Surviving. (Book Two.)

Chapter Sixty Eight.

Eventually, we decided that we needed to keep going to get to the Hilltop; Maggie was still in pain and now we had to get Daryl's arm looked at too. 

Obviously we brought Abraham with us. He was in the back room of the RV with Sasha, who refused to leave his side. 

It was silent where everyone else was sat, our two injured were dozing while the rest of us just stared at each other. 

"We're here," Rick said roughly, bringing the RV to a stop in the grounds of the community. He then got off silently, quickly followed by Michonne and Carl. 

I got up from the floor, rubbing at my sore knees before I turned so I could wake Daryl, giving him a gentle shake which seemed to do the trick. 

I helped him off the vehicle and the two of us followed Glenn and Maggie towards Dr Carson's surgery. 

Jesus emerged from Barrington House and seeing me struggling to keep Daryl on my own, he quickly came to my aid. I could feel him staring at the blood that was still staining my skin but he didn't say anything. He just helped me get Daryl up the steps to the surgery. 

"Put him in here," a blonde woman instructed, gesturing into a small room to her left when she saw us, "Doctor Carson is in the other room with your friend Maggie." she then eyed Daryl warily, "I'll tell him to come through as soon as he's done." 

"Okay," I whispered, "Thank you." 

She disappeared into said room, closing the door behind her which left Jesus and I to get Daryl into the room and up onto the bed. 

"It's just a little further," I murmured encouragingly into his ear and he nodded silently. 

He groaned in protest when we accidently caused him to move his arm but slowly got comfortable on the small mattress, wincing every couple of seconds when he irritated his arm further.

"Thank you." I told Jesus and he gave me a nod, turning to leave. 

When it was just the two of us, I leant down and brushed some of his damp hair from his face, "You're gonna be fine. Right? You're not gonna die on me today, Dixon." 

He hummed quietly, "Not today, Freckles." 

I smiled and kissed his cheek as his eyes fell shut, causing me to panic a little but remembered that he's been dealing with this all night and is probably exhausted. 

I looked up at the sound of the door opening and Doctor Carson entered, giving me a weak smile before moving to stand beside Daryl, "Has he passed out?" 

"I don't know. I thought maybe he'd just fallen asleep." 

I sat silently as he examined the wound on his arm, waiting impatiently for him to speak. 

"He's most likely passed out from the bloodloss. When did this happen? And how?" 

"I don't know how it happened," I admitted, "Or when exactly but it must have been sometime yesterday afternoon 'cause he was fine in the morning." 

The doctor hummed to himself and turned away from me, "Well the good news is that the bullet is in one piece so we should be able to get it out easily." 

"Bad news?" 

"We ran out of anaesthetic weeks ago. It's unlikely, but he could wake up while I'm extracting the bullet." 

I shook my head and stepped back from the bed, "I can't. If he does, I can't see him in pain like that." 

"Then perhaps you should wait outside." 

I took his advice, leaving the surgery minutes later so he could get to work saving my husband's life. 

I took a seat on the steps outside and looked around, seeing that Jesus was slowly making his way back over to me. 

"You look a mess." he said once he reached me, "Good thing I brought this, huh?" 

I stared at the damp cloth that he was holding out to me but didn't move to take it and he sighed, taking a seat next to me. 

"What happened out there?" he asked quietly, raising the cloth and started to gently wipe the blood from my face. 

"It was supposed to be me," I told him, "I was supposed to be the one who was on the receiving end of that." 

"Negan doesn't change his mind," Jesus murmured, "Why did it happen with you?" 

"Carl told him I was pregnant. He said that he can't deny the world of a baby, especially in times like these." I shrugged, looking at him, "But what if Carl is wrong? What if he read the test wrong and I'm not pregnant?"

"You didn't see the test?" 

I shook my head, "No. I should've looked at it but with what happened with Maggie, I didn't get the time." 

"Doctor Carson can give you an ultrasound," Jesus murmured, putting his hand on mine, "You don't have to leave here without knowing." 

I felt my bottom lip quivering and looked down at my feet, "I'm scared to know. What if I'm not and then Negan comes back and asks about it. What do I do? He'll kill me."

"What has Daryl said?" 

"Nothing," I muttered, "But I hardly think that it's top on his list of priorities right now." 

We fell into a silence and after a couple of minutes and I let out a sigh as I rest my head on his leather clad shoulder. Then after a couple of seconds, I spoke again, attempting to change the subject, "Does everyone call you Jesus?" 

"Most," he nodded, looking down at me, "But not everyone, why?" 

I shrugged my shoulders again, "I just find it strange." 

"Well," he murmured, giving me the cloth when I held my hand out for it, "I guess you can call me Paul." 

I gave him a genuine smile as I wiped the remainder of blood on my skin, "That sounds a lot better." 

I practically leapt up when the door opened behind us and Doctor Carson gave us a small smile when he emerged, "He's going to be fine. He woke up just when I was stitching up. I'll admit, I was worried at first but I think after a lot of physical therapy and a proper healing time, he'll be back to normal in a couple of months." 

My hand covered my mouth as I started to cry again but this time, it was out of sheer relief, "Thank you. Thank you so much. You said he's awake?" 

"And asking for you. I've given him some antibiotics and pain relief so I'll be back to give him another round in a few hours." 

Jesus, sorry, Paul gave my arm a squeeze, "Go see him." 

**

just a little bit of a filler. thank you for all the comments on the last chapter