AN: Here you go, another chapter!

We'll be wrapping this one up before too long. I'm guessing between 8 and 10 more chapters. I've already loaded up the sequel which is tentatively called "One Horse Town" but I've been told there's another story with that title so I'm probably going to change the title. Any suggestions along that vein? If so, let me know! The story will be there, though, when you want to find it and the introduction is already posted (and by that I mean my AN explaining what to expect). I'm going to open it up to take in suggestions/requests/etc. from readers when you want to offer them. But there's more information there.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think!

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Daryl hadn't realized how deeply he'd fallen into sleep until the loud noise that sounded like the alarms for the end of the world echoed around inside his mind and jerked him awake in the hard chair that was supposed to some kind of recliner for hospital guests, but really felt more like trying to sleep on a stone bed that wouldn't even allow you to reach a position that was even relatively close to reclining.

He hit his feet at the very moment that he hit consciousness and started across the small space toward Carol's bed where she was already stirring, gasping out in pain that his sleep fuzzy mind couldn't identify as related to the wound she was recovering from or the hellacious howling of the monitor that he knew, now, signaled something to do with his daughter.

The night nurse came into the room just as Daryl was reaching the bed. Her name was Anna and she was a nice girl. She'd been working night shift for the last two nights and Daryl had more than one passing conversation with her.

Daryl sidestepped out of Anna's way, the two of them having almost perfected something as intricate as a ballet, and went around to the other side of the bed from where she was working to try and comfort Carol who was obviously disoriented from sleep and probably a combination of the nightmares that had been haunting her since the shooting.

"S'alright," Daryl tried to say soothingly, except his voice came out far too thick with sleep to be really soothing and sounded like a bark or growl more than words of love and comfort.

"It is alright," Anna confirmed, moving the monitor on Carol's belly and messing with the machine that was going to cause Daryl to die of a heart attack if they didn't leave the hospital soon. "Lil' Bit just moved, that's all…she's feeling a little energetic. It might go off again if she doesn't settle down."

Carol was panting now, but obviously calming from the shocking experience. Her hand, the one closest to Daryl went to her stomach for a moment and she shook her head, humming her disagreement, her voice obviously not awake yet either.

"She's going to move again," Carol said, rubbing her belly. "She doesn't like to be bunched on this side for long."

Anna smiled.

"Well if she moves, I'll come back in here and adjust it again, it's no problem," the girl said.

Daryl grunted a thank you to the girl, as did Carol, and she left the room. Daryl walked around the bed, sitting in the chair that was even less comfortable than the one that he'd been using as a bed and rested one of his hands on Carol's belly, reaching the other up to take Carol's hand.

"Ya tryin' ta kill me?" Daryl said, leaning his face close to Carol's belly.

Carol chuckled and continued rubbing her belly with the other hand. By now Daryl had figured out that she was probably trying to coax Lil' Bit to go ahead and make her move and flop violently back to the other side, away from the monitor again.

They'd been there for two days…three days? It could have been four. Daryl wasn't sure. He'd lost most track of time since he only left Carol to go outside and smoke and even then it seemed that it was always a different time of the day or night when he stepped out into the parking lot and walked a small circle around it while he enjoyed his cigarette.

If it hadn't been for Michonne, Tyreese, Hershel, and Miss Jo, Daryl was sure that their lives outside the hospital would have fallen apart. The four of them were continually reporting in, bringing food, and letting them know that things at the house were taken care of.

Hershel and Miss Jo had even taken Lincoln and Juniper on what they referred to as their "honeymoon" to stay with them at the farm until Carol and Andrea were released from the hospital.

"Ya think she's gon' move soon?" Daryl asked, yawning.

Carol mirrored the yawn and sunk back against her pillow again, still lazily rubbing at her belly.

"She's going to move," Carol said. "She's probably just taking her time because she knows we want to sleep some more."

Daryl chuckled. Having had the few days' time to study his daughter's habits in the womb very closely, he'd determined that she was not only hard headed, but she must also have a streak of her Uncle Merle in her because she seemed to like to do things just to make life a little more challenging for everyone who was counting on her for one thing or another.

Daryl rubbed his hand across the harder swell of Carol's belly where their daughter was tightly bunched at the moment, hoping his rubbing might coax her to move if Carol wasn't having any luck.

Since the shooting, they'd taken Carol off of much of her medication. Her worry for the baby had caused most of her anxiety in the beginning and led them to keep her medicated, but since Lil' Bit was doing exceptionally well and seemed content to stay exactly where she was for the time being, Carol had also been doing better.

Her wounds were minor. She had a few places, where pieces of a bullet had been lodged, that had been stitched up, and she had something akin to burns in Daryl's opinion, but it wasn't much in comparison to what it might have been. The only reason she hadn't gone home yet, from what Daryl gathered, was that they'd been observing the baby to make sure that she wasn't going to suffer from any sort of distress because of all that Carol's body had gone through with the shooting.

But even that was beginning to not be anything worth worrying about and Daryl was keeping his fingers crossed that they'd be going home soon…and that everything would be fine when they got there.

He knew that Miss Jo had gone to the house and cleaned up, trying to remove any evidence of anything that might have taken place there, so that when Carol did get to come home, she might not find her own house anything that triggered any sort of fear.

Really, if anyone had come through the incident with lasting physical trauma, though, it was Andrea. Daryl had gone over to see her three or four times, and once he'd been allowed to take Carol over in a wheelchair for a short visit.

Her wounds were much more extensive and they would require time and therapy before they were something that she could put entirely behind her.

Daryl had yet to hear her complain about them, though, and she was all smiles each of the times that he'd been over to see her.

It was Merle who had taken the thing the hardest when it came to Andrea, and it was written all over his face. He hadn't left her, except to smoke and once to go down to the gift shop to get her some things to try to entertain her, since he'd been allowed to see her. He hadn't even taken the time to shave, despite everyone promising to take turns visiting with her, because he didn't want to leave her that long.

And Daryl was going to be the last person in the world to give his brother hell about it.

Merle might see the fact that he dreaded leaving her…or rather the fact that he feared that she'd leave him if he turned his head…as him being weak in the situation, but Daryl thought he was pretty sure he saw it for what it was.

When Merle Dixon wasn't paying attention, he'd gone and fell in love. More than that, he'd seen now how much it would hurt him to lose the woman he loved…and it was new to Merle to feel that way, but Daryl understood the feeling entirely. He wasn't going to let anyone say a thing to Merle about his desire to stay with Andrea…to watch her…to protect her from things that he could never really protect her from. Merle was new at love, perhaps, but he was doing it to the best of his ability.

Daryl was half dozing with his hand on Carol's belly and his head tipped over on his shoulder when the machine sounded the alarm again just after he felt the rolling sensation in Carol's stomach. He jerked to full attention once more and saw that Carol must have been dozing too. This time, though, the alarm hadn't terrified either of them like it had when they were deep asleep and not expecting it at all.

Daryl got out of his chair and moved around the bed, just in time to nod his head at Anna as she came through the door.

"There she goes," Anna said with a chuckle, working to adjust the monitor.

Carol smiled softly, not moving this time from her relaxed position.

"She should stay there for a while," Carol said. "She likes it better over there."

"We all like to stretch out sometimes," Anna said. She smiled and giggled. "She just wants to explore her space…it's probably cramped in there."

"She ain't got too damn much longer," Daryl said.

"No, she doesn't," Anna said. She fiddled with the machine. "But I think they'd like her to stay in a little longer if she could…I heard you're probably going home tomorrow."

"That's what they say," Carol said. She faked a dramatic sigh and then chuckled. "With bedrest?"

Anna chuckled.

"Busy person?" Anna asked.

"She don't never stop," Daryl answered for her.

"Well it'll be a good vacation, then," Anna said. "Take a little time off your feet and plan for your little girl. Besides, you get to finally force this one to do something."

The girl gestured her head in Daryl's direction and then she turned toward him, smiling and offering him a wink.

"He's good to me," Carol said, reaching and catching Daryl's hand, squeezing it gently.

"I had a hunch he might be," Anna said. "Well…she looks like she's settled down, but if you need anything I'll be around for another three hours or so."

"Thank you," Carol said. Daryl echoed the thanks.

"No problem…and good luck with her…" Anna said. "If you get out tomorrow, that is…"

"I'm sure we'll see ya in a few weeks," Daryl said.

Anna smiled and nodded.

"Probably…I'm a slave to my job," she responded.

"Ain't we all?" Daryl said with a chuckle.

When Anna had left, Daryl hesitated a moment and then saw that Carol was settling down, her eyes looking heavy again.

"Ya need anything?" Daryl asked her.

Carol turned her eyes up at him and shook her head softly.

"I'm fine," she said.

Daryl nodded and leaned over, bringing his lips softly to hers.

"I'ma try for a couple more hours, then," he said.

Carol nodded and he squeezed her hand quickly before going back to his uncomfortable joke of a recliner and trying to get comfortable, closing his eyes and hoping for sleep to follow.

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"You awake?" Andrea called to Merle as he went into the little hospital bathroom to piss.

"Nah…I'm just fuckin' sleep walkin'," Merle responded. "'Course I'm awake…ain't been asleep. Why the hell you awake?"

"Can't sleep," Andrea responded.

Merle didn't say anything. He finished his business and washed his hands in the dark, making no move to switch on the light because he didn't really want to see his own countenance at the moment. Their schedules were more than fucked up. Andrea slept when her meds were new and was awake when they started to wear off. His body, responding to hers and the hours they kept, had started to lose all track of time as well.

"Hurtin'?" Merle asked as he came back into the room. He bypassed the chair he'd been pretending to sleep in and went, standing over Andrea who still was barely able to turn her head.

"Not too much," she said.

"Ya'd lie any damn way," Merle said. He looked around for his watch and found it where he'd tossed it on one of the rolling tables near the bed. He checked the time. "Damn near three in the mornin'," Merle said. "But it ain't time for ya meds."

"I'm fine," Andrea said. "I mean it…I just couldn't sleep and I heard you up. You can go sleep, though."

Merle sunk into the chair with a sigh. He could go and get back in the chair, that was one thing, but he really didn't feel tired enough to sleep at the moment. He'd just be lying there and wishing he could sleep if anything at all.

Merle knew that Andrea was having nightmares about whatever the hell happened with Ed that day, and he didn't think he blamed her. The shit was pretty serious and she'd been shot in the left side of her chest…somewhere between her collarbone and her heart from what Merle could tell, though he wasn't a doctor by any stretch of the imagination.

Regardless of the exact location of the wound under her bandaging, though, since he never stayed to watch when they cleaned the thing, she'd been shot and he imagined it had to fuck with her.

He still wasn't even sure what happened and Daryl wouldn't press Carol to talk about it at all for fear that she'd get upset and it'd fuck up something with the alien life form she was harboring.

"I ain't sleepin'," Merle said. He took the hand that he could hold of Andrea's and fiddled with her fingers and she chuckled softly, teasing him back by drumming her fingers at him. It had become one of the few ways that they could pass some of the boring time when she didn't really feel like doing anything but got tired of staring straight ahead. "Want'cha brace off a bit?" Merle asked.

"Yeah…" Andrea said.

Merle got up and fiddled around, carefully helping Andrea out of her neck brace. She was allowed to be without it from time to time, but she still had it for when she slept or when she was aching. Apparently keeping some muscles stabilized help to ease the pain sometimes.

Andrea stuck her tongue out and then smiled at Merle once he'd gotten it off and put it to the side.

"So hot…" she said.

"Just lemme know if ya want it back," Merle said.

He sat back in his chair and Andrea tipped her head slightly toward him so she didn't have to strain her eyes so much to watch him.

Merle had been dying to ask Andrea what had really happened, beyond what he could piece together that Michonne knew from Axel, but he struggled with whether or not she'd want to talk about it.

He scratched the back of his neck, feeling her fingers tracing around on the hand that he had lying under hers.

"What the hell happened, Andrea?" Merle finally asked. "If ya don't wanna talk about it ya ain't gotta…but hell I'd like ta know."

Andrea was quiet for a moment. She kept drawing invisible patterns on his hand with her fingertip. Finally, though, she sighed.

"I don't really know," Andrea said. "I mean…I know…but I don't…"

Merle nodded his head. Things like that could be difficult to remember…or at least to remember and feel like you'd done so with any sort of accuracy.

"What'cha 'member?" He asked.

Andrea looked at him and wrinkled her brow.

"You guys left…we were working in the kitchen. Carol went to let Linc out the side door…I remember it opening and closing…" Andrea let her voice trail off a second. "I don't know if Ed came in then or how he got in, but he just came through the kitchen door…I had my back to it because I was in the cabinet, so I didn't see him come in. I heard him, but I really just thought it was one of you…I wasn't paying attention…"

Merle grunted. He didn't want her to feel guilty about any of this if that's where she was headed with it, though in his head he was scolding them for not having locked the door after they'd left. He was scolding himself for not reminding them to lock the door.

Andrea continued after a second.

"Carol screamed and it scared me so I dropped the jar I was holding…I thought something happened with Lincoln or something, but when I turned I almost fell off the ladder. Ed was there, and he had his arm around Carol's throat…he was just standing there…he had a gun on her…pointed at her stomach," Andrea said.

She stopped tracing and Merle grunted again just to spur her on. She rolled her eyes toward him and he searched them for tears or any trace of distress, but if it was there she was holding it back at the moment.

"He wanted us to go with him somewhere…and I remember thinking that if we went, he was going to kill us. And if we didn't go, he was going to kill us," Andrea said.

Merle grunted again. She was probably right. Ed hadn't killed them, but it hadn't been for lack of intention. Something else had stopped him, whether it was whatever was left in Andrea's story, faulty aim, or the arrival of Axel, something had stopped him…but he'd intended to kill them.

"I just thought that…even if he was going to kill us…" Andrea slowed down a little in her rendition now. "I just thought that…I didn't want Carol to die knowing that the baby was already dead…if we were going to die…not like that."

"So what happened?" Merle pressed.

Andrea sucked her teeth.

"I acted like I'd go with him…I told Carol we had to go with him…and he walked her into the kitchen to go through it, I guess. When he got in there he sort of led us out…and when we got to the carport, I knew that there wasn't much of a chance of getting away…but I thought that if anything we could make Linc bark…so when he let go of Carol and told us to go…to walk down the driveway because he had a car somewhere…I jumped in front of her…I was screaming as loud as I could at her to make Linc bark and to make her try to get away. I figured if he was going to kill us…maybe it was better that it happened that way," Andrea said.

"An' then Axel showed up?" Merle asked.

Andrea frowned.

"Honestly? I don't remember Axel showing up…I really don't. I think I remember the gunshot, but I'm not even sure about that," Andrea said. "I don't remember much after I knew that Ed was going to shoot us."

"Why didn't'cha just run? Why'd ya jump in front of her?" Merle asked.

Andrea frowned again and Merle could see some tears in her eyes. He cleared his throat and got up long enough to retrieve the box of tissues from one of the tables that he knew was there. He brought it to her and handed her a couple which she accepted silently.

"She's my best friend," Andrea said. "She's got a lot to live for, you know? She's finally got her dream…I just thought…"

Andrea stopped and rubbed at her eyes. She sighed after a moment and then cleared her throat.

"I don't know what I thought," Andrea said.

Merle felt his heart sink a little. He knew that Andrea probably didn't feel like she had a whole lot to live for sometimes…hell he hadn't given her a lot to live for…and she wouldn't even let him say the damn things that he wanted to say when he worked himself up to it.

"Reckon I know what the hell ya thought," Merle said, reaching out and taking Andrea's hand. He kissed her fingertips. "I ain't a whole damn lot ta live for…but how 'bout do me a solid fuckin' favor an' don't forget my ass next time ya got a chance ta throw yaself in front a train…"

Andrea frowned, but didn't say anything. Merle sighed and growled.

"I ain't pissed at'cha…an' ya done a damn fine thing for someone ya care about," Merle said. "I just…"

His voice broke off. He wasn't good at this shit. He would never be good at it. He didn't know it worked or how it went and he didn't know how to make his mouth say the things that even his brain wanted to say. It wasn't how he was used to being.

"Just like ya around, is all," Merle said finally.

Andrea smiled softly at him and moved her hand enough to wrap her fingers around his and squeeze them.

"I'll try to keep it in mind," Andrea said.

Merle couldn't really say anything else. It hadn't been what he'd wanted to say…but Andrea's smile made him think that somehow she got the gist of it.

He leaned, kissing her fingertips and then distracted himself for a moment by going in search of his watch again.

"Ya still got a bit 'fore ya meds," Merle said. "Why don't'cha try an' get some fuckin' sleep?"

Andrea swallowed, staring at him, but didn't say anything for a moment. Finally she smiled softly again and reached for the hand he'd tugged away from her to check the watch. He returned it and she squeezed his fingers.

"OK," she said. "I'll try."

"Want'cha brace back?" Merle asked.

"Not right now," Andrea said with a frown. "You staying?"

"Ain't goin' nowhere, sugah…" Merle confirmed. "Be right fuckin' here when the rooster crows…just get'cha some damn sleep an' feel better."

Merle watched her for a while as she tried to fall asleep, and finally he was satisfied that she'd drifted off for at least a bit. He sat, just as he'd promised, beside the bed and let her hand lie loosely in his.

He still hadn't said what the hell he wanted to say, but somehow he was going to get her to understand that he might not be as good with shit as Daryl was…and he might not have all the fancy words and the special damn gifts that it seemed that every other fucker around him had…but he meant the same damn things and he wasn't about to just sit by and not let her know it…he wasn't going to let her just slip away from him, not if he could help it.