Whatever Happened To Normal?

Chapter 16:

Opening her eyes, she feels swept away in pain. The hospital bed is rough and the blankets are ichy. Looking down, she finds a dark haired masculine figure with their head in the mattress and their hands wrapped around her right hand. She moves a bit and now she sees it's Daryl, who's eyes are blood shot and he looks pale in complexion- besides sporting a huge shinner over his left eye.

"Beth..." He sits up quickly and throws himself around her in a huge hug and kisses her neck once before burying his face in it. She sits there stiffly with her arms flat to her side. He whispers in her ear. "I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner...I'm so sorry, Beth."

She says nothing, but slowly moves her arms underneath his and hooks them onto his shoulders. Her whole body hurts, especially her stomach and sex.

"I lost the baby..." She quietly says and it breaks them both.

"This is my fault."

"Daryl..."

"Beth, it is. I never should have said what I said. That baby was going to be beautiful...I shouldn't have been so mean to you. If I would've just told Rick...or not have told Rick and just left..." Looking deep in his eyes, Beth feels terrible and upset with the circumstances.

"It's my fault for thinking that we could've been happy together."

"But I was happy with you Beth...I was just scared of being a dad. I'm an asshole for how I treated you. Please forgive me." He pulls her closer and tries like hell not to cry. It scares him- what happened that is. He never imagined seeing her forced against the wall being raped and dripping in blood. It was a coincidence that he went to The Savoirs tonight- he was going to actually join because they as a motorcycle group are fantastic, but apparently their leader was more than Daryl could put up with. When he came in to sign up and have a drink, it was crowded with burly men and slutty motorcycle women. He by chance saw Negan grabbing a blonde and heard her say something, but couldn't make it out through the crowd of men. When he saw her struggling against him, he needed to do something, he fought the thick throng of people to get there and when he heard it was Beth through the door- he tried harder to get in the door, two men were about to make him pay for the disturbance. But he got in and saw the horrible sight and sprung into action. He thought he lost her. He felt lost himself. "I promised you Rick and I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you, and I failed... I'm so sorry Beth..."

She can't say anything- she can barely breath. That promise meant so much to her, and she knows there really is nothing he could have done, but at the same time she's bitter toward him.

"Is that Rick's baby?"

"What?"

"In Michone." Her monotone voice stings his ears.

"Yeah."

"Do you love her?" She frightfully asks as she clings to his neck.

"I can't love anyone Beth..." This phrase splits her in two. On one side, he doesn't love Michone which is good, but on the other side, he can't ever love her. That is a pain that will always live in her heart.

A nurse comes in and tells Beth she is able to be released. Getting her things, she pulls on a pair of hospital booties and Daryl escourts her out of the hospital with her dress in a bag and a pair of torquoise scrubs loosely hanging from her body. When the get in the truck, she's in so much pain as she sits down. Tears spring up into her eyes and she just wants to die at this moment. Reaching over the console, Daryl holds her hand to comfort her, not aware of all the damage he is actually doing. As he drives back towards Rick's, Beth makes him stop on the side of the road.

"Everything okay?"

"I need you....I don't wanna go back to living a lie. Even if you don't care for me the way I care for you- no one else will ever make me feel safe like you do." His eyes soften and his heart breaks in his chest. Those sopping blue eyes make him feel broken and lost in his own kind of pain. "Please..."

Starting the car up, Daryl turns around and heads back towards his apartment. When he's halfway there, she makes him stop again.

"What about Rick? And Michone? I can't....I can't...." She starts hyperventilating and Daryl hands her a paper bag from his lunch that afternoon, and pats her on the back.

"Stop worrying about everyone else for a day. Who cares about anything? What's important is that you're comfortable and rested. Fuck everyone else." He says as nicely as he can. It takes her a few minutes but she finally calms down. Looking at him, he has that same pouty face on he had when she interrupted his football game the first night. He has this way about him that just gets to her. Maybe it's the 'I don't give a fuck' aspect she's attracted to or that hidden romantic side of him- which ever it is, she is drawn to it like a moth to an open flame. She never really felt like thay with Rick. He's always by the book, straight forward kind of guy, who is kind and sweet, but not in the kind of way that makes it attractive. I guess you could say, she knew she'd fall in love with Daryl just by their first encounter.

"Fuck 'em." She says and he smiles from ear to ear.

"There ya go." He starts driving again and they arrive at his apartment building. Going upstairs, it's already 3:00 in the morning and Michone and Rick are drinking coffee and sitting on the sofa chatting.

"Beth!" Rick stands up when sees her and goes to her, but she puts a hand to him. He's confused by the scrubs and Daryl's arm suppodting her around the waist. "What happened? What's wrong? Can I get some answers? Please?"

"For right now, fuck off." Beth says and Rick is taken aback by Beth using that kind of language. He looks at Daryl and he sympathetically frowns and takes Beth to his spare bedroom. Sitting her down on the bed, he leaves momentarily and comes back with a pair of his light blue pj pants and a white tee shirt.

"You need anythin else?" He asks and she gives him a half morose face and half thankful face.

"You wouldn't happen to have an extra pair of underwear, I could borrow?" Her shakey voice is weary and Daryl lightly chuckles before grabbing a pair of old compression boxers. "Thanks..."

She just holds the clothes in her arms and looks as though she's about to fall apart.

"Could.....could you...please help me change?" She asks nervously and his smile softens and he closes the door. Standing her up, he slowky and gently pulls her pants down as she holds her balance steady with his shoulders. She's so shakey and wobbly that she very well might fall over. Tugging the underwear on, he slowly pulls it up to her stomach and can feel her start to give way to her emtions because the shaking gets worse. Pulling her shirt up a bit, Daryl plants a kiss or two on her stomach and lays his head against it. Her arms fold around his head and hold him close to her. She starts to cry and all he can do is hold her around the back of her legs and nuzzle his face againat her stomach that once held their baby. When he pulls back, he inwardly sniffs back his tears and starts on pj pants. After gdtting them on he stands up and pulls her shirt over her head and pulls the tee shirt on over her bare skin and bra. Laying her in bed, he kisses her head and turna off the light. He so badly wants to stay with her and lay down, but he knows all too well that he would only make the pain worse.