Chapter Tweny-Seven
"Maggie!" Beth shouted as she rounded the corner into the waiting room, all eyes moving to her from her outburst but she ignored them, scanning the room for her family. She saw Maggie stand up from where she sat between Glenn and her mother and rushed up to her, Maggie pulling her into a tight hug.
"I'm so glad you're here." Maggie said as she held her sister firmly against her, rocking her side to side.
"What happened to daddy?" Beth asked as she looked up at her, reaching up and wiping her own tears away.
"I think he had a heart attack, sweetie. I was in the office with him, and I was just standin' there talkin' to him and he said his chest hurt and before I knew it he couldn't breathe and he was on the ground. I called 911 and gave him an aspirin, then called you immediately after. You got here fast."
"Daryl brought me." she said and Maggie looked over Beth's shoulder, giving the hunter who stood off to the side observing the girls a small smile, "Mama?" Beth rushed over to her mom who stood and embraced her daughter, crying into her shoulder as she held Beth tightly, "He'll be okay, Mama. Daddy is strong."
"I know, I'm just so worried. Oh thank God that Maggie stayed after closing, otherwise he'd be there by himself." she whimpered into Beth's shoulder as Glenn stood up, placing a hand on Beth's free shoulder.
"Do you guys want anything to drink or eat? I can go get it for you." he offered and Beth reached into her pocket, pulling out a few crumpled dollar bills.
"A Sprite or Ginger Ale for mom to keep her stomach settled." she said softly and helped Annette to sit back down, Pepsi for me if they have it. Thank you, Glenn." she said and gave him a quick hug before sitting down beside her mom and taking her hand into her own. Maggie handed Glenn some money and kissed his cheek, wiping her tears away as she sat on the other side of Annette and rubbed her back.
"Hey, Daryl. You wanna walk with me?" Glenn asked and the man nodded, pushing off of the wall and falling into step with Glenn, "I'm glad to see you and Beth are workin' it out."
"We're still tryin', ain't outta the woods yet." Daryl answered as they stepped into a larger waiting room and looking around at all the people waiting. Some were crying as they sat in there chairs just like Annette and being comforted by friends or loved ones, like Beth and Maggie. A man paced in front of the hospital windows with his cell phone glued to his ear, his wife trying to get him to sit down as she held a small child on her hip. Multiple eyes kept shifting from fidgeting hands, books, or other types of distractions to the clock on the wall as they all watched time creep by. But every time the doors swung open all eyes moved to see, in hope, if it was the doctor bringing them information or a nurse ready to escort them to their friend or family.
"You coming?" Glenn asked and Daryl looked up from where he stood to see Glenn already walking towards the vending machines. Daryl shifted uncomfortably as a few sets of eyes moved to look at him and he shoved his hands in his pockets, hurrying after him.
"You want anything to drink?" Glenn asked as he reached into the machine and grabbed a can, handing it to Daryl who already had three cans in his hands, "I'm getting mine out of the Pepsi machine. Not a big fan of Coke."
"Uh, yeah sure I'll take somethin'." Daryl said and slid two cans in his jacket pockets to free up his hands, "Mountain Dew."
"You think I should get Annette a pack of crackers? She's going to make herself sick being this upset, I mean I don't blame her for being upset.
"Sure." Daryl said and followed Glenn across the room to the other set of machines, "So...so Hershel had a heart attack?"
"That's what Maggie thinks, she said he had the same symptoms that she learned in her high school health class. She said she went with her gut and gave him some aspirin she had behind the counter at the vet's office." Glenn said as he fed a dollar into the machine and waited for the drink to be dispensed. Daryl stepped up to the snack machine and gave it is dollar, choosing a pack of crackers for Annette before putting more money in and grabbing something for Maggie and Beth. He remembered when his mom died, people brought them food. A lot of food. More food than he had seen in a week of living with his parents. He ate good for a few days, until the food started running low and his dad started keeping more for himself. He couldn't do much for them, but maybe bringing them something to eat could help a little. He chose a bag of chips for himself, then asked Glenn what he wanted just before his phone started ringing.
Doctors back
-Beth
"C'mon." Daryl said as Glenn snatched a pack of powdered donuts out of the machine when his phone started ringing as well, "Let's go see what the doctor has to say."
"Mrs. Greene, your husband has had a rather large heart attack, but your daughter's quick thinking by giving him the aspirin bought him some crucial time." Beth stood behind her mom and Maggie as she listened to the Cardiologist, "He had a ninety percent blockage and we had to go in and put a stent in to open the artery back up."
"Is he going to be okay?" Annette asked as Maggie put her arm around her, Beth crossing her arms and looking down at her feet. She reached up and quickly wiped away tears on the sleeve of her light jacket before a hand rested on her shoulder. She reached up and placed her hand over it and gave it a slight squeeze, feeling a small smile and feeling of relief when Daryl returned the squeeze to her shoulder.
"He's in recovery right now, I will let you all know when we move him to his room. Like I said, his heart attack was rather large and we'll be keeping him here for a couple of days to monitor him. I'll have someone come get you all when he's in his room. Just sit down, try and relax." The doctor placed a hand on Annette's shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze before clasping his clipboard again and turning to walk away.
"Here." Daryl said softly and turned Beth around, pressing a cold can of Pepsi into her hand and setting a small bag of pretzels on top, "Sit down and try and eat a little somethin'."
"Thank you." she said softly and managed a small smile, sitting down in her chair. Daryl pulled the Sprite out of his jacket and knelt down in front of Annette who had taken her spot between Beth and Maggie.
"Annette, I brought you somethin'." he said and saw her look up from her lap where she was twisting a handkerchief around in her hands with a tear stained face, "I know it ain't gonna be easy, and you ain't gonna want to, but try and drink some, and eat some of these so you can keep from getting sick."
"Daryl, you're such a s-sweet b-boy." she choked out and patted his cheek, "Thank you." He gave her a soft smile and opened her pack of crackers for her, handing them to her before popping the soda open and setting it in her other hand. Glenn sat down next to Maggie and handed her her snacks before opening up his own.
"You okay?" Daryl asked as he sat down, Beth nibbling on the top of a small pretzel.
"Yeah, I think." she answered softly, swallowing the tiny bite and washing it down with a splash of soda, "Daryl, thank you for bringin' me here."
"Ain't no problem, Beth. I didn't want you drivin' that upset, you coulda got hurt." he said and felt her head rest against his shoulder. He glanced down, took another sip of his drink, then let his head lay on hers.
"Evening, everybody." the nurse said as she walked into the room and up to the small white board by Hershel's bed. She erased the morning nurse's name and quickly wrote hers, "My name is Lilly, I'll be the evening nurse tonight for you. My assistant's name is Julie, and she'll be in soon too. You must be Hershel Greene."
"Evenin'." Hershel said groggily from his bed, Annette keeping his hand clasped in both of hers.
"How are you feeling?" she asked as began changing the bag for his IV.
"Tired." he answered and gave Annette's hand a slight squeeze.
"How's your pain?"
"It's comin' back pretty quick. Annette, honey, I need somethin' to drink. My throat is so dry."
"Alright, I'll go get you some pain medicine. I'll be right back. If anyone else needs anything, just give the nurses station a call and they'll let me know."
"Beth." Maggie said after the nurse left the room, Annette helping Hershel to sip from a small cup of cool water, "If you need to head home to take care of Maisy, I'm going to stay a while longer. Mom said she's gonna stay with dad tonight, and I'll be home later on."
"I guess, if Daryl doesn't mind dropping me off at home." she said as she looked over at the wall where Daryl stood leaning against it.
"I'll take ya." he answered and stood straight, "I'll come by tomorrow and see how you're doin', Hershel. Get some rest."
"Thank ya, Daryl. I'll be seein' ya." Hershel said with a small smile and Beth walked over, placing a kiss on his cheek.
"Love you, Daddy. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"
"Love you too, Bethy. Give Maisy a good belly rub for me. You two drive safe."
"We will." she said and stood straight, giving Maggie and Glenn goodbye hugs after hugging her mother.
"You look exhausted." Daryl said as he walked her down the hallway, stopping at the elevator and hitting the down arrow.
"I'm fine." she said softly as the doors opened, Daryl leading her inside and pressing the button for the ground floor. The elevator jolted as it began its descent and Beth grabbed the hand rail, steadying her tired legs. Daryl rested his hand on her lower back and let her lean against him.
"C'mon. Let's get you home." he said as the doors slid open at the main level.
The drive back to the farm was quiet as Beth slept in the passenger seat of his truck and he had decided to keep his radio off so he wouldn't wake her. His window was cracked so his cigarette smoke could escape and not bother her since she had made it clear in the past she hated his habit. Soon he saw the mailbox for the Greene family farm and slowed to pull in. The second his tires hit the gravel Beth stirred and sat up slowly, looking around and rubbing her tired eyes.
"I'll walk the dog and give her some food." Daryl said as he made his way up the long driveway, the house coming in to view. Not a single light was on, but of course that would have been the last thing they would have thought of just before tearing out of the driveway. He came to a stop by the front porch and after killing the engine he could hear a loud howl from inside.
"Poor thing." Beth said as she let her seat belt slide off, Daryl shutting his door and coming around to her side. He helped her out and she lit her phone up, Daryl taking it and using it to light their path as they walked. Daryl fished his spare key out of his pocket and unlocked the front door, flipping on the lights and reaching down to greet Maisy as she bounded up to them. Beth handed him her leash then moved towards the stairs as he took her outside. Daryl gave her a few minutes to run and roll through the grass before he took her inside to feed her, finding Beth sitting at the base of the stairs half asleep and leaning against the railing.
"C'mere." he said after filling Maisy's food bowl, helping Beth to her feet. He scooped her up and felt her head tuck under his chin as he carried her slowly up the stairs and towards her room. He set her back down on her feet, grabbing her pajamas from her desk chair and turning back to her. He unzipped her jacket and tossed it on her dresser, turning to see tears starting to slide down her cheeks as she began to pull her shirt off.
"Do you want me to step out?" he asked and she shook her head, sniffling and biting her lip as more tears began to flow, "Hey, Beth it's okay. Your dad's okay." he said and cupped her face in his hands, wiping her tears with his thumbs, "Let's get you into your pajamas." He kissed her forehead and let his hands run down her neck to her shoulders, giving them a firm squeeze before helping her slide her shirt off. She was tired, exhausted and he could see how unsteady she was. He tried to get her to eat dinner down at the cafeteria but she refused to leave Hershel's room and kept telling Daryl she had no appetite. He knew she had to be hungry at this point but he knew she would keep fighting it. He'd make sure she'd eat breakfast in the morning. He picked her pajama shirt back up again as she unclasped her bra, letting it slide off and hit the floor between their feet.
"Thank you." she said softly as she took the shirt and slid it on, unbuttoning her pants and Daryl helping to shimmy them down her legs. She crawled in to bed, ignoring her pajama pants and looking up at Daryl who reached over and turned off her lamp.
"I'll be downstairs if you need me. I'll crash on the couch tonight." he said and she reached up to grab his hand.
"Please stay with me tonight, Daryl. Please." she begged softly and felt his grip tighten on her.
"I ain't got nothin' to sleep in besides these clothes, and I don't want to get your sheets filthy."
"My brother's room, in his dresser, third drawer down are where he keeps his night clothes." she said and he nodded, stepping out of the room and down the hallway. Beth closed her eyes and listened as the bedroom door down the hallway opened, and she managed a smile when she heard Maisy bounding up the stairs and down the hall after Daryl. She could feel herself slowly slipping out of consciousness as she waited for him to come back. She was so tired and her body felt so heavy as she lay there in wait. Just as she felt herself slipping into sleep she felt the side of her bed lower and Daryl's body press up against hers. She turned over and placed her head on his chest, her hand gripping his shirt as she curled up against him. Maisy jumped up on the bed and settled down at their feet, Daryl moving to his side and facing Beth.
"Everything's gonna be okay, Beth." he said as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, reaching forward and brushing her hair out of her face, "I'll be right here when you wake up."
"You promise?" she asked softly, placing her hand on his cheek and stroking it softly.
"I promise. I'll take you to your dad first thing in the morning."
"Thank you, Daryl."
"You're welcome, Greene. Get some sleep." he said and kissed her forehead, tucking her body against his own.