War on the Body [1]

[4] Anxiety and Honesty

Paige had woken up two hours into her rest, she was plagued with another nightmare. She was struggling to breath and had to get out of the small cell. She quietly hopped off of the top bunk, making her way past Beth and out of the cell. When she reached the stairs she slowly started making her way down, being stopped by a gruff voice.

"The hell you think your doing?" Daryl rough voice stopped her

She turned around and was panting hard and sweating, she started getting extremely dizzy. Daryl noticed this and helped her walk out to the courtyard, with his hand on her forearm and one in between her shoulder blades. She couldn't think straight, especially after he made contact with her.

"Sit down here, I am gonna get Hershel" He said swiftly turning around

Daryl walked back in and stepped into Hershel's cell, being as quiet as he could. He gently shook Hershel's shoulder, Hershel woke with a slight panic but fortunately remained quiet.

"What's wrong? Is it Lori?" he asked worried

"No, it's Paige. She is breathing really hard and sweating, almost passed out going down the stairs" He told Hershel

Hershel sprung up and followed Daryl to where Paige sat outside. She was still hyperventilating and sweating, but she was also crying now.

"Paige? What happened?" Hershel asked the young girl

"I don't know, I think my nightmare gave me an anxiety attack" she said looking to Hershel

Daryl slipped back into the prison and laid on the mattress he drug out to the perch. He knew it was personal and didn't want to overstep, not to mention he needed his sleep for tomorrow.

As Daryl fell asleep, Paige had finally calmed down. Hershel sat beside her and brought her into a hug.

"Paige, there is something you should know. I hope you won't hate me for not telling you sooner but I wasn't sure how to" Hershel began, glancing at the brunette

"I knew your mother years ago, we were in love in college. She met your dad shortly after she had graduated and moved up north with him. She had your older brother and then she returned in a business trip and we ran into each other. We had spent the night talking and one thing led to another, we had slept together. I found out after you had turned 15 that you were my biological daughter. Your mother kept it a secret until she believed you were old enough to decide for yourself"

After seeing Paige's face pale and she looked confused, he figured it out.

"Your mother never told you, did she?" he asked the brunette

Paige was shocked, she had grown up believing her dad was her actual dad. But after learning Hershel was her father she didn't hate him, she was just upset with her mother.

"No, she didn't" Paige said looking at her biological father

"I'm sorry you didn't know, I wanted to tell you so badly" Hershel said looking down at the ground

"Does Maggie or Beth know?" she asked him

"They don't, I wanted to tell all three of you together. But I couldn't wait any longer" he told the girl

"Thank you for telling me, I think I may need some time to think through all of this" she told him, as she stood up

"Of course, take all the time you need" he told her with a kind smile

She smiled back at him, squeezing his shoulder lightly before walking back inside the prison. She quietly made her way back to her cell, sliding in her bunk and falling asleep.