Curative
By Kaimaler
Now we'll see a little more Laura/group interaction. With Daryl out of commission and Sophia still out there, not to mention all the things going on around the camp... Well, y'all see. ;3
Keep in mind everyone that I'm actually WATCHING the episodes every chapter I write. I literally have them playing, pausing, and skipping part to part just to figure out the chain of events and getting all my facts straight. So these are really about as close as I can possibly get to the episodes. :D
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Lorem Tenebrae:
Actually, Daryl did find Sophia's doll before falling down the ridge. I watched the episode while writing that last chapter. He had dismounted the horse, went down to a part of the creek that had some old build up and found the doll there. He followed the creek in hopes of finding Sophia's trail, only for the horse to throw him off. :D
I hope you like this chapter. We see a little bit more Laura/group interaction, but at the end of it, it's just Daryl/Laura fluff. :O
When Patricia finished tending to her less serious injuries, cuts and bruises, Hershel had come in to deal with her leg.
It was unpleasant, she remembered screaming at a few parts, but when all was said and done, Laura felt a lot better. Her leg had been messed up rather bad and once Hershel set it straight and gave her medicine, Laura finally relaxed.
It had been a long and trying day, she was hurting all over and all she could think about was how Daryl was doing. He'd gotten hurt worse then her, stabbed by one of his own arrows, fell down the ridge twice, nearly eaten by walkers, and then shot.
Laura sighed, she felt a little lazy now. All she had was an old broken leg that was healing, the fall and the sapling that grabbed her had nearly broke it again, but all it did was tear a few tendons, pull her muscle, and cause old wounds to open up. She fell down the ridge slower then Daryl, having been stopped once a little ways down then actually choosing to fall the rest of the way.
The hell was I thinking? Laura rubbed her temples, the medicine she had taken got rid of her throbbing headache. You wanted to find him alive, that's all. You're just stupid enough to fucking fall down and hurt yourself for it.
After hours of sitting awake, alone, in the room Hershel provided, Laura had already become antsy. She never liked sitting still, being closed up in a room reminded her of when her father locked her in a room, sometimes the attic, and she hated it.
Hershel entered the room right when it got particularly bad, a few tools in hand. "You're lucky I know a thing or two about these kind of braces." He told her, coming to the left side of the bed and kept her leg straight while he tinkered with the broken device.
"How do you know so much about braces? They ain't common." She watched him work, he seemed to know what he was doing. "I took the time to learn about them when Maggie was young, very adventurous. She had gone out to play in the creek one day, against my wishes of course, slipped and broke her leg." He looked at her, "I ended up learning how to put on leg braces and how to fix a broken one."
"Well, sorry about Maggie gettin' hurt, but I'm thankful that you know this stuff." Laura scoffed at herself. "'Cause I don't know the first thing about braces. I know I wear one, but I don't know anythin' beyond that."
"We heard from the man himself, Daryl, what had happened, but he said he didn't know what happened to you." Hershel commented, but Laura knew it was a question.
"The horse got spooked an' threw us off. Another thing I have no knowledge of is horses. My first time on one an' I get tossed like a toy." She couldn't believe her luck. "We both fell over the ridge, but my leg got caught an' it broke my brace. I was knocked out an' when I came to, I was stuck. I tried to get free, but I couldn't risk fallin' an' gettin' hurt worse."
"Judging by the damage, I'd say that getting caught in mid fall did more damage then good." Hershel twisted someone on the brace that made Laura jump, it pinched her. "Just tightening a bolt. Go on."
"Okay, well, tryin' to find a way out, Daryl comes climbin' up the slope an' he can't get to me from where he was, so he had to keep climbin' 'til he could find a way to get me." There had been a big blank spot between them, it was all mud and he couldn't reach her from where he was. "But right before he got to the top, he lost his footin' an' fell again. After I saw him fall, I tried to call out to him, but I didn't get an answer."
Laura started to laugh at herself now. She probably caused more harm being out there today then actually helping. "I kept wonderin' if he got hurt, if he was dead, so I got myself free an'... well... fell the rest of the way. I must've blacked out or somethin', because next I knew I was bein' pulled out of the creek by Daryl. After that, we took a breather an' headed back up the ridge. When we made it, we came straight back to camp. Simple as that."
"I told him this and I'm going to say it again to you, just to be clear. I did not give consent for people to borrow my horses or take Jimmy out searching." Hershel started to put away his tools, "I would appreciate you not taking things that aren't yours anymore."
Laura nodded, she thought he did know about the horse and Jimmy, he said Hershel was alright with him going out searching. "I- I'm so sorry. I really am. The boy told us you knew an' were alright with it. If I'd have known..."
Hershel smiled at her, "I understand, just don't let it happen again. Alright?"
"Absolutely, again, I'm sorry about all this. Didn't mean to be a burden." He picked up his supplies. "It's alright now, just be glad you both made it back in one piece."
"Of course, thank you Hershel." Laura leaned back on the headrest of the bed after Hershel left her alone. Jimmy... That liar. She rubbed her eyes, moaning slightly.
Laura grabbed the crossbow that sat next to her on her right side and put it on her lap, content knowing it was there with her. It was strangely comforting and no one was going to take it from her, she would refuse to part with it until she got up and gave it to Daryl herself.
A little while after Hershel left and Laura was resting with her head back against the headrest and her eyes closed, Rick came into the room with Shane, T-Dog, Glenn, and Dale.
She didn't move though, she was comfortable and didn't want to move at all.
"Laura?" Rick asked quietly, taking a seat on her left. "What?" She groaned, still not moving.
"How're you feeling?" She scoffed at him, "Rick, if I felt any worse I'd ask you to put me down." She was grinning, he knew she was joking. Laura lifted her head and opened her eyes to see the group in the room.
Dale came up on her right, "Hey, I just wanted to see how you were. Heard you had a nasty fall."
"Nasty doesn't begin to cover it, but eh, I'm makin' a bigger deal 'bout it then it really was. I'm gonna' bury that fuckin' horse in the ground." She laughed lazily, "I am assumin' y'all got a better reason to be here rather then just seein' how I'm fairin'?"
Rick nodded, "I wouldn't say it's a better reason, but we wanted to discuss something." She shrugged, she was willing to talk. "Daryl told us where he found the doll," He had that map with him and pointed out where the ridge was. "He said he found it here and you both worked your way up the creek onto the ridge. I wanted to ask you something."
Laura felt a little bit of doubt creeping up on her. "Oh yeah, about what?"
"Daryl came back wearing ears, he looked like a walker, we were ready to shoot him and you. We need to know something right now." Laura was paying full attention now, Rick looked a little out of place asking her this. Whatever it was. "Did anything happen out there... did you or Daryl get bit?"
"Don't chicken out now man," Shane spoke up from the other side of the room. "Did you bite 'im? Infect him?"
Laura's face went red, "Are you fuckin' serious?"
"Shane, that's not what we discussed." Rick snapped at the other man, "But you're thinkin' it. Face it, we all are. One time she goes out there alone with one of our own an' he just so happens to come back in that kinda' shape. Man, it's lookin' a little more then suspicious."
"Rick," Laura looked at him, then to the others, T-Dog and Glenn in the room. "Guys, you can't be serious about this?"
Glenn shook his head, "T and I were actually coming in here to see if you were okay, we don't know anything about this." He defended them both, they two of them backed off from the scene before them. "Yeah girl, I don't think you'd do somethin' like that." T-Dog made his opinion known, but all that did was make Shane scoff at them both.
"Might want to get that thing away from her before she gets someone else." Shane stood at the foot of the bed, "I bet you were out there just waitin' for a chance to get the jump on him."
Laura was speechless for a few moments, just staring wide eyed at Shane. "Rick, you can't think that, you don't, right?" She broke her gaze from Shane to send Rick a pleading one.
"I don't, in fact, I thought I told you we'd discuss this later. So I can clarify things for you, Shane." Rick seemed pissed off with Shane for accusing Laura.
"Rick, she got him alone and he just so happens to come back lookin' like that? Right before he passed out man, you remember what he said?" Rick turned away from Shane and glared at the ground beneath his feet. "You remember what he said?" Shane urged.
"Yeah, I remember."
Laura glanced between them. "What did he say?" She was actually worried, had Daryl said something that compromised her? Would he do that? She gripped the crossbow tighter. He wouldn't... right?
"He told us where he found the doll, talked about where y'all were headed." Shane explained, "He was fallin' asleep, man was exhausted so much so when we were leavin' he could barely stay awake. Y'know what he said? He said there was a walker nippin' at his boot, tryin' to eat him, then he asked for you." Shane pointed at her, "He talked about a walker tryin' to eat him and then he asks for you."
"There were two walkers, he dealt with them. By the time he got me outta' the creek they were already dead." Laura was furious and hurt. "An' I've been alone with him before. Hell, I spend most of my time with Daryl! We're almost always alone dammit!"
"And you took your chance! You've just been holdin' out, gettin' our trust so when somethin' happened we wouldn't think it was you. You've planned this." Shane spat. "Don't hold out on us, you've had plenty of chances, haven't you?"
"Shane-" Rick started, but Laura cut him off. "How the hell am I supposed to know? I don't pay attention to that kinda' stuff!"
"That's enough!" Rick stood, demanding the attention of everyone in the room. "Shane, wait outside. I'll be along in a minute, we'll talk then."
Shane huffed, shaking his head in disbelief and left the room, slamming the door behind him.
"Laura, I'm sorry about Shane." Rick came back to her quickly, sitting beside her. "Are you thinkin' it?" Laura asked, not looking at any of them. "Is that why you came up here, to see if I tried to eat Daryl?" She was glaring at him now.
"No, no. Laura, no." He put a hand over hers on the crossbow. "I came up here to see how you were doing and see if either of you had gotten hurt, bitten. I'm concerned more about Daryl then you, I know walkers don't go after you, but we can't really move him without doing more harm. I wanted to ask, not force an inspection on either of you. Least of all Daryl who is in pretty bad shape."
"You know if I get bitten I don't turn. From what I saw Daryl had a close call, two to be precise, but he wasn't bitten. I asked him that myself when I saw he got hurt." She shrugged, "I didn't see any bites, the only wound I saw on him was his side, which he told me he got stabbed with one of his arrows."
"Alright, I'm going to take both of your words on this. I trust you, both of you. Daryl seems like the kind of man who would tell us outright if he was bitten, I just needed to be sure." Rick patted her hand before standing up. "I'll send someone up with dinner, goodnight Laura."
"Night Rick." She smiled at him as he left her alone with T-Dog and Glenn. "So, what's up guys?"
"Just checking in on you. I could've sworn you were a walker when I saw you out there, Daryl too." Glenn grinned, "It's a good thing Rick told us to wait, I don't want to know what would've happened if we didn't stop."
"I don't either, but then again, it's not hard to confuse me with a walker." She rolled her eyes, the unnatural white iris and black sclera's.
"I actually came up here to tell you anythin' you need girl, just call." T-Dog ran a hand over his head, "I wasn't exactly... right around you the other day. I knew it too, but we had a bad day with a walker and, I don't know, just got a little jumpy is all."
"I understand, just... don't let it happen again, huh?" She joked, jabbing T-Dog with her finger, earning her a laugh from the two guys. "You bet. Remember, anything you need, just call. Happy to help."
"Yeah, same here." Glenn spoke up, "Get some rest, you need it."
"Alright, guys. I bet dinner will be done soon, so hurry up, don't let it get cold." She waved them out the door and they left, thankfully, on a good note. Laura didn't want to be on their bad sides, she really did like them. They were good people, it was a shame Shane thought so little of her.
She leaned back, it would be a long night sitting alone and awake in the house.
However, she had some more company stop by. Carol came in with a plate of food, it smelled like heaven to Laura, who hadn't eaten in over a day. She took a deep breath in, smelling the aroma wafting through the room.
"I wanted to bring you dinner. Thought you might be hungry." Carol spoke softly and Laura set the crossbow down at her side, taking the plate from Carol happily. "I am very much so, thank you Carol."
"I know we've never spoken, but you've done so much for my little girl. You and Daryl both." She offered a sweet, sad smile to Laura. "I already told him this, but I am really thankful you both have you here with us."
"Carol... I'm just doin' what I think is best, I ain't doin' nothin' special, really." Laura sighed, "I even feel a little bad. I mean, every time we go out I'm always thinkin' about other stuff, stupid stuff, when I shoulda' been focusin' on findin' Sophia. Maybe if I paid more attention we could still be out there lookin'."
Carol sat next to Laura on the bed carefully, being mindful of her leg. "You've worked so hard for me and Sophia. You could have died out there today, both of you. So don't think you aren't doing as much as you can for her, for me. I can't thank you enough."
"Thanks Carol." Laura grinned to the woman who just patted Laura's shoulder, "Now eat up, you need your strength. Goodnight Laura." Carol left the room and Laura instantly felt better after having spoken to Carol.
She was such a kind soft spoken woman, her voice was calming and made Laura feel better.
Laura devoured her dinner, when the plate was empty, Laura licked it clean. She was hungry and the food was most satisfying. Even Shane accusing her of cannibalism couldn't ruin her good mood anymore, she was relaxed, happy. Rick didn't think about her like Shane did, but she knew that already.
T-Dog, Glenn, and Carol all showed that they didn't think of her like that either. She was sure there may be some nervousness in the future, a little flinching, but that was all things she could work with. It was them thinking she would hurt them that bothered her.
The only person left was Lori now, Laura didn't want to create any animosity between her and the woman. She is Rick's wife and Laura wanted to be kind to her, show her the same generosity that Rick had given Laura from the moment they met.
For the rest of the night Laura didn't do anything, she just rested up, waiting for the throbbing in her leg to stop. For a long while it did and she just laid in bed with the crossbow in her hands.
When morning came around, Laura had a visit from Patricia with breakfast. She ate hungrily and once she was done, Patricia took her plates away after checking Laura's injuries again. The woman also left a clean set of clothes for her, to which she was determined to get up and put them on.
She felt the need to get up and move around, her brace was repaired and strong as ever, so she shouldn't have too much trouble moving around camp at least.
So Laura swung her legs over the edge of the bed and, very slowly, eased her weight onto her feet again. Her left leg ached and screamed out when she put too much weight on it. She would be limping, but she supposed it would be worse if she didn't have her brace.
If Hershel hadn't repaired her brace, she wouldn't be able to walk at all for a long time.
Shuddering at the thought, it only urged her to get up more. Cautiously, she stood up and remained still for a little while, trying to keep her balance in check. When Laura looked down, she realized she wasn't really decent.
Limping to the vanity on the far side of the room, Laura grabbed the shirt. It was a light blue short sleeved shirt with a low v-neck with a little design decorating the plunging neckline. It wasn't revealing, but it would show more of her old bruises then she cared to. Not like I have much of a choice. Laura pulled the shirt on, it fit nicely, however, due to Laura's period of starvation, she was unnaturally thin. She gained some weight, but not enough to be seen as healthy.
Sneering at herself, she could see her bones still showing. It was no where near as bad as it had been, that little bit of food she's had in the last few days actually made a difference, but she had a little way to go.
It seemed Patricia was minding Laura's leg and had claimed a pair of worn pants that had seen better days, they were at one time or another white, but were dirty and stained now. Patricia had cut off the left pant leg to make room for Laura's brace, she reminded herself to thank the considerate woman later.
Laura smiled, dressed finally. She didn't look so bad, her bruises and walker-like appearance was the only thing that made Laura look abnormal. She sighed, Stop lying to yourself. Laura groaned loudly, she looked terrible. The clothes were nice, but she wasn't so lucky.
Her unnatural eyes, her skin tone, the discoloration, and on top of all that the bruises that would be with her for some time to come. She wanted to heal faster, to heal normally so the bruises would go away and stop looking so disturbing.
She didn't exactly want to put herself on display for everyone, but she didn't have much of a choice. For a moment, Laura wondered where her jacket was, the black jacket that had kept her walker past a secret from the group beforehand.
Then she remembered she had tried to use it to pull herself up in the woods yesterday when she got stuck, but it hadn't worked and she lost her jacket. She'd have to go outside openly.
Laura went back to the bed and took the crossbow, swinging it over her like she'd seen Daryl do so many times before. She felt infinitely safer with it near, she could barely use it, she got lucky with the squirrel in the woods, but no one else knew that and she would play it off like she was familiar with the weapon.
Laura bit her lip and began to limp out the door of the bedroom. She could walk a little awkwardly, but she felt capable of some distance.
When she got outside, she could see the camp already alive with movement.
Rick, Shane, and that Greene boy Jimmy were at the hood of the Cherokee again. Glenn and Lori were talking by the camp site. She couldn't see Dale or T-Dog and she assumed Andrea was nearby.
Laura wanted to check in on Daryl, see how he was doing after both his falls and his close calls with the walkers then being shot. He got hurt pretty bad and Laura felt a little responsible for it. She wondered if she had paid more attention that they wouldn't have been thrown off the horse, or if she acted faster when she was stuck on that ridge if Daryl would be in as bad of shape as he was.
She limped into camp, looking around at the busy people going to and fro.
"Hey," Glenn approached her first, a basket of peaches in his hands. "Have some fruit, they're really good." She accepted, taking the state fruit from the basket, having a bite of the succulent fruit.
"Thanks Glenn, these are really good." She smiled, licking her lips. The peach was as sweet as sugar. "Do you know where Daryl's restin' up at? I wanna' give him his 'bow back." She gestured to the crossbow on her back.
"Oh yeah, he moved back into his tent this morning." He nodded over to Daryl's tent, "He's not too happy about being laid up." He snickered, "See you around, Laura."
"See ya' Glenn." She stole another peach from the basket before he left and went straight to Daryl's tent.
Taking a deep breath, she could make out Daryl on the cot in his tent. "Knock knock." She opened the flap and stepped into the tent. He was twirling an arrow in his hands. "Came by to see how you're holdin' up."
She sat on a cot opposite to him, "And to return this." She pulled the crossbow off her back, holding it in her lap. "Wondered where that went." He answered, eyeing the crossbow in her lap.
"Seriously, Daryl, how are you? You took one hell of a beatin'." She sighed, being mindful of her own injury as she scooted back on the cot until she was comfortable.
"Ain't no better then you, I suppose." He glanced over her. "'Cept on top of everythin' that happened out there, you also got shot." Laura pointed out, she could see the wound on his head now. It just barely missed. She felt her chest tighten, he nearly died more times then she cared to count.
He shrugged it off, "What 'bout you?"
She grinned, "Eh, can't complain. Nearly snapped my leg in half, but other then that I was lucky enough to have your crossbow to keep me company." He huffed at her, "An' here I was worryin' I lost it."
"Nah, you just dropped it when ya' got shot. I picked it up an' kept it safe. Don't worry, I took good care of your beloved crossbow." She chuckled, patting the weapon on her lap.
She actually needed to talk about what Rick and Shane had said last night when they visited her. About the walker biting him. She needed to know now if he had gotten bitten, because she honestly didn't know and while Rick was right, Daryl did seem like the kind of person who would actually say something about it, she couldn't be sure.
Laura just didn't know how to say it. She wanted to talk about it, but she didn't want to sound like she was complaining.
"Ya got that look on your face again." He stated with a softer expression. I guess nearly dying buttered him up. She smiled inwardly.
"We need to talk about somethin'." The moment she said that she could see him go on guard, he was tenser. "Rick and Shane came to see me last night after Hershel patched me up. They were sayin' somethin' about you sayin' that a walker was bittin' your foot." She leaned forward, over the crossbow. "Daryl, please tell me you didn't get bitten."
Daryl relaxed instantly, "Nah, it was tryin', but it was just chewin' on my boot so it didn't get far. Boot's too thick for it, I wasn't bitten."
"Okay, good... There's somethin' else. Last thing I promise." She clasped her hands together in front of her, "They said the last thing you said before passin' out was about a walker nippin' at you an' then... you asked 'bout me. Shane asked... well, he just downright told me he thought that I tried to... 'cause of what you said... Daryl, did you tell them I tried to eat you?"
Daryl made a sneer. "I never said that." He growled, "I asked if you were alright, that's all. I said somethin' about the walkers that tried to get me, but I never said nothin' about you tryin' to bite me. Ignore Shane, he's just an ass."
Laura released the breath she'd been holding. "I just needed to hear it that's all. I didn't think you would, I mean, I didn't try anythin' like that, but I had to hear it from you."
"Don't even think about it, I know you wouldn't do nothin' like that." Daryl was being comforting, which Laura figured was a new thing for him. If his nervous ticks were any indication of this.
Laura slid off the cot and glanced out the tent, making sure no one was close enough to see them. She kneeled in front of the cot Daryl was on and leaned over him.
He just laid there and watched her, a slight twitch of a smile on his face. She put her hand on his cheek, being as gentle as she could and leaned down, giving him a very light kiss before pulling back. She was so worried about him, his injuries could've killed him, Andrea could've killed him. He had cheated death time and time again. Laura was relived to see him here in better spirits then she expected to see him in.
"I was so worried about you, when you fell down that ridge for the second time." She kept her hand on the side of his face, treating him as if he was fragile glass. "I called out to you, but I didn't get an answer. I thought you'd... I didn't want to think about it. So I came down for you."
"That how you ended up in the water? I saw you fall, but you were pretty damn well stuck up there." His brow furrowed, he wasn't stopping her from running her hand on his face, he was even leaning into it a little bit.
Laura smiled, "Yeah, I broke free an' fell the rest of the way after you. I was almost knocked out again, but by the time I was able to move again, you were pullin' me out of the water."
"Stupid girl, nearly got yourself killed." He was frowning now, "Shoulda' just waited. I was fine, plannin' to come up to get you."
She shook her head lightly, "Well, I guess I'm suicidal then, 'cause I did come tumblin' down that ridge for you. Found you though, didn't I? Alive. I almost couldn't believe it, especially after I saw those walkers on the ground. I thought you got bit... an' we never finished talkin' about whether or not if you got bit that I should try an' bring you back."
"I'd prefer to live, if you don't mind." He smirked, "So long as you don't let me eat no one. I'd be fine with comin' back."
"That settles that then." She smiled widely and felt his own hand on her back. She leaned in again, sharing a careful kiss with him that was requited as best he could in his position.
"Still one thing on my mind." He broke apart. She had her eyes closed and was close enough to feel his breath on her face. "I told you I wasn't goin' to let it go. Those bruises, where'd you get 'em?" He asked quietly, as if it was some big secret.
Laura lifted herself away from him and looked at him long and hard. "I ain't ready to talk about that with you yet."
"With me? You talkin' to someone else then?" He prodded, he was being careful with the topic, but he wasn't about to let it go. "Well, one person figured it out pretty quick, the other I told straight up."
He scratched his face, "But you ain't tellin' me."
"I don't want you to know." She answered lowly, averting her eyes from him completely.
It was a few minutes of silence before he broke it again. "Y'know, when I told you that I ain't stupid, I meant it." He reached out for her, it was a very reluctant action, but he still managed to take her hand up and carefully pulled her back to him. "Someone did you wrong."
He was stern, his jaw tightly set and his face conveyed a certain level of hate, but it wasn't directed at her. "Yeah..."
His hand came up to her face, he was uncomfortable with so much contact, she could tell, but he was doing it for her. To convince her to tell him. "Tell me."
Laura frowned, chewing on her lip viciously. She could say why she didn't want him to know, she felt like she had been used up and thrown aside, that if he knew how people treated her then he would treat her the same. Laura knew that wasn't true though, she knew Daryl had been nothing but good to her so far. He wouldn't harm her unless she brought harm to the group.
"It was just after I got away from my father, when I broke free. I stayed with the herd of walkers for a little bit, but then I went into the convenience store nearby." She took another deep breath, it was shaky and didn't do much to calm her down. She told Andrea this, she saw Rick's face when he found out. Why is telling him so different? "When I got inside, there was a man in there. He put a gun to my head an' took me to his small group made up of four men. I was stuck there for days, they... did rape me that entire time, but I got away. One of them got eaten by a herd of walkers, but the others got away."
Daryl was beyond tense. He looked ready to tear apart camp, his hand on her face was rigid and there was definite pressure there, but he didn't move for a little while. Laura was the first to move though, she put her hands on the edge of the cot and slowly, cautiously, laid her head on him, her hands gripping the edge of the cot.
He didn't say anything for a while, it was like someone had smacked him with a stop sign. He utterly refused to do anything, until Laura felt him grab onto her, his arms around her as she just stayed near him. He was actually holding her, but she wasn't crying like she had done with Andrea when she told the kind woman. She just remained still, she could touch him without putting pressure on his wound, so she didn't.
"Ain't nothin' gonna' happen to you again." Gradually he held her tighter, until she was firmly pressed against him. She knew he must be hurting, but he didn't seem to care at this point. "You're my woman now an' I ain't gonna' let anyone touch you like that. Never."
He spoke forcefully, he was angry that someone had caused her that pain and knew she had been dealing with it this entire time. It hadn't happened too long ago if the intensity of the bruises on her were any indication of time. "Your woman?" She smiled against him.
"Mine." He ground out, it was more of an assurance then force. He was actually concerned about her. "Are you... hurtin' still?"
She shrugged as much as she could with him holding her so tightly, "A little, it ain't bad anymore. Mostly I just feel a little stiff an' a bit sore sometimes. Like I said though, it ain't bad."
"Don't care, you're stayin' my sight from now on." She was still grinning, she really liked this new protective side of Daryl. "You'll be keepin' my crossbow with you 'til I'm up. Then you're stayin' with me."
"You won't hear me complainin'." Laura lifted her head to see his face, watching his eyes burn with such intensity that made her feel fear for the men who took her, if they ever crossed paths again. "I really do care about you a lot, y'know."
"I know." He answered, his grip on her relaxing a little. She nodded, "Good, you better."
She could sit as she was for a long time, Laura had no qualms about remaining there until he could get up and move again.
Unfortunately, she had wanted to do some good today with the group. Instead, she ended up spending most of the day with Daryl in his tent before heading out. He protested, but she said that while she was able bodied enough, she would do something useful.
Laura made a bee line for the trees, she didn't go far into the woods, just enough to see the farmhouse between the trees.
And she spent the rest of the day teaching herself how to shoot a crossbow and even managed to get herself a few kills. A rabbit and two squirrels. She didn't mind the meat, other people did, but she actually rather liked it.
Better then nothing after all and before camp, that's pretty much all she had.
Squirrel was looking pretty good after months of nothing.