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Exhausted Souls, Sleepy Spirits

"Shit." I hissed in pain as Rosita pressed a bandage to my cheek, the sensation rippling through my face in stinging waves.

"How many walls did you pick a fight with this time?" She asked with an amused smile, cleaning the last of the blood from my lip gently. She took a single look at my nose and confirmed it was definitely broken, claiming that there was nothing to be done except let it heal over time. The bruises had already started fading from a deep purple to sickly yellow in a few spots, and the cut along the bridge was beginning to scab over.

I rolled my eyes subtly before shrugging my jacket back on, careful not to nudge the stitches in my arm. "Just one, and then it punched me in the face." I muttered bitterly, wincing with every movement my nose made.

Rosita breathed out a laugh as she packed up the last of the med kit, clipping the box shut and setting it on the table. She turned to me with a sad frown, her eyebrows pulled together with deep concern. "We weren't sure if you made it out, Belle. We-I was scared." Her eyes met mine and I could see the sorrow gleaming in the dark irises, one that seemed to match mine. It was a feeling that never went away no matter how much time passed.

I realised now that Rosita was stronger than so many people, and that was the reason she was still here today. When Abraham died she kept fighting despite the horrors she witnessed, determined to get revenge. Tara died and she was full of rage but she pushed it aside to care for her daughter, something I admired and almost envied about her. It was something I had never been able to do. Now we had both lost Siddiq, a person who affected such a large part of our lives gone, so maybe we needed each other.

I linked my fingers with hers, a soft, reassuring smile on my lips. "I made it, I'm okay." She nodded, her own lips turning up weakly. "I'm starting to think nothing can kill me."

She gave me one last amused eye roll before I got to my feet, my legs buckling slightly as I took stumbling steps towards the window.

Daryl waited there with his fingers at his lips, biting subconsciously as though he was deep in thought. He turned when I leaned on the frame beside him, a heavy sigh forming on my lips.

"You thinking about leaving?" I glanced out the window curiously, the smudges on the glass clouding my view. I knew there were still a few people missing, like Lydia and Carol, and he wouldn't stop until they were found.

Daryl didn't look at me as he nodded, his stare stuck on the tree line. "Is it broken?" He wondered, jerking his head at the bruises around my nose. I almost scoffed at the question- it certainly felt broken, that's for sure.

Instead I brushed it off, my shoulders shrugging casually. "Yeah, but I'll be fine. I always am." I grinned lightly but the gesture faltered under his worried gaze, his eyes meeting mine with genuine care.

"You remember what you said? Before you passed out in the couch." He asked, my mind jumping back to just a couple hours ago.

My brain had been a fuzzy whirlwind since I arrived at the cabin, nothing but agonising tears and weak sobs stuck in my memory.

"What happened out there, kid?" He sighed, rubbing a hand down his face in a stressed movement. He followed my gaze as it trailed to the side, landing on my daughter as she curled up in a huddle of blankets. Judith and RJ were snuggled up beside her, apparently comparing their weapons while she slept.

I shook my head frustratedly, a bubble of fear working it's way up my throat and into my words. "Nothing happened. It's what could've happened that I can't stop thinking about." I bit my lip to force down the unwanted tears as Daryl encouraged me to speak.