Taking a Chance

Chapter 34

Michonne convinced Gabrielle to take a shower before they all sat down to talk. It was a surprise to everyone but her, that when they got back to the house and her car was in the driveway. Daryl and Rick fully expected to find Merle in the house, so they would not let the women inside until they swept it. There was no sign of Daryl's brother what so ever.

While Daryl waited for the women to join the men, he and Rick had a beer and sat in silence in the living room. They were each lost in thought over this crazy stressful day. Rick knew he should file an official report on this, but he wanted to see what Daryl thought.

Meanwhile, Daryl was so confused on what was going on. Why did Merle return Gabrielle's car? It was so in his nature to steal it, and that he had brought it back to their house was shocking. Where the hell was his pain in the ass brother?

Soft footsteps coming down the stairs announced the girls' arrival. Daryl and Rick instantly stood up as they entered the room. Gabrielle walked over to her husband and he enveloped her in his strong arms, before making her sit down with him on the sofa.

Michonne had veered off into the kitchen and came back with two glasses of white wine and a bag of frozen vegetables. She handed a glass and the frozen bag to Gabrielle before sitting in a chair near Rick. The room was heavy with the silence. Gabrielle held the frozen vegetable bag to her swollen face.

She had her black wavy hair pulled back into a messy ponytail and the damage to her face was clearly evident. Daryl's hands clenched into fists at the sight of his beautiful wife's face. Her left eye was grotesquely swollen shut. Mixtures of blues and purples marred her perfect skin from her eye to her lips. And those luscious lips that he could kiss all day long were swollen too. Until she healed, Daryl would treat her like a porcelain doll. How could Merle have done this to her?

Finally, Gabrielle spoke, "It was the drugs that did it to him. He wasn't thinking straight because he was in really bad withdrawal. He has a really big problem, Daryl. And add to that he basically stole money from a dealer and they are actively looking to kill him, led to Merle making every bad decision he could." She took a drink from her wine glass. "He was sure we had money here and wouldn't believe that we didn't."

"Yeah, I never used a bank until we got together, so he was used to me having money around, but I never woulda had the type of cash he was looking for. That's crazy," Daryl told her.

"For some reason, he thought we were rolling in the cash, I think he was desperate to see what he wanted to see."

"How did the TV get shot?" Daryl asked. He was so grateful that Gabrielle was alright, but why of all things did Merle have to shoot his beloved TV.

"He was losing it and I could see he was shaking and sweating cause the withdrawal was hitting him hard. He was getting madder because we didn't have the money and his finger was on the trigger and it just went off. I was lucky...very lucky," Gabrielle explained. She snuggled more into Daryl's side. He always made her feel safe.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "So it was just dumb luck that he hit my TV?"

"Well it is kind of big," Michonne said with a smirk.

"Make that was," laughed Rick. He then turned back to Gabrielle, "What happened next?"

Gabrielle took the frozen bag off her face to continue. "We went to the closest ATM I could think of, but I could only get out five hundred and he wasn't happy. I wanted to give him my card and be done with him, but he wouldn't listen to me and shoved me in the car. When he took off the opposite way from home, I started to yell at him and that's when he hit me. I woke up in the shack and tied to a chair." She paused to take another sip of wine and saw Michonne give her an encouraging smile. Gabrielle was grateful that she had such good trustworthy friends.