These Awkward Moments

Part 72 The Offer

Daryl's POV
I'd never put much trust in prayer before, but I prayed harder that evening than I'd ever prayed for anything in my life... even harder than I'd prayed when Sophia went missing. I begged God and pleaded with him not to take Delilah from me and our children. I was honest enough to admit to him that after everything that had happened in my life, I still wasn't so convinced that he even existed.

I was conscious of Rick and Michonne coming in and out to check on us. They brought messages from many of the community members letting us know that they were thinking of us and praying for our family. Carol sent some food over for us along with a message to let us know that she was watching the kids and not to worry.

Roe was starting to look a bit pale and tired, and Dr. Carson had refused to allow him to donate more blood after the first three bags had been taken and transfused into Delilah. "No. We need to just wait and see how things go at this point. If we need more tomorrow I'll consider it."

Delilah faded in and back out of consciousness a couple of times. Dr. Carson tried to reassure me that in addition to the blood loss she was also exhausted from birthing two babies. He was cautiously optimistic because her bleeding had slowed significantly, and her vital signs showed that she seemed to be responding to the transfusions. He continued to keep a close eye on her blood loss.

Dr. Carson was also concerned that the blood and fluid loss could have a negative effect on Delilah's milk supply. He was careful to make certain that we helped the babies nurse every two to three hours throughout the night. We took turns sleeping in shifts on the sofa, but even when it was my turn I wasn't able to sleep much.

Just as the sun was beginning to peek through the treetops the next morning, Delilah opened her eyes as I brought the babies to her. "Well hey there Doc! It's good to see those beautiful eyes again. You had us all worried love."

She looked around, slightly confused as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "How long was I asleep? What exactly happened? Where is everyone? What happened ta you? You look like hell!"

Somehow she always managed to bring a smile to my face, even in the worst times. "That's my girl! Now I know you're gonna be ok. You lost a lot of blood and Carson had to go back in and scrape out some pieces of afterbirth that got left inside. They transfused some a Roe's blood into ya. You've been mostly out all night long, but Carson's had us make sure that the babies nursed every couple a hours. They're just ready ta eat again, are ya feelin' up ta feedin' 'em?"

Delilah nodded and worked on getting herself into a more upright position. She pulled pillows around herself in the bed and reached for the babies. I helped her settle them in and get them latched on. I watched her carefully. She was still pale, but not nearly as pale as she had been the night before. She glanced up out of the corner of her eye. "Guess I gave ya a pretty good scare, huh? How ya holdin' up darlin'?"

I shrugged. "I'm a'ight I reckon. Ya did have me more scared than I can remember bein' ever in my life. Didn't get much sleep. But that's ok. I'll catch a nap later. Right now I'm just happy ta see ya lookin' more alive than last night."

She leaned her head back and relaxed into the pillows as the babies nursed. "I'm so sorry darlin'. I hate to have caused y'all so much worry."

I ran my fingers lightly through her hair and placed a kiss on her forehead. "It's not your fault love. There wasn't nuthin' you coulda done ta avoid it. The important thing is that ya did it, and all y'all are safe and healthy. You're still here with us."