The End of a New Beginning // Daryl Dixon

Part 14

Meredith

RICK AND I lay Daryl on a bed in one of the rooms. As soon as Daryl's body hit the mattress, he lets out a groan. Rick and I lower his arms and we join sides to look at Daryl.

"How you feelin?" Rick asks.

"Like shit." Daryl grumbles. "My head hurts especially." He informs. Rick turns to me

"You're up." He says. I gathered suture kits and placed them on the nightstand. I found a small flashlight and walked over to Daryl. My hands slightly shook, but I tried my best not to let it show.

"Follow my finger." I demand Daryl. I pointed the light in his eye and moved my finger up and down, side to side. He was able to follow directions perfectly.

"Not seeing any serious head trauma." I say. "Did you...hit your head?" I ask him.

"I was just grazed." He says. "But...yeah. I fell twice. No doubt that I hit my head over a hundred times." He rolls his eyes.

"Okay, well, your head seems fine. If I had a head scan, I'd be able to check for a concussion." I explain. "But...if you throw up here in a few minutes, then you've probably got one. In the meantime, don't flinch, don't pull, don't move a muscle so I can stitch your head and your..." I look down at his side and see a small cut. It was a puncture wound, knowing him, when he fell, something must've stabbed him.

"My arrow did that." He says.

"Okay. Exit out, so...it's an easy fix." I nodded. I grabbed the suture kits and began stitching his head first. Once I finished, I moved on to his side. Rick returns with a map in his hand and holds it up.

"Can I ask a few questions?" He asks.

"This what you did as a cop?" He asks.

"Some occasions." Rick nods. I thought back to the time being in an interrogation room. Being in that room for five hours was the most stressful and mentally exhausting thing. Now, being accused of something so big just because you have a mental disorder was even scarier. But that's a different story.

"I found it washed up on the creek bed right there." Daryl points to the map. "She must have dropped it crossing there somewhere."

"Cuts the gris almost in half." Rick says as I continued to stitch at Daryl's puncture wound.

"Yeah, you're welcome." Daryl says.

"How's he looking?" Rick asks me.

"I had no idea we'd be going through the antibiotics so quickly." I shook my head. Daryl pulls away as I grabbed the scissors and cut the thread.

"Any idea what happened to my horse?" Hershel asks Daryl.

"Yeah, the one who almost killed me? If it's smart, it left the country." Daryl scoffs. I almost let out a laugh at his remark about the horse.

"We call that one Nelly, as in nervous Nelly." Hershel explains. "I could have told you she'd throw you if you'd bothered to ask. It's a wonder you people have survived this long." I walk over to the water bowl and rinsed my hands free of Daryl's blood. I grabbed a towel and dried my hands, finishing up with hand sanitizer. Rick and Shane stepped out of the room. I grabbed the white bandages and began wrapping Dary's head.

"How you feeling?" I ask him. Daryl shrugs.

"Got a major headache. But that's all." He says.

"I think I get the right to say, 'I told you so'." I say. Daryl snorts.

"I could say the same thing to you." He says. I finish wrapping his head and moved down to his side. "Horse is an asshole. Wasn't like I purposely got myself thrown off the horse." He claims. I pulled my hands from his side.