The Exit • TWD. [✓]

𝟎𝟕𝟑, act of thankfulness!

CHAPTER SEVENTY THREE !

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Daryl sat by the side of the bed estella laid on, at the kingdom. it had only been one night since she'd been out. the doctors at the kingdom said that she would definitely survive, because the shot was only in the shoulder. it wasn't as bad as it could've been, and he was appreciative of that. michonne and rosita were also in the room, rosita had been shot, and michonne had been hit pretty bad in a fight with one of the garbage people.

rick was beside michonne, holding her hand. she was awake. tara was by rosita's side, making sure she was all right. jerry would pop in every so often to see how estella was doing. she had never spoken to the man, but daryl knew she'd appreciate it. she always found jerry extremely funny, especially when he was listening to rick's story. she always spoke about his interested face.

"is she okay?" carl asked, coming to stand next to daryl with estella's hat in his hands.

"yeah. doctor says she's definitely gonna wake up." daryl replied, not taking his eyes off the pale eight year old in front of him.

"i had no doubts that she would, she's strong." carl said, putting her hat on top of her sleeping head with a small smile.

"strongest damn eight year old i ever met." he said back.

carl let out a small, breathy laugh. "yeah. i hope judith's just like her when she grows up. issy and i used to say it all the time."

"she thinks the world of ya, y'know that?" daryl told him. "all she ever speaks about is you, issy n' judith. says she's gotta protect judith from this n' that, or 'do ya think this is what carl would do?' ya mean a lot to 'er."

"yeah. i think the world of her, too. she was my first little sister." carl said, taking the seat next to daryl.

daryl looked down, seeing her fingers twitch, before her face began to scrunch up. her eyes then opened, making him let out a loud breath of relief. he knew she was going to wake up, because the doctor said so, but words didn't compare to the feeling of watching her actually wake up. he had doubts in his mind about her waking up, even if the doctor said she would. seeing her wake up lifted such a large weight off his shoulders.

carl smiled widely as her large brown eyes blinked repeatedly to adjust to the light, before she looked at them. her mouth began to turn up into a smile as she tried to sit herself up, but her boy was still weak and she was hurting a little, so she just stayed down.

"carl!" she smiled, raising her good arm to wave at him.

"hey, stells. how are you feeling?" he asked her.