Hope Lost: A Daryl Dixon Story (The Walking Dead/ Bethyl )

10- Relived

The clerk behind the counter on duty paged through his magazine lazily as he eyed the obvious bunking high school students by the A-C section.  He knew he should kick them out but taking his headphones off and chewing them out didn’t seem worth it. An article about legalising marijuana caught his attention. Loud thumping interrupted his thoughts and he looked up. The girl bunker stood in front of him and banged a CD cover repeatedly on the counter. He sighed, rolled his eyes and pulled his headphones off. 

“You break it, you buy it.” He said monotonously.

“Doesn’t that only apply in china stores?” she shot back with a smile.

“Look girl, aren’t you supposed to be in school having nap time?” He became annoyed that this girl who wasn’t supposed to be here was interrupting his reading time.

“Aren’t you supposed to be finding a real job?” she retorted.

“Real smart. What do you want?”

“Could you play this for me?” she asked sweetly.

“We don’t take requests.”

“Oh, c’mon man! My brother loves this album.” She pointed to the younger teenager scanning through the shelf.

The clerk groaned and took the CD in hopes that she would leave him alone.

“Track number four please.” The girl winked at him and spun around, her dark blonde curls bounced wildly.

The introduction of Coolio’s ‘Gangsters Paradise’ filled the air.  The girl swaggered towards her brother and sung along.

“As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take a look at my life and realise there’s not much left. ‘Cause I’ve been blasting and laughing so long that even my momma thinks that my mind is gone!” She made hand gestures and exaggerated facial expressions at the right places.

“Robin, please stop!” Her brother howled with laughter. “White girl rap fail!”

She continued rapping and tugged at her brother to do the same. He protested a few times until he gave in.

“Been spending most our lives livin’ in a Gangsters Paradise!” they almost screamed the lyrics out.

The clerk glared at them and considered reporting them to the local high school.

“Tell me why are we so blind to see that the ones we hurt are you and me?” Robin was on her knees as she serenaded to her brother. The song ended and Shaun snorted from laughter as he helped her to her feet.

“Oh shit! We gotta go, mom expects us home soon!”

The teenagers were a laughing mess as they exited the store in a hurry.

 --

The waiting was intense. Robin squeezed her brother’s hand as they sat in Dr Stone’s consult room.  The door opened and Robin’s heart fluttered.

“Mr Darcy, I assume this is your girlfriend?” The doctor asked as he scanned through a file and sat down behind his desk.

“She’s my sister.” Shaun corrected.

“Would you like her to be here?” He asked.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Shaun said in a duh voice.

“Unfortunately the dark mass we found in your scans confirmed what I believed; you have a tumour in your lungs. It is inoperable and you are going to need new lungs soon.” The doctor said in a voice of sympathy. Robin reached out for her brother’s hand and squeezed.  Shaun smiled at her.

“Don’t worry Rob, everything will be okay.” He comforted her as if she was the sick one.

Almost two years later they sat in the very same office as Dr Stone delivered the worst news Robin has ever heard.

“What do you mean he doesn’t suit the transplant list?!” She stood up and screamed at him.

“I’m sorry Miss Darcy but he doesn’t meet criteria. His chances for survival are too slim for us to give him new lungs. I truly am sorry.” His voice was soft and gentle.

“So you’re going to send him home to die?” her voice was harsh.

“He will be comfortable and at peace with his loved ones.”  The doctor rambled on about the next steps. The next steps until Shaun’s demise, Robin thought. Her tears fell until she broke into hysterical sobs. Shaun put a comforting arm around her. She shrugged it off violently.

“You can’t tell me you’re okay with this!” She yelled at him. She covered her mouth with her hand in an effort to cover her sobs. She left the room and ran to the bathroom.

Shaun was her entire life. Never did she have a best friend like her brother before. They looked out for each other, cared for each other. They loved each other. She couldn’t imagine a life without him.

She exited the bathroom, dried her eyes with a tissue, to find her brother leaning against the wall with a sad smile on his face.

“Come here Rob.” He held his thin arms open. Robin’s tears came back as she fell into his arms.

“Don’t leave me.” She sobbed into his chest.

“I’ll always be here for you.” He whispered as he kissed the top of her head. He took her hand and they left for the car.

Two months later the walkers came.

 --

Robin felt a damp cloth on her forehead and groaned. Waves of immense pain pulsed through her head. It felt like someone had slammed a sledgehammer into her skull.

“She’s awake!” a voice yelled and Robin’s head spun. She fluttered her eyes open to find a concerned face spinning in and out of focus. Robin moaned again as she touched a sensitive spot on her forehead. She felt rough stitches and became confused.

She wondered where Shaun was. She opened her eyes again and it flickered to the figure standing in the corner of the tent. A rough looking man with a crossbow slouched over his shoulder. The man stood with no emotion on his face.

She glared him down as she came too.

There was no Shaun, only a world full of walkers.

 “Robin? Robin?” Tara snapped her fingers in front of Robin’s face. “Robin, you hit your head real hard. It got cut open and I stitched it best I could. We think you have a concussion but you’ll be fine now, I think. You’ve been out for nearly four days.”

 Robin turned her glare towards Tara and then back to Daryl. His face sunk a little and his eyes were pleading. She remembered alright. She remembered what happened at the creek and she would never forget.