Shared Blood (A Walking Dead fan fic.)

Involved - Chapter 15

"Caylx? Hello...Caylx?" A masculine voice called out; though it could not navigate through the murky waters of her consciousness. It was near, but not near enough.

The red head's condition hadn't worsened, but Caylx found it harder and harder to pull herself from her slumber with each day. The girl was blatantly aware she was fading, and fast too; it was all just a waiting game from here on out.

She quirked her head slightly, as if waiting for another sign from the voice that had interrupted her sleep. She was searching through the blackness of her eyelids for the mysterious sound that seemed miles away.

Searching, but not finding.

"Caylx? Can you hear me?" It repeated, the slight southern accent a bit more clear now.

Caylx could feel herself beginning to put the pieces together, identification, realization, and then still she found her eyes refused to open. Caylx's mind was telling her to speak, move, blink, do something, but her body was paralyzed. She felt infinitely stuck in this strange surreal space between consciousness and unconsciousness, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Let's just let her rest," An older man's voice grumbled. "She needs it."

"Umph..." Caylx mumbled, stirring only slightly in acknowledgment of their presence. "Wha-What?" She finally managed to utter.

She could feel rustling beside her, a person taking a seat in the chair beside her bed, the worn plastic creaking under their weight. "Hey Cay." 

"Hey Daryl." She coughed, her eyes fluttering open now. The whole experience was very frightening really. She presumed she was experiencing some sort of sleep paralysis, a result of being too weak with infection to find the strength to awaken.

"How ya doin'?" He grumbled, almost shamefully.

"Shitty. Help me up." She mumbled, fidgeting as Daryl's calloused fingers slipped beneath the small of her back and her waist and adjusted her into an upright position.

Caylx could feel the weight of her eyelids weighing her down but she didn't want to sleep. She'd probably gotten enough sleep to last her two life times in the past week. She didn't want to spend her last few days in her own world; instead she wanted to hang onto the few remaining strands of the real one.

The red head sighed before beginning to speak. "So why are you-... Glenn and Maggie, are they okay?!" Her body turned abruptly toward him, her voice a practical shout.

"Woah, woah, relax." Daryl soothed, putting a gentle hand on her wrist. "We still haven't gotten them yet... It's only been a few hours since we found out... remember?"

No, that couldn't be right.

This happened days ago. Perhaps even a week had gone by... A few hours? No, impossible. Caylx knew her situation was pretty jacked up but she thought she had at least some control over her perception of time.

"How long have I been asleep?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows together, twiddling her thumbs.

"A good couple hours. Five give or take." Daryl nodded. If it wasn't obvious enough, Caylx was fading. It was gradual, but not so much that it wasn't obvious to see. She could no longer stand without loosing consciousness, and just a few days ago she could limp around on crutches with supervision. 

She ran a shaky hand through her hair. "Right..."

Perhaps the transition was worse than Caylx expected. What if her perception of reality and time got so screwed up that a few hours turned to days, and a few days turned to years? How long would it be till she was driven into complete madness?