Breathe Princess (Daryl Dixon Love Story)

Chapter Nine

When I woke up, I was on my own, laying in a small, white room on a couch with a blanket draped over me.

I was a little confused for a moment, wondering where the hell I was when I remembered.

I remembered the CDC, how we were having to have our blood taken and then it hit me. I'd passed out. The needles and the lack of food probably didn't help much, but I was doing that more and more recently, passing out, but after making sure I had everything I needed; I finally made my way out of the small room I was in, running a hand through my messed up hair and slowly wandered down the hall, following the voices I could faintly hear as they bounced off the walls.

"BooYah!" I heard the unmistakeable voice of Daryl Dixon as it floated down the hallway, making me smile at how happy he sounded.

I made it to a doorway where the entire group was sat eating and drinking and just generally having a good time together. I could feel the smile forming again, thinking that maybe I could be a proper part of this group, be a part of a family again.

My eyes fell onto the doctor, sitting in the corner looking a little sorry for himself.

"There any food left?" I asked, slowly wringing my hands and smiling as the others looked over at me.

"Here." Daryl was the one who handed over a plate to me, gaining a lop sided grin from his brother (probably the only smile I've ever seen Merle give someone) and I grabbed the plate off him, smiling a thanks and sitting down on one of the side panels that didn't have anything on it.

"You okay?" Rick raised an eyebrow in my direction. "You looked a little rough before you passed out."

"I'm fine, thanks." I nodded and began eating the food on my plate. It was only pasta (I'm assuming it was the only thing this guy had left in his cupboard) but it was food nonetheless and for that I was thankful.

It was silent again for a while other than the sound of people drinking from their glasses of wine and eating.

"So when are you going to tell us what happened here, doc?" Shane spoke up, looking towards Jenner who had so kindly taken us in. I stopped mid-chew, as did a few other people, and looked towards the doctor before slowly starting to eat again. "We came here, Rick it was your decision. And we found him," Shane motioned to Jenner, "One guy. Why?" There was a long silence again as people thought over what Shane had said. I mean he wasn't exactly wrong and he was asking the question that a lot of people didn't want to ask, but now wasn't exactly the best time to ask the question, although no one stopped and interjected.

"Most couldn't bare staying," Jenner started out. This time, I stopped eating completely and put my plate beside me on the counter, crossing my legs underneath me and picking at my nails. "They left to spend time with their families."

"All of them?" Merle asked, pushing the subject that clearly everyone wanted to avoid.

"No, Others couldn't handle leaving and so opted out." my breath hitched in my throat. It was a wonder how anybody could have done that when there was so much chance for people to keep on going. I wasn't strong, certainly; but I knew I had to keep going, for myself and for Jacob. "There was a rash of suicides."

"But you didn't leave, why?" Andrea asked. Again, a question I was burning to know the answer to. I kept listening to their conversation as Daryl wandered over to beside me and held out a bottle of wine for me to drink from. I wondered whether or not it was a good idea for me to take it. I mean, I'd never exactly had the highest tolerance for alcohol and I knew how drunk wine could get you. I decided one sip wouldn't hurt. I quietly thanked him, which earned myself a smile (a rarity in Daryl's case) and took a mouthful from the bottle, handing it back to him whilst the others continued talking.

The night had rolled on and despite the little discussion earlier, Jenner was more than happy to show us to the rooms we would be sleeping in. I knew roughly where mine was, remembering the length of the hallway and the number of doors I had to travel down to get there.

"There's a recreational room at the end of the hall for the kids but I do ask that you don't plug anything in, okay?" Jenner pointed his last question towards Sophia and Carl who nodded and smiled up at him.

"Thank you." I smiled as Jenner walked back past the group, stopping just enough to turn around and speak.

"If you guys shower, go easy on the hot water." I couldn't help the grin that enveloped my face. Hot water? I thought, although apparently out loud.

"That's what the man said." T-Dog smiled as the rest of the group practically forced their way through the halls to their rooms and I slowly slipped into mine, seeing it just how I left it.

Bag thrown carelessly on the floor beside the couch (probably done by whoever had bought me in here earlier), the blanket still half draped over the back cushions whilst the other half lay haphazardly on the main body. However, the door on the other side of the room caught my attention. It had a small crack under the doorway where clean light was coming through.

As I pushed the door open, I smiled in awe.

It was a clean bathroom with a shower in one corner, a sink and a toilet on the other side of the room. The walls were a slightly off white colour and the tiles on the floor were practically gleaming, like they had just been cleaned. (Although if I were Jenner, all alone in this building, I'd excessively clean too).

I smiled at the sight in front of me, grabbing one of the clean towels out the storage closet at the end of the hall - though I did wonder how clean the towels really were - and hurried back to my room, locking the door and turning on the shower, letting the steam encase the room as I undressed and let my hair down completely.

The water was warm and inviting and it was the first time in a long time where I could completely unwind and not have to worry about walkers about to kill me at any second or panicking over the fact that I was probably going to die.

Life, in these short minutes, was a completely calming concept.