Mushaboom • Daryl Dixon

37

Rachel

Daryl paced around the room, he couldn't keep still. He kept looking around, snooping through cabinets, picking up equipment. I had to scold him, like he was a child, to put down the stethoscope.

"I hate this place." His shoulders were tensed as he spoke.

"I know, you've said. Come stand by me." I pouted my lip. He huffed and stalked over to the bed I was on. He sat still for like a second and then I heard tearing. I looked over to find him ripping up the paper on the bed. "Are you serious right now?" I was pretty amused by how restless he was acting, but I couldn't help but feel annoyed by it too. He wasn't the only one nervous here. He threw his arms up, "What?!"

"Dude, be zen." I reached over and intertwined our fingers. He sighed and leaned back onto the bed, biting on his thumb. "I'm scared.. Is that weird?"
I asked. The nurse was taking a long time and I couldn't help not feeling nervous when Daryl was giving off that vibe.

"Nah, but there's nothin' to worry about." He said through his thumb. He looked over to me for a beat and my face must've looked how I felt because he nudged me playfully, "This damn nurse needs to hurry up though, I'm hungry as hell."

As if on cue, the nurse walked through the door and greeted us, Daryl smiled at me with relief.

"Hi! How are y'all doing today?" She was maybe in her late forties; she was real bubbly, but genuine. I smiled, "Good. Anxious honestly."

Daryl nodded and kept quiet. "And are you the father?" He chewed on his lip and nodded. She smiled, "You're feeling pretty anxious too I bet!" He smirked and shrugged nonchalantly which caused me to laugh. He had been pacing and touching everything in sight, nearly ate his thumb because of how nervous he was.

She giggled, "Yeah you're nervous, but that's okay. No worries dad, we're gonna take good care of her today.. You're about eight weeks, yes?"

I nodded, "Yeah, last Friday was eight weeks."

"Alrighty! Gonna start with a physical, do some blood work, then we'll get a good look at your baby!"

"So how've you been feeling, any problems, discomforts?" She questioned. The question caught Daryl's attention and he stood up a bit and searched my face. He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers with mine. I gave his hand a squeeze, "Everything is good for the most part. My chest is really sore. But my mom said that's normal.

She nodded with a little too much enthusiasm, "Mhm! That's to be expected."

"And yer peein' all the time." Daryl quickly added, causing me to laugh, "Yeah, I am peeing nonstop."

"That's normal too. Just stay hydrated. Any nausea? Fatigue? Problems sleeping?"

"Not really, no."

"Sounds like you're having a pretty easy goin' first trimester." She gave a warm smile and giggled again. I shrugged, "Yup no real complaints.."

"What about you dad? How're ya feeing?" She jerked her chin towards Daryl.

Daryl's head shot up and he shifted his feet, he snorted and shrugged. As simple as her teasing question was, she caught him off guard, "Uh, good. S'long as she's good." She smiled and he nodded shyly.