Daryls Sister {Book One}

60

It's been a couple days and I've started coughing a lot.

"Are you okay Maddie?" Daryl asked, clearly worried.

"I don't know, I've been coughing." I replied.

"Son of a bitch!" He exclaimed.

"What's going on?" Rick asked, walking over.

"She's been coughing. I think she's got the flu." Daryl told him. Rick didn't say anything instead he walked over and hugged me.

"Rick you have to be careful, I could give it to you." I said. He then pulled away and I made my way to Caleb to tell him. I saw him checking up on Karen. I walked over to him, causing him to look at me.

"What do you need Maddie?" He asked.

"I think I'm coming down with the flu. I've been coughing and now I'm feeling like I have to throw up." I told him.

"Okay let's get you to a bed and just as a precaution, I'm going to lock the door as well." He told me.

"Okay." I said, laying down on the bed.

"I'll be right back I have to finish checking on the person I was with." He said, before walking out. They said that there is a room I can talk to people that's not sick through. I want to talk to Rick and Daryl and see how they're doing. "Okay I'm back, now I'm going to feel your forehead to see if it's heating up." He said.

"Okay you can do what you have to." I said, sitting up. He put his hand on my forehead and kept it there for a little bit.

"You are a bit warm. Now I'm going to check your pulse." He said, grabbing my wrist and put two fingers on my inner wrist and looked at his watch. After about two minutes, he spoke again. "Right now, your pulse is normal but I will have to keep an eye on you the most because you're pregnant and you're more prone to having serious complications." He said, standing up.

"Okay thank you." I said, before he walked out and shut the door. The door then opened and Carol came inside with a mask on. "Hi Carol." I said, smiling.

"Hi Maddie. Daryl told me you had to come in here because you've been coughing." She said, sitting on the bed.

"Yeah and Caleb just walked out before you came. He said I'm a bit warm and that he'll pay more attention to me." I said.

"It's because you're pregnant. The flu could potentially harm the baby." She said.

"I know but I'm worried about everyone else. I can't stand seeing more people die." I said, looking down.

"None of us wants to lose anyone else." Carol said.

"But Carol what if I lose the baby? It would break Rick and Daryl. Of course I would be broken too but you know me, I put everyone else's feelings ahead of my own." I said, looking at her with tears in my eyes.

"You're not going to lose this baby Maddie. Don't ever think that way." She said.

"But if I do die and the baby dies too, I want you to kill me without hesitating before I come back because I don't want to put everyone in danger." I said.

"You're not going to die Maddie, stop thinking that way." Carol said.

"Maddie, Rick wants to talk to you." Caleb said.

"Okay." I said, standing up and walking to the room that separates us but we can still talk to each other. I saw Rick sitting on a chair with his elbows on his thighs. "Hi Rick." I said, grabbing his attention. He quickly stood up and walked over to the window.

"I miss you Maddie." He said.

"I miss you too Rick but you know me being in here is a good idea to keep me away from everyone else." I said.

"I know but I don't want to lose you or our baby." He said.

"I don't want to lose the baby either Rick but sometimes you have to prepare for the worst. And I was talking to Carol before coming in here." I said. "I told her if me and the baby dies, to put me down without hesitation because I don't want to come back as a walker and be a danger to everyone." I said.

"We won't let you die Maddie, you'll make it through this and come out alive." He said. "I can't lose you and the baby." He added.

"I know but I'm not saying I'm going to die. I just want you to be prepared for it and if I do die, I don't want you blaming yourself and don't let Daryl blame himself either." I said. "I better go rest now Rick, I'll talk to you later." I said.

"Okay, I'll come back to talk to you later Maddie." He said, walking away. I walked back to the cell I was in and laid down.