding down her face and she was glad that she was facing the wall so that he couldn't see.
"Christ darlin', ya can't be doin' this," He said softly.
She didn't reply and several seconds later the sound of footsteps could be heard coming down the hall as well as the telltale sign of her daddy's crutches.
"Bethie?" Hershel asked as he entered the room. She didn't reply and she felt Merle rise and then her daddy's hand on her shoulder.
He peeled the bandage back and then she heard him quietly suck in his breath, "It's infected. Sweetheart, who's been changing your bandage?" He asked.
She wiped at her eyes with her hands, "No one," She finally whispered.
She peered over her shoulder long enough to catch Merle's murderous expression and their eyes locked for several seconds before he left the room, his boots echoing down the hallway.
She cried out as the rest of the bandage was removed and it pulled at her sensitive skin a little. There was a loud crash and then an even louder curse that could only belong to one person in the prison.
Merle was mad.
"Fuckin' piece o' shit!" Merle kicked a bucket out of his way in the kitchen area and it made a loud clang as it hit the wall.
He wanted to slam into something all over again. The look on the girl's face had damn near gutted him. Then her shattered voice telling him not to look at her burn cut him like a knife. He knew he had been avoiding her, but he hadn't expected her to not take care of herself. He stalked around the room, muttering to himself as he waited. He wanted to talk to her again. He needed to know why she had ignored her wound in that way. He had had enough experience in his life to know that the quickest way to cause infection with a burn was not to clean it. Most times if cleaned properly, a burn that wasn't too severe wouldn't get infected. Hers was definitely infected and that would mean they would need antibiotics. He wasn't sure that they had any of those.
When he had walked into that cell and seen Rick with his fingers on her, he hadn't known what to think. His first reaction had been surprise that had quickly changed to anger. He wanted to slam the man into the wall. He and Rick had actually been getting along a little better, but he didn't know where that put them at now.
He rubbed at his prosthetic as he paced the floor. Finally, Hershel and Rick walked into the room and Merle turned to them. Hershel eyed him curiously as did Rick, but they didn't say anything at first.
"Well?" Merle snapped.
"I've cleaned the wound the best I could given what we have on hand. The bandage has been changed and I've given her a small dose of antibiotics we had here, but I'm not sure if it's going to be strong enough to kill the infection. She really needs more antibiotics," Hershel said.
Merle looked at Rick, "I ain't leavin' 'er," He said before the man could ask.
Rick sighed and then nodded, "Fine. I'll get Maggie and Glenn to do a quick run."
Rick glanced at them both and walked out of the room to find the duo. Hershel studied Merle and then gestured towards the cells, "I know you have feelings for my daughter Merle," He said.
Merle's head snapped up and he gazed at Hershel and smirked, "Ain't never had no feelin's for nobody," Merle said.
Hershel just nodded like he had known that Merle was going to say that and it served to further piss Merle off.
"I just want you to know that if you ever do have feelings for her, that I suppose I'm okay with it. You've shown great improvement and what you did for her the night of the fire I'll never forget. I can't promise that Maggie will feel the same though," Hershel chuckled.
Merle sighed, "I'm old an' I ain't no good fer someone like her," He mumbled.
Hershel maneuvered himself closer to Merle and placed his hand on his shoulder, "I used to think long ago that age was very important when it came to who you could love, but now I see it differently. She's a grown woman now and I can tell she feels something for you even though you both are fighting it. If you love my daughter, then please take care of her. That's all I ask. I just want her to find some happiness in this mess of a world and if that happiness is with you, then so be it. I will not stand in her way," Hershel said.
Merle shifted uncomfortably. This wasn't what he had expected at all. Things never worked out like this for him, but here the old man was telling him that it was okay for Merle to want to be with his daughter. It was crazy and Merle pulled back from his grasp and made his way down the hallway towards the cells. He entered her cell and found her sleeping, her plump lips parted slightly as she dozed. He settled himself on the floor against the wall and watched her as she slept.
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