Farmer's Daughter (Daryl Dixon Love Story)

Chapter 30

Daryl's POV

"What did they do to you?" Rick whispers. Her body visibly stiffens as she sits up and stares at her hands.

They were a light pink with all the dried and smeared blood that coated them. Her fingers shook with uneasiness as she rubs her wrist.

They were raw.

"He uh." She takes a minute to breathe before starting again. "I was tied up. M-my hands were above my head as I just dangled there." She pauses as she sniffles. I slowly stood up from my leaning position on the wall and sauntered over to the girl, squatting so I could hear her soft voice clearly. Her broken blue eyes connected to mine as I got comfortable, they held tears but she was bravely holding them back.

"He came in and he told me-" her mouth closed as she looked up to Rick with astonished eyes. My curiosity built up as she shifts in her chair. "Rick, he told me I'm immune."

Her soft voice held an emotion I couldn't pick up. It was a mixture of things. She was shook up from the past few days. She was happy to be back and to see her daughter. And she was confused with the news.

My head spun, unlike her I was just confused.

"What?" Rick was just as confused as I. His lips were drawn in a straight line as his blue eyes bore into hers. "What does that mean?"

"It means she can't turn." I mumbled. Her eyes met mine once again as she merely nodded. A black eye was slowly forming from the previous nights events. But the crystal blue still danced through.

"He also wanted to know how many people we had." She quickly got back on topic as she veers her eyes in the opposite direction of mine.

"That doesn't take any since, he already knows, said it himself when he came." Rick dipped the rag once more into the pink water and grabbed one of her arms, slowly running the rag up and down her exposed skin.

"I know. Which makes me think he's lying. He knows nothing about us." She mumbled as she watches his hands.

A settle knock comes from behind us. I turn to see the elder mans white hair and aging face. He steps further into view and his face falls at the look of his oldest daughter.

"I'd like to take a look at her if you don't mind." He softly says.

Rick nods his head as we all stand to our feet. The injured girl stumbles as my arm wraps around her front to catch her fall.

"I'm alright Daryl." She lightly squeezes my arm but I don't take her remark into consideration as I wrap my arm around the back of her and lead her in the direction her father went. She breathes heavy as she lightly limps along, soft winces are heard as she softly grips my shirt.

It hurts to say the least. To see her like this. In so much pain. She won't say it, but I know she's dying on the inside. Little pieces of her are breaking off little by little and she can't think straight. The pain is what's reminding her she's alive.

We walk into the room that once held the sheriffs son. First aid supply's was laid upon the bed in place of the young boy.

"Stand right here for me dear." She slides from my grip and obeys her father, standing right where he wanted her. "I normally don't allow people in here for this, but I understand you need to talk to her and every second counts. Just make it fast will you?"

Ricks nods his head and stands on the other side of the bed, facing in the direction of the girl. I soon mirror his stance.

Hershel says something inaudible to her and she gives him a look of confusion before slowly getting out of her clothes. A sense of uncomfortableness took over me as my eyes averted to the floor bellow my feet. I shifted back and forth as the floor creaked. My hands played with the strap on my bow as Rick began to talk.

"Where did all the bruises come from? Where they all from Merle?" Rick mumbles next to me. My eyes shyly look up to see the woman's body layered in shades of purple. My mouth slightly drops at the sight as I only imagine what they had done to her.

"No no. Only a few are. These right here," she pointed to the dark blues and greens along her ribs. "And these," she then points to her legs where there were indeed more drawings from a hurtful hand. "And these," she turns to show the various lines of pain that were inflicted upon her once ivory skin. "They were all done by the governor. He hit me with a baseball bat." She mumbled.

My eyes softened as I look further at her body. Memories of what was once my childhood came to mind. I knew how she felt, and that brought a sudden anger over me. I crossed my arms over my chest as she begins talking again.

"I don't really remember anything else that happened." She turns back around. Hershel started to inspect his daughter. Looking closely at every scratch and bruise. Feeling each one to make sure there wasn't any broken bones or internal damage.

She winced every time he touched her. A look of pain would take over her features as he moved her arms around.

He flipped over her arm and paused. He lightly rubbed his finger in the crease of her elbow, which held a light purple bruise.

"I believe they had you attached to an iv." He mumbled. She looked down at her arm and sighed.

"I don't remember." She looked away as quickly as she looked, not bothering to think further into it. But you couldn't blame her.

"This may hurt a little." Before she could ask what he pressed into her side, she squealed as he quickly stopped. "You've got a fractured rib. If I wrap it up real tight, and we do that for a few weeks, you'll be better in no time."

She nods her head as she softly shuts her eyes. She brings her hands up and gently rubs her head. 

"I think you've also got a slight concussion. You're going to have to take it easy for a couple of weeks. I don't want you moving around to much alright?"

Once more she nods her head. Hershel pats her back and hands her her clothes. She quickly slides her pants up her long legs, and throws her shirt over her head before sighing.

"I'll walk you to your room." Rick takes the opportunity to walk to her side of the bed and gives her a soft smile before linking his arm in with hers. She softly smiles back in gratitude.

"Good morning Daryl." Her sense of humor comes out as she slightly smiles to me. I softly shake my head at the mysterious woman as my blue eyes lock to hers.

"Good morning Mel."

A/N

So it's a short little chapter... But the ending was cute! I just haven't written for a while and knew you all needed a chapter lol.

Well here it is! Please comment! I love to hear what you all think

-Melinda