Surviving. (Book Two.)

Chapter Seventy One.

Sarah; 

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, the worst patient in the world, Daryl Dixon. 

Not even three hours after returning from the Hilltop, I walked into the bedroom to see him messing with his gun, using his injured arm. 

"Daryl," I hissed, moving forward to rip it from his grip, "What are you doing?" 

"Cleaning my gun," he shrugged, reaching out to take it from me, "It's no-"

"You heard what Doctor Carson said." 

"So what? I'm supposed to jus' sit and do nothin'?" he asked.

"Exactly," I murmured, crawling onto the bed, "You're going to relax and heal and..you've been taking care of me for as long as I can remember and now it's your turn to let me take care of you." 

His brow furrowed and he stared at me as if he was trying to waver my decision but seeing my expression, he nodded, "Alrigh', Freckles. You're the boss." 

Grinning at him, I leant forward to give him a kiss, "That is the truth."

He frowned when I got off the bed again, "Where ye' goin'?" 

"I'm going to go see Carol," I murmured, running a brush through my hair, "You said she was pretty banged up so I'm going to go see if she's okay." 

He hummed and sunk further into the mattress, "'kay." 

"Your painkillers are on the kitchen counter if you need them and I'll be back soon." 

**

At Carol's, she congratulated me before sitting down on the sofa so we could actually talk.

"Daryl told me what happened," she said quietly, "I can't imagine how scary that must have been." 

"I don't think I could put it into words if I'm honest." I replied, "Have you seen Sasha at all?" 

She shook her head, "How is she?" 

"Pissed. At me. I think she and Abraham were just starting to...get to know each other better." 

She reached forward and placed her hand on mine, "You know that this wasn't your fault, right? You didn't make the decision." 

"I know," I whispered, "But it doesn't make me feel any less guilty." 

She said nothing and just gave my hand a squeeze and I looked up at her, looking at the dark circles under her eyes and the gash on her cheek.

"Carol, what happened to you?"

She shook her head, looking out the window instead of me and it was my turn to give her hand to try and comfort her, "I wanted to die." I kept silent, watching with a concerned gaze upon her as she continued, "I begged him to kill me. This life, killing people. Sarah, I don't think I can do it anymore. It's caught up to me." 

I moved from my chair to sit beside her on the sofa when she started crying, wrapping my arms around her. "It's okay," I whispered, "Let it out." 

She took a little bit of time to calm down but I didn't say anything and she then wiped her eyes and looked at me again, "When's Negan coming?"

**

When I returned from Carol's, I had expected to find Daryl sitting on the sofa but he wasn't. 

He was fast asleep in the bedroom and after kissing his cheek, I decided that I was going to have a bath to give myself a little relaxing time. 

While waiting for the tub to fill, I wandered through to the study to grab a book to read. 

I hummed quietly to myself while I pulled my dirty clothes off before slipping down into the warm water. 

Letting out a sigh, I grabbed my book and started flicking through the pages. 

Maybe ten minutes had gone by when the door creaked open and craning my neck, I saw Daryl coming in, rubbing his eyes until he settled them on me, "Hey. When did ye' get back?" 

"Not that long ago," I replied with a smile, "You were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you." 

He nodded and moved over to the toilet and I went back to my book while he did his business. 

Couple goals right here. 

He watched me before sitting on the closed seat and after a couple of minutes, I finally lowered my book, "Are you just going to sit there and stare at me?"

"Tha's exactly what I'm gonna do." he replied and I rolled my eyes and decided to put the book down and leant with my arms on the edge of the tub. 

"You can always join me." 

He leant forward, "Very tempting, Freckles. But if I get in there, ain't no guarantee I'll be gettin' out again." 

"Party pooper," I grinned and relaxed back, "The water will help your muscles." 

"I'm not risking it," he said, "But I'll sit here wi' you."

He got comfortable on the floor, his back against the side of the bath and I reached over to rake my fingers through his hair, "How's your arm?" 

"Sore," he mumbled, "But the painkillers are taking most of it away." 

"Good. When he comes, Negan I mean, do you think Rick is going to give him what he wants?" I asked and he turned his head to look at me.

"I think after what's happened...he's gonna have to or else more folks are gonna die." 

"I was worried you were gonna say that." I whispered, smiling when he started tracing a pattern on my skin with his hand, "I'm scared." 

He moved so he was on his knees beside me, his hand moving to cup my cheek and he made sure he that I was looking at him before he spoke, "I've said this before but 'm gonna say it again. He ain't gonna hurt you. He ain't got no reason too now. You gotta believe me, babe." 

Deep down, I knew he was right and so I nodded, resting my forehead against his. I only hoped that things wouldn't change.

**

overdue, shockingly written. apologies :)