Breathe Princess (Daryl Dixon Love Story)

Chapter Fifty Two

Bright lights and a searing pain.

That's all I remember as the ringing in my ears finally stopped. I peeled my eyes open slowly, shutting them instantly as the fluorescent light bulbs reflected off the white walls. I was in a hospital I knew that much. I'd been in and out of them my whole life; I would never forget what they looked like.

The bed below me was soft, nothing like the hard floors I was used to when we were on the run.

Daryl. My mind instantly flickered to his face, covered in dirt and sweat from long days in the Atlanta heat. Where was he?

I slowly opened my eyes again, blinking rapidly to allow for adjustment. I looked frantically around the empty room to see if I could see him, to no avail. There was a chair at the side of the room with a blanket draped over the top but no one was sat in it; it looked cold and unused.

That's when another wave of pain hit me. My shoulder burned as I tried to sit up, the pain shooting from my shoulder down my arm and across my collarbone, causing me to fall back down to the bed below me.

Connected to my right elbow was an IV drip, pumping fluids into my tired body. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't for pain relief.

A moment had passed when the thought occurred to me, has this all been a horrid coma dream? Have I finally woken up into the world before all this started? Before the walkers hit and I'd lost my family? Before I'd met Daryl? Before Jacob?

It wasn't until the door opened and a slightly dishevelled blonde walked into the room that the thought left me just as quick as it had arrived.

"Beth!" I beamed at her, checking her over quickly. Other than a few cuts on her face and the plaster cast on her wrist, she was relatively unharmed.

"Finally, you're awake!" A small smile appeared on her face as she entered, sitting down in the cold chair across from me.

"Where are we?" I asked, accepting the small plastic cup of water she'd handed me.

"A Grady memorial hospital, they brought us here when we got hit by the car." She hung her head low and ran her finger around the brim of her own cup.

"Who's they?"

"They're police officers, they took this place when the outbreak started and they've been bringing people here as a way of 'helping' them." She held up a hand and made air quotes as she spoke. Something was telling me these people were far from helping others.

"How long have I been out?" I asked, using my good arm to push myself upright in the bed so that I could drink.

"A few days, maybe a week?" We've had to keep you hooked up to the IV for fluids and meds to help with your heart." Her smile was small but seemed genuine.

"You're not telling me something." I spoke up as a moment of silence passed between us. "Beth?"

She sighed and finally looked up at me.

"These people ain't good people. There was a boy here, Noah, we both tried to get out, to go and find the others to bring them back here, but they caught me. Noah got away but they dragged me back in here." I leant my head back against the wall and sighed. We were sitting ducks here. If they were just helping people we would be able to freely go, but the way she spoke, that wasn't the case.

At least this Noah kid managed to get out, maybe he would be able to find the others and bring them back here for us; bring Daryl back here.

"Then we need to get out." I sat forwards and placed my cup on the table beside my bed, throwing off the covers with my good arm, ready to take the drip out and make a run for it.