Protection (Rick Grimes)

Chapter Eighteen

Chelsea's POV

"What did you do to her?!" Daryl yells.

"I-I didn't do anything! I swear! We were together and she ran off. I found her like this." He says.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"Austin. Look, I promise you I would never hurt her."

I shake my head and bend down by Danielle. I feel her pulse and thankfully she's still breathing. But barley.

"Eugene, take Austin and Gabriel and you three go get the others." I order. Eugene nods and leaves the pharmacy with the two others. Daryl drops down beside me.

"Does either one of you know CPR?" I ask.

"I do." Maggie speaks up.

"Okay, you do that while I search the pharmacy for anything we could use. Daryl you might have to do mouth to mouth from time to time." I say and get up. Maggie begins the CPR while I run through the pharmacy.

After a while, I don't find anything that would be useful. I run back to Maggie and Daryl and put my weapons aside. I'm just going to have to hope for the best.

"Any improvement?" I ask. Maggie checks Danielle's pulse and shakes her head.

"It's the same." She sighs. I take over the CPR and begin doing mouth to mouth as well.

"Come on, Danielle." I say and continue the process.

After a few minutes, I check her pulse and it improved dramatically. Smiling to myself, I get Maggie to get a cold wet rag to place on her forehead.

After several minutes, the rest of the group runs through the doors. Including Michonne, Carl and Judith, Abraham, Sasha and Victor.

"Is she okay?" Rick asks and ends down beside her.

"Her pulse is normal. She's just going to have to wake up on her own and we'll have to stay here until she's fully recovered." I say and lean against Daryl. He kisses my forehead and we all sit and wait for Danielle to wake up. We all keep an eye on Victor and this Austin character.

~•~

Danielle's POV

I wince as I feel my whole body throbbing with pain. I open my eyes and try to sit up. A wet wash cloth falls into my lap.

"Take it easy." I hear. I jump and turn only to be met by...Chelsea. My eyes widen and I engulf her in a hug. That's when I see that everyone else, including Austin and Victor are in the pharmacy with me.

Tears begin rolling down my cheeks as Chelsea hugs me. She puts me at arms length and smiles.

"How ya feeling?" She asks.

"Terrible." I chuckle lightly. Rick begins walking towards me but stops when I look at him. I glance at Austin and he's watching me and Rick.

That was a mistake. Me and Austin. I should have known better.

Fuck, I'm so stupid!

I smile at Rick and he takes his chance to sit beside me. I look at Chelsea and she smiles at me, clearly relieved that I'm awake. I see Victor behind Chelsea making me wonder why he's here.

"Why's he here?" I mumble, referring to Victor.

"He helped us find you." Chelsea says. I look at Victor and he gives me an apologetic look. I sigh and shrug before looking down.

"You should get some rest." Chelsea says. I nod and receive a hug and a 'glad you're okay' from everyone before we all lay down. Austin lays near me, but I turn away from him.