Daryl woke up somewhat when they unloaded him from the ambulance. The antiseptic smell of the hospital hit him as soon as they rolled him through the doors. It made him nauseous. God, how he hated that smell.
A registration clerk tried to get Nikki to follow her, but Nikki refused.
"I'm not leaving him. You can bring me all of the forms and I'll fill them out in here. He can't answer questions about anything properly right now. You can't just expect me to leave him to it!"
Daryl could see Nikki was taking charge , but he could also feel His anxiety take over
"Nik I need ya please I need ya" he yelled out
"I'm sorry but I need___" the clerk started , then stopped when she saw the anger on Nikki's face
The next thing Nikki knew there was someone stood by her , she turned and saw Rick stood there
"I know everything about him anyway go and be with him"
"Thank you, Rick," Nikki almost sobbed. The rush of relief was overwhelming.
"I'm here, Daryl. I'm right here, baby." Nikki took his hand and he squeezed it tightly.
"Everything's gonna be ok, sweet girl," Daryl slurred. "I bet I'm home by dinner."
"Does that mean you want me to cook?" Nikki teased, blinking away tears.
"I don't wanna come right back here, Nik. Jesus."
"Cheeky my cooking isn't that bad , we can have pizza" Nikki smiled
"I'm afraid there's no pizza for you mr Dixon , we need to do a scan and surgery maybe needed" a doctor barked
Nikki saw the fear in Daryl's eyes .
"Um sorry but why would he need surgery"
"Let me introduce myself," the doctor said as he fully entered the room. "My name is Dr. Morgan Jones .I'm chief of neurosurgery here, and I was asked to come down and take a look at our patient. Your current doctor was made aware that you were coming in by a Rick Grimes. Your doctor says that you're not healing as well as he'd like. That coupled with this fall made him come to me to ask for a fresh set of eyes. That said, tell me about this fall. What happened?"
Daryl mumbled about his pants and Nikki had to clarify for him what had happened. The powerful pain medication was doing a fantastic job as far as he was concerned. The pain was finally tolerable.
"Daryl, I know that you're pretty out of it, but I need you to tell me what you're feeling." Dr. Jones began examining Daryl. Nikki stood right by him, holding his hand and nudging him when the doctor asked questions.
"What" Daryl slurred looking at Nikki
"Dr jones asked you how your feeling you need to answer him" Nikki replied
"Back spasms , floaty" Daryl Slurred
Nikki could see he wasn't making sense .
"He also has pins and needles in his legs and, he keeps getting back spasms also Pete his therapist says he's not making much improvement as they would like , he's still using a walker and I know he hasn't told me but he's finding it so difficult to walk , please can you help him" Nikki sobbed
Dr. Jones smiled kindly and squeezed Nikki's hand. It was very refreshing to see a partner know so much about what was happening with the other.
"I think I can. I looked at his previous scans and based on his current symptoms with the paresthesia, the pins and needles feeling, I think I can do a relatively simple surgery and get him back on his feet. I want to get an MRI to get a better picture of what things look like. I'm going to admit him, and if the scans look like I think they will, I'll do surgery first thing in the morning."
Daryl heard what the doctor said
He started to pull at the collar was wearing
"Get this off me no surgery no not happening I'm fine no no surgery" he yelled
He carried on trying to pull the neck collar off but he was just physically too weak to do it .
"Nik no surgery please no surgery wanna go home have pizza please don't let them please"
"Hey, hey, woah, Daryl! Baby, shhhh..." Nikki grabbed both of his hand and brought them to her face. She kissed each palm. "I need you to hear my voice. You're calm. You're safe. No one is going to hurt you. I'm right here. Do you feel my face in your hands."
Nikki hated the way he was trembling. She knew his head must be hammering away in his chest.
"Take slow, deep breaths with me, ok?"
"Nik can't have surgery I can't needles I'm so scared Nik , Merle the past everything I can't do it , I will live with the pain I'll just make sure I pull ma pants up please Nik I'm begging ya I really am please baby I love ya please "
"Baby, listen to me. Just listen to my voice. We don't even know a hundred percent that you need surgery yet. But, we have the chief of neurosurgery looking at you. You have the very best in his field, baby. I think we have to listen to what he has to say. I know you're scared. I'm scared, too." Nikki gently stroked the side of Daryl's face. He wouldn't look at her, though. He felt betrayed. She knew more about his phobia than anyone, yet here she stood telling him to hear the doctor out.
"I don't want to see you suffering in pain for the rest of your life, Daryl. If it were me, you'd want me to consider it, wouldn't you?"
"Wouldn't force ya to do anything ya didn't want," he snapped.
"And, I'm not forcing you. I want you out of pain. I want you living life like you did before all of this. Most of all, I want to be able to make love to you again. Daryl, I NEED you. Please, don't shut me down. Let's talk about this. I can help you face this. You just have to believe in me - in us."
Daryl gazed at Nikki , he could see then what she was saying ,it was like him asking her to face beau in court get justice she must be terrified, but she was gonna do it , it was now his turn to do the same thing .
He reached his hand out to her .
"Nik I'm so fucking scared I really am , I wish I could just get up runaway , but I can't I have to face it like your gonna face beau , I have to do this don't I"
"Yes baby but your one of the strongest people I know you have got this" Nikki sighed
"Don't always feel strong "
He Then looked at dr jones
"Ok run ya test , stick me with needles on one condition she stays with me , I know she can't be at the MRI thingy or surgery but everywhere else she's with me can't do it without her .
"I'll make sure the nursing staff knows," Dr. Jones smiled. "I'll also put in orders for you to have anti-anxiety medication as needed. We'll discuss the details of your surgery after the MRI and once you're settled in your room."
"I'm so proud of you, Daryl. You're so damn brave. Thank you for hearing me out and for understanding that I'm not trying to force you into anything. I would never do that."
Daryl gazed at Nikki
"I know ya wouldn't I was just scared , was ok with needles till Merle ya know , now see one I nearly pass out , need to try and learn to cope with it"
"And you can baby your the strongest man I know" Nikki whispered to him
"Don't feel strong feel pathetic"
"Don't you dare feel pathetic! You are doing the bravest thing you could ever do. That takes more strength than anything I can imagine."
"Facing the man that hurt ya that um killed ya baby that's stronger than this" Daryl whispered
"I guess. I'm only strong enough because I know you have my back."
"We make each other stronger" Daryl whispered
He knew then Nikki was his everything his one reason to carry on no matter what happened in his life he knew he would be ok if Nikki was there with him .
