"Georgia," he grabbed hold of her right arm and spun her around to face him. She winced and reached out to grasp his arm for balance. He steadied her with his other hand and repeated, "Georgia, Georgia Rayne, please….tell me ya ain't….that yer not…."
She sighed and unzipped the hoody she was wearing. She pulled it aside and revealed the blood smear across her blue tank top. He saw the tear in it and the way it was a handprint. She said quietly, "They got me when I was trying to get out of the RV. Just one. I killed it. Please, don't think I was hiding it so that nobody would know. I've planned to tell you all day. I've just been waiting to do it when the group hasn't been paying attention. I didn't want to hurt DJ."
"Ya been round DJ all day! Ya been round DJ all day an ya got that on ya? What if ya'd….what if ya'd turned!?" he hissed, making sure nobody could hear him. She zipped her hoody back up quickly.
"Bite or scratch, then fever, then turn. And I've just gotten the fever, Daryl. I'm burning up and, in about ten minutes, I'm going to go over there and tell DJ what's going on and what's going to happen. I'm going to tell him that his mother's dying. Then, I'm going to march into those woods, and I'm going to kill myself, because I'll be damned if you do it."
Daryl's eyes widened and he objected, "No, no, no, no! Ya ain't doin' that, Georgia Rayne. Maybe it's just a lil scratch from runnin'. Maybe it ain't whatcha think it is."
"It is what I think it is, Daryl. I should have told you earlier in the day but you would have freaked out and I had to make sure DJ was safe before I could be ready to do this. I had to make sure you would be around to take care of our son so that I can face death with peace instead of being scared to leave him."
"Ain't gonna happen." Daryl grabbed her shoulders and squeezed hard, shaking her slightly.
"It is, it is going to happen, Daryl. Now, come on, big man. We're not getting Rick involved. We take care of our own."
With that, she walked away from him and towards the group. Night was just beginning to fall and Daryl followed to make a small fire for the three of them. As DJ moved to curl into Georgia's side, she nodded towards Daryl and he pulled him away from her to sit near enough to touch her but far enough so that they weren't in constant contact.
"What's going on?" DJ demanded.
Georgia chuckled and reached out to cover his knee with her hand. "You're just like your dad, you know that? You don't miss a thing. You're my beautiful, bright little boy."
"Mom, you're sweating. You're burning up. What's going on?" DJ repeated.
"Well, sweetheart, there's not an easy way to say this. I've always told you that I will never leave you without a goodbye. I did that to a very important man once and I don't think he's ever forgiven me." She smiled softly at Daryl. "But, sweetheart, I have to say goodbye to you now."
"What?" DJ searched her face and then looked up at Daryl, who averted his eyes quickly.
"Sweetheart, my sweet little boy, something happened, back at the farm. When you guys leave the campsite tomorrow morning, I won't be able to leave with you." She closed her eyes against the pain in her side and understanding dawned on DJ.
"No, Mom, no. What happened? What happened at the farm?"
"Daryl James Dixon, hon, I got scratched. And scratches will turn somebody as easily as a bite. I'm sorry." Her voice broke and her hand opened on the ground next to DJ's leg. Daryl reached down and threaded his fingers through hers. "Baby, I always thought I'd have more time with you. I always thought there'd be a tomorrow and, this time, there won't be."
"Mommy," DJ cried. Before Daryl could grab him, he leaned forward and buried his face in his mother's chest. The hand that wasn't clasped in Daryl's came up to rest against the back of DJ's head.
"Shhh, shh, shh, DJ. It's okay now. It's going to be okay. You understand what's going to happen to me, right?" she murmured, her eyes opening to fix on Daryl's electric blue ones. He wanted to look away, look anywhere but at the dying woman in front of him, but he couldn't. She was disappearing and the only thing he could do was burn her face into his mind. DJ nodded against her and she winced again. When Daryl reached to move their son, she shook her head softly at him. "Well, you understand what I'm going to be and you understand why I can't be around you. You're a big boy now. You're an amazing boy. Just like your daddy. It'll hurt when I'm gone, but you'll get through it, okay? You'll be able to get through it."
"I won't," DJ sobbed.
"You will, baby. Daryl is going to be here with you. He's going to take care of you and make sure you're okay. I know that. You know that I trust him with our lives."
"Georgia, we ain't gotta do this now," Daryl spoke for the first time. "We ain't gotta. Yer fine right now. Might not take fer a few days. Sometimes it don' happen fer a long time."
"Daryl," she chuckled, "I'm burning up. You and I both know that I'm burning up. I'm in agony. It feels like a bad flu. We both know I don't have much longer and I'm not leaving without saying goodbye. I'm fighting it hard right now. I'm not giving up. But it won't be much longer."
"Don'…"
"Don't lie to yourself," she scolded. "It will just make it harder on you. Let's just sit here for a bit. Let's just be a family for a little bit."
They fell silent and she lay still, stroking DJ's hair regularly and murmuring, "I love you, DJ. You're the best thing I've ever done in my life. I love you."
After about an hour, she asked, "DJ, honey, can you go get me some water, please?"
DJ sat up and stared at her suspiciously. She promised, "I'll still be here when you get back. I'm not going anywhere just yet. Just run and get me some water."
He did as she asked and she took a deep breath to talk to Daryl. His fingers were still entwined in hers and he'd spent the last hour staring off into space. But, when she sent DJ away, his focus tightened on her. He demanded, "Whatcha doin', Georgia Rayne?"
"Saying goodbye to you," she replied with a soft smile. "I left once without saying goodbye and it was the biggest mistake of my life. I'm not going to make the biggest mistake of my death as well."
"Ya ain't gotta…." His voice trailed off.
"Daryl, I need to tell you this before I die. I never stopped."
"Stopped what?"
"Loving you. I never stopped loving you for a single second of a single day. I should have told you. I should have sucked it up and just admitted it to you. I shouldn't have been scared. I shouldn't have used it as an excuse. You wouldn't have left me. You probably would have gotten surly and stormed off into the woods, but you wouldn't have left me."
She stopped to cough and Daryl said quickly, "Ya ain't gotta do this, Georgia."
"Yes, I do, Daryl. I need to get it out before I leave for the last time. I was a coward. But I don't get to be anymore. I love you. I've been in love with you since I was too young to know what love is. I love you to my last breath, for everything you are and for everything you've given me in that little boy. Take care of him for me. Please." She raised her hand up to cup his face and brushed her thumb across his cheek.
"I will. I'll keep him safe. Gonna be the only thing I got left of ya." Daryl was focusing hard on keeping every emotion in him on the inside but he couldn't hide the agony in his eyes.
"Memories. And the photo albums are in the saddlebags of your motorcycle. I put them there without thinking about it. I thought they'd be safer with you. Everything is safer with you."
"Not ya. I fucked up. Shoulda been wit ya. Shouldn'a been way from ya."
"You needed to be there, Daryl. If you'd been with me, DJ would be losing both of his parents. I'm just glad you found us."
DJ raced back over with a bottle of water and sat on the other side of his mom. She drained the water bottle and handed it back to him. She reached her free hand up to cup his face and wipe away a smear of dirt with the pad of her thumb. He leaned into her palm and a tear trailed down his cheek again. She warned, "Baby, my goodbye ends soon. I have to talk to Rick before I leave. Daryl's going to go get him, okay?"
"I'm stayin…."
"Go get him, Daryl," she ordered.
"Go get him, Daryl," she ordered.
He sneered but stood up and left. Georgia turned her attention back to DJ. She murmured, "You know he loves you, right?"
"He's my dad."
"And he truly loves you, baby. He's going to take care of you. I know he is. He's not going to let anything happen to you."
"He wasn't supposed to let anything happen to you either," DJ argued through his tears.
"He didn't, baby. This wasn't his fault. But I need you to listen to him when I'm gone. I need you to do everything he says and I need you to do it without questioning him. Be good for me and, maybe, call him dad every now and then. You don't have to, but I think it would mean a lot to him if you did." Her smile faltered for a second. "The photo albums, the last thing I have, they're in the saddlebags of Daryl's motorcycle. Make sure you ride with him. Also, there's this."
She took her hand away from her face and rolled onto her side to reach the edge of the blanket. She lifted up the blanket and retrieved her gun. She rolled onto her back again and pressed it into his hand, folding his fingers over it.
"I want you to have this."
"You'll need it though, Mom. You'll need it when you….when you….to protect yourself."
"Baby, trust me. You'll need it more. Where I'm going, I don't need that."
DJ buried his face in her shoulder again and stayed there until Rick walked over. He took one look at Georgia and DJ and sighed. Georgia smiled up at him and Daryl and announced, "I'm not feeling the best right now, Rick. I think it would be for the best if I left the group."